Various embodiments of methods and systems for intelligent multimedia-based thermal power management implemented in a portable computing device (“PCD”) are disclosed. To reduce or increase power consumption in the PCD, embodiments adjust one or more visual multimedia parameters, the settings of which contribute to power consumption associated with an overall multimedia workload. The selection of visual multimedia parameters for setting adjustment is a function of the change in user experience versus the change in power consumption that will likely result from the setting adjustment. Exemplary visual multimedia parameters for which settings may be adjusted by certain embodiments include, but are not limited to, color depth, display brightness, GPU processing resolution, image dynamics algorithm selection, resolution scaling ratios and frames per second processing rates.