Patent Grant
9966014
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, in particular, to a field sequential type liquid crystal display device, and a method of driving such a liquid crystal display device.
Liquid crystal display devices are widely used as image display devices for displaying color images. Many conventional liquid crystal display devices display color images using color filters. Further, field sequential type liquid crystal display devices are known as a liquid crystal display device for displaying color images without using color filters.
Typically, a field sequential type liquid crystal display device is provided with a backlight including light sources of red, green, and blue, and displays three fields of red, green, and blue in one frame period. When the red field is to be displayed, a liquid crystal panel is driven based on red video data, and the red light source emits light. Then, the green field and the blue field are displayed in a similar manner. The three fields displayed by time division are combined based on an afterimage effect on an observer's retina, and thus would be recognized as a single color image by the observer.
In the field sequential type liquid crystal display device, the observer often sees colors of these three fields separated when a line of sight of the observer moves within a display screen. This phenomenon is called as a color breakup. Displaying a white field in addition to red, green, and blue fields is conventionally known as a method of reducing color breakup. Aside from this, controlling brightness of the backlight for each area according to video data is known as a method of reducing power consumption of liquid crystal display devices.
Patent Document 1 describes an image display device that controls brightness of a backlight for each area, and displays white, red, green, and blue fields (see
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5152084
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-206698
However, for each partial light emitting area of the backlight, the image display device described in Patent Document 1 separately obtains the light emission pattern BLr for the red field, the light emission pattern BLg for the green field, and the light emission pattern BLg for the blue field. Therefore, the image display device has a problem that a circuit for obtaining brightness of a backlight for each area is large in size.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls brightness of a backlight for each area, the display device having a circuit with a reduced size for obtaining the brightness of the backlight for each area.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a field sequential type liquid crystal display device including: a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally; a backlight including a plurality of types of light sources having different emission colors, each of the types including a plurality of light sources; a field sequential processing unit configured to generate, based on video data including a plurality of pieces of color component data, a plurality of pieces of field data used for driving the liquid crystal panel, and backlight data used for controlling the backlight; a panel drive circuit configured to drive the liquid crystal panel based on the field data corresponding to a color of a field in each field period; and a backlight control circuit configured to control, based on the backlight data, one or more types of light sources corresponding to the color of the field to be in a light-emitting state in each field period, wherein the field sequential processing unit includes: a representative value calculating unit configured to obtain a representative value for each pixel based on the video data; a backlight data generating unit configured to generate backlight data based on the representative value obtained by the representative value calculating unit, the backlight data indicating brightness of light sources in each of a plurality of areas obtained by dividing the backlight; a video data correcting unit configured to correct the video data based on the backlight data; and a field data generating unit configured to generate a plurality of pieces of field data based on the corrected video data obtained by the video data correcting unit, a number of the pieces of field data being greater than a number of the types of light sources.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the representative value calculating unit obtains a maximum value of the plurality of pieces of color component data as the representative value for each pixel.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the representative value calculating unit obtains an average value of the plurality of pieces of color component data as the representative value for each pixel.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the backlight includes a plurality of red light sources, a plurality of green light sources, and a plurality of blue light sources, the video data includes red video data, green video data, and blue video data, and the field data generating unit generates pieces of red, green, and blue field data, and pieces of field data for one or more colors selected from white, cyan, yellow, and magenta, based on corrected red video data, corrected green video data, and corrected blue video data obtained by the video data correcting unit.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the field data generating unit generates the white, red, green, and blue field data.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the field data generating unit generates the white, cyan, yellow, magenta, red, green, and blue field data.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the field data generating unit generates the red, green, and blue field data, and field data for one color selected from cyan, yellow, and magenta.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, input video data input from outside is supplied as the video data to the field sequential processing unit.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device further includes: a frame rate converting unit configured to perform frame rate conversion processing to input video data input from outside, wherein, to the field sequential processing unit, video data after conversion output from the frame rate converting unit is supplied as the video data.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the frame rate converting unit doubles a frame rate of the input video data.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the video data for two frames is supplied, the representative value calculating unit obtains the representative value for each pixel based on the video data for one frame, the backlight data generating unit generates the backlight data based on the representative value for one frame, the video data correcting unit corrects the video data for two frames based on the backlight data, and the field data generating unit generates the plurality of pieces of field data based on the corrected video data for two frames obtained by the video data correcting unit.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh aspect of the present invention, a frame rate of the input video data is 60 Hz, the frame rate converting unit converts the frame rate of the input video data to 144 Hz, and the field data generating unit generates four pieces of field data based on the corrected video data for two frames obtained by the video data correcting unit.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of driving a field sequential type liquid crystal display device including a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally and a backlight including a plurality of types of light sources having different emission colors, each of the types including a plurality of light sources, the method including: a step of obtaining a representative value for each pixel based on the video data including a plurality of pieces of color component data; a step of obtaining backlight data based on the representative value, the backlight data indicating brightness of light sources in each of a plurality of areas obtained by dividing the backlight; a step of correcting the video data based on the backlight data; a step of generating a plurality of pieces of field data based on the corrected video data, a number of the pieces of field data being greater than a number of the types of light sources; a step of driving the liquid crystal panel based on the field data corresponding to a color of a field in each field period; and a step of controlling, based on the backlight data, one or more types of light sources corresponding to the color of the field to be in a light-emitting state in each field period.
According to the first or thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls brightness of a backlight for each area according to video data, the backlight data is generated based on the representative value for each pixel of the video data. Therefore, as compared to a case in which a plurality of pieces of backlight data are separately generated based on a plurality of pieces of color component data, it is possible to reduce an amount of calculation for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area, and thus to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, by obtaining the maximum value of the plurality of pieces of color component data as the representative value for each pixel of the video data, and by generating the backlight data based on the obtained maximum value, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, by obtaining the average value of the plurality of pieces of color component data as the representative value for each pixel of the video data, and by generating the backlight data based on the obtained average value, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by displaying field(s) for one or more colors selected from the white, cyan, yellow, and magenta in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display two or more colors out of red, green, and blue using a plurality of fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by displaying the white field in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display each of red, green, and blue using two fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, by displaying the white, cyan, yellow, and magenta fields in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display each of red, green, and blue using four fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by displaying any of the cyan, yellow, and magenta fields in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display two colors out of red, green, and blue using two fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, in a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls brightness of a backlight for each area according to input video data, by generating the backlight data based on the representative value for each pixel of the input video data, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls brightness of a backlight for each area according to video data after frame rate conversion, by generating the backlight data based on the representative value for each pixel of the video data after frame rate conversion, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area. Further, by performing frame rate conversion processing to the input video data, it is possible to correct the display positions in the fields, and to reduce color breakup.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, a frame rate converting unit may be easily configured.
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, by displaying a plurality of fields corresponding to one frame period based on the video data after frame rate conversion for two frames, as compared to the case in which a plurality of fields corresponding to one frame period based on the video data after frame rate conversion for one frame are displayed, it is possible to lower a drive frequency of liquid crystals, and to configure the liquid crystal display device more easily or at reduced costs.
According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, by setting a frame rate of a display screen to be 72 Hz, and a drive frequency of liquid crystals to be 288 Hz, it is possible to reduce flicker from occurring in a display screen using a practical liquid crystal panel with reduced costs.
The liquid crystal panel 15 includes a plurality of pixels that are arranged two-dimensionally. More specifically, the liquid crystal panel 15 includes m scanning lines (not shown), n data lines (not shown), and (m×n) pixels (not shown). The m scanning lines extend in a horizontal direction (traverse direction in
The display control circuit 12 outputs a control signal CS1 to the scanning line drive circuit 13, and a control signal CS2 and a video signal VS to the data line drive circuit 14. The scanning line drive circuit 13 sequentially selects the m scanning lines based on the control signal CS1. The data line drive circuit 14 applies voltages corresponding to the video signal VS to the n data lines based on the control signal CS2.
The backlight 17 includes a plurality of types of light sources having different emission colors (red, green, and blue light sources), each of the types including a plurality of light sources. More specifically, the backlight 17 is a direct-type backlight including a plurality of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) 18 that are arranged two-dimensionally. The plurality of LEDs 18 includes red LEDs, green LEDs, and blue LEDs. As illustrated in
To the liquid crystal display device 10, input video data including data for three color components (red video data Ri, green video data Gi, and blue video data Bi) is input from outside. Hereinafter, a frame rate of the input video data is assumed to be 60 Hz. While the three pieces of video data Ri, Gi, and Bi are input separately in
The field sequential processing unit 11 includes a representative value calculating unit 111, a backlight data generating unit 112, a video data correcting unit 113, a field data generating unit 114, a frame memory 115, and a buffer memory 116. The representative value calculating unit 111 obtains a representative value for each pixel in the liquid crystal panel 15 based on the input video data. The representative value calculating unit 111 may obtain a maximum value of the red video data Ri, the green video data Gi, and the blue video data Bi as the representative value for each pixel, for example. Alternatively, the representative value calculating unit 111 may obtain an average value (simple average value or weighted average value) of the red video data Ri, the green video data Gi, and the blue video data Bi, as the representative value for each pixel. The representative value calculating unit 111 outputs representative value data Xa indicating the representative value for each pixel. The number of pieces of data included in the representative value data Xa for one frame is equal to the number of pixels of the liquid crystal panel 15, which is (m×n).
The backlight data generating unit 112 obtains brightness of the LEDs 18 in each of the areas 19 of the backlight 17, based on the representative value data Xa. The backlight data generating unit 112 may obtain an average value of the representative values for the pixels for each of the areas 19, and then obtain the brightness of the LEDs 18 in each of the areas 19 based on the obtained average value, for example. Alternatively, the backlight data generating unit 112 may obtain a maximum value of the representative values for the pixels for each of the areas 19, and then obtain the brightness of the LEDs 18 in each of the areas 19 based on the obtained maximum value. The backlight data generating unit 112 outputs the backlight data Xb indicating the brightness of the LEDs 18 in each of the areas 19 of the backlight 17. The number of pieces of data included in the backlight data Xb for one frame is equal to the number of the areas 19, which is (p×q). The backlight data Xb is stored in the buffer memory 116, and supplied to the video data correcting unit 113.
The video data correcting unit 113 corrects the input video data based on the backlight data Xb. The video data correcting unit 113 obtains brightness of the backlight 17 at a position of each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 15 based on the backlight data Xb, for example, and corrects the three pieces of video data Ri, Gi, and Bi by dividing brightness of each pixel by the brightness of the backlight 17 at the position of this pixel. The video data correcting unit 113 outputs corrected red video data Rc, corrected green video data Gc, and corrected blue video data Bc as the corrected video data.
Based on the three pieces of corrected video data Rc, Gc, and Bc, the field data generating unit 114 generates four pieces of field data (white field data Wf, red field data Rf, green field data Gf, and blue field data Bf), the number of pieces of field data being greater than the number of types of the light sources included in the backlight 17. For example, the field data generating unit 114 performs calculation for each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 15 as shown by the following equations (1) to (4). Here, min represents calculation for obtaining a minimum value.
Wf=min(Rc,Gc,Bc) (1)
Rf=Rc−Wf (2)
Gf=Gc−Wf (3)
Bf=Bc−Wf (4)
The four pieces of field data Wf, Rf, Gf, and Bf generated by the field data generating unit 114 are stored in the frame memory 115. The display control circuit 12 sequentially reads the four pieces of field data Wf, Rf, Gf, and Bf stored in the frame memory 115. The backlight control circuit 16 reads the backlight data Xb stored in the buffer memory 116. The liquid crystal panel 15 is driven based on the four pieces of field data Wf, Rf, Gf, and Bf, and the backlight 17 is controlled based on the backlight data Xb.
In the second frame period, the display control circuit 12 sequentially reads the four pieces of field data W1, R1, G1, and B1 from the frame memory 115, and outputs the video signal VS including the pieces of read field data to the data line drive circuit 14. In the white, red, green, and blue field periods, the scanning line drive circuit 13 and the data line drive circuit 14 drive the liquid crystal panel 15 based on the white, red, green, and blue field data W1, R1, G1, and B1, respectively.
In the second frame period, the backlight control circuit 16 reads the backlight data X1 from the buffer memory 116. In each field period, the backlight control circuit 16 controls one or three types of LEDs corresponding to a color of a field to be in a light-emitting state. Specifically, the backlight control circuit 16 controls the red, green, and blue LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in the white field period, and controls corresponding one of the red, green, and blue LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in each of the red, green, and blue field periods. In any of these field periods, the backlight control circuit 16 controls the LEDs 18 in each of the areas 19 to emit light with brightness corresponding to the backlight data X1.
As described above, based on the input video data, the field sequential processing unit 11 generates the four pieces of field data Wf, Rf, Gf, and Bf used for driving the liquid crystal panel 15, and the backlight data Xb used for controlling the backlight 17. The display control circuit 12, the scanning line drive circuit 13, and the data line drive circuit 14 function as a panel drive circuit that drives the liquid crystal panel 15 based on the field data corresponding to the color of the field in each field period. The backlight control circuit 16 controls one or more types of light sources to be in the light-emitting state, based on the backlight data Xb in each filed period.
According to the liquid crystal display device 10 of this embodiment, it is possible to display a color image by displaying the white, red, green, and blue fields in one frame period. Further, by displaying the white field in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display each of red, green, and blue using two fields, and thus to reduce color breakup. Moreover, by controlling brightness of the backlight 17 for each area according to the input video data, it is possible to reduce power consumption of the backlight 17, and to reduce power consumption of the liquid crystal display device 10.
Hereinafter, specific effects of the liquid crystal display device 10 will be described. Here, a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls brightness of backlight for each area and displays white, red, green, and blue fields is considered. Such a liquid crystal display device may be configured using a field sequential processing unit 90 shown in
The image display device described in Patent Document 1 (
On the other hand, the field sequential processing unit 11 of the liquid crystal display device 10 according to this embodiment includes the representative value calculating unit 111 that obtains a representative value for each pixel based on the input video data, the backlight data generating unit 112 that generates the backlight data Xb based on the representative value obtained by the representative value calculating unit 111, the video data correcting unit 113 that corrects the input video data based on the backlight data Xb, and the field data generating unit 114 that generates the four pieces of field data Wf, Rf, Gf, and Bf based on the corrected input video data obtained by the video data correcting unit 113. The field sequential processing unit 11 generates the backlight data Xb based on the representative value obtained for each pixel of the input video data, generates the backlight data Xb, corrects the input video data, and then adds a white field.
As described above, the liquid crystal display device 10 according to this embodiment generates the backlight data Xb based on the representative value for each pixel of the input video data, instead of generating the backlight data Xb separately for a plurality of pieces of color component data. Accordingly, an amount of calculation for obtaining brightness of the backlight 17 for each area is ¼ in the case of the liquid crystal display device including the field sequential processing unit 90 shown in
As the representative value for each pixel, the representative value calculating unit 111 may obtain a maximum value of the plurality of pieces of color component data, or an average value of the plurality of pieces of color component data. In either case, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight 17 for each area.
The field sequential processing unit 21 includes the representative value calculating unit 111, the backlight data generating unit 112, the video data correcting unit 113, afield data generating unit 211, a frame memory 212, and the buffer memory 116.
The field data generating unit 211 generates seven pieces of field data (white field data Wf, cyan field data Cf, yellow field data Yf, magenta field data Mf, red field data Rf, green field data Gf, and blue field data Bf) based on the three pieces of corrected video data Rc, Gc, and Bc output from the video data correcting unit 113. For example, the field data generating unit 211 performs calculation for each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 15 as shown by the following equations (5) to (11).
Wf=min(Rc,Gc,Bc) (5)
Cf=min(Rc−Wf,Bc−Wf) (6)
Yf=min(Rc−Wf,Gc−Wf) (7)
Mf=min(Rc−Wf,Bc−Wf) (8)
Rf=Rc−Wf−Yf−Mf (9)
Gf=Gc−Wf−Cf−Yf (10)
Bf=Bc−Wf−Cf−Mf (11)
The seven pieces of field data Wf, Cf, Yf, Mf, Rf, Gf, and Bf generated by the field data generating unit 211 are stored in the frame memory 212. The display control circuit 22 sequentially reads the seven pieces of field data Wf, Cf, Yf, Mf, Rf, Gf, and Bf stored in the frame memory 212. The backlight control circuit 23 reads the backlight data Xb stored in the buffer memory 116. The liquid crystal panel 15 is driven based on the seven pieces of field data Wf, Cf, Yf, Mf, Rf, Gf, and Bf, and the backlight 17 is controlled based on the backlight data Xb.
In the second frame period, the display control circuit 22 sequentially reads the seven pieces of field data W1, C1, Y1, M1, R1, G1, and B1 from the frame memory 212, and outputs the video signal VS including the pieces of read field data to the data line drive circuit 14. In the white, cyan, yellow, magenta, red, green, and blue field periods, the scanning line drive circuit 13 and the data line drive circuit 14 drive the liquid crystal panel 15 based on the white, cyan, yellow, magenta, red, green, and blue field data W1, C1, Y1, M1, R1, G1, and B1, respectively.
In the second frame period, the backlight control circuit 23 reads the backlight data X1 from the buffer memory 116. The backlight control circuit 23 controls the red, green, and blue LEDs to be in a light-emitting state in the white field period, controls the green and blue LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in the cyan field period, controls the red and green LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in the yellow field period, controls the red and blue LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in the magenta field period, and controls corresponding one of the red, green, and blue LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in each of the red, green, and blue field periods. In any of these field periods, the backlight control circuit 23 controls the LEDs 18 in each of the areas 19 to emit light with brightness corresponding to the backlight data X1.
According to the liquid crystal display device 20 of this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the backlight data Xb is generated based on the representative value for each pixel of the input video data. Therefore, according to the liquid crystal display device 20, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight 17 for each area. Further, according to the liquid crystal display device 20, by displaying the white, cyan, yellow, and magenta fields in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display each of red, green, and blue using four fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
As a variation of the liquid crystal display device 20 according to this embodiment, it is possible to configure a liquid crystal display device that displays four to six fields in one frame period by performing field sequential driving.
In
Yf=min(Rc,Gc) (12)
Rf=Rc−Yf (13)
Gf=Gc−Yf (14)
Bf=Bc (15)
A display control circuit 27 sequentially reads the four pieces of field data Yf, Rf, Gf, and Bf stored in a frame memory 262. In the yellow, red, green, and blue field periods, the scanning line drive circuit 13 and the data line drive circuit 14 drive the liquid crystal panel 15 respectively based on the pieces of yellow, red, green, and blue field data Y1, R1, G1, and B1. A backlight control circuit 28 reads the backlight data Xb stored in the buffer memory 116. The backlight control circuit 28 controls the red and green LEDs to be in a light-emitting state in the yellow field period, and controls the red, green, and blue LEDs to be in the light-emitting state in the red, green, and blue field periods.
In a liquid crystal display device 25, the backlight data Xb is also generated based on the representative value for each pixel of the input video data. Therefore, according to the liquid crystal display device 25, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight 17 for each area. Further, by displaying the yellow field in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display each of red and green using two fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
Generally, a field data generating unit generates the red, green, and blue field data and the field data for one or more colors selected from white, cyan, yellow, and magenta based on the three pieces of corrected video data Rc, Gc, and Bc. According to the liquid crystal display device including such a field data generating unit, by displaying field(s) for one or more colors selected from white, cyan, yellow, and magenta in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display two or more colors out of red, green, and blue using a plurality of fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
In particular, the field data generating unit may generate the red, green, and blue field data and the field data for one color selected from the cyan, yellow, and magenta based on the three pieces of corrected video data Rc, Gc, and Bc. According to the liquid crystal display device including such a field data generating unit, by displaying any of the cyan, yellow, and magenta fields in addition to the red, green, and blue fields, it is possible to display two or more colors out of red, green, and blue using two fields, and thus to reduce color breakup.
The double speed processing unit 31 is provided in a previous stage of the field sequential processing unit 32. The double speed processing unit 31 doubles the frame rate of input video data. For example, the double speed processing unit 31 performs interpolation processing to two successive frames, and inserts between the two frames an interpolation frame that has been obtained. The double speed processing unit 31 outputs double speed video data including red video data Rd, green video data Gd, and blue video data Bd, and having a frame rate of 120 Hz. Here, the double speed processing unit 31 is one example of a frame rate converting unit for converting a frame rate of the input video data.
The field sequential processing unit 32 includes a representative value calculating unit 311, a backlight data generating unit 312, a video data correcting unit 313, a field data generating unit 314, the frame memory 115, and the buffer memory 116. To the field sequential processing unit 32, the double speed video data output from the double speed processing unit 31 is supplied.
The representative value calculating unit 311 obtains a representative value for each pixel based on the double speed video data, and the backlight data generating unit 312 generates the backlight data Xb based on the representative value for each pixel. However, when double speed video data for two frames is supplied, the representative value calculating unit 311 obtains the representative value for each pixel based on the double speed video data for one frame, and the backlight data generating unit 312 generates the backlight data Xb based on the representative value for each pixel for one frame. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the representative value calculating unit 311 and the backlight data generating unit 312 perform the above-mentioned processing to double speed video data for an odd-numbered frame.
The video data correcting unit 313 corrects the red video data Rd, the green video data Gd, and the blue video data Bd based on the backlight data Xb. The video data correcting unit 313 corrects the double speed video data for an odd-numbered frame based on the backlight data Xb generated based on the odd-numbered frame, and corrects the double speed video data for an even-numbered frame based on the backlight data Xb generated based on an immediately previous odd-numbered frame. The field data generating unit 314 generates the four pieces of field data (white field data Wf, red field data Rf, green field data Gf, and blue field data Bf) based on the corrected double speed video data for two frames obtained by the video data correcting unit 313.
In the first half of the first frame period, the representative value calculating unit 311 obtains the representative value for each pixel based on the double speed video data RGBD1 for the first frame. The backlight data generating unit 312 generates the backlight data X1 based on the representative value for each pixel of the double speed video data RGBD1 for the first frame. The video data correcting unit 313 corrects the double speed video data RGBD1 for the first frame based on the backlight data X1. The field data generating unit 314 generates only the white field data W1 based on the corrected double speed video data for the first frame. The white field data W1 is stored in the frame memory 115.
In the latter half of the first frame period, the representative value calculating unit 311 and the backlight data generating unit 312 do not operate. The video data correcting unit 313 corrects the double speed video data RGBD2 for the second frame based on the previously generated backlight data X1. The field data generating unit 314 generates red field data R2, green field data G2, and blue field data B2 based on the corrected double speed video data for the second frame. White field data W2 generated at this time is discarded. The red field data R2, the green field data G2, and the blue field data B2 are stored in the frame memory 115. Note that, when generating the red field data R2, the green field data G2, and the blue field data B2, the field data generating unit 314 may use the previously generated white field data W1 instead of generating the white field data W2.
Hereinafter, effects of the liquid crystal display device 30 according to this embodiment will be described. The liquid crystal display device 30 includes the double speed processing unit 31 that doubles the frame rate of the input video data. To the field sequential processing unit 32, the double speed video data output from the double speed processing unit 31 is supplied. Therefore, according to the liquid crystal display device 30, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight 17 for each area in a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that performs double speed processing to input video data and controls the brightness of the backlight according to the double speed video data.
Further, when the frame rate of the input video data is 60 Hz, if four fields are displayed in one frame period based on the double speed video data without any particular device, a drive frequency of liquid crystals becomes 480 Hz. Driving liquid crystals at a frame rate of 480 Hz is difficult, or may increase costs.
Thus, according to the field sequential processing unit 32 of the liquid crystal display device 30, when the double speed video data for two frames is supplied, the representative value calculating unit 311 obtains the representative value for each pixel based on the double speed video data for one frame, the backlight data generating unit 312 generates the backlight data Xb based on the representative value for one frame, the video data correcting unit 313 corrects the double speed video data for two frames based on the backlight data Xb, the field data generating unit 314 generates four pieces of field data corresponding to the one frame period based on the corrected video data for two frames obtained by the video data correcting unit 313. Therefore, in the liquid crystal display device 30, a drive frequency of liquid crystals is 240 Hz. Driving liquid crystals at a frame rate of 240 Hz is easy or may reduce costs as compared to the case in which liquid crystals are driven at a frame rate of 480 Hz.
In this manner, by displaying four fields corresponding to one frame period based on the double speed video data for two frames, as compared to the case in which four fields corresponding to one frame period based on the double speed video data for one frame are displayed, it is possible to lower a drive frequency of liquid crystals, and to configure the liquid crystal display device 30 more easily or at reduced costs. Further, by employing the double speed processing unit 31, a frame rate converting unit may be easily configured.
The frame rate converting unit 41 is provided in a previous stage of the field sequential processing unit 32. The frame rate converting unit 41 performs frame rate conversion processing to the input video data to increase the frame rate of the input video data from 60 Hz to 144 Hz. The frame rate converting unit 41 outputs video data after frame rate conversion that includes red video data Re, green video data Ge, and blue video data Be, and has a frame rate of 144 Hz. To the field sequential processing unit 32, the video data after frame rate conversion output from the frame rate converting unit 41 is supplied. The field sequential processing unit 32 operates in the same manner as in the third embodiment.
Hereinafter, effects of the liquid crystal display device 40 according to this embodiment will be described. The liquid crystal display device 40 includes the frame rate converting unit 41 that performs frame rate conversion processing to the input video data. To the field sequential processing unit 32, the video data after frame rate conversion output from the frame rate converting unit 41 is supplied. Therefore, according to the liquid crystal display device 40, in a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls the brightness of the backlight according to the video data after frame rate conversion, it is possible to reduce a size of the circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight 17 for each area.
Further, according to the liquid crystal display device 40, similarly to the third embodiment, by performing frame rate conversion processing to the input video data, it is possible to correct the display positions in the fields, and to reduce color breakup. Moreover, by displaying four fields corresponding to one frame period based on the double speed video data for two frames, as compared to the case in which four fields corresponding to one frame period based on the double speed video data for one frame are displayed, it is possible to lower a drive frequency of liquid crystals, and to configure the liquid crystal display device 40 more easily or at reduced costs.
Furthermore, according to the liquid crystal display device 40, a frame rate of the display screen is 72 Hz, and a drive frequency of liquid crystals is 288 Hz. Generally, when a frame rate of a display screen is equal to or higher than 70 Hz, it is difficult for the observer to recognize flicker in the display screen. Further, as the drive frequency of liquid crystals is 288 Hz, it is possible to use a practical liquid crystal panel with reduced costs as the liquid crystal panel 15. Therefore, according to the liquid crystal display device 40, it is possible to reduce flicker from occurring in a display screen using a practical liquid crystal panel with reduced costs.
Note that the liquid crystal display device described above includes, as the backlight 17, a direct-type backlight having the plurality of LEDs 18 arranged two-dimensionally. Instead, the liquid crystal display device of the present invention may include, as the backlight 17, an edge-light type backlight having a plurality of LEDs arranged one-dimensionally and a light guide plate.
As described above, according to the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, in a field sequential type liquid crystal display device that controls brightness of a backlight according to video data, it is possible to reduce a size of a circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area, by generating backlight data based on the representative value for each pixel of the video data.
The liquid crystal display device of the present invention may be applied to display units of various electronic devices, as it is possible to reduce a size of a circuit for obtaining brightness of the backlight for each area.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-234938 | Nov 2013 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/073284 | 9/4/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2015/072213 | 5/21/2015 | WO | A |
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| 20160322004 A1 | Nov 2016 | US |
