TREA

Display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices and method of driving the same

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Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6369515
  • Patent Number
    6,369,515
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, September 23, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 9, 2002
    22 years ago
Information
Abstract
Disclosed is a method and apparatus for reducing consumption power of a display having capacitive light-emitting devices. The method includes steps of: inserting a reset period between each of scan periods, connecting all the scan lines to the same reset potential, selecting non-connection keeping drive lines among all the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a previous and a present scan period, or unconnected drive lines which have been connected to the drive source in the previous scan period but are not connected thereto in the present scan period, and opens the selected non-connection keeping drive lines or the selected drive lines, and connects the other drive lines to the reset potential.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an image display apparatus and a method for driving the apparatus and, more particularly, to a display apparatus having capacitive light-emitting devices, such as organic electroluminescence devices, and the method for driving the apparatus.




2. Description of the Related Art




An electroluminescence display panel which has a plurality of organic electroluminescence devices arranged in a matrix form is receiving great attention as a display which can have lower power consumption and high display quality and can be suitable for thin-profile display apparatus. As shown in

FIG. 1

, the organic electroluminescence device has at least a single organic function layer


102


, comprised of an electron-transport layer, a light-emitting layer, hole-transport layer, etc., and a metal electrode


103


, both formed on a transparent substrate


100


like a glass plate on which a transparent electrode


101


is formed. As a positive voltage is applied to the anode of the transparent electrode


101


and a negative voltage to the cathode of the metal electrode


103


, i.e., as a DC voltage is applied between the transparent electrode


101


and the metal electrode


103


, the organic function layer


102


emits light. With the organic function layer formed of an organic compound which can be expected to have an excellent emission characteristic, the electroluminescence display can be used practically.




An organic electroluminescence device (hereinafter also referred to as “EL device”) can be expressed as an electrically equivalent circuit as shown in FIG.


2


. As apparent from the circuit diagram, the device can be replaced with a capacitive component C and a component E with a diode characteristic that is coupled in parallel to the capacitive component C. The EL device is thus a capacitive light-emitting device. When a DC drive voltage is applied between the electrodes of the EL device, charges are stored in the capacitive component C. When the drive voltage exceeds the barrier voltage or emission threshold value inherent to the device, a current starts flowing into the organic function layer that has the light-emitting layer from one of the electrodes (the anode side of the diode component E) and light is emitted with the intensity proportional to the current.




The voltage V v.s. current I v.s. luminance L characteristic of the device is similar to the diode characteristic such that the current I is very small for the voltage equal to or lower than the emission threshold value Vth but abruptly increases when the voltage becomes greater than the emission threshold value Vth, as shown in FIG.


3


. The current I is approximately proportional to the luminance L. Such a device provides a luminance proportional to the current that accords to the drive voltage when the drive voltage above the emission threshold value Vth is applied to the device, but it has substantially no drive current flowing when the applied drive voltage is lower than the emission threshold value Vth, so that the luminance stays substantially equal to zero.




Passive matrix driving can be used to drive a display panel which uses a plurality of such EL devices.

FIG. 4

exemplifies the structure of a passive matrix display panel. An N number of cathode lines (metal electrodes) B


1


to B


n


are laid horizontally, and an M number of anode lines (transparent electrodes) A


1


to A


m


are laid in parallel vertically to cathode lines B


1


-B


n


, with light-emitting layers of EL devices E


1,1


to E


m,n


placed at (a total of n×m) intersections between the anode lines A


1


-A


m


and the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


. The devices E


1,1


to E


m,n


which serve as pixels are arranged in a grid pattern, and have their one ends (each of which corresponds to the anode of the diode component E in the aforementioned equivalent circuit) connected to the anode lines A


1


-A


m


at the respective intersections between the vertical anode lines A


1


-A


m


and the horizontal cathode lines B


1


-B


n


and the other ends (each of which corresponds to the cathode of the diode component E in the equivalent circuit) connected to the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


. The cathode lines B


1


-B


n


are connected to, and driven by, a cathode-line scan circuit


1


, while the anode lines A


1


-A


m


are connected to, and driven by, an anode-line driver


2


.




The cathode-line scan circuit


1


has scan switches


5




1


to


5




n


which are associated with the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


and respectively determine the potentials of the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


. Each of the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


connects either a reverse bias voltage V


cc


(e.g., 10 V), which is a power supply voltage, or a ground potential (0 V) to the associated cathode line.




The anode-line driver


2


has current sources (e.g., constant current sources)


2




1


to


2




m


and drive switches


6




1


to


6




m


, which are associated with the anode lines A


1


-A


m


and supply the drive current to the respective devices via the respective anode lines. The anode-line driver


2


performs ON/OFF control on the drive switches


6




1


-


6




m


. to let the current flow through the respective anode lines A


1


-A


m


individually. It is typical to use current sources as the drive sources instead of voltage sources like constant voltage sources for reasons such as the aforementioned current v.s. luminance characteristic being stable with respect to a temperature variation whereas the voltage v.s. luminance characteristic is not. The amount of the current to be supplied from each of the current sources


2




1


-


2




m


is set to the amount that is necessary to keep the associated device emitting light at the desired instantaneous luminance (hereinafter this state will be called “steady emission state”). As electrical charges are being stored in the capacitive component C in the device while the device is in the steady emission state, the voltage across the device becomes a specified value Ve (hereinafter called “specified emission voltage”).




The anode lines A


1


-A


m


are also connected to an anode-line resetting circuit


3


, which has shunt switches


7




1


-


7




m


provided for the respective anode lines. As each shunt switch is selected, the anode-line resetting circuit


3


sets the associated anode line to the ground potential.




The cathode-line scan circuit


1


, the anode-line driver


2


and the anode-line resetting circuit


3


are connected to an emission controller


4


.




In accordance with image data supplied from an image data generating system (not shown), the emission controller


4


controls the cathode-line scan circuit


1


, the anode-line driver


2


and the anode-line resetting circuit


3


to display images carried by the image data. The emission controller


4


controls switching of the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


to send a scan-line selection control signal to the cathode-line scan circuit


1


, select one of the cathode lines that corresponds to the horizontal scan period of the image data, connect the selected cathode line to the ground and apply the reverse bias voltage V


cc


to the other cathode lines. The reverse bias voltage V


cc


is applied by a constant voltage source to be connected to each cathode line in order to prevent cross-talk emission from the devices connected at the intersections of the driven anode lines and the cathode lines which are not selected for scanning. The reverse bias voltage V


cc


is generally set equal to the specified emission voltage Ve. As the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


are sequentially switched to the ground potential every horizontal scan period, the cathode line which has been switched to the ground potential serves as a scan line which permits the devices connected to the cathode line to emit light.




The anode-line driver


2


performs drive control on the selected scan line. The emission controller


4


generates drive control signals (drive pulses) indicating which device connected to the scan line should be enabled to emit light at what timing and for how long, in accordance with pixel information specified by the image data, and sends the drive control signal to the anode-line driver


2


. In accordance with the drive control signal, the anode-line driver


2


implements ON/OFF control on some of the drive switches


6




1


-


6




m


and supplies the drive current to the devices corresponding to the pixel information via the associated anode lines A


1


-A


m


. Consequently, the devices supplied with the drive current emit light according to the pixel information.




The reset operation of the anode-line resetting circuit


3


is performed in response to a reset control signal from the emission controller


4


. The anode-line resetting circuit


3


sets any of the shunt switches


7




1


-


7




m


which corresponds to the anode line to be reset that is indicated by the reset control signal, and sets off the other shunt switches.




Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. H 9-232074 of the same applicant as the present application discloses a driving method of executing a reset operation to discharge electrical charges stored in individual devices laid out in a grid pattern on a passive matrix display panel immediately before changing the scan line (this method will be hereinafter called “reset driving method”). The reset driving method quickens the rising of emission of devices at the time the scan line is changed over to another one. The reset driving method for a passive matrix display panel will now be described with reference to

FIGS. 4

to


6


.




The operation exemplified in

FIGS. 4

to


6


is for a case where the cathode line B


1


is scanned to permit the devices E


1,1


and E


2,1


to emit light, then scanning is shifted to the cathode line B


2


to permit the devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


to emit light. For easier understanding of the description, the devices which are emitting light are indicated by the symbols of diodes, while the devices which are not emitting light are indicated by the symbols of capacitors. The reverse bias voltage V


cc


to be applied to the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


is 10 V, the same as the specified emission voltage Ve for the devices.




First, only the scan switch


5




1


is switched to the ground potential position and the cathode line B


1


is scanned in FIG.


4


. The reverse bias voltage V


cc


is applied to the other cathode lines B


2


-B


n


by the scan switches


5




2


-


5




n


. At the same time, the current sources


2




1


and


2




2


are respectively electrically connected to the anode lines A


1


and A


2


by the drive switches


6




1


and


6




2


. The other anode lines A


3


-A


m


are switched to the ground potential (earth) position of 0 V by the shunt switches


7




3


-


7




m


. In the case of

FIG. 4

, therefore, only the devices E


1,1


and E


2,1


are biased in the forward direction, and the drive current flows into those devices from the current sources


2




1


and


2




2


as shown by the arrows, causing only the devices E


1,1


and E


2,1


to emit light. In this state, the devices E


3,2


to E


m,n


which are not emitting light and are indicated by hatching are charged to the illustrated polarity.




The following reset control is executed immediately before scanning is shifted from the steady emission state in

FIG. 4

to a state where the next devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


emit light. Specifically, as shown in

FIG. 5

, all the drive switches


6




1


-


6




m


are opened, all the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


and all the shunt switches


7




1


-


7




m


are switched to the ground position, and all of the anode lines A


1


-A


m


and the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


are temporarily shunt to the ground position of 0 V to be all reset. When the all-resetting is carried out, all of the anode lines and the cathode lines have the same potential of 0 V, so that the charges stored in the individual devices are discharged through the routes indicated by the arrows in FIG.


5


. As a result, the charges stored in all the devices will vanish instantaneously.




After the charges stored in all the devices are set to zero, only the scan switch


52


corresponding to the cathode line B


2


is switched to the 0 V position to scan the cathode line B


2


as shown in FIG.


6


. At the same time, the drive switches


62


and


63


are closed to connect the current sources


2




2


and


23


to the associated anode lines, and the shunt switches


7




1


and


7




4


-


7




m


are switched on to apply 0 V to the anode lines A


1


and A


4


-A


m


.




As apparent from the above, the emission control in the reset driving method repeats the scan mode during which one of the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


is set active and the following reset mode. The scan mode and reset mode are performed every horizontal scan period (1 H) of image data. If the state in

FIG. 4

were shifted to the state in

FIG. 6

directly without the reset control, the drive current to be supplied from the current source


23


, for example, not only would flow into the device E


3,2


but would also be used to cancel the charges of the opposite polarity (shown in

FIG. 4

) stored in the devices E


3,3


to E


3,n


. It would therefore take time to render the device E


3,2


in the steady emission state (to set the voltage across the device E


3,2


to the specified emission voltage Ve).




Through the above-described reset control, however, the potentials of the anode lines A


2


and A


3


become approximately V


cc


the instant scanning is shifted to the cathode line B


2


, so that the charge current flow into the devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


which should emit light next, through a plurality of routes from the constant voltage sources connected to the cathode lines B


1


and B


3


-B


n


as well as from the current sources


2




2


and


2




3


. The charge current make the voltages across the devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


reach the specified emission voltage Ve instantaneously, thus enabling instantaneous transition to the steady emission state.




Since the conventional reset driving method temporarily resets all of the cathode lines and the anode lines by connecting those lines to the ground potential of 0 V or the same potential as the reverse bias voltage V


cc


before emission control moves to the next scan line, it is possible to speed up charging of the devices to emit light in the next scan to the specified emission voltage Ve at the time the scan line is switched and quicken the rising of emission of the devices on the switched scan line which should emit light.




Since, in the passive matrix display panel employing the reset driving method, the charges stored in the parallel capacitive components of the devices that are to emit light are discharged before switching to the next scan line, however, it has a deficiency that consumption power is wasted. Paying attention to a case where the EL devices E


m,1


and E


m,2


connected to the anode line A


m


do not emit light when the scanning target is switched from the cathode line B


1


to the cathode line B


2


as shown in

FIGS. 4

to


6


, for example, the power loss of those devices will be explained referring to

FIGS. 7A through 7C

. As shown in

FIG. 7A

, while the device E


m,1


is not charged during the first scanning of the cathode line B


1


due to the cathode line B


1


and anode line A


m


both being at the ground potential, the devices E


m,2


to E


m,n


are biased in the reverse direction with the reverse bias voltage V


cc


and their parallel capacitive components are charged with charges Q via the cathode lines B


2


-B


n


. The total amount of charges of the devices on the anode line A


m


which are not emitting light becomes (n−1)Q. Next, all-resetting to 0 V causes all the charges (n−1)Q to be discharged to zero via the anode line A


1


and cathode lines B


2


-B


n


, as shown in FIG.


7


B. During the second scanning of the next cathode line B


2


, as shown in

FIG. 7C

, the parallel capacitive components of the devices E


m,1


and E


m,3


to E


m,n


on the anode line A


m


are charged with charges (n−1)Q. When one pays attention to the devices which do not emit light, therefore, wasteful discharging occurs every resetting operation. In other words, in a case where an anode line is reset between the first and second scans and the devices on that anode line, such as the devices E


2,1


and E


2,2


on the anode line A


2


, are rendered off from off, consumed power of charges


2


(n−1)Q is wasted. The power loss by the charging and discharging of the parallel capacitive components in a plurality of EL devices of the display panel becomes greater in proportion to the parallel capacitance per unit area and the effective area of the display panel. It is therefore necessary to reduce the power loss.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices, which quickens the rising of light emission without increasing power consumption.




To achieve the object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for driving a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices including a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between the scan lines and the drive lines, scan switches for connecting the scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential different from each other when activated, drive switches for connecting the drive lines to at least one of the first and second potentials or a drive source when activated, and emission control means for controlling the drive switches and the scan switches, whereby the drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect the drive lines to the drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings at which the scan switches connect the scan lines to a lower one of the first and the second potentials, comprises the steps of inserting a reset period between each of scan periods; selecting non-connection keeping drive lines among all of the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a previous scan period and a present scan period; and connecting all of the scan lines to the same reset potential, opening the selected non-connection keeping drive lines and connecting the other drive lines to the reset potential in the reset period.




According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for driving a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices including a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between the scan lines and the drive lines, scan switches for connecting the scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential different from each other when activated, drive switches for connecting the drive lines to at least one of the first and second potentials or a drive source when activated, and emission control means for controlling the drive switches and the scan switches, whereby the drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect the drive lines to the drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings at which the scan switches connect the scan lines to a lower one of the first and the second potentials, comprises the steps of inserting a reset period between each of scan periods; selecting unconnected drive lines among all of the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a present scan period; and connecting all of the scan lines to a same reset potential, opening the selected unconnected drive lines and connecting the other drive lines to the reset potential in the reset period.




In the method according to the present invention, selection of the non-connection keeping drive lines or the unconnected drive lines is carried out in a reset period immediately before the present scan period.




In the method according to the present invention, one of the first potential and the second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is a potential greater than a potential difference between a specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices and an emission threshold voltage.




In the method according to the present invention, one of the first potential and the second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is substantially equal to a specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices.




In the method according to the present invention, the reset potential is equal to one of the first and second potentials.




In the method according to the present invention, a scan line to which the selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected is connected to the ground potential, and the other scan lines are connected to a potential greater than the potential difference between the specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices and the emission threshold voltage.




In the method according to the present invention, a scan line to which the selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected is connected to the ground potential, and the other scan lines are connected to a potential substantially equal to the specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices.




In the method according to the present invention, drive lines other than that drive line to which the selected capacitive light-emitting devices to be connected to the drive source for light emission are connected are connected to the ground potential.




In the method according to the present invention, the capacitive light-emitting devices are electroluminescence devices.




In the method according to the present invention, the capacitive light-emitting devices are located at intersections of a plurality of drive lines extending approximately in parallel to one another and a plurality of scan lines extending approximately perpendicularly to the drive lines and approximately in parallel to one another and respectively electrically connected to the scan lines and the drive lines.




According to further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices which includes a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between the scan lines and the drive lines; scan switches for connecting the scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential different from each other when activated; drive switches for connecting the drive lines to at least one of the first and second potentials or a drive source when activated; emission control means for controlling the drive switches and the scan switches in such a way that the drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect the drive lines to the drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings at which the scan switches connect the scan lines to a lower one of the first and the second potentials; and discrimination means for selecting non-connection keeping drive lines among all of the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a previous scan period and a present scan period, wherein the emission control means provides a reset period between the scan timings, and performs such control as to connect all of the scan lines to the same reset potential, to open the non-connection keeping drive lines selected by the discrimination means and to connect the other drive lines to the reset potential in the reset period.




According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices which includes a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between the scan lines and the drive lines; scan switches for connecting the scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential different from each other when activated; drive switches for connecting the drive lines to at least one of the first and second potentials or a drive source when activated; emission control means for controlling the drive switches and the scan switches in such a way that the drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect the drive lines to the drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings at which the scan switches connect the scan lines to a lower one of the first and the second potentials; and discrimination means for selecting unconnected drive lines among all of the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a present scan period, wherein the emission control means provides a reset period between the scan timings, connects all of the scan lines to a same reset potential, opens the unconnected drive lines selected by the discrimination means and connects the other drive lines to the reset potential in the reset period.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, selection of drive lines by the discrimination means is carried out in a reset period immediately before the present scan period.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, one of the first potential and the second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is a potential greater than a potential difference between a specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices and an emission threshold voltage.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, one of the first potential and the second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is substantially equal to a specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, the reset potential is equal to one of the first and second potentials.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, in each scan period, the emission control means performs such control as to connect that scan line to which the selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected, to the ground potential, and connect the other scan lines to a potential greater than the potential difference between the specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices and the emission threshold voltage.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, in each scan period, the emission control means performs such control as to connect that scan line to which the selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected, to the ground potential, and connect the other scan lines to a potential approximately equal to the specified emission voltage of the capacitive light-emitting devices.




In the display apparatus according to the present invention, in each scan period, the emission control means executes such control as to connect drive lines other than that drive line to which the selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light are connected, to the ground potential.




According to the present invention, in the so-called reset driving method, not all the drive lines are set to the same potential in a reset period, but any drive line on which devices that are not emitting light are rendered off in the reset period between scanning period is extracted, i.e., selection of any one of all the drive lines which is not connected to a drive source and continuously emits no light in both the previous and present scan periods is determined, and the selected drive line is opened, so that the residual charges in the capacitive components of all the devices on that drive line can be held undischarged. Meanwhile, it is possible to avoid charging which does not contribute to light emission or charging of the non-emitting devices at the present scanning. It is therefore possible to provide a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices, which quickens the rising of light emission without increasing power consumption.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a cross-sectional view of an organic electroluminescence (EL) device;





FIG. 2

is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of an EL device;





FIG. 3

is a graph schematically showing the drive voltage v.s. luminance characteristic of an EL device;





FIG. 4

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a display apparatus which uses conventional EL devices and a 0-V reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 5

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus which uses conventional EL devices and the 0-V reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 6

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus which uses conventional EL devices and the 0-V reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIGS. 7A through 7C

are schematic circuit diagrams for explaining the structure of the display apparatus which uses conventional EL devices and the 0-V reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 8

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a display apparatus according to the present invention, which uses EL devices;





FIG. 9

is a flowchart illustrating a first mode of a reset driving method for the display apparatus according to the present invention;





FIG. 10

is a flowchart illustrating a second mode of the reset driving method for the display apparatus according to the present invention;





FIG. 11

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a display apparatus using EL devices according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and a ground-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 12

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus using EL devices according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and the ground-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 13

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus using EL devices according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and the ground-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 14

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a display apparatus using EL devices according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and a reverse-bias-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 15

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus using EL devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and the reverse-bias-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 16

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus using EL devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and the reverse-bias-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 17

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a display apparatus using EL devices according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and a ground-potential and reverse-bias-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus;





FIG. 18

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus using EL devices according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and the ground-potential and reverse-bias-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus; and





FIG. 19

is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the display apparatus using EL devices according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and the ground-potential and reverse-bias-potential open-reset driving method which is adapted for the display apparatus.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described referring to the accompanying drawings.





FIG. 8

is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a display apparatus according to the present invention, which uses organic electroluminescence devices (hereinafter simply referred to as “EL device”). The display apparatus has a capacitive light-emitting panel


120


and an emission controller


40


. The light-emitting panel


120


includes a plurality of EL devices E


i,j


(1 i m, 1 j n) arranged in a matrix form at the intersections of drive lines like the aforementioned anode lines A


1


-A


m


and scan lines like the aforementioned cathode lines B


1


-B


n


and each connected between the associated scan line and drive line. That is, the EL devices are located at the intersections of a plurality of drive lines extending approximately in parallel to one another and a plurality of scan lines extending approximately perpendicularly to the drive lines and approximately in parallel to one another. The EL devices are connected to the respective scan lines and drive lines. The light-emitting panel


120


includes a cathode-line scan circuit


1


or scan switches for connecting the scan lines to one of a ground (earth) potential and a reverse bias potential different from each other, and an anode-line driver


2


or drive switches for connecting the drive lines to at least one of the ground potential (i.e., 0 V)and reverse bias potential or to a drive source.




As shown in

FIG. 11

, the cathode-line scan circuit


1


has scan switches


5




1


to


5




n


which are associated with the respective cathode lines B


1


-B


n


and each of which connects the associated cathode line to either a reverse bias voltage V


cc


(e.g., 10 V), which is the supply voltage, or the ground potential (0 V). The anode-line driver


2


has current sources


2




1


to


2




m


which are associated with the anode lines A


1


-A


m


and drive switches


6




1


to


6




m


, which switch to either the current sources


2




1


-


2




m


or the ground potential. The anode-line driver


2


performs ON/OFF control on the drive switches


6




1


-


6




m


to allow the current flow through the respective anode lines A


1


-A


m


individually. Therefore, the reverse bias voltage V


cc


should be made greater than the difference, Ve−Vth (Ve: the specified emission voltage, Vth: emission threshold value) to prevent unselected devices from erroneously emitting light. As mentioned above, the reverse bias voltage V


cc


is generally set equal to the specified emission voltage Ve (i.e., V


cc


=Ve).




The cathode-line scan circuit


1


performs switch control according to the so-called line sequential scanning of sequentially switching the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


to the ground potential every horizontal scan period and switching them to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


in the other periods by using the scan switches. The cathode-line scan circuit


1


may execute interlace scan control instead of the line sequential scanning. Image data is supplied to the anode lines A


1


-A


m


via the drive switches of the anode-line driver


2


. Accordingly, the cathode lines serve as scan lines to enable the devices connected thereto to emit light, and the anode lines serve as drive lines to cause the devices connected thereto to emit light.




The emission controller


40


, connected to the cathode-line scan circuit


1


and the anode-line driver


2


, serves as emission control means which controls both circuits. The emission controller


40


allows the anode-line driver


2


to selectively connect the drive lines to the respective drive sources, causing the selected devices to emit light, in synchronism with the cyclic scan timings at which the cathode-line scan circuit


1


connects one of the scan lines to the ground potential.




In the emission controller


40


, a sync separator circuit


41


extracts horizontal and vertical sync signals from an input video signal supplied, and sends the sync signals to a timing pulse generator


42


. The timing pulse generator


42


generates a sync signal timing pulse based on the extracted horizontal and vertical sync signals, and sends the timing pulse to an A/D (Analog-to-Digital) converter


43


, a control circuit


45


and a scan timing signal generator


47


. The A/D converter


43


converts the input video signal to digital pixel data in synchronism with the sync signal timing pulse for each pixel, and sends the pixel data to a memory


44


. The control circuit


45


sends a write signal and a read signal synchronous with the sync signal timing pulse to the memory


44


based on a driving method which will be described later. The memory


44


sequentially fetches individual pieces of pixel data supplied from the A/D converter


43


in accordance with the write signal. In accordance with the read signal, the memory


44


sequentially reads the stored pixel data and sends the data to an output processor


46


. The scan timing signal generator


47


generates various kinds of timing signals to control the scan switches and drive switches and send the timing signals to the cathode-line scan circuit


1


and the output processor


46


. The output processor


46


sends the pixel data supplied from the memory


44


to the anode-line driver


2


in synchronism with the timing signal from the scan timing signal generator


47


.




A first mode of a driving method for the capacitive light-emitting panel which is employed by the emission controller


40


will now be described referring to FIG.


9


.




First, the control circuit


45


determines if an H sync pulse indicative of one horizontal scan period (1H) has reached the memory


44


(step


1


).




Next, the control circuit


45


fetches image data for the present one horizontal scan period (the j-th scan) from the memory


44


and stores it (step


2


).




Then, the control circuit


45


compares the image data for the previous one horizontal scan period that has been stored at the time of the previous scan (the j−1-th scan), with the image data for the present one horizontal scan period (the j-th scan), and determines if there is any drive line i for which the device connected thereto in the previous scan period (the j−1-th scan) did not emit light and the device connected thereto in the present scan period (the j-th scan) neither emit light (step


3


).




If it is determined that such a drive line i exists, the control circuit


45


returns image data for the j-th horizontal scan to the memory


44


, and controls the drive switches of the anode-line driver


2


via the output processor


46


so as to set the drive line i open and set the other drive lines to the reset potential position. This causes all the drive lines except the drive line i and all the scan lines to connect to the same reset potential only for the reset time (step


4


).




If it is determined in step


3


that there is no drive line i for which the device connected thereto in the previous scan period (the j−1-th scan) did not emit light and the device connected thereto in the present scan period (the j-th scan) neither emit light, all the drive lines and all the scan lines are connected to the same reset potential only for the reset time (step


5


).




After the above reset mode is completed, a predetermined current is supplied to each drive line in accordance with the pixel data for the present horizontal scan period (the j-th scan) (step


6


).




A second mode of a driving method for the capacitive light-emitting panel which is employed by the emission controller


40


will now be described referring to FIG.


10


.




First, as shown in

FIG. 10

, the control circuit


45


executes steps


1


and


2


in the same way as done in the first mode.




Then, the control circuit


45


determines if there is any drive line i for which the device connected thereto in the present scan period (the j-th scan) should not emit light (step


3


).




If it is determined that the drive line i exists, the control circuit


45


controls the drive switches of the anode-line driver


2


via the output processor


46


so as to set the drive line i open and set the other drive lines to the reset potential position (step


4


).




If it is determined in step


3


that there is no drive line i for which the device connected thereto in the present scan period (the j-th scan) should not emit light, all the drive lines and all the scan lines are connected to the same reset potential only for the reset time (step


5


). After the reset mode is completed, a predetermined current is supplied to each drive line in accordance with the pixel data for the present horizontal scan period (the j-th scan) (step


6


).




A first embodiment of the present invention, which is associated with the first mode of the reset driving method for a passive matrix display panel, will be described below referring to

FIGS. 11 through 13

. In the following, the description will be made for a case where the devices E


2,2


to E


3,2


are allowed to emit light in the second scan of the cathode line B


2


, after the devices E


1,1


to E


2,1


are allowed to emit light in the first scan of the cathode line B


1


, as per the prior art (the same symbolic notation will be used). The reverse bias voltage V


cc


that is applied to the cathode lines B


1


-B


n


is set equal to the specified emission voltage Ve of the devices. The reset potential is the ground potential.




First, in the first scan period, only the scan switch


5




1


is switched to the ground potential position, the cathode line B


1


is scanned, and the reverse bias voltage V


cc


is applied to the other cathode lines B


2


-B


n


via the scan switches


5




2


-


5




n


in FIG.


11


. At the same time, the current sources


2




1


and


2




2


are connected to the anode lines A


1


and A


2


via the drive switches


6




1


and


6




2


, while the other anode lines A


3


-A


m


are switched to the ground potential position via the drive switches


6




3


-


6




m


. Therefore, only the devices E


1,1


and E


2,1


emit light, and at the same time the devices E


3,2


to E


3,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


are charged with the charges Q in the reverse direction as illustrated.




In the reset period, the emission controller


40


has selected the drive lines or anode lines A


4


-A


m


on which there are no devices that should emit light in the first and second scan periods in the driving method illustrated in FIG.


9


. Thus, the emission controller


40


opens the drive switches


6




4


-


6




m


to render the drive (anode) lines A


4


-A


m


in a floating state, switches the drive switches


6




1


,


6




2


and


6




3


to the ground potential position, and switches all the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


to the ground potential position, as shown in FIG.


12


. As the above-mentioned resetting method (hereinafter referred to the ground-potential open-resetting) is done, the forward charges stored (i.e., charges in the forward direction) in the devices E


1,1


and E


2,1


and the reverse charges (i.e., charges in the reverse direction) stored in the devices E


3,2


to E


3,n


are all discharged, and the reverse charges Q stored in the devices E


4,2


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


move on the same anode lines along the routes indicated by the arrows in the diagram. Consequently, the reverse charges (n−1)Q/n are held in each of all the devices E


4,2


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


that are connected to the respective anode lines A


4


, . . . , and A


m


.




Then, in the second scan period, only the scan switch


5




2


on the cathode line B


2


is switched to the ground potential position, the other scan switches are switched to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


to scan the cathode line B


2


, and at the same time, the drive switches


6




2


and


6




3


are switched to the current sources


2




2


and


2




3


while the other drive switches


6




1


-


6




m


are switched to the ground potential position, as shown in FIG.


13


. Consequently, the charge current flow into the devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


that should emit light through a plurality of routes from the constant voltage sources connected to the cathode lines B


1


and B


3


-B


n


as well as from the current sources


2




2


and


2




3


as per the prior art (see FIG.


6


). The charge current can ensure instantaneous transition to the steady emission state. The current likewise flow into the devices E


1,1


, E


1,3


to E


1,n


from the constant voltage sources of the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, and are charged with the reverse charges Q, as per the prior art (see FIG.


6


). As the reverse charges (n−1)Q/n have already been held in each of the devices E


4,1


, E


4,3


to E


4,n


, . . . , E


m,1


, and E


m,3


to E


m,n


on the respective anode lines A


4


, . . . , and A


m


, those devices are instantaneously charged by Q/n which is the supplement to the charge Q from the constant voltage sources of the reverse bias voltage the instant scanning of the cathode line B


2


is executed. The charges held in the devices E


4,2


, . . . , and E


m,2


are discharged. Although the other devices than the devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


that should emit light are also charged along the routes indicated by the arrows in the diagram, they will not emit light erroneously because their charging direction is the reverse bias direction.




With regard to the consumed charges in the above scan switching operation, the amount of discharged charges from the devices E


4,1


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,1


to E


m,n


at the reset operation is significantly reduced, which means that consumption of charges by the capacitive components of the devices that do not contribute to light emission is greatly reduced, as compared with those in the prior art (

FIGS. 4

to


6


).




A reset driving method according to a second embodiment of the present invention, which is also associated with the aforementioned first mode, is illustrated in

FIGS. 14 through 16

. The second embodiment is for a case where the reset potential is set equal to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, and the two-tap drive switches in the anode-line driver


2


shown in

FIGS. 11

to


13


are replaced with three-tap drive switches


6




1


-


6




m


to ensure switching among the current sources


2




1


-


2




m


, constant voltage sources which apply the same potential as the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, and the ground potential, so that the cathode lines and anode lines can be temporarily set to the same potential as the reverse bias voltage V


cc


in reset mode.




Since a first scan mode illustrated in

FIG. 14

is the same as the one shown in

FIG. 11

, its detailed description will not be repeated. As, in the reset period, the emission controller


40


has selected the drive (anode) lines A


4


-A


m


on which there are no devices that should emit light according to the driving method illustrated in

FIG. 9

, the emission controller


40


opens the drive switches


6




4


-


6




m


to render the drive lines or anode lines A


4


-A


m


in a floating state, switches the drive switches


6




1


,


6




2


and


6




3


to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, and switches all the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, as shown in FIG.


15


. When the above-mentioned resetting method (hereinafter referred to the reverse-bias-potential open-resetting) is carried out, the forward charges stored in the devices E


1,1


and E


2,1


and the reverse charges stored in the devices E


3,2


to E


3,n


are all discharged, and the reverse charges Q stored in the devices E


4,2


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


move on the same anode lines along the routes indicated by the arrows in the diagram. This causes the reverse charges (n−1)Q/n to be held in each of all the devices E


4,2


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


that are connected to the respective anode lines A


4


, . . . , and A


m


.




Since a second scan mode illustrated in

FIG. 16

is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in

FIG. 13

, it has the same advantage though its description will be omitted.




A reset driving method according to a third embodiment of the present invention, which is also associated with the aforementioned second mode, is illustrated in

FIGS. 17 through 19

. The embodiment uses the ground potential as the reset potential and has the light-emitting panel


120


of the same structure as shown in

FIGS. 11

to


13


.




Since the first scan mode illustrated in

FIG. 17

is the same as the one shown in

FIG. 11

, its detailed description will not be repeated. In the reset period, the emission controller


40


has selected the drive (anode) lines A


1


and A


4


-A


m


on which there are no devices that should emit light in the second scan period according to the driving method illustrated in FIG.


10


. Thus, the emission controller


40


opens the drive switches


6




1


and


6




4


-


6




m


to render the anode lines A


1


and A


4


-A


m


in a floating state, switches the drive switches


6




2


and


6




3


to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, and switches all the scan switches


5




1


-


5




n


to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


, as shown in FIG.


18


.




When the ground-potential open-resetting is carried out, the forward charges stored in the device E


2,1


and the reverse charges stored in the devices E


3,2


to E


3,n


are all discharged, the forward charges Q stored in the device E


1.1


move on the anode line A


1


along the route indicated by the arrow in the diagram, causing the forward charges Q/n to be held in each of all the devices E


1,1


to E


1,n


connected to the anode line A


1


, and the reverse charges Q stored in each of the devices E


4,2


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


move on the same anode lines along the routes indicated by the arrows in the diagram, causing the reverse charges (n−1)Q/n to be held in each of all the devices E


4,2


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,2


to E


m,n


that are connected to the respective anode lines A


4


, . . . , and A


m


. As the amount of the forward charges Q/n to be held in each of the devices E


1,1


to E


1,n


is very small, the voltage across each device does not exceed the emission threshold value Vth, thus preventing erroneous light emission.




Thereafter, in the second scan period, only the scan switch


5




2


on the cathode line B


2


is switched to the ground potential position, the other scan switches are switched to the reverse bias voltage to scan the cathode line B


2


, and at the same time, the drive switches


6




2


and


6




3


are switched to the current sources


2




2


and


2




3


while the other drive switches are switched to the ground potential position, as in the case shown in FIG.


13


.




Consequently, the charge current flow into the devices E


2,2


and E


3,2


that should emit light through a plurality of routes from the constant voltage sources connected to the cathode lines B


1


and B


3


-B


n


as well as from the current sources


2




2


and


2




3


as per the prior art (see FIG.


6


). The charge current can ensure instantaneous transition to the steady emission state. As the forward charges Q/n have already been held in each of the devices E


1,1


and E


1,3


to E


1,n


on the anode line A


1


, each of the devices is instantaneously charged by (n+1)Q/n which is the supplement to the reverse charge Q from the constant voltage sources of the reverse bias voltage at the instant when scanning of the cathode line B


2


is executed. Likewise, since the reverse charges (n−1)Q/n have already been held in the devices E


4,1


, E


4,3


to E


4,n


, . . . , E


m,1


, and E


m,3


to E


m,n


on the respective anode lines A


4


, ..., and A


m


, each of those devices are instantaneously charged by Q/n which is the supplement to the charge Q from the constant voltage sources of the reverse bias voltage at the instant when scanning of the cathode line B


2


is executed. The charges held in the devices E


1,2


, E


4,2


, . . . , and E


m,2


are discharged.




With regard to the consumed charges in the above scan switching operation, the amount of discharged charges at the reset operation and the amount of charged charges at the scan switching operation from/to the devices E


4,1


to E


4,n


, . . . , and E


m,1


to E


m,n


are significantly reduced, which means that consumption of charges by the capacitive components of the devices that do not contribute to light emission is greatly reduced, as compared with those in the prior art (

FIGS. 4

to


6


). Since, in the embodiment, the anode lines that should be rendered in a floating state in reset mode is discriminated based only on image data for the present horizontal scan period (the j-th scan), the steps and means needed for the discrimination can be made simpler than the first mode.




It is also possible to set the reset potential equal to the reverse bias voltage V


cc


in the second mode. Although the cathode lines are laid horizontally and the anode lines vertically, their lying directions may be reversed. Although scanning is conducted with the electrodes that are laid horizontally and luminance is controlled with the electrodes that are laid vertically, scanning may be conducted with the vertically-laid electrodes and luminance may be controlled with the horizontally-laid electrodes. In the case of scanning with the anode lines, however, the drive sources of the anode lines and those of the cathode lines should be of the opposite polarities to those mentioned in the foregoing description.




According to the present invention, as specifically described above, in a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices which includes a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between the scan lines and the drive lines, scan switches for connecting the scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential different from each other when activated, drive switches for connecting the drive lines to at least one of the first and second potentials or a drive source when activated, and emission control means for controlling the drive switches and the scan switches, whereby the drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect the drive lines to the drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with a scan period following a reset period, (1) those non-connection keeping drive lines among all of the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a previous scan period and a present scan period are selected, all of the scan lines are connected to the same reset potential, the selected non-connection keeping drive lines are rendered open, and the other drive lines are connected to the reset potential in the reset period, or (2) those unconnected drive lines among all of the drive lines which are not connected to the drive source in a present scan period are selected, all of the scan lines are connected to the same reset potential, the selected unconnected drive lines are rendered open, and the other drive lines are connected to the reset potential in the reset period. The present invention can therefore provide a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices, which quickens the rising of light emission without increasing power consumption.




Although several preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied and modified in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. All of such embodiments and modifications are to be considered as being included within the scope and equivalence of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A method for driving a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices including:a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between said scan lines and said drive lines; scan switches for connecting said scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential, different from each other; and drive switches for selectively connecting said drive lines to at least one of said first and second potentials, for selectively connecting said drive lines to a drive source, and for selectively placing said drive lines in a floating state, wherein said drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect said drive lines to said drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings of said scan switcheswherein the method comprises:inserting a reset period between scan periods during which said scan lines are scanned; selecting selected drive lines, from among all of said drive lines, that are not connected to said drive source in a previous scan period and a present scan period; connecting all of said scan lines to a reset potential during said reset period; opening said selected drive lines to place said selected drive lines in said floating state during said reset period; and connecting said drive lines other than said selected drive lines to said reset potential during said reset period.
  • 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein selection of said selected drive lines is carried out in a reset period immediately before said present scan period.
  • 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is a potential greater than a potential difference between a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein a scan line to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected is connected to said ground potential, and the other scan lines are connected to a potential greater than said potential difference between said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices and said emission threshold voltage.
  • 5. A method according to claim 3, wherein drive lines other than the drive lines to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices to be connected to said drive source for light emission are connected are connected to said ground potential.
  • 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is substantially equal to a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein a scan line to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected is connected to said ground potential, and the other scan lines are connected to a potential substantially equal to said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein said reset potential is equal to one of said first and second potentials.
  • 9. A method according to claim 1, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are electroluminescence devices.
  • 10. A method according to claim 1, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are located at intersections of a plurality of drive lines extending approximately in parallel to one another and a plurality of scan lines extending approximately perpendicularly to said drive lines and approximately in parallel to one another and respectively electrically connected to said scan lines and said drive lines.
  • 11. A method for driving a display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices including:a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between said scan lines and said drive lines; scan switches for connecting said scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential, different from each other; and drive switches for selectively connecting said drive lines to at least one of first and second potentials, for selectively connecting said drive lines to a drive source, and for selectively placing said drive lines in a floating state, wherein said drive switches are activated so as to selectively connect said drive lines to said drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings of said scan switcheswherein the method comprises:inserting a reset period between scan periods during which said scan lines are scanned; selecting selected drive lines, from among all of said drive lines, which are not connected to said drive source in a present scan period; connecting all of said scan lines to a reset potential during said reset period; opening said selected drive lines to place said selected drive lines in said floating state during said reset period; and connecting said drive lines other than said selected drive lines to said reset potential during said reset period.
  • 12. A method according to claim 11, wherein selection of said selected drive lines is carried out in a reset period immediately before said present scan period.
  • 13. A method according to claim 11, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is a potential greater than a potential difference between a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 14. A method according to claim 13, wherein a scan line to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected is connected to said ground potential, and the other scan lines are connected to a potential greater than said potential difference between said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices and said emission threshold voltage.
  • 15. A method according to claim 13, wherein drive lines other than the drive lines to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices to be connected to said drive source for light emission are connected are connected to said ground potential.
  • 16. A method according to claim 11, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is substantially equal to a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 17. A method according to claim 16, wherein a scan line to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected is connected to said ground potential, and the other scan lines are connected to a potential substantially equal to said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 18. A method according to claim 11, wherein said reset potential is equal to one of said first and second potentials.
  • 19. A method according to claim 11, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are electroluminescence devices.
  • 20. A method according to claim 11, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are located at intersections of a plurality of drive lines extending approximately in parallel to one another and a plurality of scan lines extending approximately perpendicularly to said drive lines and approximately in parallel to one another and respectively electrically connected to said scan lines and said drive lines.
  • 21. A display apparatus having capacitive light-emitting devices comprising:a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between said scan lines and said drive lines; scan switches for connecting said scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential, different from each other; drive switches for selectively connecting said drive lines to at least one of said first and second potentials, for selectively connecting said drive lines to a drive source, and for selectively placing said drive lines in a floating state; and a controller that controls said drive switches to selectively connect said drive lines to said drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings of said scan switches, wherein, during a reset period, said controller selects selected drive lines, from among all of said drive lines, that are not connected to said drive source in a previous scan period and a present scan period, wherein said controller controls said scan switches to connect all of said scan lines to a reset potential during said reset period, wherein said controller opens said selected drive lines to place said selected drive lines in said floating state during said reset period, and wherein said controller connects said drive lines other than said selected drive lines to said reset potential during said reset period.
  • 22. A display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein selection of said selected drive lines is carried out in a reset period immediately before said present scan period.
  • 23. A display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is a potential greater than a potential difference between a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 24. A display apparatus according to claim 23, wherein in each scan period, said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected, to said ground potential, andwherein said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are not connected, to a potential greater than said potential difference between said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting device and said emission threshold voltage.
  • 25. A display apparatus according to claim 23, wherein in each scan period, said controller connects said drive lines, other than said drive lines to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light are connected, to said ground potential.
  • 26. A display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is substantially equal to a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 27. A display apparatus according to claim 26, herein in each scan period, said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected, to said ground potential, andwherein said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are not connected, to a potential substantially equal to said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 28. A display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said reset potential is equal to one of said first and second potentials.
  • 29. A display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are electroluminescence devices.
  • 30. A display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are located at intersections of a plurality of drive lines extending approximately in parallel to one another and a plurality of scan lines extending approximately perpendicularly to said drive lines and approximately in parallel to one another and respectively electrically connected to said scan lines and said drive lines.
  • 31. A display apparatus with capacitive light-emitting devices comprising:a plurality of capacitive light-emitting devices located at a plurality of intersections of drive lines and scan lines and respectively electrically connected between said scan lines and said drive lines; scan switches for connecting said scan lines to one of a first potential and a second potential, different from each other; drive switches for selectively connecting said drive lines to at least one of said first and second potentials, for selectively connecting said drive lines to a drive source, and for selectively placing said drive lines in a floating state; a controller that controls said drive switches to selectively connect said drive lines to said drive source to allow selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light in synchronism with scan timings of said scan switches, wherein, during a reset period, said controller selects selected drive lines, from among all of said drive lines, which are not connected to said drive source in a present scan period, wherein said controller controls said scan switches to connect all of said scan lines to a reset potential during said reset period, wherein said controller opens said selected drive lines to place said selected drive lines in said floating state during said reset period, and wherein said controller connects said drive lines other than said selected drive lines to said reset potential during said reset period.
  • 32. A display apparatus according to claim 31, wherein selection of said selected drive lines is carried out in a reset period immediately before said present scan period.
  • 33. A display apparatus according to claim 31, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is a potential greater than a potential difference between a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 34. A display apparatus according to claim 33, wherein in each scan period, said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected, to said ground potential, andwherein said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are not connected, to a potential greater than said potential difference between said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting device and said emission threshold voltage.
  • 35. A display apparatus according to claim 33, wherein in each scan period, said controller connects said drive lines, other than said drive lines to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices to emit light are connected, to said ground potential.
  • 36. A display apparatus according to claim 31, wherein one of said first potential and said second potential is a ground potential, while the other one is substantially equal to a specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 37. A display apparatus according to claim 36, wherein in each scan period, said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are connected, to said ground potential, andwherein said controller connects said scan lines, to which said selected capacitive light-emitting devices are not connected, to a potential substantially equal to said specified emission voltage of said capacitive light-emitting devices.
  • 38. A display apparatus according to claim 31, wherein said reset potential is equal to one of said first and second potentials.
  • 39. A display apparatus according to claim 31, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are electroluminescence devices.
  • 40. A display apparatus according to claim 31, wherein said capacitive light-emitting devices are located at intersections of a plurality of drive lines extending approximately in parallel to one another and a plurality of scan lines extending approximately perpendicularly to said drive lines and approximately in parallel to one another and respectively electrically connected to said scan lines and said drive lines.
  • 41. A display apparatus, comprising:a plurality of light-emitting devices respectively connected between a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of drive lines; a driving circuit which selectively connects said drive lines to a first potential, selectively connects said drive lines to a drive source, and selectively places said drive lines in a floating state; and a controller which controls said driving circuit, wherein, during a second scan period after a first scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect a first drive line to said drive source and to connect a second drive line to said first potential, and wherein, during a reset period between said first scan period and said second scan period, said controller controls said drive circuit to connect said first drive line to said first potential and to place second drive line in said floating state.
  • 42. A display apparatus according to claim 41, further comprising;a scanning circuit which selectively connects said scan lines to said first potential or a second potential different from said first potential; and wherein, during said first scan period, said controller controls said scanning circuit to connect a first scan line to said first potential and to connect a second scan line to said second potential, wherein, during said second scan period, said controller controls said scanning circuit to connect said first scan line to said second potential and to connect said second scan line to said first potential, wherein, during said reset period, said controller controls said scanning circuit to connect said first and second scan lines to said first potential.
  • 43. A display apparatus according to claim 42, wherein said second potential is greater than a difference between a specified emission voltage of said light emitting device and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 44. A display apparatus according to claim 43, wherein said second potential is substantially equal to said specified emission voltage.
  • 45. A display apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said first potential is a ground potential.
  • 46. A display apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said first potential is greater than a difference between a specified emission voltage of said light emitting device and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 47. A display apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said second potential is substantially equal to said specified emission voltage.
  • 48. A display apparatus according to claim 41, wherein, during said first scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said first drive line to said first potential, to connect said second drive line to said first potential, and to connect a third drive line to said drive source,wherein, during said second scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said first potential, wherein, during said reset period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said first potential.
  • 49. A display apparatus according to claim 41, wherein, during said first scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said first drive line to said first potential, to connect said second drive line to said first potential, and to connect a third drive line to said drive source,wherein, during said second scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said drive source, wherein, during said reset period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said first potential.
  • 50. A display apparatus, comprising:a plurality of light-emitting devices respectively connected between a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of drive lines; a driving circuit which selectively connects said drive lines to a first potential, selectively connects said drive lines to a second potential, selectively connects said drive lines to a drive source, and selectively places said drive lines in a floating state, wherein said first potential is different than said second potential; and a controller which controls said driving circuit; wherein, during a second scan period after a first scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect a first drive line to said drive source and to connect a second drive line to said second potential, and wherein, during a reset period between said first scan period and said second scan period, said controller controls said drive circuit to connect said first drive line to said second potential and to place said second drive line in said floating state.
  • 51. A display apparatus according to claim 50, further comprising:a scanning circuit which selectively connects said scan lines to said first potential or said second potential; and wherein, during said first scan period, said controller controls said scanning circuit to connect a first scan line to said first potential and to connect a second scan line to said second potential, wherein, during said second scan period, said controller controls said scanning circuit to connect said first scan line to said second potential and to connect said second scan line to said first potential, and wherein, during said reset period, said controller controls said scanning circuit to connect said first and second scan line to said second potential.
  • 52. A display apparatus according to claim 51, wherein said second potential is greater than a difference between a specified emission voltage of said light emitting device and an emission threshold voltage.
  • 53. A display apparatus according to claim 52, wherein said second potential is substantially equal to said specified emission voltage.
  • 54. A display apparatus according to claim 50, wherein said first potential is a ground potential.
  • 55. A display apparatus according to claim 50, wherein, during said first scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said first drive line to said first potential, to connect said second drive line to said first potential, and to connect a third drive line to said drive source,wherein, during said second scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said second potential, and wherein, during said reset period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said second potential.
  • 56. A display apparatus according to claim 50, wherein, during said first scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said first drive line to said first potential, to connect said second drive line to said first potential, and to connect a third drive line to said drive source,wherein, during said second scan period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said drive source, and wherein, during said reset period, said controller controls said driving circuit to connect said third drive line to said second potential.
  • 57. A method for illuminating a display in which light-emitting devices are selectively connected to drive lines and scan lines, comprising:(a) illuminating first selected light-emitting devices during a first scan period by connecting first selected drive lines to a drive source during said first scan period; (b) illuminating second selected light-emitting devices during a second scan period by connecting second selected drive lines to said drive source during said second scan period, wherein said second scan period follows said first scan period; (c) determining third selected drive lines, wherein said third selected drive lines are not connected to said drive source during said first scan period and are not connected to said drive source during said second scan period; and (d) placing said third selected drive lines in a floating state during a reset period, wherein said reset period is between said first scan period and said second scan period.
  • 58. The method as claimed in claim 57,wherein said operation (a) comprises: (a1) connecting a first scan line to a first potential during said first scan period, and (a2) connecting a second scan line to a second potential during said first scan period, wherein said operation (b) comprises: (b1) connecting said first scan line to said second potential during said second scan period, and (b2) connecting said second scan line to said first potential during said second scan period, and wherein said first potential is different than said second potential.
  • 59. The method as claimed in claim 58, further comprising:(e) connecting all of said scan lines to said first potential during said reset period; and (f) connecting said drive lines, other than said third selected drive lines, to said first potential during said reset period.
  • 60. The method as claimed in claim 58, further comprising:(e) connecting all of said scan lines to said second potential during said reset period; and (f) connecting said drive lines, other than said third selected drive lines, to said second potential during said reset period.
  • 61. A method for illuminating a display in which light-emitting devices are selectively connected to drive lines and scan lines, comprising:(a) illuminating first selected light-emitting devices during a first scan period by connecting first selected drive lines to a drive source during said first scan period; (b) illuminating second selected light-emitting devices during a second scan period by connecting second selected drive lines to said drive source during said second scan period, wherein said second scan period follows said first scan period; (c) determining third selected drive lines, wherein said third selected drive lines are not connected to said drive source during said second scan period; and (d) placing said third selected drive lines in a floating state during a reset period, wherein said reset period is between said first scan period and said second scan period.
  • 62. The method as claimed in claim 61,wherein said operation (a) comprises: (a1) connecting a first scan line to a first potential during said first scan period, and (a2) connecting a second scan line to a second potential during said first scan period, wherein said operation (b) comprises: (b1) connecting said first scan line to said second potential during said second scan period, and (b2) connecting said second scan line to said first potential during said second scan period, and wherein said first potential is different than said second potential.
  • 63. The method as claimed in claim 62, further comprising:(e) connecting all of said scan lines to said first potential during said reset period; and (f) connecting said drive lines, other than said third selected drive lines, to said first potential during said reset period.
  • 64. The method as claimed in claim 63, further comprising:(e) connecting all of said scan lines to said second potential during said reset period; and (f) connecting said drive lines, other than said third selected drive lines, to said second potential during said reset period.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
10-269458 Sep 1998 JP
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
4866348 Harada et al. Sep 1989 A
5838289 Saito et al. Nov 1998 A
5844368 Okuda et al. Dec 1998 A
5847516 Kishita et al. Dec 1998 A