1. In an electrically-powered device having a liquid-crystal display (LCD) comprising a driver and a plurality of pixels, wherein the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal associated with each pixel are defined by the selective local application of an electrical charge, a method of conserving electrical power comprising the steps of: receiving, in a driver of the LCD, data containing an image for display on the LCD; determining that power-conservation mode is appropriate according to predetermined criteria; analyzing the image data in a microprocessor of the LCD driver to determine the pixel-charging sequence required to produce the image associated with the image data; entering power-conservation mode by modifying the pixel-activation sequence to reduce the number of pixels to which voltage is to be supplied; and displaying on the LCD an image created by the modified pixel-activation sequence.