This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0089830 filed on Jun. 24, 2015, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a gate driving circuit for shifting a gate pulse using a shift register and controlling a plurality of pull-up transistors using one Q node and a display device using the gate driving circuit.
Discussion of the Related Art
Examples of a flat panel display include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, and an electrophoresis display (EPD).
A driving circuit of a display device includes a pixel array, on which an image is displayed, a data driving circuit supplying a data signal to data lines of the pixel array, a gate driving circuit (or a scan driving circuit) sequentially supplying a gate pulse (or a scan pulse) synchronized with the data signal to gate lines (or scan lines) of the pixel array, a timing controller controlling the data driving circuit and the gate driving circuit, and the like.
Each pixel may include a thin film transistor (TFT) supplying a voltage of the data line to a pixel electrode in response to the gate pulse. The gate pulse swings between a gate high voltage VGH and a gate low voltage VGL. The gate high voltage VGH is set to be greater than a threshold voltage of the TFT, and the gate low voltage VGL is set to be less than the threshold voltage of the TFT.
A technology for embedding the gate driving circuit and the pixel array in a display panel has been applied. The gate driving circuit embedded in the display panel is known as “GIP (Gate-In Panel) circuit”. The GIP circuit includes a shift register. The shift register includes a plurality of cascade connected stages. The stages generate an output in response to a start pulse and shift the output in accordance with clock timing.
The stages of the shift register include a Q node charging the gate line, a QB node discharging the gate line, and a switch circuit connected to the Q node and the QB node. The switch circuit charges the Q node in response to the start pulse or an output of a previous stage and increases the voltage of the gate line. The switch circuit includes metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs).
Each stage of the shift register generates an output when a voltage of the Q node is boosted to a voltage equal to or greater than a threshold voltage of a pull-up transistor. The output of the stage is supplied to one gate line as the gate pulse. Thus, as the number of gate lines increases due to an increase in a resolution of the display panel, the size of the gate driving circuit increases. The GIP circuit is formed in a bezel area of the display panel, on which an image is not displayed. Thus, an increase in the size of the GIP circuit leads to an increase in the bezel area of the display panel.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a gate driving circuit and display device using the same that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present application is to provide a gate driving circuit capable of reducing a circuit size and a display device capable of reducing a bezel of a display panel and implementing uniform image quality of the entire screen using the gate driving circuit.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a gate driving circuit comprises a first gate driving circuit configured to sequentially generate first and second output voltages and a second gate driving circuit configured to sequentially generate first and second output voltages. The first gate driving circuit and the second gate driving circuit are asymmetrically connected to gate lines. The first output voltage of the first gate driving circuit is supplied to an nth gate line, where n is a positive integer, and the second output voltage of the second gate driving circuit is supplied to the nth gate line.
In another aspect, a display device comprises a display panel including data lines and gate lines, a data driving circuit configured to supply a data signal to the data lines, a first gate driving circuit connected to one end of the respective gate lines and configured to sequentially supply first and second output voltages to the gate lines, and a second gate driving circuit connected to the other end of the respective gate lines and configured to sequentially supply first and second output voltages to the gate lines.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
A display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention may be implemented based on a flat panel display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, and an electrophoresis display (EPD).
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. It will be paid attention that detailed description of known arts will be omitted if it is determined that the arts can mislead the embodiments of the invention.
Referring to
The display panel PNL includes data lines 12, gate lines 14 crossing the data lines 12, and a pixel array including pixels arranged in a matrix form defined by the data lines 12 and the gate lines 14. The input image is reproduced on the pixel array. A touch screen may be implemented on the display panel PNL.
The display panel driving circuit includes a data driving circuit SIC supplying a data signal to the data lines 12, a gate driving circuit sequentially supplying a gate pulse synchronized with the data signal to the gate lines 14, and a timing controller TCON.
The timing controller TCON transmits digital video data of the input image to the data driving circuit SIC and controls operation timings of the data driving circuit SIC and the gate driving circuit.
The data driving circuit SIC converts the digital video data received from the timing controller TCON into an analog gamma compensation voltage and generates a data voltage. The data driving circuit SIC then supplies the data voltage to the data lines 12.
The gate driving circuit according to the embodiment of the invention includes a left GIP (Gate-In Panel) circuit 16 and a right GIP circuit 16 asymmetrically connected to the gate lines 14. The left GIP circuit 16 is disposed in a left bezel of the display panel PNL outside the pixel array, and the right GIP circuit 16 is disposed in a right bezel of the display panel PNL outside the pixel array.
The left GIP circuit 16 sequentially generates first and second outputs, each of which has a different rising time and a different falling time, using a shift register. The right GIP circuit 16 sequentially generates first and second outputs, each of which has a different rising time and a different falling time, using a shift register. The first output from the left GIP circuit 16 is an nth gate pulse and is supplied to an nth gate line, where n is a positive integer. The second output from the right GIP circuit 16 is the nth gate pulse and is supplied to an (n+1)th gate line.
The shift register of each of the GIP circuits 16 includes stages. The stages start to output the gate pulse in response to a start pulse and shift the output in accordance with timing of a gate shift clock CLK. Output signals sequentially output from the stages are the gate pulses and are supplied to the gate lines 14. Each stage controls two or more pull-up transistors using one Q node voltage, sequentially outputs two or more gate pulses (or scan pulses), and supplies the two or more gate pulses to the gate lines 14. In the following description, the embodiments of the invention describe that one stage generates two outputs, as an example, but are not limited thereto.
Referring to
The Q node is pre-charged with a gate high voltage VGH supplied through a Q charge transistor T1. The Q charge transistor T1 supplies the gate high voltage VGH to the Q node in response to a SET signal. A high potential voltage different from the gate high voltage VGH may be supplied to the Q node through the Q charge transistor T1.
When an nth clock CLK(n) (where n is a positive integer) is supplied to a drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 in a state where the Q node has been pre-charged, a voltage of the Q node increases due to a first bootstrapping. In this instance, the first pull-up transistor Tu1 charges a first output node OUT1 with a voltage of the nth clock CLK(n) and rises an nth output voltage Vout(n). Subsequently, when an (n+1)th clock CLK(n+1) is supplied to a drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2, the voltage of the Q node further increases due to a second bootstrapping. As a result, the second pull-up transistor Tu2 charges a second output node OUT2 with a voltage of the (n+1)th clock CLK(n+1) and rises an (n+1)th output voltage Vout(n+1). Because the nth clock CLK(n) is earlier than the (n+1)th clock CLK(n+1), the (n+1)th output voltage Vout(n+1) is outputted subsequent to the nth output voltage Vout(n).
A gate of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 is connected to the Q node. The nth clock CLK(n) is supplied to the drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1. A source of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 is connected to the first output node OUT1. A gate of the second pull-up transistor Tu2 is connected to the Q node. The (n+1)th clock CLK(n+1) is supplied to the drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2. A source of the second pull-up transistor Tu2 is connected to the second output node OUT2.
An output waveform may vary depending on the voltage of the Q node. As shown in
The embodiment of the invention, as shown in
Referring to
In the first L-stage STL1, the first pull-up transistor Tu1 is connected to a first gate line G1 through a first output node OUT1, and the second pull-up transistor Tu2 is connected to a second gate line G2 through a second output node OUT2.
In the second L-stage STL2, the first pull-up transistor Tu1 is connected to a third gate line G3 through a first output node OUT1, and the second pull-up transistor Tu2 is connected to a fourth gate line G4 through a second output node OUT2.
The right GIP circuit includes a plurality of R-stages STR1, STR2, and STR3. Each of the R-stages STR1, STR2, and STR3 includes first and second pull-up transistors Tu1 and Tu2 and one Q node controlling the first and second pull-up transistors Tu1 and Tu2.
The first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the first R-stage STR1 is connected to a first output node OUT1. The first output node OUT1 is a dummy node DMY, which is not connected to the gate lines of the pixel array. The second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first R-stage STR1 is connected to the first gate line G1 through a second output node OUT2.
The first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second R-stage STR2 is connected to the second gate line G2 through a first output node OUT1. The second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second R-stage STR2 is connected to the third gate line G3 through a second output node OUT2.
The first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the third R-stage STR3 is connected to the fourth gate line G4 through a first output node OUT1. The second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the third R-stage STR3 is connected to a fifth gate line G5 through a second output node OUT2 as shown in
The first pull-up transistor Tu1, that generates an output when the Q node is firstly bootstrapped, is connected to one end of each of the first to fourth gate lines G1 to G4. The second pull-up transistor Tu2, that generates an output when the Q node is secondly bootstrapped, is connected to the other end of each of the first to fourth gate lines G1 to G4.
A waveform of an output voltage generated when the Q node is firstly bootstrapped is different from a waveform of an output voltage generated when the Q node is secondly bootstrapped. The embodiment of the invention connects the first pull-up transistor to one end of the gate line and connects the second pull-up transistor to the other end of the gate line, thereby making a rising time and a falling time of the gate pulse applied to each of the first to fourth gate lines G1 to G4 have the same duration.
A first clock CLK1 is supplied to the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the first L-stage STL1, and at the same time is supplied to the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first R-stage STR1. When a voltage of the first clock CLK1 is supplied to a drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the first L-stage STL1, charges are supplied to the Q node of the first L-stage STL1 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1, and thus the Q node is firstly bootstrapped. At the same time, when the voltage of the first clock CLK1 is supplied to a drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first R-stage STR1, charges are supplied to the Q node of the first R-stage STR1 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2, and thus the Q node is secondly bootstrapped. As a result, a first gate pulse is supplied to one end of the first gate line G1 through the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the first L-stage STL1, and at the same time is supplied to the other end of the first gate line G1 through the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first R-stage STR1 in accordance with the timing of the first clock CLK1.
A second clock CLK2 is supplied to the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first L-stage STL1, and at the same time is supplied to the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second R-stage STR2. When a voltage of the second clock CLK2 is supplied to a drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first L-stage STL1, charges are supplied to the Q node of the first L-stage STL1 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2, and thus the Q node is secondly bootstrapped. At the same time, when the voltage of the second clock CLK2 is supplied to a drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second R-stage STR2, charges are supplied to the Q node of the second R-stage STR2 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1, and thus the Q node is firstly bootstrapped. As a result, a second gate pulse is supplied to one end of the second gate line G2 through the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the first L-stage STL1, and at the same time is supplied to the other end of the second gate line G2 through the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second R-stage STR2 in accordance with the timing of the second clock CLK2.
A third clock CLK3 is supplied to the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second L-stage STL2, and at the same time is supplied to the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second R-stage STR2. When a voltage of the third clock CLK3 is supplied to a drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second L-stage STL2, charges are supplied to the Q node of the second L-stage STL2 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1, and thus the Q node is firstly bootstrapped. At the same time, when the voltage of the third clock CLK3 is supplied to a drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second R-stage STR2, charges are supplied to the Q node of the second R-stage STR2 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2, and thus the Q node is secondly bootstrapped. As a result, a third gate pulse is supplied to one end of the third gate line G3 through the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the second L-stage STL2, and at the same time is supplied to the other end of the third gate line G3 through the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second R-stage STR2 in accordance with the timing of the third clock CLK3.
A fourth clock CLK4 is supplied to the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second L-stage STL2, and at the same time is supplied to the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the third R-stage STR3. When a voltage of the fourth clock CLK4 is supplied to a drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second L-stage STL2, charges are supplied to the Q node of the second L-stage STL2 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the second pull-up transistor Tu2, and thus the Q node is secondly bootstrapped. At the same time, when the voltage of the fourth clock CLK4 is supplied to a drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the third R-stage STR3, charges are supplied to the Q node of the third R-stage STR3 through a parasitic capacitance between a gate and the drain of the first pull-up transistor Tu1, and thus the Q node is firstly bootstrapped. As a result, a fourth gate pulse is supplied to one end of the fourth gate line G4 through the second pull-up transistor Tu2 of the second L-stage STL2, and at the same time is supplied to the other end of the fourth gate line G4 through the first pull-up transistor Tu1 of the third R-stage STR3 in accordance with the timing of the fourth clock CLK4.
In
Referring to
Each GIP circuit may include dummy stages disconnected from the gate lines. The dummy stages generate dummy outputs DMY1 to DMY5. Because output nodes of the dummy stages are not connected to the gate lines, the dummy outputs DMY1 to DMY5 are not supplied to the gate lines and are input to a start pulse terminal or a SET signal terminal of a next stage. In an example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
The embodiment of the invention connects the first pull-up transistor to one end of the gate line and connects the second pull-up transistor to the other end of the gate line. As a result, the embodiment of the invention, as shown in
In addition to the above-described configurations of the GIP circuit according to the embodiments of the invention, other configurations may be used. For example, if connection configurations of the left GIP circuit and the right GIP circuit with respect to the gate lines shown in
As described above, the gate driving circuit according to the embodiment of the invention generates the plurality of output voltages (or gate pulses) through the plurality of pull-up transistors controlled by one Q node. The embodiment of the invention asymmetrically connects a first gate driving circuit and a second gate driving circuit to both ends of the gate lines. As a result, the embodiment of the invention can reduce the size of the gate driving circuit and can implement the uniform image quality of the entire screen of the display device by making the gate pulses supplied to the gate lines have the same waveform.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2015-0089830 | Jun 2015 | KR | national |