Samsung and Intel’s OLED tech makes HDR easier on laptop battery life

Jan 07, 2026 08:06 AM - 5 months ago 140568

Jay Peters

is a elder newsman covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge successful 2019 aft astir 2 years astatine Techmeme.

Samsung Display and Intel person teamed up connected laptop exertion called SmartPower HDR that they declare tin minimize powerfulness usage while you’re watching HDR contented connected an OLED screen. Intel showed disconnected this exertion last year, but Samsung Display is sharing specifications astir really it useful and the powerfulness savings you mightiness expect. However, the institution didn’t opportunity which laptops whitethorn get SmartPower HDR, truthful it’s still unclear erstwhile it will really beryllium successful laptops you tin use.

With SmartPower HDR, Samsung Display says the laptop’s chipset monitors the highest brightness of each framework it’s rendering successful real-time. Then the OLED panel’s timing controller spot uses that information on pinch the ratio of progressive pixels to find the optimal driving voltage for the panel.

Samsung Display:

For example, wide laptop usage cases specified arsenic web browsing aliases archive editing tin run astatine little voltage levels. In contrast, high-definition contented specified arsenic games aliases video playback requires higher brightness and voltage. Traditional HDR modes stay locked astatine maximum brightness, resulting successful excessive powerfulness usage moreover successful modular scenarios. As a result, galore laptops default to SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) mode contempt the colour and brightness advantages of HDR.

In comparison, SmartPower HDR™ reduces the powerfulness depletion associated pinch OLED pixel emanation by up to 22% successful wide usage and by up to 17% during HDR content. Notably, successful wide usage scenarios, powerfulness depletion is comparable to that of SDR mode.

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