This application claims priority to Taiwanese Application No. 102133904, filed on Sep. 18, 2013.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control method and a driving system, and more particularly to a control method and a driving system adapted for a light emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Brightness of light emitted by an LED (light emitting diode) device is controlled by an LED driving system providing a constant current to the LED device for different periods of time, where the constant current refers to a constant current value within a unit time period.
Referring to
The control unit 10 receives the source logic data, and is configured to generate the logic data after division, a clock signal, a latch signal and an output enable signal.
The shift register unit 11 includes 16 registers, receives the clock signal and the logic data, and sequentially and respectively stores the logic values in the registers in response to a positive edge of the clock signal.
Further referring to
The data latch unit 12 includes 16 latches, receives the latch signal, and respectively stores into the latches the logic values stored in the shift register unit 11 in response to a positive edge of the latch signal.
The driving unit 13 receives the output enable signal and the logic values stored in the data latch unit 12, and outputs, to each of the driving channels, a constant current signal for one of six predetermined time periods. Further referring to
In this configuration, when 2kT2<T1, there is a time period toff in which the LED device is in an idle state, thereby limiting a utilization rate and maximum brightness of the LED device. When 2kT2>T1, there is a time period Doff in which control unit 10 is unable to output the next set of logic data that corresponds to the brightness bit having the bit order of (k+1), thereby limiting a refresh rate of the LED device.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling light emission of a light emitting device. The method may cause the light emitting device to have relatively higher utilization rate and refresh rate.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for controlling light emission of a light emitting device, and is to be implemented by a driving system that includes a register unit, a data latch unit coupled to the register unit, a multiplexer unit coupled to the register unit and the data latch unit, and a driving unit coupled to the multiplexer unit and the light emitting device. The method comprises:
(a) receiving and storing, by the register unit, first logic data therein;
(b) latching and storing, by the data latch unit, the first logic data stored in step (a) therein;
(c) after step (b), receiving and storing, by the register unit, second logic data therein;
(d) selectively outputting to the driving unit, by the multiplexer unit, one of the first logic data which is stored in the data latch unit, and the second logic data which is stored in the register unit; and
(e) converting, by the driving unit, said one of the first logic data and the second logic data received thereby into a driving output that is provided to the light emitting device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a driving system for a light emitting device. The driving system may cause the light emitting device to have relatively higher utilization rate and refresh rate.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a driving system is provided for a light emitting device, and comprises:
a register unit disposed to receive and store logic data therein;
a data latch unit coupled to the register unit for receiving the logic data stored in the register unit, and operable to selectively latch and store therein the logic data received from the register unit;
a multiplexer unit coupled to the data latch unit for receiving the logic data stored therein to serve as first logic data, coupled to the register unit for receiving the logic data stored therein to serve as second logic data, and operable to selectively output one of the first logic data and the second logic data; and
a driving unit coupled to the multiplexer unit for receiving the one of the first logic data and the second logic data therefrom, configured to convert the one of the first logic data and the second logic data received thereby into a driving output, and operable to provide the driving output to the light emitting device.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
Referring to
In this embodiment, the switching unit 4 receives the clock signal and the latch signal, and outputs a latch enable signal that has a logic level adjusted to be opposite to that of the latch signal in response to a positive edge of the clock signal. The switching unit 4 is further responsive to a negative edge of the latch signal to: output the select signal having a high logic level when the latch enable signal has the high logic level, and invert the logic level of the select signal when the latch enable signal has the low logic level.
In this embodiment, the data latch unit 5 includes N latches 51, is coupled to the shift register unit 3 for receiving the logic data stored in the register unit 3, and is responsive to a negative edge of the latch signal to latch and store the logic data received from the shift register unit 3 in the latches 51 when the latch enable signal has the high logic level.
In this embodiment, the multiplexer unit 6 is coupled to the data latch unit 5 for receiving the logic data stored therein, is coupled to the shift register unit 3 for receiving the logic data stored therein, and is configured to output the logic data stored in the data latch unit 5 when the select signal has the high logic level, and to output the logic data stored in the shift register unit 3 when the select signal has the low logic level.
In this embodiment, the driving unit 7 is coupled to the multiplexer unit 6 for receiving the logic data outputted by the multiplexer unit 6, converts the logic data received thereby into a driving output, and provides a constant driving output to the light emitting device when the output enable signal has the low logic level. Herein, the constant driving output refers to a constant current within a unit time period.
The brightness bits are classified into a first bit group and a second bit group. The bit order of each of the brightness bits classified into the first bit group is higher than that of each of the brightness bits classified into the second bit group. In one embodiment, the classification is achieved by defining the lowest bit order j among the bit orders of the brightness bits that are classified into the first bit group to be the highest bit order among the bit orders 0 to M−1 that satisfies:
That is, each of the brightness bits having the bit order equal to or greater than j is classified into the first bit group, and each of the brightness bits having the bit order smaller than j is classified into the second bit group. In this embodiment, since M=6, the bit order 4 is the highest bit order that satisfies the above relationship ((4−1)=3≧ΣN=06−4(2n−1)=0+1+3=4), i.e., j=4. Therefore, the 4th and 5th brightness bits are classified into the first bit group, and the 0th to 3rd brightness bits are classified into the second bit group.
Further referring to
2k
wherein T1 represents a length of time (e.g., N clock cycles of the clock signal) required by the shift register unit 3 to receive and store the logic data outputted by the control unit 2, T2 represents a length of time the driving output is provided to the light emitting device when the driving output is converted from the set of logic data whose corresponding brightness bit has the bit order of 0, k1 represents the bit order of an arbitrary one of the brightness bits classified into the first bit group, and k2 represents the bit order of an arbitrary one of the brightness bits classified into the second bit group. In this embodiment, 23T2=8×T2=T1, where 23T2 is a length of time the driving output is provided to the light emitting device when the driving output is converted from the set of logic data corresponding to the 3rd brightness bit, which the highest bit order among the bit orders of the brightness bits classified into the second bit group.
Referring to
Step 50: The control unit 2 outputs first logic data to the shift register unit 3, and the shift register unit 3 receives and stores the first logic data therein. The first logic data is one of the M sets of logic data whose corresponding brightness bit is classified into the first bit group (e.g., the logic data with a number 4 or 5 in
Step 52: The data latch unit 5 latches and stores therein the first logic data stored in the shift register unit 3.
Step 54: After step 52, the control unit 2 outputs second logic data to the shift register unit 3, and the shift register unit 3 receives and stores second logic data therein. The second logic data is one of the M sets of logic data whose corresponding brightness bit is classified into the second bit group (e.g., the logic data with a number 0, 1, 2 or 3 in
Step 56: The multiplexer unit 6 selectively outputs to the driving unit 7 one of the first logic data which is stored in the data latch unit 5 (referring to the select signal marked with “L” in
Step 58: The driving unit 7 converts said one of the first logic data and the second logic data received thereby into a driving output that is provided to the light emitting device (referring to the output enable signal in
In order to minimize Toff in which the light emitting device is in an idle state and Doff in which the control unit 2 is unable to output the next set of logic data, an output sequence of the M sets of logic data, the latch signal and the output enable signal are well-arranged by the control unit 2 to achieve the following features:
(1) The multiplexer unit 6 outputs the first logic data, the second logic data and the first logic data respectively at first, second and third time periods in the given sequence. Note that the first logic data outputted at the first and third time periods are the same first logic data (referring to the select signal and the logic data stored in the data latch unit 5 that correspond to 32×T2 (1), 2×T2 and 32×T2 (2) in
(2) During the first time period, the driving unit 7 converts the first logic data into a constant first driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a first predetermined time period (e.g., 32×T2 (1) in
(3) At least one set of logic data whose corresponding brightness bit is classified into the second bit group is arranged between two sets of logic data whose corresponding brightness bits are both classified into the first bit group. For example, in
By virtue of such arrangement, output of the second logic data by the control unit 2 and provision of the driving output which is converted from the first logic data may proceed at the same time, so as to reduce both of Toff and Doff, thereby promoting utilization rate, maximum brightness, and refresh rate of the light emitting device.
Referring to
Then, the control unit 2 outputs to the shift register unit 3 the set of logic data corresponding to the 0th brightness bit. At the same time, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 4th brightness bit (which is stored in the data latch unit 5) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a length (i.e., 8×T2) of the time period 16×T2(1).
Then, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 0th brightness bit (which is stored in the shift register unit 3) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a time period of 1×T2.
Then, the control unit 2 outputs to the shift register unit 3 the set of logic data corresponding to the 5th brightness bit. At the same time, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 4th brightness bit (which is stored in the data latch unit 5) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a length (i.e., 8×T2) of the time period 16×T2(2). The data latch unit 5 then latches and stores therein the set of logic data corresponding to the 5th brightness bit that is stored in the shift register unit 3.
Then, the control unit 2 outputs to the shift register unit 3 the set of logic data corresponding to the 1st brightness bit. At the same time, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 5th brightness bit (which is stored in the data latch unit 5) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a length (i.e., 8×T2) of the time period 32×T2(1).
Then, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 1st brightness bit (which is stored in the shift register unit 3) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a time period of 2×T2.
Then, the control unit 2 outputs to the shift register unit 3 the set of logic data corresponding to the 2nd brightness bit. At the same time, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 5th brightness bit (which is stored in the data latch unit 5) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a length (i.e., 8×T2) of the time period 32×T2(2).
Then, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 2nd brightness bit (which is stored in the shift register unit 3) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a time period of 4×T2.
Then, the control unit 2 outputs to the shift register unit 3 the set of logic data corresponding to the 3rd brightness bit. At the same time, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 5th brightness bit (which is stored in the data latch unit 5) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a length (i.e., 8×T2) of the time period 32×T2(3).
Then, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 3rd brightness bit (which is stored in the shift register unit 3) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a time period of 8×T2.
Then, the control unit 2 outputs to the shift register unit 3 the set of logic data corresponding to the 4th brightness bit and associated with the following source logic data. At the same time, the control unit 2 enables the driving unit 7 to convert the set of logic data corresponding to the 5th brightness bit (which is stored in the data latch unit 5) into a constant driving output that is provided to the light emitting device for a length (i.e., 8×T2) of the time period 32×T2(4).
In the first preferred embodiment, the shift register unit 3 is a shift register including N registers. However, in a variation of the first preferred embodiment, the shifter register unit 3 may include a plurality of shift registers coupled in series, such that a sum of numbers of registers of the shift registers is equal to N, and the data latch unit includes a plurality of data latch sub-units respectively corresponding to the shift registers. In a specific variation, the shift register unit 3 includes a number X of shift registers, each of which includes a number n of registers, and X×n=N.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
To sum up, according to the present invention, the operations of the shift register unit 3, the data latch unit 4 and the driving unit 5 are well-controlled using the control block 1 to promote the utilization rate and the refresh rate of the light emitting device.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102133904 A | Sep 2013 | TW | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5812534 | Davis | Sep 1998 | A |
6175346 | Chiu | Jan 2001 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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201419937 | May 2014 | TW |
Entry |
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TW Search Report issued in related application TW 102133904, dated Oct. 23, 2014, pp. 1-2. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150077008 A1 | Mar 2015 | US |