Intel and Samsung team up to cut OLED power consumption by up to 22% with HDR content

A laptop's panel can account for over half of its overall power usage, according to Intel, hence why it's teamed up with Samsung Display on a new OLED technology to reduce power consumption by as much as 22%.

It's called SmartPowerHDR. It works by analysing each frame's peak brightness in real-time, sending that data to the panel's Timing Controller (TCON), which then optimises the voltage sent to the panel based on how many pixels are active on-screen. More or less, it's adapting the voltage depending on what the screen displays. Today's HDR modes apply a fixed voltage.

"Traditional HDR modes remain locked at maximum brightness, resulting in excessive power usage even in standard scenarios," the press release reads. "As a result, many laptops default to SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) mode despite the color and brightness advantages of HDR."

The benefit, as reported by the two companies, is around a 22% power saving in general usage with SmartPowerHDR, or around a 17% reduction during HDR content. True HDR content is going to request a higher voltage more often, such as a game with HDR support. Whereas things like web browsing, finding files or typing in documents don't really need the power but might draw it regardless with conventional HDR modes. So by dynamically reducing the power in the latter instances, the savings are greater.

The power saving from SmartPowerHDR in general usage is reportedly similar to SDR content.

"Displays account for over half of a laptop’s total power usage, making them a key target for efficiency gains," Todd Lewellen, VP and GM of PC ecosystem & AI solutions at Intel, said.

I'm a fan of any tech that works behind the scenes and without my explicit knowledge or noticing it. So, if this improves battery life with minimal impact on my enjoyment in HDR games, that's a win.

Though one thing that's not specified is whether this requires explicit hardware support or could be implemented in software. I'm hoping for the latter, though I wouldn't bet on it. Similarly, Windows HDR mode can lead to weak SDR content and HDR may be automatically disabled on battery mode anyways, so the impact of this feature might be limited. Namely by how janky HDR remains on Windows.

But hey, power savings for an OLED gaming monitor wouldn't go amiss.