This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-130847, filed Jun. 30, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a display device.
In a liquid crystal display device, pixels are arrayed in a row direction (X-direction) and a column direction (Y-direction). The row direction (X-direction) crosses the column direction (Y-direction). For example, gate lines parallel to the X-direction are arranged at certain intervals in the Y-direction. Further, source lines parallel to the Y-direction are arranged at certain intervals in the X-direction. The pixels are located near intersections of the gate lines and the source lines, respectively.
It should be noted that each pixel comprises a digital memory in some liquid crystal display devices. In a liquid crystal display device in which each pixel comprises a digital memory, there is no need to supply a voltage to all the source lines frequently (i.e., rewrite a pixel signal frequently), for example, in the case of displaying a still image in the entire display area of the device for a long time. In this case, power consumption of the display device can be reduced. There is no need to supply a voltage to all the source lines frequently also in the case of displaying a still image in a part of the display area and displaying moving images in the rest of the display area. In this case, too, the power consumption of the display device can be reduced because the voltage (pixel signal for moving images) should be supplied only to source lines of the rest of the display area.
In the above liquid crystal display device, however, contents of digital memories are often rewritten at the same time in each row. In such a case, for example, all the memories in the same row may be rewritten from high level to low level or from low level to high level at the same time. This level change depends on the content of a write digital video signal.
In such operation, if a number of source lines to which the write digital video signal is output have the same polarity at the same time, a significant voltage drop occurs in an output circuit that outputs the digital video signal. This may result in a data error.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompany drawings.
In general, according to one embodiment, a display device capable of stabilizing operation of a digital memory in each pixel and a method of driving the display device are provided.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a display device comprising:
parallel gate lines;
parallel source lines crossing the gate lines;
a first potential line and a second potential line parallel to each of the gate lines for outputting data; and
pixels arranged near intersections of the gate lines and the source lines, respectively,
wherein each of the pixels comprises:
a first switch, a corresponding source line being connected to an input electrode of the first switch, the first switch being turned on when a corresponding gate line is at one potential and turned off when the gate line is at other potential;
a second switch, an input electrode of the second switch being connected to an output electrode of the first switch in series, the second switch being turned off when the corresponding gate line is at the one potential and turned on when the gate line is at the other potential; and
a memory circuit which stores any one of first logical data of the first potential line and second logical data of the second potential line when the first switch is turned on and any one of a high level input signal and a low level input signal is input from the corresponding source line, and
a logical data input terminal of a first memory circuit of a first pixel is connected to the first potential line and a logical data input terminal of a second memory circuit of a second pixel adjacent to the first pixel is connected to the second potential line, and the first and second memory circuits have same logic data when input signals of different levels are supplied to source lines corresponding to the first and second pixels while a first switch of each of the first and second pixels is in an on-state.
The embodiment will further be described with reference to the drawings.
In the display area DA, the first substrate SUB1 comprises gate lines G (G1 to Gn) extending in a first direction X and source lines S (S1 to Sm) extending in a second direction Y crossing the first direction X.
Each pixel PX (PX11 to PX34) is configured as shown in
Each gate line G (G1 to Gn) is led out to the outside of the display area DA and connected to a first drive circuit (it may be called a gate line drive circuit) GD. Each source line S (S1 to Sm) is led out to the outside of the display area DA and connected to a second drive circuit (it may be called a source line drive circuit) SD. For example, at least a part of the first drive circuit GD and the second drive circuit SD is formed on the first substrate SUB1 and connected to a device drive integrated circuit (also called a liquid crystal driver) DD_IC.
The device drive integrated circuit (device drive IC) DD_IC is connected to one terminal of a flexible printed circuit via a connection terminal 500. The other terminal of the flexible printed circuit is connected to a host device (not shown). The host device (also called a controller) can intercommunicate with the device drive IC DD_IC and output image data, synchronizing pulse, etc.
A configuration example of each pixel PX is described with reference to
An output electrode of the inverter IN1 is connected to an input electrode of an inverter IN2 and gate electrodes of switches SW32 and switch SW42. An output electrode of the inverter IN2 is connected to the drain electrode (output electrode) of the switch SW2. The switch SW31 uses negative logic and the switch SW32 uses positive logic. In contrast, the switch SW42 uses negative logic and the switch SW41 uses positive logic.
For example, an input side electrode (also called a logical data input unit) connected in common to the switch SW31 and the switch SW32 is connected to a second potential line POLB serving as a power source line (also called data 0) and an output side electrode connected in common is connected to the pixel electrode P. For example, an input side electrode (also called a logical data input unit) connected in common to the switch SW41 and the switch SW42 is connected to a first potential line POLA serving as a power source line (also called data 1) and an output side electrode connected in common is connected to the pixel electrode P. The liquid crystal layer LQ is present between the pixel electrode P and the common electrode CE. For example, the pixel electrode P is formed on the first substrate SUB1 so as to correspond to a position of the pixel and the common electrode CE is formed on the second substrate SUB2.
A configuration of the pixel PX12 adjacent to the pixel PX11 is basically the same as the pixel PX11. However, a connection form of a memory circuit M12 of the pixel PX12 to the second potential line POLB and the first potential line POLA is different from a connection form of the memory circuit M11 of the pixel PX11 to the second potential line POLB and the first potential line POLA. That is, the input side electrode (logical data input unit) of the switches SW31 and SW32 of the memory circuit M11 of the pixel PX11 is connected to the second potential line POLB and the input side electrode (logical data input unit) of the switches SW41 and SW42 is connected to the first potential line POLA, but an input side electrode (logical data input unit) of switches SW31 and SW32 of the memory circuit M12 of the pixel PX12 is connected to the first potential line POLA and an input side electrode (logical data input unit) of switches SW41 and SW42 is connected to the second potential line POLB.
As shown
In contrast, in the pixel PX12, the switch SW1 is turned on and the switch SW2 is turned off in response to the gate pulse. Since the low level signal is input to the source line S2, however, the output of the switch SW1 is at low level. Accordingly, the output of the inverter IN1 is at high level and the output of the inverter IN2 is at low level. As a result, the switches SW31 and SW32 are turned on, the switches SW41 and SW42 are turned off, the voltage of the first potential line POLA is stored as one-bit data, and the data is supplied from the common electrode (output side electrode) of the switches SW31 and SW32 to the pixel electrode P. That is data “1” is stored in the memory M12.
According to the above circuits, the high level signal should be supplied to the source line of the pixel PX11 and the low level signal should be supplied to the source line of the pixel PX12 in order to store the same one-bit logical data in the memory circuit of the pixel PX11 and the memory circuit of the pixel PX12. Therefore, for example, if white data is written to the pixel PX11 and the pixel PX12, the high level signal is supplied to the source line S1 of the pixel PX11 and the low level signal is supplied to the source line S2 of the pixel PX12 in the present embodiment. As described above, the first memory circuit M11 of the first pixel PX11 and the second memory circuit M12 of the second pixel PX12 adjacent to the first pixel PX11 can store data of the same polarity when each first switch SW1 is turned on and input signals of different potentials are supplied to the source lines S1 and S2. This is because the first memory circuit M11 and the second memory circuit M12 are different from each other in a connection pattern to the first potential line POLA and the second potential line POLB.
In
At this time, the switch SW1 is turned on and the switch SW2 is turned off. Since the source line S1 is at low level, however, the output of the switch SW1 is also at low level in the pixel PX 11. Accordingly, the output of the inverter IN1 is at high level (inverted output) and the output of the inverter IN2 is at low level. As a result, the switches SW31 and SW32 are turned on, the switches SW41 and SW42 are turned off, the voltage of the second potential line POLB is stored as data 0, and the data is supplied from the common electrode (output side electrode) of the switches SW31 and SW32 to the pixel electrode P. That is data “0” is stored in the memory M11.
In contrast, in the pixel PX12, the switch SW1 is turned on and the switch SW2 is turned off by the gate pulse. Since the high level signal is input to the source line S2, the output of the switch SW1 is at high level. Accordingly, the output of the inverter IN1 is at low level (inverted output) and the output of the inverter IN2 is at high level. As a result, the switches SW31 and SW32 are turned off, the switches SW41 and SW42 are turned on, the voltage of the second potential line POLB is stored as data 0, and the data is supplied from the common output electrode of the switches SW41 and SW42 to the pixel electrode P. That is data “0” is stored in the memory M12.
That is, the present embodiment is basically a display device comprising: parallel gate lines; parallel source lines crossing the gate lines; a first potential line and a second potential line parallel to each of the gate lines; and pixels arranged near intersections of the gate lines and the source lines, respectively.
Each of the pixels comprises: a first switch, a corresponding source line being connected to an input electrode of the first switch, the first switch being turned on when a corresponding gate line is at one potential and turned off when the gate line is at the other potential; a second switch, an input electrode of the second switch being connected to an output electrode of the first switch in series, the second switch being turned off when the corresponding gate line is at the one potential and turned on when the gate line is at the other potential; and a memory circuit which stores any one of a first potential of the first potential line and a second potential of the second potential line as data when the first switch is turned on and an input signal of a predetermined potential is input from the corresponding source line. The first memory circuit of the first pixel is different from the second memory circuit of the second pixel adjacent to the first pixel in a connection pattern to the first potential line and the second potential line such that the circuits store data of the same polarity when the first switch of each circuit is turned on and input signals of different potentials are supplied to the source lines.
A driving method is a method of supplying write signals of different polarities (potentials) to source lines of adjacent pixels when the same signal (data) is written to memory circuits of the pixels. According to the above device, pixels connected to the same source line are the same in logic. Therefore, it is rare that memory circuits in which data is rewritten at the same time are concurrently switched from high level to low level or from low level to high level. A substantive operation margin can be thereby increased. In other words, operation of an output circuit of pixel signal is stable with respect to various types of input data. If raster display is frequently executed, potentials of adjacent source lines are different from each other in polarity. Therefore, a number of source lines are prevented from being charged or discharged concurrently. As a result, a data error is prevented from occurring in the output circuit of pixel signal and the operation of the device is stable. In addition, the power consumption of the device can be reduced.
Liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are driven by an electric field which occurs between the common electrode CE and the pixel electrodes P. The liquid crystal layer LQ between the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 is driven by an electric field which occurs between the pixel electrodes of the first substrate SUB1 and the common electrode formed on the second substrate SUB2. If the display device is a reflective display device, a light reflective material such as aluminum is used for the pixel electrodes P. Whether light is reflected from the pixel electrodes P depends on the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules between the pixel electrodes P and the common electrode.
However, the driving method is not limited to the above method. The pixel electrodes and the common electrode may be provided on the first substrate SUB1 through an insulating layer and the device may operate in a fringe-field switching (FFS) mode.
Color filters are not described in the present embodiment, but the display device can execute color display. Therefore, an embodiment in which color filters are provided on the second substrate SUB2 is described next.
In the color display device equipped with color filters, too, the connection and the driving method described with reference to
For example, it is assumed that three pixels are a first pixel PA, a second pixel PB and a third pixel PC, the area of a pixel electrode of the second pixel PB is three times the area of a pixel electrode of the first pixel PA, and the area of a pixel electrode of the third pixel PC is five times the area of the pixel electrode of the first pixel PA. It is also assumed that the pixel electrode of the first pixel PA has a square shape, the pixel electrode of each of the second pixel PB and the third pixel PC has an L-shape and the L-shapes are symmetrical.
As a result, two sides (first and second sides a1 and a2) of the first pixel PA can be surrounded by the second pixel PB. Further, the other two sides (third and fourth sides a3 and a4) of the first pixel PA and two sides b1 and b2 of the second pixel PB can be surrounded by the third pixel PC. According to the tone variable pixel, as shown in
The gate line G1 is connected to a control electrode of each switch of pixels PX11, PX14, PX17, . . . . The pixels PX11, PX14, PX17, . . . correspond to the second pixel PB shown in
The pixels PX11, PX12 and PX13 correspond to a red (R) color filter. The pixels PX14, PX15 and PX16 correspond to a green (G) color filter. The pixels PX17, PX18 and PX19 correspond to a blue (B) color filter.
The source line S1 corresponds to the pixel PX11, the source line S2 corresponds to the pixel PX12, the source line S3 corresponds to the pixel PX13, the source line S4 corresponds to the pixel PX14, the source line S5 corresponds to the pixel PX15, the source line S6 corresponds to the pixel PX16, the source line S7 corresponds to the pixel PX17, the source line S8 corresponds to the pixel PX18 and the source line S9 corresponds to the pixel PX19. The source lines and the pixels are connected as shown in
As described above, an array of R, G and B color tone variable pixels is constructed by the combinations of the gate lines G1, G2 and G3 and pixels PX11, PX12, . . . , PX19, . . . . Only one group of the array of the R, G and B color tone variable pixels is explained on
In the direction of extension of the source lines, rows having the same configuration as the above-described row (i.e., the row of the R, G and B color tone variable pixels) are repeated. Since
As described above, the present embodiment is a display device comprising: parallel gate lines G; parallel source lines S crossing the gate lines; a first potential line and a second potential line parallel to each of the gate lines G; and pixels PX arranged near intersections of the gate lines and the source lines, respectively.
Each of the pixels PX comprises: a first switch, a corresponding source line being connected to an input electrode of the first switch, the first switch being turned on when a corresponding gate line is at one potential and turned off when the gate line is at the other potential; a second switch, an input electrode of the second switch being connected to an output electrode of the first switch in series, the second switch being turned off when the corresponding gate line is at the one potential and turned on when the gate line is at the other potential; and a memory circuit which stores any one of a first potential of the first potential line and a second potential of the second potential line as data when the first switch is turned on and an input signal of a predetermined potential is input from the corresponding source line. The first memory circuit of the first pixel (for example, PX11 or PX12) is different from the second memory circuit of the second pixel (PX12 or PX13) adjacent to the first pixel (PX11) in a connection pattern to the first potential line and the second potential line such that the circuits store data of the same polarity when the first switch of each circuit is turned on and input signals of different potentials are supplied to the source lines.
Therefore, the first pixel is different from the second pixel in the pixel area (actually, the pixel electrode area). The first, second and third pixels correspond to the same color filter.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
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