This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2005-83110, filed Sep. 7, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a plasma display device, and more particularly, to a micro discharge type plasma display device with electrodes having through-holes in a pattern, where the electrodes are disposed on opposing surfaces of an insulating layer on which a plurality of through-holes are also arranged in a matrix form.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, plasma display panels are formed in such a way that a barrier rib and a driving electrode are formed between two substrates facing each other. The substrates are overlapped to define a specific gap. A discharge gas is infused in the gap and the edges of the substrates are sealed. A plasma display device is a flat type display device containing a plasma display panel and installed elements required to implement a screen, such as a driving circuit connected to each electrode of the panel.
In a plasma display panel, a number of pixels to implement the screen is vertically and horizontally arranged in a periodical and regular manner in a matrix pattern. Each pixel is driven in a manual matrix manner in which a voltage is simply applied to electrodes without any active elements to drive the pixels. There are different types of plasma display panels. The plasma display panel can be classified into either a direct current (DC) type or an alternating current (AC) type according to the type of a voltage signal used for driving each electrode. In addition, the plasma display panel can be classified into either a face type or a surface discharge type according to the disposition of two electrodes to which a discharge voltage is applied.
Also, types of plasma discharge used for a surface emission of the plasma display panel may be a micro discharge (MD) or a micro hollow cathode discharge (MHCD).
There are numerous types of micro discharge structures and the micro discharge structure of
Light is emitted from the space of the through-hole 40 in which the surface discharge occurs. A phosphor layer (not shown) is generally formed at an inner surface of the through-hole 40 to enhance optical efficiency. The micro discharge may occur in a specific gas atmosphere. The micro discharge is a type of surface emission, and may even be used as a backlight source of a display device not of a plasma display type, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD).
The micro discharge structure having the structure of
Considering that the plasma discharge occurs stably and effectively in the through-holes 40 when the sizes of the through-holes 40 are suitably formed, and the micro discharge structure of
Aspects of the present invention include a plasma display device which can display all pixels with a three-electrode structure while using a micro discharge structure.
Aspects of the present invention also include a plasma display device of a micro discharge type capable of increasing discharge efficiency and stability, and having a wide viewing angle.
Aspects of the present invention also include a plasma display device of a micro discharge type capable of lessening deterioration of a phosphor material during a face discharge.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is a plasma display device comprising: a dielectric layer on which a plurality of through-holes of a dielectric layer is disposed in a matrix shape; upper and lower electrode layers formed at both upper and lower surfaces of the dielectric layer; upper and lower substrates disposed on the outer surface of the upper and lower electrode layers; and a third electrode layer having a plurality of third electrodes that are formed between the upper substrate and the upper electrode layer, or the lower substrate and the lower electrode layer, and are insulated from the electrode layers.
A circuit may be formed in the upper and lower electrode layers and the third electrode to apply an electric signal thereto, respectively.
The upper electrode layer and/or the lower electrode layer may be formed in a first direction of the matrix with some length, include a plurality of electrodes that are parallel to one another and have a group of through-holes arranged in the first direction in the electrode layers, and comprise the upper substrate disposed above the upper electrode layer and the lower substrate disposed below the lower substrate layer.
The third electrode layer may comprise a plurality of third electrodes that are parallel to one another and formed with some length in a second direction forming a specific angle with respect to the first direction with the third electrodes being insulated from the upper electrode due to the insulating layer, and face through-holes arranged in the second direction in the upper electrode layer through the plurality of electrodes of the upper electrode layer, that is, upper electrodes, or which are formed with some length in a second direction with the third electrodes being insulated from the lower electrode due to the insulating layer, and face through-holes arranged in the second direction in the lower electrode layer through the plurality of electrodes of the lower electrode layer, that is lower electrodes.
When the upper and lower electrode layers comprise a plurality of electrodes that are respectively formed in the first and second directions of the matrix and are parallel to one another, the electrodes of the third electrode layer may be formed in the first direction in addition to the second direction. For example, when the upper electrode layer is formed in the first direction, and the lower electrode layer is formed in the second direction, the third electrode layer may be formed above the upper electrode in the second direction, or below the lower electrode in the first direction.
When the upper electrode or the lower electrode is formed in the first direction with some length, each electrode may include a group of through-holes arranged in the first direction in each electrode layer. Each electrode may include separate electrodes formed around the group of through-holes arranged in the first direction and a connecting portion that connects the separate electrodes. The plurality of electrodes forming the same electrode layer may be parallel to one another. The group of through-holes arranged in the first direction may form a straight line directed in the first direction when drawing a line connecting all through-holes. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the group of through-holes of the present invention may include a group of through-holes arranged in a zigzag manner.
Through-holes of the dielectric layer may have a grid arrangement in which all through-holes are arranged in a simple matrix shape such as a checker, or may have a delta arrangement in which through-holes of upper and lower rows are arranged in an oblique direction so that adjacent through-holes can form triangles.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is a display panel, including: a first electrode pattern having one or more electrodes with a first hole portion; a second electrode pattern having one or more electrodes with a second hole portion; and a dielectric layer having a through-hole and formed between the first and second electrode patterns, wherein the first hole portion, the second hole portion, and the through-hole are coaxial, and a discharge occurs between the electrodes of the first and second electrode patterns to emit light, and the material between each electrode of each pattern is removed to reduce parasitic capacitance.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is a plasma display device including: a dielectric layer comprising a plurality of through-holes arranged in a matrix; upper and lower electrode layers disposed respectively at upper and lower surfaces of the dielectric layer; and a plurality of third electrodes disposed so as to be insulated from the upper or lower electrode layer by an insulating layer; wherein the upper electrode layer and/or the lower electrode layer include a plurality of electrodes extending in a first direction, each of the plurality of electrodes associated with a group of through-holes arranged in the first direction, and the plurality of third electrodes extending in a second direction at an angle with respect to the first direction.
Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the aspects, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
FIGS. 3 to 6 are plan views of an upper electrode layer, a lower electrode layer, a dielectric layer, and a third electrode layer, respectively, of a plasma display device according to an aspect of the present invention;
FIGS. 8 to 10 are plan views of an electrode structure according to an aspect of the present invention; and
Reference will now be made in detail to the aspects of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The aspects are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
To form the layer structure shown in
FIGS. 3 to 6 are plan views of an upper electrode layer, a lower electrode layer, a dielectric layer, and a third electrode layer, respectively, of a plasma display device according to an aspect of the present invention.
To reduce parasitic capacitance in the micro discharge structure, aspects of the present invention employ a similar structure as that of a matrix type plasma display device of
In various aspects, a connecting portion 114 of the upper electrode 110 may be formed vertically as shown in
A third electrode or electrodes 250 as shown in
Thereafter, when a voltage is applied to each address electrode 250 located in an area to be displayed while the voltage is sequentially applied to second and third of the scan electrodes 138 of
After addressing is completed, a constant voltage is commonly applied to all of the scan electrodes 138 of
In various aspects of the present invention, when the same electrical signals are to be concurrently applied to all of the upper electrodes 118 of
When most of the visible light generated by the discharge is to be emitted through the upper substrate 180, the third electrode 250 is formed on the lower substrate 190 to increase an aperture ratio. Since the insulating layer 170 containing the third electrode 250 does not decrease the aperture ratio, it may be formed with an opaque metal having high reflectivity and good conductivity.
The substrates 180 and 190 are respectively disposed on the outer surface of the upper and lower electrodes 110 and 130 of
In contrast to the aspect of
A phosphor layer 270 is shown in
When visible light is emitted in one direction, or mostly upwards, the electrode 210 may be formed to be transparent so that a viewing angle may be widened as shown in
Referring now to FIGS. 3 to 7, the protruding portions of the upper and lower electrodes 210, 230 will be discussed in greater detail. When the through-hole 126 (also indicated by C in
In various aspects of the present invention, the plasma display panel has a durability suitable for a display device. To form a phosphor layer 270 or a third electrode layer 250 as shown in
A number of through-holes 260 is formed through the dielectric layer 120 and the upper and lower electrodes 210 and 230, and both ends thereof are blocked by the substrates 180, 190, thereby forming a discharge cell. In the discharge cell, the phosphor layer 270 covers an annular side surface of the separate electrodes of the upper and lower electrodes 210, 230 (which are like the separate electrodes 112 of
In the phosphor layer structure discussed above, the phosphor layer 270 is not applied, formed, and/or laminated on an area where the upper and lower electrodes 210, 230 face each other on the protruding portion so that deterioration of the phosphor layer 270 is minimized when a face discharge occurs. In addition, effects of a discharge voltage dependent on characteristics of the phosphor layer can be minimized. Examples of such effects include the way a dielectric constant of the phosphor layer varies depending on the component elements used to produce different color lights.
To form the phosphor layer 270 having the layer structure of the aspects of the invention, the phosphor layer 270 may be coated or otherwise formed on portions of each through-hole such as 260 by lithography when an electrode pattern (or electrodes 210, 230) having through-holes is formed on substrates (such as 180, 190). In considering the stepped structure of the micro discharge structure having the substrates, an ink-jet application method is advantageous over a photolithography method to apply the phosphor layer 270 in aspects of the present invention.
FIGS. 8 to 10 are plan views of an electrode structure according to another aspect of the present invention.
Unlike the delta shaped structure of FIGS. 3 to 5, through-holes in this aspect have a grid matrix structure. The through-holes 216 and 236 that determine the positions of each pixel of a display screen are located at grid points where electrodes arranged vertically (electrodes 238) and horizontally (electrodes 218) cross each other. Assuming that a plurality of electrodes vertically formed as shown in
Similarly to
In the aspect of the present invention of
The layer structure of FIGS. 2 to 11 may be formed in various ways. For example, the upper and lower electrode layers may be formed in such a way that the upper and lower electrode layers, the third layer, and the insulating layer are formed first on the upper and lower substrates, respectively, and thereafter, a separately formed dielectric layer is arranged and laminated, and then edge portions of the substrates are sealed.
Alternatively, a substrate including only a third electrode layer and an insulating layer, upper and lower electrode layers, and dielectric layer may be separately formed, and thereafter, all of the layers may be arranged and laminated in a proper order, and the edge portions of the substrates may be then sealed. The manufacturing method, the layer material, connection between each electrode and a driving circuit, and circuit elements are well-known to those skilled in the micro discharge field or the plasma display field. Accordingly, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.
According to aspects of the present invention, a plasma display device may have stability and efficiency of a micro discharge.
In addition, a plasma display device may have reliability and simplicity of structure.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-83110 | Sep 2005 | KR | national |