The present invention relates to liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and methods for driving LCDs, and particularly to an LCD with a symbol bit generating circuit and a method for driving such LCD.
An LCD utilizes liquid crystal molecules to control light transmissivity of each of pixel unit regions thereof. The liquid crystal molecules are driven according to external video signals received by the LCD. A conventional LCD generally employs a selected one of a frame inversion driving method, a line inversion driving method, a 1-line dot inversion driving method, and a 2-line dot inversion driving method to drive the liquid crystal molecules. Each of these driving methods can protect the liquid crystal molecules from decay or damage.
The liquid crystal panel 10 includes a plurality of parallel scanning lines G1˜Gn, a plurality of parallel data lines D1˜Dm orthogonal to the scanning lines G1˜Gn, and a plurality of pixel units 130 cooperatively defined by the crossing scanning lines G1˜Gn and data lines D1˜Dm. The scanning lines G1˜Gn are electrically coupled to the scanning circuit 102, and the data lines D1˜Dm are electrically coupled to the data circuit 103.
Each pixel unit 130 includes a thin film transistor Qab (where a and b are natural numbers, 1≦a≦n, 1≦b≦m) and a liquid crystal capacitor Ccd (where c and d are natural numbers, 1≦c≦n, 1≦d≦m). The thin film transistor Qab is disposed near an intersection of a corresponding one of the scanning lines G1˜Gn and a corresponding one of the data lines D1˜Dm. A gate electrode of the thin film transistor Qab is electrically coupled to the corresponding one of the scanning lines G1˜Gn, and a source electrode of the thin film transistor Qab is electrically coupled to the corresponding one of the data lines D1˜Dm. Further, a drain electrode of the thin film transistor Qab is electrically coupled to the liquid crystal capacitor Ccd.
The scanning circuit 102 outputs a plurality of scanning signals to scan the plurality of scanning lines G1˜Gn successively. For example, when the scanning line G1 is scanned, the thin film transistors Q11˜Q1m are turned on simultaneously. Then the data circuit 103 outputs data signals to the liquid crystal capacitors C11˜C1m via the data lines D1˜Dm and corresponding thin film transistors Q11˜Q1m. The common voltage generating circuit outputs common voltages to the liquid crystal capacitors C11˜C1m. After all the scanning lines G1˜Gn have been scanned in a single frame period, the aggregation of light transmitting through the respective pixel units 130 constitutes the display of an image on the liquid crystal panel 10.
The data signals applied to each liquid crystal capacitor Ccd include positive polarity data signals (+) and negative polarity data signals (−). A value of each positive polarity data signal is greater than that of the common voltage, and a value of each negative polarity data signal is less than that of the common voltage. When an absolute value of a difference between the positive polarity data signal and the common voltage of any one pixel unit 130 is equal to an absolute value of a difference between the negative polarity data signal and the common voltage of any other pixel unit 130, the two pixel units 130 display picture elements having a same gray level.
Referring to
What is needed, therefore, is an LCD and a driving method for the LCD which can overcome the above-described deficiencies.
A liquid crystal display includes a data circuit, a memory, and a timing controller. The data circuit includes a polarity generating circuit. The timing controller includes: a data analysis circuit configured for analyzing video signals stored in the memory and generates a corresponding symbol bit to each datum according to the category of each datum; and a symbol bit generating circuit configured for receiving the video data from the data analysis circuit, and keeping or altering the symbol bit of each datum according to the symbol bit of each datum outputted from the data analysis circuit. The data circuit is configured for receiving the video data having symbol bits from the timing controller. The polarity generating circuit is configured for generating a corresponding polarity control signal according to each of the symbol bits of the video data.
A driving method for a liquid crystal display includes: providing a liquid crystal display comprising a data circuit comprising a polarity generating circuit, a memory, and a timing controller, the timing controller comprising a data analysis circuit and a symbol bit generating circuit; receiving external video data and writing the video data to the memory by the timing controller; reading the video data from the memory by the data analysis circuit; analyzing the video data and generating a corresponding symbol bit to each video datum according to the category of each video datum by the data analysis circuit; receiving the video data from the data analysis circuit and keeping or altering the symbol bit of each video datum according to the symbol bit of each video datum outputted from the data analysis circuit by the symbol bit generating circuit; and receiving the video data having symbol bits from the timing controller by the data circuit; and generating a corresponding polarity control signal according to each of the symbol bits of the video data by the polarity generating circuit.
Other novel features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe preferred and exemplary embodiments in detail.
The liquid crystal panel 20 includes a plurality of parallel scanning lines G1˜Gn, a plurality of parallel data lines D1˜Dm orthogonal to the scanning lines G1˜Gn, and a plurality of pixel units 230 cooperatively defined by the crossing scanning lines G1˜Gn and data lines D1˜Dm. The scanning lines G1˜Gn are electrically coupled to the scanning circuit 202, and the data lines D1˜Dm are electrically coupled to the data circuit 203.
Each pixel unit 230 includes a thin film transistor Qab (where a and b are natural numbers, 1≦a≦n, 1≦b≦m) and a liquid crystal capacitor Ccd (where c and d are natural numbers, 1≦c≦n, 1≦d≦m). The thin film transistor Qab is disposed near an intersection of a corresponding one of the scanning lines G1˜Gn and a corresponding one of the data lines D1˜Dm. A gate electrode of the thin film transistor Qab is electrically coupled to the corresponding one of the scanning lines G1˜Gn, and a source electrode of the thin film transistor Qab is electrically coupled to the corresponding one of the data lines D1˜Dm. Further, a drain electrode of the thin film transistor Qab is electrically coupled to the liquid crystal capacitor Ccd.
The timing controller 201 receives external video signals and writes the video signals into the memory 207. The scanning circuit 202 outputs a plurality of scanning signals to scan the plurality of scanning lines G1˜Gn successively. For example, when the scanning line G1 is scanned, the thin film transistors Q11˜Q1m are turned on simultaneously. Then the data circuit 203 outputs data signals to the liquid crystal capacitors C11˜C1m via the data lines D1˜Dm and corresponding thin film transistors Q11˜Q1m. The common voltage generating circuit outputs common voltages to the liquid crystal capacitors C11˜C1m. After all the scanning lines G1˜Gn have been scanned in a single frame period, the aggregation of light transmitting through the respective pixel units 230 constitutes the display of an image on the liquid crystal panel 20.
The video signals stored in the memory 207 include a plurality of data, and each item of the data (i.e. datum) corresponds to one picture element displayed by one of the plurality of pixel units 230. The plurality of data can be categorized into bright data and dark data. The bright data are configured to make the pixel units 230 display picture elements in bright states, and the dark data are configured to make the pixel units 230 display picture elements in dark states. The bright states and the dark states are defined relative to each other. For example, when the data signal applied to each of the pixel units 230 is greater than or equal to the 127th gray level, the picture element displayed by the pixel unit 230 is defined as being in the bright state. When the data signal applied to each of the pixel units 230 is less than the 127th gray level, the picture element displayed by the pixel unit 230 is defined as being in the dark state.
The data analysis circuit 25 reads the video signals stored in the memory 207, determines the bright/dark state category of each datum, and generates a symbol bit corresponding to each datum according to the category of the datum. The symbol bit generating circuit 26 receives the data from the data analysis circuit 25, and maintains or alters a previously recorded symbol bit of each datum according to the symbol bit of each datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25. The data circuit 203 receives the data having symbol bits from the timing controller 201. The polarity generating circuit 31 generates a corresponding polarity control signal according to each of the symbol bits of the data.
The data analysis circuit 25 reads the video signals from the memory 207 and analyzes the 1,310,720 data one by one. When a datum is a bright datum, the data analysis circuit 25 generates a symbol bit 0 assigned to the datum. When a datum is a dark datum, the data analysis circuit 25 generates a symbol bit 1 assigned to the datum. For example, when the first datum is a bright datum, the data analysis circuit 25 generates a symbol bit 0 assigned to the first datum. When the second datum is a dark datum, the data analysis circuit 25 generates a symbol bit 1 assigned to the second datum. In
The symbol bit generating circuit 26 receives the 1,310,720 data having symbol bits from the data analysis circuit 25, and analyzes them group by group. Each group of the data having symbol bits corresponds to a respective row of the picture elements. For each group of the data having symbol bits, when the symbol bit of a datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 (i.e. the datum is a bright datum), the symbol bit generating circuit 26 maintains the symbol bit as 0 if the symbol bit of the corresponding previous adjacent bright datum is 1; and the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 1 if the symbol bit of the corresponding previous adjacent bright datum is 0. When the symbol bit of a datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 (i.e. the datum is a dark datum), the symbol bit generating circuit 26 maintains the symbol bit as 1 if the symbol bit of the corresponding previous adjacent bright datum is 0; and the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 0 if the symbol bit of the corresponding previous adjacent bright datum is 1, as shown in
In particular, for the first group of the data having symbol bits, the symbol bit of the first datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0, and the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 0. The symbol bit of the second datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the first datum is 0, so the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 1. The symbol bit of the third datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the first datum is 0, so the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 1. The symbol bit of the fourth datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the up-to-date symbol bit of the third datum is 1, so the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 0. The symbol bit of the fifth datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the third datum is 1, so the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 0. The symbol bit of the sixth datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the fifth datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 1. The symbol bit of the seventh datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the fifth datum is 0, so the symbol bit generating circuit 26 changes the symbol bit as 1.
For the second group, the symbol bit of the 1281st datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the first datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 1. The symbol bit of the 1282nd datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the 1281st datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 0. The symbol bit of the 1283rd datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the 1282nd datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 1. The symbol bit of the 1284th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the 1283rd datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 0. The symbol bit of the 1285th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the 1284th datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 1. The symbol bit of the 1286th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the 1282nd datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 1. The symbol bit of the 1287th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the 1286th datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 0.
For the third group, the symbol bit of the 2561st datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the 1281st datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 0. The symbol bit of the 2562nd datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is and the symbol bit of the 2561st datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 1. The symbol bit of the 2563rd datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the 2562nd datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 0. The symbol bit of the 2564th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the 2563rd datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 1. The symbol bit of the 2565th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the 2563rd datum is 0, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 1. The symbol bit of the 2566th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 1 and the symbol bit of the 2565th datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 alters the symbol bit to be 0. The symbol bit of the 2567th datum outputted from the data analysis circuit 25 is 0 and the symbol bit of the 2565th datum is 1, the symbol bit generating circuit 26 keeps the symbol bit as 0.
The data circuit 203 receives the 1,310,720 data having symbol bits from the timing controller 201. The polarity generating circuit 31 generates a positive polarity control signal “+” when the symbol bit of the datum is 0, and generates a negative polarity control signal “−” when the symbol bit of the datum is 1. For example, the polarity generating circuit 31 generates the positive polarity control signal “+” according to the symbol bit (0) of the first datum, and the polarity generating circuit 31 generates the negative polarity control signal “−” according to the symbol bit (1) of the second datum, as shown in
In
When the polarity change frequency of all the picture elements in bright states in any row is greater than 100Fh, and the polarity change frequency of all the picture elements in bright states in any column is greater than 10Fv, flickers cannot be observed by human eyes. Thus, flickers cannot be observed by human eyes when the LCD 200 displays the test pattern of
When flicker is just observed by human eye, a corresponding horizontal refresh frequency is defined as a horizontal flicker frequency, and a corresponding vertical refresh frequency is defined as a vertical flicker frequency. When the LCD 200 is used to display any pattern, the polarity change frequency of all the picture elements in bright states in any row is greater than the horizontal flicker frequency, and the polarity change frequency of all the picture elements in bright states in any column is greater than the vertical flicker frequency. Thus, flickers will not be observed by human eyes.
It is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set out in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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200710074801.2 | Jun 2007 | CN | national |