1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates, inter alia, to a driver circuit. One particular application of such a driver circuit is for driving a pixel of an organic electroluminescent device.
2. Desription of Related Art
An organic electro-luminescent (OEL) element comprises a light emitting material layer sandwiched between an anode layer and a cathode layer. Electrically, this element operates like a diode. Optically, it emits light when forward biased and the intensity of the emission increases with the forward bias current. It is possible to construct a display panel with a matrix of OEL elements fabricated on a transparent substrate and with at least one of the electrode layers being transparent. One can also integrate the driving circuit on the same panel by using low temperature polysilicon thin film transistor (TFT) technology.
In a basic analog driving scheme for an active matrix OEL display, a minimum of two transistors are required per pixel (FIG. 1): T1 is for addressing the pixel and T2 is for converting the data voltage signal into current which drives the OEL element at a designated brightness. The data signal is stored by the storage capacitor Cstorage when the pixel is not addressed Although p-channel TFTs are shown in the figures, the same principle can also be applied for a circuit with n-channel TFTs.
There are problems associated with TFT analog circuits and OEL elements do not act like perfect diodes. The light emitting material does, however, have relatively uniform characteristics. Due to the nature of the TFT fabrication technique, spatial variation of the TFT characteristics exists over the entire panel. One of the most important considerations in a TFT analog circuit is the variation of threshold voltage, ΔVT, from device to device. The effect of such variation in an OEL display, exacerbated by the non perfect diode behaviour, is the non-uniform pixel brightness over the display panel, which seriously effects the image quality. Therefore, a built-in circuit for compensating a dispersion of transistor characteristics is required.
A circuit shown in
A constant current is provided, in theory, during the active programming stage, which is t2 to t5 in the timing diagram shown in FIG. 2. The reproduction stage starts at t6.
The circuit of
Attention is, by the present invention, drawn to the fact that all currents passing through the circuit of
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a driver circuit operating in stages that comprise a programming stage and a reproduction stage, the circuit comprising: a plurality of current paths each of which passes through the circuit, a current driven element, a transistor connected so as operatively to control the current supplied to the said element, a capacitor connected for storing an operating voltage of the transistor during the programming stage, and switching means which control the current paths, the arrangement being such that one of the current paths does not include the said element.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a driver circuit for driving a pixel of an electroluminescent device, the pixel including an electroluminescent element and the circuit comprising; a transistor connected so as operatively to control the current supplied to the electroluminescent element, a capacitor connected for storing an operating voltage of the transistor during a programming stage, a first switching means connected so as to establish when operative a current path through the transistor during the programming stage, and a second switching means connected so as to establish when operative a current path through the transistor and the electroluminescent element during a reproduction stage, wherein the first switching means is connected such that the current path during the programming stage does not pass through the electroluminescent element.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a driver circuit for driving a pixel of an electroluminescent device, the pixel including an electroluminescent element and the circuit comprising; a transistor connected so as operatively to control the current supplied to the electroluminescent element, a capacitor connected for storing an operating voltage of the transistor dug a programming stage, a first switching means connected so as to establish when operative a current path through the transistor during the programming stage, a second switching means connected so as to establish when operative a current path through the transistor and the electroluminescent element during a reproduction stage, and a current sink, the first switching means being connected such that the current path during the programming stage is through the transistor to the current sink.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling the current supply to an electroluminescent element comprising the steps of providing a current path during a programming stage which path does not pass through the electroluminescent element and of providing a current path during a reproduction stage which path does pass through the electroluminescent element.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling the current supply to an electroluminescent element comprising the steps of providing a current path during a programming stage which path connects to a current sink and of providing a current path during a reproduction stage which path passes through the electroluminescent element.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided an electroluminescent display device comprising one or more driver circuits according to any of the first to third aspects of the present invention.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic apparatus incorporating an electroluminescent display device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention.
According to an eight aspect of the present invention there is provided a circuit comprising a current driven element the circuit providing a first current path including the current driven element and a second current path not including the current driven element.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention there is provided a circuit comprising a current driven element, the circuit providing a first current path flowing a current through the current driven element, and a second current path not flowing current through the current driven element.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for driving a circuit comprising a current driven element and a transistor that controls a current supplied to the current driven element, comprising a step of determining a gate voltage of the transistor based on a predetermined current.
It will be noted that according to the present invention no current is applied to the current driven element by the current controlling transistor during the programming stage. In accordance with the invention in an electroluminescent device a pixel driver circuit can be implemented without degrading the perceived image presented by the electroluminescent device. It has the benefit of reducing the overall power consumption compared with the prior art in which the same current is supplied to the OEL element during both the programming and the reproduction stage. Furthermore, the circuit can be operated from a normal supply voltage rather than requiring a high bias voltage as in the prior art. In effect, the present invention provides for separation of the programming and the reproduction current paths. This enables a number of advantages to be achieved. For example, if there is no current flow through the OEL element during the programming stage then the programming stage operates more quickly—since the arrangement avoids the slow down caused by the parasitic capacitance of the OEL element.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of further example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
A pixel driver circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. Transistor T2 operates as an analog current control to provide the driving current to the OEL element. Also, the storage capacitor C1 is connected between the gate and the source of transistor T2. In the circuit of
The circuit of
At the start of the programming stage, with T4 switched off, it is found that the OEL element exhibits a parasitic capacitance which discharges through the device. The rate of charging of C1 determines the time taken for the programming stage. In accordance with circuits embodying the present invention, the capacitance of C1 can be relatively small and thus the charging can be very rapid. As a consequence, the period for which no current is applied to the OEL element by T2 is very short compared with the whole Same. These factors, together with the persistence of vision of the human eye means that there is no perceptible degradation of a displayed image.
The off resistance of T3 can be important, because aft C1 has been charged and T3 is switched off, the off resistance of T3 can affect the voltage across C1 for the rest of the frame period. Thus, the gate/source capacitance of T3 should preferably be small compared with C1.
The reproduction voltage VR is applied to the gate of transistor T4. At the beginning of the reproduction stage, in the circuit of
The forward oriented organic EL display element 131 is formed by: the pixel electrode 115 formed of A1, the opposite electrode 116 formed of ITO, the hole injection layer 132, and the organic EL layer 133. In the forward oriented organic EL display element 131, the direction of current of the organic EL display device can be set from the opposite electrode 116 formed of ITO to the pixel electrode 115 formed of A1.
The hole injection layer 132 and the organic EL layer 133 may be formed using an ink-jet printing me employing the resist 151 as a separating structure between the pixels. The opposite electrode 116 formed of ITO may be formed using a sputtering method However, other methods may also be used for forming all of these components.
The typical layout of a full display panel employing the present invention is shown schematically in FIG. 7. The panel comprises an active matrix OEL element 200 with analogue current program pixels, an integrated TFT scanning driver 210 with level shifter, a flexible TAB tape 220, and an external analogue driver LSI 230 with an integrated RAM/controller. Of course, this is only one example of the possible panel arrangements in which the present invention can be used.
The structure of the organic EL display device is not limited to the one described here. Other structures are also applicable.
With reference for example to the circuit of
Iout=Iin×N
is achieved. Iin is the current which flows through the current sink, i.e. IDAT in
Of course, additional stages—each adding their own circuit of additional transistors T5 and T6—can be added. With the switching transistors T6 series connected and each receiving its own gate drive signal—as shown in
Preferably the circuits shown in
The present invention is particularly advantageous for use in small, mobile electronic products such as mobile phones, computers, CD players, DVD players and the like—although it is not limited thereto.
Several electronic apparatuses using the above organic electroluminescent display device will now be described.
<1: Mobile Computer>
An example in which the display device according to one of the above embodiments is applied to a mobile personal computer will now be described.
<2: Portable Phone>
Next, an example in which the display device is applied to a display section of a portable phone will be described.
<3: Digital Still Camera>
Next, a digital still camera using an OEL display device as a finder will be described
Typical cameras sensitize films based on optical images from objects, whereas the digital still camera 1300 generates imaging signals from the optical image of an object by photoelectric conversion using, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD). The digital still camera 1300 is provided with an OEL element 100 at the back face of a case 1302 to perform display based on the imaging signals from the CCD. Thus, the display panel 100 functions as a finder for displaying the object A photo acceptance unit 1304 including optical lenses and the CCD is provided at the front side (behind in the drawing) of the case 1302.
When a cameraman determines the object image displayed in the OEL element panel 100 and releases the shutter, the image signal from the CCD are transmitted and stored to memories in a circuit board 1308, In the digital still camera 1300, video signal output terminals 1312 and input/output terminals 1314 for data communication are provided on a side of the case 1302. As shown in the drawing, a television monitor 1430 and a personal computer 1440 are connected to the video signal terminals 1312 and the input/output terminals 1314, respectively, if necessary. The imaging signals stored in the memories of the circuit board 1308 are output to the television monitor 1430 and the personal computer 1440, by a given operation.
Examples of electronic apparatuses, other than the personal computer shown in
The driver circuit of the present invention can be disposed not only in a pixel of a display unit but also in a driver disposed outside a display unit.
In the above, the driver circuit of the present invention has been described with reference to various display devices. The applications of the driver circuit of the present invention are much broader than just display devices and include, for example, its use with a magnetoresistive RAM, a capacitance sensor, a charge sensor, a DNA sensor, a night vision camera and many other devices.
In the embodiments illustrated with reference to the above specific description the transistors have been shown as p-channel type transistors. This is not limiting of the invention. For example,
It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can be made to the arrangements described with respect to
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