JP2010039638A - Power saving system - Google Patents

Abstract

Even when a user is using an information terminal such as a computer, the power consumption of a display device is reduced while maintaining the recognizability of an image displayed on a screen.
A web page acquisition unit that acquires content from a network, a color information extraction unit that extracts a description relating to the color of the content, and a display that displays the content by changing the color of at least a part of the content. A web page editing unit 23 that rewrites the description about the color of the content acquired from the network so as to reduce the power consumption of the means.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a power saving system of an information terminal.

In recent years, various activities have been developed to reduce CO ₂ emissions as part of global warming countermeasures. For example, activities represented by “Team-6%” are not limited to individuals, but many companies participate in the activities, and contribute to the reduction of CO ₂ emissions. In addition, companies are always willing to reduce power consumption in offices and the like in terms of cost savings, not limited to global warming countermeasures.
Here, for example, as one of efforts in a corporate office or the like, there is a reduction in power consumption of a personal computer (PC) used individually by employees. In particular, when the power consumption of individual PCs is reduced in a large-scale company with tens of thousands of employees, the power reduction for the entire company is large. In addition, regarding the power consumption of the PC, the proportion of the display device is large, and suppressing the power consumption of the display device is an effective measure.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a PC having a CRT (CRT) display device is provided with a sensor for detecting the presence of an operator of the PC, and the deflection for controlling the deflection of the electron beam based on the detection result of the sensor. A technique for changing a power consumption state of a display device by controlling a circuit and a video amplification circuit is disclosed.
Further, regarding reduction of power consumption in a display device, for example, in Patent Document 2, a power saving mode is provided in a portable terminal device, and inversion of hue or brightness of an image displayed on the screen of the portable terminal device in the power saving mode is disclosed. A technique for suppressing power consumption of a mobile terminal device due to the decrease is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-44328 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-60666

Here, in the power saving system described in Patent Document 1, for example, the power saving of the display device is not executed unless the user of the PC leaves the seat. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce power consumption while the user is using the PC.
For example, regarding the conversion of the display image described in Patent Document 2, the hue is uniformly inverted for the image displayed on the screen. For example, if “person” or “landscape” is included in the image to be converted, hue inversion is performed for these “person” or “landscape” images. There is a high possibility that it will be difficult for the user to recognize.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption of a display device while maintaining the recognizability of an image displayed on a screen even when a user is using an information terminal such as a computer.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention is realized as the following power saving system. This system includes a content acquisition unit that acquires content from a network, a color description extraction unit that extracts a description related to the color of the content, and a display unit that displays content. And a content editing section for rewriting the color description.
More specifically, the content editing unit rewrites the description about the color of the content to a color that reduces the power consumption of the display unit as compared with the case where the content acquired from the network is displayed on the display unit.
Here, the description regarding the color of the content is a description of the background color of the content.
More specifically, the content editing unit is characterized in that the description of the background color of the content is rewritten to a description of a color with low brightness compared with the background color of the content acquired from the network.

The system may further include a power saving amount setting unit that sets a power saving amount for setting power consumption for the display unit. In this case, the content editing unit rewrites the description regarding the color of the content based on the set power saving amount set by the power saving amount setting unit.
In addition, the system may further include a color conversion database that stores a list of combinations of a plurality of colors regarding the amount of power consumption reduction in the display means assumed by rewriting the description regarding the color of the content. it can. In this case, the content editing unit rewrites the description about the color of the content with reference to this list.
In addition, the system may further include a table creation unit that creates a table in which a combination of colors corresponding to the set power saving amount is extracted from the list. In this case, the content editing unit selects a color combination corresponding to the description about the color of the content extracted by the color description extraction unit from this table, and rewrites the description about the color of the content acquired from the network according to this color combination. .
More preferably, the table creation by the table creation unit is performed at a separate timing from the rewriting of the content color description by the content editing unit.
Further, in the above system, a plurality of display means may be provided, and the power saving amount setting unit may be configured to set the set power saving amount for each of the grouped display means.

  The present invention is also realized as an information processing apparatus configured as follows. The apparatus includes: a content acquisition unit that acquires content from the network; a color description extraction unit that extracts a description related to the color of the content; and a display unit that displays the content. A content editing unit that rewrites the color description and an image display unit that displays the content converted by the content editing unit.

  Furthermore, the present invention is also realized as a program that controls a computer to realize the functions of the power saving system and the information processing apparatus. This program can be provided by being stored and distributed in an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or other recording medium, or distributed via a network.

  According to the present invention, even when the user is using an information terminal such as a computer, the power consumption of the display device can be reduced while maintaining the recognizability of the image displayed on the screen.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a hardware configuration for realizing a power saving system.
FIG. 1 shows an internal network and an external network, and a plurality of client PCs 10 constituting the internal network are connected to the external network via a repeater 20. In the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 1, the function of the power saving system according to the present embodiment is realized by the repeater 20 and the plurality of client PCs 10.

  The internal network is a network configured by connecting a plurality of client PCs 10 in a local area network (LAN) in, for example, a company or a school. Each client PC 10 constituting the internal network does not need to be physically installed on the same floor or the same building.

  An example of the external network is the Internet, and a server for providing various contents is installed in the network. Here, the content corresponds to text, an image, sound, or a combination thereof. In the following, a web page will be described as an example of content.

  The repeater 20 relays data transmission / reception between the client PC 10 and a server or the like placed on an external network. When the client PC 10 requests acquisition of a web page on the external network, the web page is sent from the external network to the client PC 10 via the relay 20. As the repeater 20, for example, a router or other gateway can be used. Further, depending on the network configuration, the proxy server or various filtering servers may be provided with the function of the repeater 20.

  The repeater 20 to which this embodiment is applied has a function of reducing the power consumption of the display devices 100 of a plurality of client PCs 10 constituting an internal network. More specifically, the relay device 20 converts, for example, the background color of the original web page when the web page acquired from the external network (hereinafter referred to as the original web page) is relayed to the client PC 10, and the display device 100. To reduce power consumption. At this time, the repeater 20 rewrites the color-related description in the source code of the original web page, and converts the background color of the original web page.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of the client PC 10 and the repeater 20 that realize the power saving system to which the present embodiment is applied.
The client PC 10 and the repeater 20 are predetermined on the basis of the CPU 10a which is a calculation means, the main memory 10c which is a main storage device, a display mechanism 10d for performing display output to the display device 100, and an output from the display mechanism 10d. And a display device 100 for displaying the images. The network interface 10f for connecting to an external device via a network, a magnetic disk device 10g as an auxiliary storage device, an audio mechanism 10h for audio output, and an input device 10i are configured. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the main memory 10c and the display mechanism 10d are connected to the CPU 10a via an M / B (motherboard) chip set 10b. It is connected to the M / B chip set 10b via a network interface 10f, a magnetic disk device 10g, an audio mechanism 10h, an input device 10i, and a bridge circuit 10e.

  In FIG. 2, each component is connected via a bus. For example, the CPU 10a and the M / B chip set 10b, and the M / B chip set 10b and the main memory 10c are connected via a CPU bus. Further, the M / B chipset 10b and the display mechanism 10d may be connected via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), but if the display mechanism 10d includes a PCI Express compatible video card, the M / B The chip set 10b and the video card are connected via a PCI Express (PCIe) bus. When connecting to the bridge circuit 10e, for example, PCI Express can be used for the network interface 10f. For the magnetic disk device 10g, for example, serial ATA (AT Attachment), parallel transfer ATA, PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect), or the like can be used.

  The display device 100 is a self-luminous type that changes power consumption in accordance with the color to be displayed. The display device 100 can employ a cathode ray tube method (CRT), a plasma method (PDP), an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) method, or the like. Although these display systems have different light emission principles, for example, when displaying white, light of RGB colors (including light sources corresponding to RGB colors) is emitted to reproduce white. On the other hand, for example, when displaying black, the light sources of each color of RGB are turned off. Accordingly, in each of the above-described display devices, the larger the black area in the display image, the smaller the power consumed by the light source, and hence the power consumption of the display device 100 as a whole.

  Note that a liquid crystal system (LCD) is given as a non-self light emitting display device in contrast to the above self light emitting type. This liquid crystal display device is mainly composed of a liquid crystal panel and a backlight light source. In general, light is always directed from the backlight light source toward the liquid crystal panel regardless of the display color such as white or black. Irradiated. Therefore, in the liquid crystal display device, unlike the self-luminous display device described above, the power consumption does not change greatly according to the size of the display screen.

  However, in recent years, in a liquid crystal display device, a so-called local area control function that does not selectively irradiate light, such as black, in an area that does not require light irradiation has begun to be installed. If the liquid crystal display device having such a function is used as the display device 100 of the client PC 10 to which the present embodiment is applied, the light source (back surface) is selected according to the area of the display image such as black. Light consumption) can be changed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption by applying this embodiment.

  2 merely illustrates a hardware configuration suitable for realizing the client PC 10 and the repeater 20, and it is needless to say that the configuration is not limited to the illustrated configuration. For example, as the auxiliary storage device, only the magnetic disk device 10g may be provided, and a drive using various optical disks as media may be provided. Further, the audio mechanism 10h may be provided as a function of the M / B chipset 10b without being an independent configuration.

  Further, when a router is used as the repeater 20 as described above, the repeater 20 only needs to include a processor that realizes a function of each function unit described later, a memory that stores a color conversion list (described later), and the like.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the client PC 10.
The client PC 10 according to the present embodiment is a network management unit that manages network connection between the application execution unit 11 that executes various applications such as document creation software and the other client PC 10 in the repeater 20 or the internal network. 12, a content playback unit 13 that analyzes and plays back content such as a web page, and an image signal that receives the content executed and played back by the application execution unit 11 and the content playback unit 13 and creates an image signal for screen display A creation unit 14 and an image display unit 15 that displays an image based on an image signal from the image signal creation unit 14 are provided.
In the present embodiment, since a web page is illustrated as an example of content, the content reproduction unit 13 corresponds to a so-called web page browser.

  Here, the application execution unit 11 and the content reproduction unit 13 are functions realized by the CPU 10a executing a program read into the main memory 10c. The network management unit 12 is a function realized by the network interface 10f and the CPU 10a. The image signal creation unit 14 is a function realized by the display mechanism 10 d, and the image display unit 15 is a function realized by the display device 100. As described above, each functional block of the client PC 10 shown in FIG. 3 is a means realized by cooperation of software and hardware resources.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the repeater 20.
As shown in FIG. 4, the repeater 20 includes a web page acquisition unit 21 that acquires data of an original web page, a color information extraction unit 22 that extracts information about color from the original web page, and a color about the original web page. A web page editing unit 23 for rewriting information, a setting receiving unit 24 for receiving a power consumption reduction amount (power saving amount) for the display device 100, a color conversion list DB 25 in which a list of conversion patterns of color descriptions is stored, a web The page editing unit 23 includes a conversion table creating unit 26 that creates a table to be referred to when rewriting the color description.

  Here, the web page acquisition unit 21, the color information extraction unit 22, the web page editing unit 23, the setting reception unit 24, and the conversion table creation unit 26 are realized by the CPU 10a executing the program read into the main memory 10c. It is a function. The color conversion list DB 25 is realized by storage means such as the main memory 10c and the magnetic disk device 10g. As described above, each functional block of the repeater 20 illustrated in FIG. 4 is a unit realized by cooperation of software and hardware resources.

  The web page acquisition unit 21 acquires original web page data from an external network, and temporarily stores the original web page data in a storage unit such as a cache memory of the CPU 10a. The web page is described in a markup language represented by an HTML language, an XML language, or the like. With respect to the displayed web page, attributes such as background color, character color, text font, and link destination address can be specified by the description of the tag. Further, the web page acquisition unit 21 of the present embodiment passes all or part of the data of the original web page to the color information extraction unit 22 and the web page editing unit 23, respectively.

The color information extraction unit 22 extracts a color description from the original web page acquired by the web page acquisition unit 21. Here, the description relating to the colors such as the background color and the character color in the source code of the web page is specified by a tag as in the following example.
<body bgcolor = “#ffffff” text = “# 000000” link = “# 0000cc”…>
The color information extraction unit 22 extracts the color attribute of each element from the description of the tag constituting the source code of the original web page as a description about the color. Taking the above tag as an example, “bgcolor” designates the background color, “text” designates the text color, and “link” designates the link display color. For each, #ffffff (white), # Color codes such as 000000 (black) and # 0000cc (blue) are specified. Then, the color information extraction unit 22 sends a description regarding these colors obtained from the original web page to the web page editing unit 23.

The web page editing unit 23 acquires a conversion table to be referred to when rewriting the color description of the original web page from the conversion table creating unit 26. Further, the web page editing unit 23 receives data of the original web page from the web page acquisition unit 21 and description data regarding the color of the original web page from the color information extraction unit 22.
Then, the web page editing unit 23 rewrites the description about the color of the original web page based on the conversion table acquired from the conversion table creation unit 26 and the description about the color of the original web page received from the color information extraction unit 22. In addition, the web page editing unit 23 transmits the converted web page in which the color description is rewritten to the client PC 10.

  The setting receiving unit 24 receives an amount of power (hereinafter referred to as a set power saving amount) that is desired to be saved in the plurality of client PCs 10 connected to the repeater 20. Then, the setting reception unit 24 determines the reduced power (hereinafter referred to as individual reduced power) per client PC 10. The setting reception unit 24 passes the determined individual reduction power value to the conversion table creation unit 26.

Here, a case where the setting reception unit 24 receives the set power saving amount will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interface displayed when the setting reception unit 24 receives a setting. This interface is displayed on the screen of the display device 100 of the PC when any one of the plurality of client PCs 10 is a setting PC. Further, if the repeater 20 itself has a display screen, an interface is displayed on the display screen.

The interface illustrated in FIG. 5 has three reception items: a set power saving amount, the number of client PCs 10 constituting the internal network, and a time when a web page is viewed by each client PC 10 (PC user). I have.
As in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, when the user (power saving manager or the like) sets the set power saving amount to 270,000 Wh, the user enters “27 (10,000 thousand) in the input list of the set power saving amount displayed on the interface. Wh) ". Similarly, the user inputs “10000 (unit)” regarding the number of client PCs 10 and “3 (hours)” regarding the web page browsing time, respectively in the input fields. And the setting reception part 24 calculates an individual reduction electric power based on the value of the setting power saving amount, the number of units, and browsing time obtained via the interface. In this example, the setting reception unit 24 calculates that the individual reduced power is “9 (W / unit)”. Then, the setting reception unit 24 passes the calculated individual reduction power value to the conversion table creation unit 26.

  Note that the repeater 20 of this embodiment is intended to reduce the power consumption of the display device 100 by rewriting the background color of the original web page. Therefore, “set power saving amount” is used as a reference for converting the background color of the original web page. However, the power consumption of the display apparatus 100 that is actually reduced by the function of the repeater 20 of the present embodiment varies depending on the background color condition of the web page that is actually requested by the client PC 10 to be acquired as will be described later. To do. Therefore, the set power saving amount is positioned as a target value to the last.

The color conversion list DB 25 is a list of power consumption (hereinafter referred to as color) that is reduced when the background color of the original web page is changed to another background color for each display device, using a cathode ray tube display device as an example. Conversion list).
Here, the color conversion list will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a color conversion list. 6A is a list when the background color of the original web page is white, and FIG. 6B is a list when the background color of the original web page is light blue.
Referring to FIG. 6A, for example, the reduced power obtained when the background color of the original web page is white (color code: #ffffff) and the background color is changed to black (color code: # 000000). Is 15 (W: Watt). Similarly, it can be seen that the reduced power obtained when the background color of the original web page is changed from white to blue is 9 (W).
Referring to FIG. 6B, it can be seen that the background color of the original web page is light blue, and the reduced power obtained when the background color is changed to black is 9 (W). Similarly, the background color of the original web page is light blue (color code: #ccffff), and the reduced power obtained when the background color is changed to blue (color code: # 0000cc) is 3 (W) I understand.
As described above, the color conversion list is a “conversion pattern” that associates the background color of the original web page with a background color different from the background color of the original web page and the reduced power obtained in that case. Is a set of

  In FIGS. 6A and 6B, an example in which the background color of the original web page is white or light blue has been described, but actually, other colors are also stored in the color conversion list DB 25. It can be stored. In the above example, an example using a cathode ray tube system (CRT) is shown, but a color conversion list can be prepared in the same manner as described above for a display apparatus of another system such as a plasma display. Furthermore, the list can be similarly prepared as long as it corresponds to the description about the color of the web page, such as a list for converting the character color of the web page, not limited to the background color of the web page.

  Then, the conversion table creation unit 26 selects a conversion pattern from which the reduced power corresponding to the individual reduced power acquired from the setting reception unit 24 can be obtained from the color conversion list stored in the color conversion list DB 25. Then, the conversion table creation unit 26 creates a “conversion table” composed of conversion patterns selected from the color conversion list. Then, the conversion table creation unit 26 sends the created conversion table to the web page editing unit 23.

Next, the operation flow of the repeater 20 will be described. As described above, the web page editing unit 23 refers to the conversion table created by the conversion table creation unit 26 and rewrites the description regarding the color of the original web page. Here, in order to efficiently perform the processing of the web page editing unit 23, it is preferable to set a reduced power in advance and create a conversion table corresponding to this. In the following description, the operation flow of the repeater 20 will be described in the order of “reduction power setting operation” and “web page color conversion operation”.
In the following, the conditions such as the set power saving amount received from the power saving manager etc. are the same as the input conditions of the interface described with reference to FIG. 5, taking the case where the background color of the original web page is white as an example. Will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a setting operation of reduced power in the repeater 20.
The setting receiving unit 24 calculates the individual reduced power based on parameters such as the set power saving amount received from the power saving manager or the like via the interface (step 101). Then, the setting reception unit 24 sends the calculated individual reduced power value to the conversion table creation unit 26. In this example, it is assumed that the individual reduced power is 9 (W / unit).

The conversion table creation unit 26 that has received the value of the individual reduction power refers to the color conversion list stored in the color conversion list DB 25 (step 102). Then, from the color conversion list, a background color conversion pattern for obtaining reduced power corresponding to the individual reduced power is extracted (step 103), and a conversion table is created (step 104). Further, the conversion table creation unit 26 passes the created conversion table to the web page editing unit 23 (step 105).
In this example, since the individual reduction power is 9 (W / unit), the conversion table creation unit 26 refers to the color conversion list (see FIG. 6) stored in the color conversion list DB 25 and sets 9 (W). A conversion pattern for obtaining reduced power is extracted. In the example of the color conversion list illustrated in FIG. 6, a pattern that converts the background color to blue is selected as a pattern that can reduce power of 9 (W) when the background color of the original web page is white. . Similarly, when the background color of the original web page is light blue, a pattern that converts the background color to black is selected as a pattern that can reduce power of 9 (W). Through these processes, in this example, the conversion table creation unit 26 creates a conversion table having two patterns assuming that the background color of the original web page is white and light blue, and this conversion The table is sent to the web page editing unit 23.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the color conversion operation of the web page in the operation of the repeater 20.
When an acquisition request for the original web page is made by the client PC 10, the web page acquisition unit 21 acquires the original web page from the external network and temporarily holds the original web page (step 201).

  Then, the color information extraction unit 22 extracts a description of the background color from the original web page held by the web page acquisition unit 21 (step 202). Thereafter, the color information extraction unit 22 passes the extracted background color description of the original web page to the web page editing unit 23. Specifically, as described above, the background color attribute (color code) designated by the tag in the source code of the original web page is detected. In the above example, the background color of the original web page is white, and the web page editing unit 23 acquires data that the attribute of the background color is white.

Then, the web page editing unit 23 refers to the conversion table acquired from the conversion table creation unit 26 and reads a pattern in which the background color of the original web page is white in the conversion table (step 203). In this example, a conversion pattern for converting the background color of the original web page from white to blue is selected from the conversion table created in step 104 described with reference to FIG.
Thereafter, the web page editing unit 23 rewrites the description of the background color of the original web page based on the selected conversion pattern (step 204). In this example, the description of the background color of the original web page is rewritten from white to blue. Then, the web page editing unit 23 transmits the converted web page data to the client PC 10 that has requested acquisition of the original web page (step 205).

  In general, when the background color of the original web page is white, the character color is often black. When the text color of the original web page is black, if the background color is converted to black, indigo, etc. as in the above example, the text and background will be assimilated, and it is expected that the text will be difficult to read . Therefore, in conjunction with the conversion of the background color of the original web page, for example, the character color of the original web page may be converted from black to gray.

  In the above embodiment, the background color of the original web page is changed from white to blue. However, if the individual reduction power is smaller than the above example (9 W), the background color does not necessarily have to be blue. . For example, when the individual reduction power is (6 W), the background color conversion is set from white to light blue. Therefore, it is possible to convert the background color step by step from an extremely low brightness color such as black to a relatively high brightness color such as light blue by individual reduced power.

In the above-described example, the case has been described in which the individual reduction power and the reduction power in the color conversion list match as numerical values. When the individual reduction power and the reduction power do not coincide with each other as a numerical value, a pattern that can obtain reduction power close to the individual reduction power is selected. Further, for example, when a certain individual reduction power is set, it is assumed that the maximum value of the reduction power in the conversion pattern prepared in the color conversion list is exceeded. In this case, the pattern with the largest reduction power is selected from the conversion patterns. That is, in the example shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, since the power reduction is greatest when the background color is converted to black, a conversion table including a conversion pattern in which the background color after conversion is black is provided. The conversion table is created and transmitted to the web page editing unit 23.
However, when the maximum value of the reduced power in the conversion pattern exceeds the individual reduced power as described above, the web page editing unit 23 does not need to refer to the conversion table, and changes the background color of the original web page. It may be set so that it is uniformly rewritten in black. In this case, the conversion table creation unit 26 may be set to send an instruction “make the background color of the original web page uniform black” instead of the conversion table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the original web page displayed on the display device 100 and the web page after conversion. FIG. 9A shows the original web page, and FIG. 9B shows the web page after the background color conversion.
As shown in FIG. 9, when the converted web page is displayed on the display device 100, the background portion is darker than when the original web page having a white background color is displayed. Electric power can be suppressed, and individual reduction of electric power can be achieved. Furthermore, these are respectively executed in the plurality of client PCs 10 constituting the internal network, thereby achieving the set power saving target for the entire internal network.

The plurality of client PCs 10 connected to the repeater 20 may be divided into several groups, and the set power saving amount may be set for each group. In this case, an identifier such as an ID common to the group is assigned to the client PC 10 in advance. Then, the setting reception unit 24 receives the set power saving amount for each group and sets the individual reduction power of the client PC 10 belonging to each group. Further, the conversion table creation unit 26 creates a conversion table for each group and passes these conversion tables to the web page editing unit 23.
When a web page acquisition request is made from a certain client PC 10, the web page acquisition unit 21 associates the original web page with the identifier of the group to which the client PC 10 that made the acquisition request relates, and the web page editing unit. The web page editing unit 23 can rewrite the background color and the like for each group.
By configuring as described above, for example, when a group of setting power saving amount is set for each department such as a company, various power saving amounts can be set for each department according to the activity contents of the department. Is possible. In some departments, when power savings that exceed the set power savings are always achieved, the extra power savings are reflected in the setting power savings of other departments, etc., and the target is set as the total set power savings in the internal network. Can also be achieved.

  By the way, an image such as a web page displayed on the screen is composed of elements such as a background, characters, and a photographic image. In the present embodiment, for example, instead of converting colors related to all elements in the image, for example, Color conversion is performed on some of the elements of the image such as the background color. Here, as a method for reducing the power consumption of the display apparatus 100, it is also possible to perform processing such as inverting the chromaticity to convert the image to be displayed into a relatively dark color, or reducing the brightness. It is done. However, when this method is adopted, normally, the above-described processing is uniformly performed on the “whole (all)” image to be displayed.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, color conversion processing is selectively performed on elements constituting the original web page, for example, rewriting the background color description as described above with respect to the source of the original web page. Can do. Accordingly, the data of the original web page can be displayed as it is for elements that are undesirable (difficult to be recognized) when color conversion is performed for a viewing user, such as a photographic image. Therefore, in the power saving system of the present embodiment, for example, it is possible to reduce power consumption of the display device 100 while performing conversion related to the color of the original web page in a range where the content of the web page or the like can be recognized.

  Some original web pages do not have a background color description. When a browser displays such a web page, a white background color is generally set and displayed on the screen. Therefore, in the case of an original web page for which no background color is specified, the background color is assumed to be white, and the background color of the original web page newly creates and writes a description as described above. Is called.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in the internal network in which the client PC 10 is connected to the LAN has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA, the power saving system can be applied even when content such as a web page is downloaded from a network via a predetermined proxy server. In such a case, the function of the power saving system is realized by a proxy server and a portable information terminal having the same function as the repeater 20.

  As described above, the repeater 20 attempts to reduce the power consumption of each client PC 10 by rewriting the background color of the web page. Therefore, by providing the repeater 20 of this embodiment, it is possible to reduce power consumption even if the amount is small, as long as the background color of the original web page is not black. In the present embodiment, as an example, the conversion color of the background color of the web page is determined based on a preset power saving amount. Regarding the set power saving amount, the actually saved power saving amount varies with respect to the set power saving amount depending on the conditions of the original web page. However, by providing the repeater 20, although the actual power saving amount varies with respect to the set power saving amount, the power consumption can be reduced.

<Other system configuration>
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another system configuration.
In the system configuration of the above-described embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the reduced power of a plurality of client PCs 10 is managed by a repeater 20 provided between an internal network and an external network, and a web page browsed on the plurality of client PCs 10 Were being edited at once. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the web page acquisition unit 21, the color information extraction unit 22, the web page editing unit 23, the setting reception unit 24, and the color conversion list DB 25 provided in the repeater 20 in the above embodiment. Alternatively, the conversion table creation unit 26 may be configured as a system that is provided independently for each client PC 10, and a web page may be edited for each client PC 10 to set a reduction power.

  In this example, the setting of the reduced power received by the setting reception unit 24 is performed for each client PC 10. Therefore, the interface when the setting accepting unit 24 accepts the setting has a specification for setting the reduced power for each client PC 10 in the example shown in FIG. In such a configuration, considering that each user individually sets the reduced power in each client PC 10, the amount of reduction in power consumption is less than the quantitative input with a specific numerical value such as “what watts”. A qualitative input method that is divided and associated with several modes is more preferable. For example, in the interface, the setting reception unit 24 has three stages of power saving: “strong power saving mode” in which the target reduction power is 12 W or more, “weak power saving mode” that is less than 6 W, and “medium power saving mode” that is 6 W to less than 12 W. The mode may be displayed, and the setting of the reduced power may be accepted from these options.

  The setting reception unit 24 of each client PC 10 passes the corresponding reduced power value to the conversion table creation unit 26 based on the various power saving modes received from the interface. Then, the web page editing unit 23 receives the color conversion list from the conversion table creation unit 26, and converts the background color and the like of the original web page as described above.

In addition, although the power saving system of this embodiment illustrated the client PC connected to internal networks, such as a company connected by LAN, it is not limited to this aspect.
For example, a power saving system using a portable terminal such as a mobile phone as a power saving target device can be used. In this case, the mobile terminal corresponds to the client PC 10 shown in FIG. Further, an ISP (Internet Service Provider) proxy server or the like accessed by the mobile terminal is provided with a web page conversion function by the repeater 20 of the present embodiment described with reference to FIG. When a web page on the Internet is accessed from a portable terminal such as a cellular phone, the proxy server or the like converts the background color of the original web page and transmits it to the portable terminal or the like.

  Furthermore, in recent years, so-called information home appliances such as home appliances such as televisions having a communication function that can be connected to the Internet or the like have become widespread. The power saving system of this embodiment can be applied also to these. In this case, each information appliance corresponds to the client PC 10. Further, an ISP proxy server or the like accessed by the information home appliance is provided with a function of converting the original web page by the repeater 20 of the present embodiment. Thereby, the background color of the image displayed on the display of the information home appliance can be converted, and the power consumption at home can be reduced.

  Further, the function of converting the original web page by the repeater 20 of the present embodiment can be provided on a website on the Internet. For example, if a search engine of a search site has a web page conversion function and a web page searched using this search engine is browsed, the background color of the web page is converted, and the PC The power consumption of the display device can be reduced. Similarly, the portal site itself may have a web page conversion function, and when accessing and browsing the web page from the portal site, the background color of the web page may be converted. good. By configuring in this way, it is possible to provide a service that reduces power consumption by accessing a web page from a specific search site or portal site.

  Further, the web filtering server having a function of prohibiting access to harmful web pages and the like is provided with a web page conversion function by the repeater 20 of the present embodiment, and for the client PC 10 using this web filtering server. It is also possible to convert the background color of the web page. Further, a program for realizing the above power saving system may be bundled with web filtering software that is downloaded from an external network or installed on each client PC 10 using a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

1 shows an example of a hardware configuration for realizing a power saving system. It is a figure for demonstrating the hardware constitutions of client PC and a repeater which implement | achieve a power saving system. It is a figure which shows the function structure of client PC. It is a figure which shows the function structure of a repeater. It is a figure which shows the example of the interface displayed when a setting reception part receives a setting. It is a figure which shows an example of a color conversion list. It is a figure which shows the setting operation | movement of the reduction power in a repeater. It is a figure which shows the color conversion operation | movement of the web page in operation | movement of a repeater. It is a figure which shows the original web page displayed on the display apparatus, and the web page after conversion. It is a figure which shows another system structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Client PC, 20 ... Repeater, 21 ... Web page acquisition part, 22 ... Color information extraction part, 23 ... Web page editing part, 24 ... Setting reception part, 25 ... Color conversion list DB, 26 ... Conversion table creation part , 100 ... display device

Claims (11)

A content acquisition unit for acquiring content from the network;
A color description extraction unit for extracting a description about the color of the content;
A power-saving system comprising: a content editing unit that rewrites a description relating to the color of the content acquired from the network so as to reduce power consumption of display means for displaying content.   The content editing unit rewrites the description about the color of the content into a color that reduces power consumption of the display unit as compared with a case where the content acquired from the network is displayed on the display unit. The power saving system according to claim 1.   2. The power saving system according to claim 1, wherein the description regarding the color of the content is a description of a background color of the content.   4. The content editing unit according to claim 3, wherein the description of the background color of the content is rewritten to a description of a color with low brightness by comparing with the background color of the content acquired from the network. Power saving system. A power saving amount setting unit configured to set a power saving amount of power consumption for the display means;
The power saving system according to claim 1, wherein the content editing unit rewrites a description related to a color of the content based on the set power saving amount set by the power saving amount setting unit. A color conversion database storing a list of combinations of a plurality of colors with respect to a reduction in power consumption in the display means assumed by rewriting the description of the color of the content;
The power saving system according to claim 5, wherein the content editing unit rewrites a description related to a color of the content with reference to the list. A table creation unit for creating a table in which a combination of colors corresponding to the set power saving amount is extracted from the list;
The content editing unit selects a color combination corresponding to the description about the color of the content extracted by the color description extraction unit from the table, and uses the description about the color of the content acquired from the network as the color combination. Therefore, it rewrites, The power saving system of Claim 6 characterized by the above-mentioned.   8. The power saving system according to claim 7, wherein creation of the table by the table creation unit is performed at a timing different from rewriting of the description regarding the color of the content by the content editing unit. A plurality of the display means are provided,
6. The power saving system according to claim 5, wherein the power saving amount setting unit sets the set power saving amount for each group of the plurality of display means grouped. A content acquisition unit for acquiring content from the network;
A color description extraction unit for extracting a description about the color of the content;
A content editing unit that rewrites the description about the color of the content acquired from the network so as to reduce power consumption of the display means for displaying the content;
An information display apparatus comprising: an image display unit that displays the content converted by the content editing unit. Computer
Content acquisition means for acquiring content from a network;
Color description extracting means for extracting a description about the color of the content;
A program that functions as a content editing unit that rewrites a description relating to a color of the content acquired from the network so as to reduce power consumption of a display unit that displays content.

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