Reducing lcd power consumption by preferentially dimming individual colors

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that, when executed by a processor of a display device, cause the processor to:

• access pixel data representing an image frame, the pixel data encoding colors of pixels in the image frame in accordance with a color model comprising a plurality of color components;
• produce, based on the pixel data, a respective histogram of brightness levels in the image frame for each of the color components of the color model;
• determine, for each color component, a respective backlight control value based on the histogram for the color component, the backlight control value to control the intensity for each of a plurality of illuminating elements of the display device;
• and
• send, for each color component, the backlight control value for the color component to a respective backlight controller for the color component.

A screen driver, comprising:

• a plurality of backlight controllers, each of which controls a respective collection of illuminating elements of a display device that emit light of the same given one of a plurality of colors of a color model;
• and
• a processor having access to a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• access pixel data representing an image frame, the pixel data encoding colors of pixels in the image frame in accordance with the color model;
• produce, based on the pixel data, a respective histogram of brightness levels in the image frame for each color of the color model;
• determine, for each color, a respective backlight control value based on the histogram for the color, the backlight control value to control the intensity for the collection of illuminating elements of a display device that emit light of the color;
• and
• send, for each color, the backlight control value for the color to a backlight controller that controls a collection of illuminating elements of a display device that emit light of the color.