Media device power management techniques

A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes a process for operating an electronic device with audio and/or video (AV) processing and/or playback capabilities to be carried out, the process comprising:

• enabling decoding and/or rendering of AV content;
• analyzing one or more AV consumption indicators, wherein the one or more AV consumption indicators are selected from the group consisting of operation of a mute function, adjustment of a playback volume level, determination of whether the user is talking aloud, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold intensity level, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold duration, identification of a biometric/physiological cue pertaining to the user, identification of a visual cue pertaining to the user, and communication with an external device, and wherein analyzing includes comparing the one or more AV consumption indicators against a hierarchy of AV consumption indicators within a context of a detected stimulus so as to assign a preference or greater significance to the AV consumption indicator over other AV consumption indicators;
• and
• determining, based on analysis of the one or more AV consumption indicators, whether a user is actually consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content.

An electronic device comprising:

• a media player configured to decode and/or render audio and/or video (AV) content;
• and
• a monitor communicatively coupled with the media player, wherein the monitor is configured to:
• analyze an AV consumption indicator to determine whether a user is actually consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content, wherein analysis includes comparison of the AV consumption indicator against a hierarchy of AV consumption indicators within a context of a detected stimulus so as to assign a preference or greater significance to the AV consumption indicator over other AV consumption indicators;
• and
• output a control signal to the media player based on analysis of the AV consumption indicator, wherein the control signal causes the media player to adjust its decoding and/or rendering of AV content;
• wherein the AV consumption indicator is selected from the group consisting of operation of a mute function, adjustment of a playback volume level, determination of whether the user is talking aloud, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold intensity level, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold duration, identification of a biometric/physiological cue pertaining to the user, identification of a visual cue pertaining to the user, and communication with an external device.