The present application claims priority of China Patent application No. 201710588245.4 filed on Jul. 18, 2017, the content of which is incorporated in its entirety as portion of the present application by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a backlight module and a display device.
Recently, development of High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology has once again set off a wave of application of local dimming technology on display devices. With the user's pursuit of display quality technology, the abovementioned local dimming technology can be used to make the display image have more light and dark dynamic range and image details, so that the user can be provided with an image with higher image quality. However, in the existing art, in order to achieve the abovementioned local dimming technology, it is generally required to separately adjust the LED lamps in the backlight. In this way, the LED lamps are easily damaged during the repeated adjustment process, and the service life of the backlight is reduced.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a backlight module, comprising: a light source component, and an illumination rendering film located on a light exiting side of the light source component, the illumination rendering film comprises a plurality of dimming units arranged in an array; each of the dimming units is configured to receive a dimming signal and change a transmittance of the each of the dimming units according to the dimming signal.
In some examples, each of the dimming units comprises a transmittance adjustment layer and a control electrode for controlling the transmittance adjustment layer, the control electrode is configured to generate an electric field for controlling a transmittance of the transmittance adjustment layer according to the dimming signal.
In some examples, the control electrode comprises a first electrode and a second electrode which are located on two opposite sides of the transmittance adjustment layer.
In some examples, controlling the transmittance of the transmittance adjustment layer comprises controlling a haze of the transmittance adjustment layer.
In some examples, the transmittance adjustment layer comprises a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer.
In some examples, the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer has a thickness of 120 μm±5 μm.
In some examples, the transmittance adjustment layer comprises a polymer stabilized liquid crystal layer and two alignment layers located on two sides of the polymer stabilized liquid crystal layer.
In some examples, the transmittance adjustment layer comprises a liquid crystal layer and two alignment layers located on two sides of the liquid crystal layer.
In some examples, the illumination rendering film further comprises an insulating protective layer covering the first electrode and/or the second electrode.
In some examples, the light source component comprises a light guide plate and a light source located on at least one lateral face of the light guide plate.
In some examples, the light source component further comprises a diffusion sheet located on a light exiting side of the light guide plate, at least one prism sheet, and a reflective film located on an opposite side of the light exiting side of the light guide plate.
In some examples, the light source component comprises a light source array, and a diffusion plate and at least one prism sheet which are sequentially located on a light exiting side of the light source array.
In some examples, the at least one prism sheet comprises a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet; the first prism sheet comprises a prism extending in a first direction, the second prism sheet comprises a prism extending in a second direction, and the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.
In some examples, the backlight module further comprises: a processor configured to provide the dimming signal to the dimming unit.
In some examples, the plurality of dimming units are configured to be capable of independently receiving different dimming signals.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display device, comprising: a display panel; and the backlight module according to any one of claims 1-15 and configured to provide light for the display panel.
In order to clearly illustrate the technical solution of embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described in the following, it is obvious that the drawings in the description are only related to some embodiments of the present disclosure and not limited to the present disclosure.
01—backlight module; 02—display panel; 10—light source component; 101—light guide plate; 102—light source; 103—diffusion sheet; 104—prism sheet; 1041—first prism sheet; 1042—second prism sheet; 114—prism; 105—reflective sheet; 110—back plate; 111—support column; 112—light source array; 113—diffusion plate; 115—lower diffusion sheet; 116—upper diffusion sheet; 20—illumination rendering film; 201—dimming unit; 210—first electrode; 220—second electrode; 230—transmittance adjustment layer; 2301—liquid crystal microdroplet; 2302—polymer monomer; 2304—liquid crystal molecule; 2303—liquid crystal layer; and 202—insulating protective layer.
In order to make objects, technical details and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosure apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments will be described in a clearly and fully understandable way in connection with the drawings related to the embodiments of the disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are just a part but not all of the embodiments of the disclosure. Based on the described embodiments herein, those skilled in the art can obtain other embodiment(s), without any inventive work, which should be within the scope of the disclosure.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a backlight module 01, as illustrated by
As illustrated by
Furthermore, the abovementioned light source component 10 includes a light source used for providing light. For example, the light source can be formed by an LED lamp or an LED strip.
In some examples, the abovementioned backlight module 01 can be applied to a display device that includes a processor. The processor can separately send the dimming signal to each of the dimming units 201. The processor can be disposed in the backlight module 01 or disposed outside the backlight module 01.
In a case where the abovementioned backlight module 01 is applied to a display device, before an image frame is displayed, the processor can divide the image to be displayed into a plurality of regions, and each of regions corresponds to one of the dimming units 201. Then, the processor judges whether each of the regions in the image is a bright field region or a dark field region, and generates the abovementioned dimming signal according to the judging result, so that each of the dimming units 201 can change its transmittance according to the dimming signal after receiving the dimming signal. In this way, the transmittance of the dimming unit 201 corresponding to the bright field region is increased, and the transmittance of the dimming unit 201 corresponding to the dark field region is lowered. After the abovementioned dimming process, the bright field region in the displayed image is brighter and the dark field region in the displayed image is darker, so that more image details can be displayed, and a purpose of high dynamic illumination rendering can be achieved.
For example,
Hereinafter, some exemplary structures of the abovementioned dimming unit 201 will be described in detail.
In some examples, as illustrated by
The abovementioned example is described by taking a case where the first electrode and the second electrode are located on two sides of the transmittance adjustment layer as an example. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, as long as an electrical filed for controlling the transmittance of the transmittance adjustment layer can be applied, any suitable control electrode can be applied to the abovementioned dimming unit.
The abovementioned processor can output the dimming signal to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, respectively. The first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 which are located opposite to each other can generate an electric field for controlling a haze of the transmittance adjustment layer 230 according to the dimming signal. That is, upon the electric field generated by the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 being different, the haze of the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is also different.
For example, a material constituting the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 can be a transparent conductive material, such as: indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO).
In some examples, in order to protect the outer surface of the first electrode 210 and/or the second electrode 220, or to prevent the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 from being electrically connected with other components and causing a short circuit, as illustrated by
In some examples, in order to increase the transparency of the illumination rendering film 20, a material forming the insulating protective layer 202 can be a transparent resin material, such as: polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
As seen, the adjacent dimming units 201 need to be independently controlled. That is to say, the plurality of dimming units can independently receive different dimming signals, so as to independently control the brightness of different regions of the backlight module. In this case, the structure of the abovementioned illumination rendering film 20 is illustrated by
Hereinafter, some exemplary structures of the abovementioned transmittance adjustment layer 230 will be described in detail.
For example, as illustrated by
In some examples, in consideration of the manufacturing costs and production precision, a thickness of the abovementioned polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer is, for example, 120 μm±5 μm.
In order to make the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 which are respectively located on two sides of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer be able to generate an electric field therebetween, as illustrated by
For example, upon the voltage applied to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 being relatively small, for example, around 0 V, the electric field generated by the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 is too weak to drive the deflection direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal droplets 2301 to change. Therefore, liquid crystal molecules in each of the liquid crystal droplets 2301 are arranged in a disordered manner in each of the liquid crystal droplets 2301. In this case, most of the light incident on the PDLC is dispersed by the disordered liquid crystal molecules, so that parallel light emitted from the light source component 10 cannot be emitted in a parallel state. In this case, the haze of the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is relatively large, and light transmitting rate of the parallel light is only 5%. The dimming unit 201 including the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is in a fog state as illustrated by
Alternatively, upon the voltage applied to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 being relatively large, for example, an alternating current (AC) of about 30 V. In this case, the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 can generate a certain electric field, and under the action of the electric field, the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal droplets 2301 are driven to deflect. For example, the electric field at the position where the liquid crystal molecules in the same dimming unit 201 are located is the same, so the deflection angles of the liquid crystal molecules in the same dimming unit 201 are also the same.
In this case, liquid crystal molecules in the same dimming unit 201 are arranged in an orderly manner in each of the liquid crystal droplets 2301. As illustrated by
For example, by adjusting the magnitude of the voltage applied to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, the transmittance of each of the dimming units 201 can be adjusted within a range of 5% to 90%, such that regions corresponding to different dimming units 201 in the image to be displayed receive different amount of parallel light, so as to achieve the purpose of local dimming. Based on this, the transmittances of the plurality of dimming units 201 in the transmissive state (or the fog state) in
It should be noted that,
In some examples, as illustrated by
For example, the PSLC includes liquid crystal molecules 2304 with a relatively high content, so as to be in a continuous phase. In addition, a polymer monomer 2032 is also included. The polymer monomer 2032 is dispersed in a network form by liquid crystal molecules 2304.
In this case, upon the voltage applied to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 being relatively small, for example, 0 V, the electric field generated by the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 is too weak to drive the deflection direction of the liquid crystal molecules 2304 to change. Therefore, the liquid crystal molecules 2304 are arranged in an orderly manner under the orientation of the abovementioned alignment layers 2303. In this case, refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules 2304 matches refractive index of the polymer monomer 2032, such that most of the light incident to the PSLC can keep parallel and be emitted in a parallel state. In this case, the transmittance adjustment layer 230 has a relatively high transmittance and a relatively low haze, so that the dimming unit 201 having the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is in a transmissive state as illustrated by
Alternatively, upon the voltage applied to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 being increased, because the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 are capable of generating a certain electric field, the liquid crystal molecules 2304 can be driven to deflect in a direction of the electric field. In this case, the refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules 2304 does not match the refractive index of the polymer monomer 2032, such that the transmittance of the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is lowered, so that the dimming unit 201 including the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is in a fog state as illustrated by
In summary, by adjusting the magnitude of the voltage applied to the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, the matching degree between the refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules 2304 and the refractive index of the polymer monomer 2032 can be adjusted, so that regions corresponding to different dimming units 201 in the image to be displayed receive different amount of parallel light, so as to achieve the purpose of local dimming.
In some examples, as illustrated by
In this case, the deflection directions of the liquid crystal molecules 2304 in the liquid crystal layer 2305 can be controlled by a vertical electric field formed by the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, so as to adjust the transmittance of the liquid crystal layer 2305. Finally, the purpose of adjusting the transmittance of the transmittance adjustment layer 230 is achieved, so that the dimming units 201 corresponding to the dark field regions in the image to be displayed are in a fog state, and the dimming units 201 corresponding to the bright field regions in the image to be displayed are in a transmissive state.
Hereinafter, some exemplary structures of the light source component 10 in
For example, the abovementioned backlight module 01 is of an edge-lit type as illustrated by
For example, light of the light source 102 provided on a lateral face of the light guide plate 101 incident from the lateral face of the light guide plate 101 can be introduced to the entire light incident surface of the illumination rendering film 20 through the light guide plate 101.
Furthermore, the light source component 10 further includes a diffusion sheet 103 and at least one prism sheet 104 which are located on the side of the light exit surface of the light guide plate 101, and a reflective sheet 105 on the opposite side of the light exit surface of the light guide plate 101.
The diffusion sheet 103 is used for diffusing light to increase the diffusivity of the light emitted from the light source component 10.
In addition, the prism sheet 104 can concentrate the light passing through the diffusion sheet 103 in a smaller range, so as to achieve a brightening effect. Based on this, the at least one prism sheet 104 includes a first prism sheet 1041 and a second prism sheet 1042. As illustrated by
In addition, the reflective sheet 105 can reflect light emitted from the light source 102 to the light guide plate 101 and the diffusion sheet 103, so that the utilization ratio of the light emitted from the light source 102 can be improved.
In some examples, the backlight module 01 is of a direct-lit type. The light source component 10 of
The structure of the prism sheet 104 is the same as the structure described above, and will be omitted herein. Alternatively, the prism sheet 104 can simultaneously include a prism 114 extending in the X direction and a prism 114 extending in the Y direction.
Furthermore, the above direct type further includes a lower diffusion sheet 115 and an upper diffusion sheet 116 which are respectively located on two sides of the prism sheet 104. For example, the lower diffusion sheet 115, the upper diffusion sheet 116, and the diffusion plate 113 have the same function.
It should be noted that: because the direct-lit type backlight module 01 has a high requirement for the light mixing distance, the diffusion plate 113 and the back plate 110 need to be provided with a support column 111 therebetween. As a result, the thickness of the direct type backlight module 01 is relatively large. The light source 102 in the edge-lit backlight module 01 is disposed on a lateral face of the light guide plate 101, so the thickness of the edge-lit backlight module 01 is relatively small.
The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display device, including any one of the abovementioned backlight modules 01 and a display panel 02 disposed on the light exit side of the backlight module 01. For example, the display panel can be a liquid crystal display panel. In addition, the display device further includes the abovementioned processor for outputting a dimming signal to the dimming unit 201 in the backlight module 01.
It should be noted that the display device has the same beneficial effects as the backlight module provided in the foregoing embodiment, and details are omitted herein.
In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the display device can be any product or component having a display function, such as a liquid crystal display, a liquid crystal television, a digital photo frame, a mobile phone, or a tablet computer.
The foregoing is only the embodiments of the present invention and not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention, and the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
201710588245.4 | Jul 2017 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/CN2018/076235 | 2/11/2018 | WO | 00 |