Patent Application
20180293929
The present disclosure relates to a pixel circuit of a display panel and a display device, and more particularly, to a pixel circuit of a display panel that expresses grayscales in accordance with an amplitude and a duration of a drive current and a display device.
A light emitting diode (LED) display panel in the related art mainly adopts passive matrix (PM) driving, but active matrix (AM) driving is necessary for low power consumption. Recently, an AM driving circuit has been applied to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panel. However, in the case of the LED that is different from the OLED, a color shift phenomenon due to forward voltage (Vf) deviation between LEDs or the size of a drive current becomes greater than that of the OLED, and thus it is difficult to apply the AM driving circuit, which has been applied to the OLED display, to the LED display as it is.
Specifically, a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) driving method in which an amplitude of a drive current differs for each grayscale for grayscale expression has been widely adopted in the OLED display, but if a PAM driving circuit in the related art is applied to the LED display as it is, a color shift problem that a color is greatly changed for each grayscale may occur.
Further, in a pulse width modulation (PWM) driving method in which the pulse width (or duty ratio) of a drive current differs depending on the grayscale, a PWM driving circuit in the related art drives thin film transistors (TFTs) in a linear operation region, and thus luminance difference due to the forward voltage deviation of the LED greatly occurs. Particularly, in the case of a digital PWM method, since grayscales are expressed in a sub field method, the number of grayscales that can be expressed is limited, and a false contour problem occurs.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a low-power AM driving circuit having high luminance uniformity and low color shift.
Example embodiments may overcome the above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above, and provide a pixel circuit of a display panel having high luminance uniformity and low color shift and a display device.
According to an aspect of an example embodiment, there is provided a pixel circuit of a display panel including: a light emitting element configured to emit light in accordance with a drive current; a current source including a driving transistor connected to the light emitting element, and the current source is configured to provide the drive current having a different amplitude to the light emitting element in accordance with a level of a voltage applied to a gate terminal of the driving transistor; an amplitude setting circuit configured to apply a voltage having a different level to the gate terminal of the driving transistor; and a pulse width control circuit configured to control a duration of the drive current by controlling the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor.
The driving transistor may operate in a saturation region of an operation region of the driving transistor.
The light emitting element may be a light emitting diode (LED) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED).
The amplitude setting circuit may include: a first capacitor having a first end connected to a first end of the driving transistor; and a first transistor having a first end commonly connected to a second end of the first capacitor and the gate terminal of the driving transistor and a second end configured to receive an input of an amplitude setup voltage.
The amplitude setting circuit may be further configured to charge the first capacitor with the amplitude setup voltage while the first transistor is turned on in accordance with a first enable signal input to a gate terminal of the first transistor, and apply the voltage charged in the first capacitor to the gate terminal of the driving transistor.
The current source may be further configured to, in response to a drive voltage being applied to the current source in a state in which the voltage charged in the first capacitor is applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor, provide to the light emitting element the drive current having an amplitude corresponding to a level of the voltage charged in the first capacitor.
The amplitude setting circuit may include a second transistor having a first end connected to a second end of the driving transistor, a gate terminal connected to a gate terminal of the first transistor, and a second end configured to receive an input of an amplitude setup current, wherein the amplitude setting circuit may be further configured to charge the first capacitor with a voltage corresponding to the amplitude setup current while the first transistor and the second transistor are turned on in accordance with a first enable signal input to a gate terminal of the first transistor, and apply the voltage charged in the first capacitor to the gate terminal of the driving transistor.
The pulse width control circuit may include an inverter having an output end connected to the gate terminal of the driving transistor, wherein in response to a first voltage applied to an input end of the inverter being linearly changed to reach a predetermined threshold voltage, a voltage of the output end of the inverter becomes a ground voltage or a drive voltage of the current source to control the duration of the drive current.
The pulse width control circuit may include: a complementary metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (CMOSFET) inverter having an output end connected to the input end of the inverter; a third capacitor having a first end connected to an input end of the CMOSFET inverter; and a switching element connected between the input end and the output end of the CMOSFET inverter, wherein if the switching element is turned on while a pulse width setup voltage is input to a second end of the third capacitor, the input end of the inverter may be set to the predetermined threshold voltage while the switching element is turned on, and in response to the input of the pulse width setup voltage being completed, the voltage of the input end of the inverter may be changed from the predetermined threshold voltage to the first voltage.
The drive current may sustain from a time when the drive voltage is applied to the current source to a time when the voltage of the output end of the inverter becomes the ground voltage or the drive voltage.
The pulse width control circuit may include: a switching element connected between the input end and the output end of the inverter; and a second capacitor having a first end connected to the input end of the inverter, wherein if the switching element is turned on while a pulse width setup voltage is input to a second end of the second capacitor, the input end of the inverter may be set to the predetermined threshold voltage while the switching element is turned on, and in response to the input of the pulse width setup voltage being completed, the voltage of the input end of the inverter changes from the predetermined threshold voltage to the first voltage.
The first voltage may be a difference value between the predetermined threshold voltage and the pulse width setup voltage.
The pulse width control circuit may be configured to linearly change the first voltage as the drive voltage is applied to the current source and a linearly changing voltage is input to the second end of the second capacitor.
Each of the inverter and the switching element may be an N-channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (NMOSFET), the inverter may include a drain terminal connected to the gate terminal of the driving transistor, a gate terminal connected to the first end of the second capacitor, and a source terminal connected to a ground, the switching element may include a drain terminal commonly connected to the gate terminal of the inverter and the first end of the second capacitor, and a source terminal commonly connected to the drain terminal of the inverter and the gate terminal of the driving transistor, and in response to the first voltage applied to the gate terminal of the inverter being linearly increased and reaching the predetermined threshold voltage, a voltage of the drain terminal of the inverter becomes the ground voltage.
The pulse width control circuit may be configured so that in response to a second enable signal being input to a gate terminal of the switching element while a pulse width setup voltage of a second voltage is input to the second end of the second capacitor, the voltage of the gate terminal of the inverter may be set to the predetermined threshold voltage while the switching element is turned on in accordance with the second enable signal, and as the pulse width setup voltage is dropped from the second voltage to a zero voltage, the voltage of the gate terminal of the inverter may be dropped from the predetermined threshold voltage to the first voltage.
Each of the inverter and the switching element may be a P-channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (PMOSFET), the inverter may include a drain terminal connected to the gate terminal of the driving transistor, a gate terminal connected to the first end of the second capacitor, and a source terminal connected to a drive voltage input end of the current source, the switching element may include a source terminal commonly connected to the gate terminal of the inverter and the first end of the second capacitor, and a drain terminal commonly connected to the drain terminal of the inverter and the gate terminal of the driving transistor, and in response to the first voltage applied to the gate terminal of the inverter being linearly decreased and reaching the predetermined threshold voltage, a voltage of the drain terminal of the inverter becomes the drive voltage of the current source.
The pulse width control circuit may be configured so that if a third enable signal is input to a gate terminal of the switching element while a pulse width setup voltage of a third voltage is input to the second end of the second capacitor, the voltage of the gate terminal of the inverter may be set to the predetermined threshold voltage while the switching element is turned on in accordance with the third enable signal, and as the pulse width setup voltage rises from the third voltage to a zero voltage, the voltage of the gate terminal of the inverter rises from the predetermined threshold voltage to the first voltage.
The pixel circuit may include a third transistor configured to electrically separate the amplitude setting circuit and the pulse width control circuit from each other until the drive voltage is applied to the current source.
According to an aspect of another example embodiment, there is provided a display device including: a display panel including pixel circuits, and the display panel is configured to display an image; a panel driver configured to drive the display panel; and a processor configured to express grayscales of the image based on at least one from among an amplitude and a duration of a drive current applied to a light emitting element included in the pixel circuits, wherein each of the pixel circuits includes: the light emitting element configured to emit light in accordance with the drive current; a current source including a driving transistor connected to the light emitting element, and the current source is configured to provide the drive current having a different amplitude to the light emitting element in accordance with a level of a voltage applied to a gate terminal of the driving transistor; and a pulse width control circuit configured to control the duration of the drive current by controlling the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor.
According to example embodiments as described above, a pixel circuit of a display panel having high luminance uniformity and low color shift and a display device can be provided.
Additional and/or other aspects and advantages 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 example embodiments.
The above and/or other aspects will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present disclosure, related well-known technologies are not described in detail if they would obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure with unnecessary detail. Further, a suffix “unit” of a constituent element used in the following description may be given or mixedly used in consideration of easy preparation of the description only, but does not have any distinguishable meaning or role by itself.
The terms used in the description are used to merely describe example embodiments, but are not intended to limit and/or restrict the present disclosure. A singular expression may include a plural expression unless specially described on the context.
In the description, the term “includes” or “has” used in the description represents that features, figures, steps, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof exist, and thus the term should be understood that existence or addition of one or more other features, figures, steps, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof are not pre-excluded.
Further, in example embodiments, if it is described that a certain portion is connected to another portion, it means not only a direct connection but also an indirect connection through another medium. Further, if it is described that a certain portion includes a certain constituent element, it means that the certain portion does not exclude other constituent elements, but may further include the other constituent elements unless specially described on the contrary.
Referring to
The light emitting element 130 emits light in accordance with a drive current provided from the current source 120. Specifically, the light emitting element 130 may emit light at different luminance levels in accordance with the amplitude of a drive current provided from the current source 120 or the pulse width of the drive current. Here, the pulse width of the drive current may be expressed as the duty ratio of the drive current or the duration of the drive current.
For example, the light emitting element 130 can emit light at a higher luminance level as the amplitude of the drive current becomes larger and as the pulse width becomes longer (i.e., as the duty ratio becomes higher or the duration becomes longer), but is not limited thereto.
On the other hand, the light emitting element 130 may be a light emitting diode (LED) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED).
The current source 120 provides the drive current to the light emitting element 130. In particular, as illustrated in
Specifically, the current source 120 may provide the drive current having an amplitude set through the amplitude setting circuit 110 to the light emitting element 130, and may provide the drive current having a pulse width set by the pulse width control circuit 140 to the light emitting element 130.
The amplitude setting circuit 110 may set the amplitude of the voltage to be applied to the gate terminal 125-1 or 125-2 of the driving transistor included in the current source 120 in accordance with amplitude data. Here, the amplitude data may be an amplitude setup voltage to be described later, but is not limited thereto.
The pulse width control circuit 140 may control the duration of the drive current by controlling the voltage applied to the gate terminal 125-1 or 125-2 of the driving transistor included in the current source 120 in accordance with pulse width data. Here, the pulse width data may be a pulse width setup voltage to be described later, but is not limited thereto.
As illustrated in
Specifically, referring to
On the other hand, referring to
Here, the threshold voltage of the NMOSFET may have a positive value and the threshold voltage of the PMOSFET may have a negative value, but are not limited thereto. Further, the voltage VSS of the ground terminal 122 connected to the source terminal of the NMOSFET or the drain terminal of the PMOSFET may be a zero-volt voltage, but is not limited thereto. Of course, the ground voltage may be designed to have a predetermined level according to an example embodiment.
Hereinafter, the operation of the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2 according to an example embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to
(a) of the
On the other hand, (b) of the
As illustrated in (b) of the
Further, the NMOSFET 125-1 may operate in a linear region or in a saturation region in accordance with the drain-source voltage Vds for each gate-source voltage Vgs that is equal to or higher than the threshold voltage. Here, the linear region is a region in which the current I flowing from the drain terminal to the source terminal becomes larger as the drain-source voltage Vds becomes higher, and the saturation region is an operation region in which the current I flowing from the drain terminal to the source terminal becomes constant regardless of the change of the drain-source voltage Vds. That is, as illustrated in (b) of the
On the other hand, the drive voltage VDD applied to the drive voltage terminal 121 is divided into Vled and Vds as illustrated in
As illustrated in (b) of the
However, according to an example embodiment, since the pixel circuit 100-1 or 100-2 includes the amplitude setting circuit 110 for applying voltages having different levels to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2, the operating point of the driving transistor 125-1 can be set through the amplitude setting circuit 110, and thus it is possible to operate the light emitting element 130 in the saturation region of the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2.
For example, if the pixel circuit 100-1 applies a voltage, such as V2 or V3, to the gate terminal of the NMOSFET 125-1 in a situation as shown in (b) of the
However, according to an example embodiment, the pixel circuit 100-1 may make the light emitting element 130 operate in the saturation region of the NMOSFET 125-1 by applying V0 or V1 as the Vgs value through the amplitude setting circuit 110. If the NMOSFET 125-1 operates in the saturation region, the current I becomes constant regardless of the change of Vds. Accordingly, even if the voltage division between Vled and Vds is changed due to the deviation Vf between the light emitting elements, the drive current I provided to the light emitting element 130 becomes constant, and thus the light emitting elements can emit light having a constant luminance value regardless of the forward voltage deviation. On the other hand, according to an example embodiment, the drive voltage VDD applied to the current source 120 may be designed to be high, so that the light emitting element 130 can operate in the saturation region of the NMOSFET 125-1.
On the other hand, according to an example embodiment, even if the driving transistor included in the current source 120 is a PMOSFET, the pixel circuit may be designed to operate in the same manner as described above with reference to
(a) of the
On the other hand, (b) of the
As illustrated in (b) of the
Further, the PMOSFET 125-2 may operate in a linear region or in a saturation region in accordance with the source-drain voltage Vsd for each source-gate voltage Vsg that is equal to or higher than the threshold voltage. Here, the linear region is a region in which the current I flowing from the source terminal to the drain terminal becomes larger as the source-drain voltage Vsd becomes higher, and the saturation region is an operation region in which the current I flowing from the source terminal to the drain terminal becomes constant regardless of the change of the source-drain voltage Vsd. That is, as illustrated in
On the other hand, the drive voltage VDD applied to the drive voltage terminal 121 is divided into Vled and Vds as illustrated in (a) of the
As illustrated in (b) of the
However, according to an example embodiment, in the same manner as described above with reference to
Although it is exemplified that the amplitude setting circuit 110 makes the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2 operate in the saturation region as described above, the operating point of the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2 that can be set by the amplitude setting circuit 110 is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to set the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2 so that the driving transistor 125-1 or 125-2 operates in the linear region according to an example embodiment.
Hereinafter, referring to
The amplitude setting circuit 110 may include a capacitor 111 having one end connected to a source terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 and the other end connected to a gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1, and a transistor having a source terminal commonly connected to the other end of the capacitor 111 and the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 and a drain terminal through which an amplitude setup voltage Va is input.
Here, the amplitude setup voltage Va is a data signal for setting an amplitude of a drive current Id, and the amplitude setting circuit 110 may receive an input of the amplitude setup voltage Va through the transistor 112 and may charge the capacitor 111 with the input amplitude setup voltage Va in accordance with a control signal GATE(n).
In particular, according to an example embodiment, the amplitude setting circuit 110 of the pixel circuit 400 may charge the capacitor 111 with the amplitude setup voltage Va applied through a data signal line 410 while the transistor 112 is turned on in accordance with the control signal GATE(n) input to the gate terminal of the transistor 112, and may apply the voltage charged in the capacitor 111 to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1.
Accordingly, if a drive voltage VDD is applied to the current source 120 in a state where the voltage charged in the capacitor 111 is applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1, the pixel circuit 400 may provide to the light emitting element 130 the drive current Id having an amplitude corresponding to the level of the voltage charged in the capacitor 111.
The transistor 150 may be turned on/off in accordance with a control signal CGC to electrically connect/disconnect the amplitude setting circuit 110 and the pulse width control circuit 140 to/from each other. Referring to
Hereinafter, the configuration of the pulse width control circuit 140 will be described on the assumption that the transistor 150 is turned on to operate as a conductive line.
The pulse width control circuit 140 includes an inverter having an output end connected to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1. Here, the inverter is a circuit configuration of which an input is logically inverted to become an output, and an NMOSFET or a PMOSFET may be an inverter in accordance with connection relations in the circuit.
In
In this case, referring to
On the other hand, the pulse width control circuit 140 may include a switching element connected between the input end and the output end of the inverter, and a capacitor 143 having one end connected to the input end of the inverter.
Here, the switching element is configured to be turned on/off in accordance with a control signal, and in
On the other hand, the capacitor 143 has one end connected to the input end of the inverter (i.e., gate terminal of the transistor 141) and the drain terminal of the transistor 142, and the other end through which a pulse width setup voltage Vw and a linearly changed voltage Vsweep are input.
In this case, according to an example embodiment of
Here, the pulse width setup voltage Vw is a data signal for setting the pulse width of the drive current Id, and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is a voltage that is linearly changed to linearly change the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the transistor 141. The detailed contents thereof will be described later.
On the other hand, according to an example embodiment, if a specific voltage applied to the input end of the inverter 141 is linearly changed to reach a predetermined threshold voltage, the output end voltage of the inverter 141 becomes the ground voltage, and thus the pulse width control circuit 140 of the pixel circuit 400 can control the duration of the driving current Id.
That is, as described above, if the voltage (e.g., Va) charged in the capacitor 111 by the operation of the amplitude setting circuit 110 is applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 and the drive voltage VDD is applied through the drive voltage terminal 121, the drive current Id having an amplitude corresponding to the level of the voltage Va charged in the capacitor 111 starts to flow to the light emitting element 130.
The drive current Id as described above flows until the output end voltage of the inverter 141 becomes the ground voltage, and if the output end voltage of the inverter 141 becomes the ground voltage, the gate terminal voltage of the driving transistor 125-1 also becomes the ground voltage (it is assumed that the transistor 150 is in an on state), and thus the driving transistor 125-1 is turned off. That is, the drive current Id may continue from a time when the drive voltage VDD is applied to the current source 120 to a time when the output end voltage of the inverter 141 becomes the ground voltage. The detailed contents thereof will be described later.
As a result, the pixel circuit 400 according to an example embodiment may control the luminance of light emitted by the light emitting element 130 by controlling at least one of the amplitude and the pulse width of the drive current Id provided to the light emitting element 130. Specifically, the pixel circuit 400 may control the luminance of the light emitting element 130 by performing pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) for varying the amplitude of the drive current Id and pulse width modulation (PWM) for varying the pulse width of the drive current Id in accordance with various kinds of control signals and data signals. In this case, the pixel circuit 400 may perform the pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) through the amplitude setting circuit 110 and may perform the pulse width modulation (PWM) through the pulse width control circuit 140.
Hereinafter, the detailed operation of the pixel circuit 400 will be described in detail with reference to
As illustrated in
First, as illustrated in
Specifically, as Vw is input, the A-point voltage rises from 0 to Vw (in this case, the transistor 144 is turned on in accordance with the control signal CIE, and is maintained in an on state until the input of Vw is completed). In this case, since Vw is higher than Vth, the transistor 141 is in an on state. On the other hand, if a reset signal is input while Vw is applied to A point, the transistor 142 is turned on, and as illustrated in 0 of the
On the other hand, although
Further, although it is exemplified that the A-point voltage is 0 before Vw is input, but is not limited thereto. According to an example embodiment, a certain voltage may be applied to A point before Vw is input. In this case, as Vw is input, the A-point voltage further rises as much as Vw from the certain voltage, and even in this case, the A-point voltage is dropped to Vth before the input of the reset signal is completed.
Referring to
On the other hand, referring to
As described above, if the A-point voltage becomes Vth-Vw, the pulse width setup is completed, and thereafter, the A-point voltage Vth-Vw is maintained until the linearly changed voltage is applied together with the drive voltage VDD.
On the other hand, referring to
That is, as illustrated in
On the other hand, if the drive voltage VDD is applied to the drive voltage terminal 121 of the current source 120 in a state where the voltage charged in the capacitor 111 is applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1, the drive current Id having the amplitude corresponding to the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 flows to the light emitting element 130.
{circle around (3)} of the
On the other hand, according to an example embodiment, the drive current Id is provided to the light emitting element 130 through applying of the drive voltage VDD to the current source 120, and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is applied to the amplitude setting circuit 140 at the same time.
Specifically, as illustrated in
The voltage as much as Vw-Vth is maintained at both ends of the capacitor 143, and if the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is applied to one end of the capacitor 143, the voltage of the other end of the capacitor 143, that is, A point, is changed with the same slope as the linearly changed slope of Vsweep from the starting point of Vth-Vw.
Since the transistor 141 is in an off state until the A-point voltage reaches Vth according to the change, the voltage Va charged in the capacitor 111 is continuously applied to the B point to maintain the drive current Id.
However, if the A-point voltage is changed to reach Vth in accordance with the linearly changed voltage Vsweep, the transistor 141 is turned on, and in this case, since the source terminal of the transistor 141 is connected to the ground terminal 122, the drain terminal voltage of the transistor 141 and the B-point voltage also become the ground voltage VSS when the transistor 141 is turned on.
As described above, the B point is the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 included in the current source 120, and the source terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 is connected to the ground terminal 122. Accordingly, if the B-point voltage becomes the ground voltage VSS, the gate-source voltage difference of the driving transistor 125-1 becomes 0, and even if the drive voltage VDD is applied to the drain terminal of the driving transistor 125-1, the driving transistor 125-1 is in an off state, and thus the drive current Id does not flow to the light emitting element 130 any further.
{circle around (4)} of the
Referring to
Through this, it can be expected that the time when the drive current Id is maintained (in other words, the duty ratio of the drive current Id or the pulse width of the drive current Id) is to be changed in accordance with the pulse width setup voltage Vw. In an example of
Specifically, according to an example embodiment, the variation rate (or slope) of the linearly changing voltage Vsweep is constant regardless of the level of the pulse width setup voltage Vw, and if the Vw value becomes smaller than that of the example illustrated in
On the other hand, if the Vw value becomes larger than that in the example illustrated in
In this case, if it is assumed that the slope, that is, the increment rate, of the linearly increased voltage Vsweep is, for example, S [volt/sec] in
Specifically,
Referring to
Specifically, since the data signals required for the operation of the pulse width control circuit 140 are the pulse width setup voltage Vw and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep, the control signal CIE, as illustrated in
On the other hand, in the amplitude setup period in which Va is applied to the data signal line 410, the control signal CIE turns off the transistor 144 to prevent Va from being input to the pulse width control circuit 140. In the amplitude setup section, as illustrated in
The control signal CGC controls the on/off of the transistor 150 included in each pixel circuit of the display panel 500. As described above, the transistor 150 serves to electrically connect/disconnect the amplitude setting circuit 110 and the pulse width control circuit 140 to/from each other. In the pulse width setup section in which the pulse width of the drive current Id is set, the pulse width setting circuit 140 that performs the above-described operation should not be connected to the amplitude setting circuit 110 or the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1. Accordingly, as illustrated in
On the other hand, the pulse width control circuit 140 controls the hold time of the drive current Id, and when the drive current Id starts to flow in accordance with applying of the drive voltage VDD, it should be connected to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1. Accordingly, as illustrated in
The control signals RES(1) to RES(n) are control signals successively provided to n rows in the display panel 500 having the pixel circuits arranged by n rows and m columns, and make a specific voltage (i.e., threshold voltage Vth of the transistor 141) input to the input terminal of the inverter by making the input/output terminals of the inverter (i.e., gate and drain terminals of the transistor 141) short-circuited through turn-on of switching elements (i.e., transistors 142) of the respective pulse width control circuit 140 included in m pixel circuits while the pulse width setup voltage Vw is applied to m pixel circuits included in the selected row.
The control signals GATE(1) to GATE(n) are also control signals successively provided to n rows in the display panel 500 having the pixel circuits arranged by n rows and m columns, and make the applied amplitude setup voltage charged in the capacitor 111 by turning on the transistors 112 of the amplitude setting circuits 110 included in m pixel circuits while the amplitude setup voltage Va is applied to m pixel circuits included in the selected row.
The amplitude setup voltage Va is a data signal for setting the amplitude of the drive current Id to be provided to the light emitting elements 130 of the plurality of pixel circuits constituting the display panel 500 in order to display the image frame, and the pulse width setup voltage Vw is a data signal for setting the pulse width of the drive current Id to be provided to the light emitting elements 130 of the plurality of pixel circuits constituting the display panel 500 in order to display the image frame. The amplitude setup voltage Va and the pulse width setup voltage Vw may be voltages having different levels in accordance with brightness values of the respective pixels constituting the image frame.
The linearly increasing voltage Vsweep is a voltage that is linearly increased with a predetermined slope, and is simultaneously applied to the pulse width control circuits 140 of the plurality of pixel circuits constituting the display panel 500 during the light emitting period to control the pulse width of the drive current Id to be provided to the light emitting elements 130. The detailed contents in which the pulse width of the drive current Id is controlled through the linearly increased voltage Vsweep are as described above.
The drive voltage VDD is a voltage that is simultaneously applied to the current sources 120 included in the plurality of pixel circuits constituting the display panel 500, and the drive current Id having the set amplitude and pulse width is simultaneously applied to the light emitting elements 130 of the plurality of pixel circuits, so that the light emitting elements 130 emit light with the corresponding luminance to display the image frame.
Referring to
On the other hand, the contents that are consistent with the pixel circuit 400 as described above with reference to
According to the pixel circuit 400′, different from the pixel circuit 400, the pulse width setup voltage Vw and the linearly increased voltage Vsweep, which are required for the operation of the pulse width setting circuit 140-1, are applied to the pulse width setting circuit 140-1 through one data signal line 410-1, and separately from this, the amplitude setup voltage Va is applied to the amplitude setting circuit 110 through the other data signal line 410-2. Accordingly, like the transistor 144 included in the pulse width control circuit 140 of
In performing the amplitude setup of the drive current Id, a voltage programming scheme is a scheme in which the voltage (amplitude setup voltage) Va applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 is directly input through the data signal line and is charged in the capacitor 111, whereas the current programming scheme is a scheme in which in order to charge the capacitor 111 with the voltage (amplitude setup voltage) Va that is applied to the gate terminal of the drive transistor 125-1, current Ia corresponding to the amplitude setup voltage Va flows from the drain terminal to the source terminal of the driving transistor 125-1, and thus the amplitude setup voltage Va that is induced on the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 is charged in the capacitor 111.
For this, in addition to the amplitude setting circuit 110 of the pixel circuit 400′ of
According to the amplitude setting circuit 110-1 of the pixel circuit 600, the transistor 112 and the transistor 113 are turned on in accordance with the control signal GATE(n) in an amplitude setup section, and thus the amplitude setup current Ia applied to the data signal line 410-2 flows from the drain terminal of the drive current Id to the source terminal. In this case, the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 is charged in the capacitor 111 to set the amplitude of the drive current Id. Since the operation after the amplitude setup is the same as the operation of the pixel circuit 400 or 400′ as described above, duplicate explanation thereof will be omitted.
Referring to
Specifically, according to the pulse width control circuit 140-2 of the pixel circuit 700, if a control signal RES(n) is applied to the gate terminal of the switching element 142 to turn on the switching element 142 while the pulse width setup voltage Vw is input to the capacitor 113 through the data signal line 410 in the pulse width setup period, the voltage of the output end 145-2 of the CMOS inverter 145, that is, the voltage of the input end of the inverter 141, is set to a predetermined threshold voltage, that is, a threshold voltage Vth of the inverter 141, while the switching element 142 is turned on.
If the input of the control signal RES(n) is completed, the voltage as much as Vw-Vth is maintained in the capacitor 143, and thus the voltage of the input end of the inverter 141 is dropped from Vth to Vth-Vw simultaneously with completion of the input of the pulse width setup voltage Vw input through the other end of the capacitor 143.
As described above, the pulse width of the drive current Id is set, and then in the light emitting period, as the drive current VDD is applied to the current source 120 and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is input to the pulse width control circuit 140-2, the drive current ID having the set pulse width is provided to the light emitting element 130. Since the operation of the amplitude setting circuit 110 and the operation of the pulse width control circuit 140-2 after the pulse width setup are the same as those in the pixel circuit 400 or 400′ as described above, duplicate explanation thereof will be omitted.
Hereinafter, referring to
The amplitude setting circuit 110 may include a capacitor 111′ having one end connected to a source terminal of the driving transistor 125-2 and the other end connected to a gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2, and a transistor 112′ having a drain terminal commonly connected to the other end of the capacitor 111′ and the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2 and a source terminal through which an amplitude setup voltage Va is input. The amplitude setting circuit 110 may receive an input of the amplitude setup voltage Va and may charge the capacitor 111′ with the input amplitude setup voltage Va by turning on the transistor 112′ in accordance with a control signal GATE(n).
Specifically, the amplitude setting circuit 110 of the pixel circuit 800 may charge the capacitor 111′ with the amplitude setup voltage Va applied through a data signal line 410 while the transistor 112′ is turned on in accordance with the control signal GATE(n) input to the gate terminal of the transistor 112′, and may apply the voltage charged in the capacitor 111′ to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2.
Accordingly, if a drive voltage VDD is applied to the current source 120 in a state where the voltage charged in the capacitor 111′ is applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2, the pixel circuit 800 may provide to the light emitting element 130 the drive current Id having an amplitude corresponding to the level of the voltage charged in the capacitor 111′.
The transistor 150′ may be turned on/off in accordance with a control signal CGC to electrically connect/disconnect the amplitude setting circuit 110 and the pulse width control circuit 140 to/from each other. Referring to
The pulse width control circuit 140 includes an inverter having an output end connected to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2. In
On the other hand, the pulse width control circuit 140 may include a switching element connected between the input end and the output end of the inverter, and the capacitor 143′ having one end connected to the input end of the inverter. Here, the switching element is configured to be turned on/off in accordance with a control signal, and in
Specifically, the transistor 142′ has a source terminal commonly connected to the input end of the inverter (i.e., gate terminal of the transistor 141′) and one end of the capacitor 143′, a drain terminal commonly connected to the output end of the inverter (i.e., drain terminal of the transistor 141′) and the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2, and a gate terminal through which the control signal RES(n) is input. The capacitor 143′ has one end connected to the input end of the inverter (i.e., gate terminal of the transistor 141′) and the source terminal of the transistor 142′, and the other end through which a pulse width setup voltage Vw and a linearly changed voltage Vsweep are input.
In this case, according to an example embodiment of
On the other hand, according to an example embodiment, if a specific voltage applied to the input end of the inverter 141′ is linearly changed to reach a predetermined threshold voltage, the output end voltage of the inverter 141′ becomes the drive voltage VDD of the current source 120, and thus the pulse width control circuit 140 of the pixel circuit 800 can control the duration of the driving current Id.
That is, as described above, if the voltage (e.g., Va) charged in the capacitor 111′ by the operation of the amplitude setting circuit 110 is applied to the gate terminal (B point) of the driving transistor 125-2 and the drive voltage VDD is applied through the drive voltage terminal 121, the drive current Id having an amplitude corresponding to the level of the voltage Va charged in the capacitor 111′ starts to flow to the light emitting element 130.
The drive current Id as described above flows until the output end voltage of the inverter 141′ becomes the drive voltage VDD, and if the output end voltage of the inverter 141′ becomes the drive voltage VDD, the gate terminal (B point) voltage of the driving transistor 125-2 also becomes the drive voltage VDD (it is assumed that the transistor 150′ is in an on state), and thus the driving transistor 125-2 is turned off. That is, the drive current Id may continue from a time when the drive voltage VDD is applied to the current source 120 to a time when the output end voltage of the inverter 141′ becomes the drive voltage VDD.
As described above, the pixel circuit 800 according to an example embodiment may control the luminance of the light emitting element 130 by controlling at least one of the amplitude and the pulse width of the drive current Id provided to the light emitting element 130 (i.e., by performing pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) and pulse width modulation (PWM)) in accordance with the amplitude setup voltage Va and the pulse width setup voltage Vw.
On the other hand, since all transistors included in the pixel circuit 800 are implemented by PMOSFETs, signals having inverted forms of the control signals CIE, CGC, RES(n), and GATE(n) and the data signals Vw, Va, and Vsweep input to the pixel circuit 400 of
As illustrated in
First, as illustrated in
Specifically, as Vw is input, the A-point voltage is dropped from 0 to Vw (in this case, the transistor 144′ is turned on in accordance with the control signal CIE, and is maintained in an on state until the input of Vw is completed). In this case, since Vw is lower than Vth, the transistor 141′ is in an on state. On the other hand, if a reset signal is input while Vw is applied to A point, the transistor 142′ is turned on, and current flows at A point through the transistor 142′ to increase the voltage of A point. If the A-point voltage rises up to Vth, the transistor 141′ is turned off, and thus the A-point voltage rises from Vw to Vth only. In this case, as the A-point voltage approaches Vth, the current flowing through the transistor 120′ is reduced, and the A-point voltage rises slowly to Vth with the lapse of time. Accordingly, the A-point voltage is set to Vth before the input of the reset signal is completed.
On the other hand, although
Further, although it is exemplified that the A-point voltage is 0 before Vw is input, but is not limited thereto. According to an example embodiment, a certain voltage may be applied to A point before Vw is input. In this case, as Vw is input, the A-point voltage further rises as much as Vw from the certain voltage, and even in this case, the A-point voltage is dropped to Vth before the input of the reset signal is completed.
Referring to
On the other hand, referring to
As described above, if the A-point voltage becomes Vth-Vw, the pulse width setup is completed, and thereafter, the A-point voltage Vth-Vw is maintained until the linearly changed voltage is applied together with the drive voltage VDD.
On the other hand, referring to
That is, as illustrated in
On the other hand, if the drive voltage VDD is applied to the drive voltage terminal 121 of the current source 120 in a state where the voltage charged in the capacitor 111′ is applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2, the drive current Id having the amplitude corresponding to the voltage applied to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2 flows to the light emitting element 130.
On the other hand, according to an example embodiment, the drive current Id is provided to the light emitting element 130 through applying of the drive voltage VDD to the current source 120, and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is applied to the amplitude setting circuit 140 at the same time.
Specifically, as illustrated in
The voltage as much as Vw-Vth is maintained at both ends of the capacitor 143′, and if the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is applied to one end of the capacitor 143′, the voltage of the other end of the capacitor 143′, that is, A point, is changed with the same slope as the linearly changed slope of Vsweep from the starting point of Vth-Vw. Since the transistor 141′ is in an off state until the A-point voltage reaches Vth according to the change, the voltage Va charged in the capacitor 111′ is continuously applied to the B point to maintain the drive current Id.
However, if the A-point voltage is changed to reach Vth in accordance with the linearly changed voltage Vsweep, the transistor 141′ is turned on, and in this case, since the source terminal of the transistor 141′ is connected to a drive voltage VDD terminal 121, the drain terminal voltage of the transistor 141′ and the B-point voltage also become the drive voltage VDD if the transistor 141′ is turned on.
As described above, the B point is the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-2 included in the current source 120, and the source terminal of the driving transistor 125-2 is connected to the drive voltage terminal 121. Accordingly, if the B-point voltage becomes the drive voltage VDD, the gate-source voltage difference of the driving transistor 125-2 becomes 0, and even if the drive voltage VDD is applied to the source terminal of the driving transistor 125-2, the driving transistor 125-2 is in an off state, and thus the drive current Id does not flow to the light emitting element 130 any further.
Referring to
Through this, it can be expected that the time when the drive current Id is maintained (in other words, the duty ratio of the drive current Id or the pulse width of the drive current Id) is to be changed in accordance with the pulse width setup voltage Vw. In an example of
Specifically, according to an example embodiment, the variation rate (or slope) of the linearly changed voltage Vsweep is constant regardless of the level of the pulse width setup voltage Vw, and if an absolute value of Vw becomes smaller than that of the example illustrated in
On the other hand, if the absolute value of Vw value becomes larger than that in the example illustrated in
In this case, if it is assumed that the slope, that is, the increment rate, of the linearly decreased voltage Vsweep is, for example, S [volt/sec] in
According to the pixel circuit 900, different from the pixel circuit 800, the pulse width setup voltage Vw and the linearly increased voltage Vsweep, which are required for the operation of the pulse width setting circuit 140, are applied to the pulse width setting circuit 140 through one data signal line 410-1, and separately from this, the amplitude setup voltage Va is applied to the amplitude setting circuit 110 through the other data signal line 410-2. Accordingly, like the transistor 144′ included in the pulse width control circuit 140 of
On the other hand, like the NMOSFET pixel circuit as described above, the PMOSFET pixel circuit 800 or 900 may adopt a current programming scheme for amplitude setup of the drive current Id.
On the other hand, the amplitude setting circuit of the pixel circuit 400-1 has the same configuration as the configuration of the amplitude setting circuit 110-1 of the pixel circuit 600 of
In the amplitude setting circuit 110-1 of the pixel circuit 600 of
In contrast, the amplitude setting circuit 110-1 of the pixel circuit 400-1 as illustrated in
Specifically, the transistor 113 has a drain terminal connected to a current detector 1030 of the compensation circuit 1000, a source terminal connected to the drain terminal of the driving transistor 125-1, and a gate terminal through which a control signal SENS(n) is input. The transistor 113 is turned on in accordance with the control signal SENS(n) input through the gate terminal thereof to enable the current detector 1030 to detect current Isens flowing through the driving transistor 125-1.
More specifically, before the pixel circuit 400-1 starts the amplitude setup and pulse width setup operation to display an image frame, the compensation circuit 1000 applies a specific voltage Vx to the gate terminal of the driving transistor 125-1 through a D/A converter 1020 (in this case, the transistor 112 is turned on in accordance with the control signal GATE(n)), and then detects the current Isens flowing to the driving transistor 125-1 through the current detector 1030 (in this case, the transistor 113 is turned on in accordance with the control signal SENS(n)).
A compensator of the compensation circuit 1000 corrects the input image data using the current value detected through the current detector 1030, and provides corrected data to the D/A converter 1020. The D/A converter 1020 applies the corrected image data to the data signal line 410 in sequence.
The pixel circuit 400-1 performs the pulse width setup and amplitude setup operation in accordance with the corrected Vw or Va, and operates to display the image frame of which the deviation between the transistors is compensated for.
On the other hand, as illustrated in
The corrector 1010 may correct the input image data using the detected current value provided from the current detector 1030. For example, the corrector 1010 may compare data on the current value to flow to the driving transistor 125-1 corresponding to the specific voltage Vx with the current value detected by the current detector 1030, and may correct the image data in accordance with the result of the comparison.
In this case, the data on the current value corresponding to the specific voltage may be stored in various kinds of memories inside or outside the compensation circuit 1000 in the form of a lookup table, and the corrector 1010 may acquire and use the data stored in the memory. However, an example of correction of the image data using the detected current value is not limited thereto.
For this, the corrector 1010 may be implemented by various kinds of processors or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), but is not limited thereto.
The D/A converter 1020 may apply the amplitude setup voltage Va and the pulse width setup voltage Vw of the drive current Id corresponding to the image data or the image data corrected by the corrector 1010 to the data signal line 410. Further, for image data correction, the D/A converter 1020 may apply the specific voltage Vx for detecting the current flowing to the driving transistor 125-1 to the data signal line 410. In this case, the operation of the D/A converter 1020 may be controlled by the corrector 1010, but is not limited thereto. The operation of the D/A converter 1020 may also be controlled by an external processor.
The current detector 1030 is connected to the transistor 113 to detect the current flowing to the driving transistor 125-1. For this, the current detector 1030 may be implemented in various manners in accordance with the current detection scheme. For example, in the case of detecting the current by measuring the voltage applied at both ends of a resistor, the current detector 1030 may include the resistor, whereas in the case of detecting the current by measuring the variation rate of the voltage applied at both ends of a capacitor, the current detector 1030 may be implemented to include an operational amplifier (OP-AMP) and the capacitor, but are not limited thereto.
On the other hand, respective configurations of the compensation circuit 1000 as described above may be included in a source driver for driving the display panel, but are not limited thereto. For example, if an external processor performs the operation of the corrector 1010, the D/A converter 1020 and the current detector 1030 are included in the source driver, and the corrector 1010 may be implemented using the external processor.
For this, the compensation circuit 1000′ may further include a switch 1040 in addition to the corrector 1010, the D/A converter 1020, and the current detector 1030. The switch 1040 may be controlled to be turn on/off by the corrector 1010 or an external processor of the compensation circuit 1000′, and thus may be switched to apply data at a time when data Vw, Va, and Vsweep is applied and to detect the current flowing to the driving transistor 125-1 at a time when current Isens is detected. Since other operations are the same as those as described above with respect to the pixel circuit 400-1 of
On the other hand, through
The display panel 500 includes a plurality of pixel circuits 100. Here, the pixel circuits 100 may be all kinds of pixel circuits 400, 400′, 600, 700, 800, 900, 400-1, and 400-2 as described above.
Specifically, the display panel 500 may be configured so that gate lines G1 to Gn and data lines D1 to Dm are formed to mutually cross each other, and pixel circuits 100 are formed in regions prepared through such a mutual cross. For example, each of the plurality of pixel circuits 100 may be configured so that adjacent R, G, and B sub-pixels constitute one pixel, but is not limited thereto.
On the other hand, for convenience in illustration, only gate signal lines G1 to Gn for the gate driver 230 to apply a control signal to each pixel circuit 100 included in the display panel 500 and data signal lines D1 to Dm for the data driver 220 to apply a data signal to each pixel circuit 100 are illustrated in
For example, in an example embodiment 400′ or 900 in which Vw and Vsweep for the pulse width setup and Va for the amplitude setup are separated and applied to separate data signal lines, in an example embodiment 600 in which the amplitude is set in the current programming scheme, and in an example embodiment in which the compensation circuit 1000 or 1000′ is applied, two kinds 410-1 and 410-2 of data signal lines D1 to Dm may be provided. Further, according to various example embodiments, since the control signals GATE(n) and RES(n) should be applied to the pixel circuits for the amplitude setup and the pulse width setup of the drive current Id, also two kinds of gate signal lines G1 to Gn may be provided.
The panel driver 200 may drive the display panel 500, more specifically, the plurality of pixel circuits 100, under the control of the processor 300, and may include a timing controller 210, a data driver 220, and a gate driver 230.
The timing controller 210 may receive an input signal IS, a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync, a vertical synchronization signal Vsync, and a main clock signal MCLK from an outside, and may generate and provide an image data signal, a scan control signal, a data control signal, and a light emitting control signal to the display panel 500, the data driver 220, and the gate driver 230.
In particular, according to various example embodiments, the timing controller 210 may apply a control signal CGC to transistors 150 and 150′ of the pixel circuits 400, 400′, 600, 700, 800, 900, 400-1, and 400-2, and may apply a control signal CIE to transistors 144 and 144′ of the pixel circuits 400, 400′, 600, 700, 800, 900, 400-1, and 400-2.
The data driver (or source driver) 220 is a means for generating data signals, and generates the data signals through transfer of image data of R/G/B components from the processor 300. Further, the data driver 220 may apply various kinds of data signals being generated to the display panel 500.
In particular, although not clearly illustrated in
The gate driver 230 is a means for generating a gate signal (in other words, scan signal) GATE(n), a reset signal RES(n), and various kinds of control signals, such as SENS(n), and transfers the generated control signals to a specific row of the display panel 500.
In particular, a data signal (e.g., amplitude setup voltage Va) output from the data driver 220 may be transferred to the pixel circuit 100 to which the gate signal GATE(n) is transferred. Further, an input-end voltage (A point voltage) of the inverter 141 or 141′ of the pixel circuit 100 to which the reset signal RES(n) is transferred may be set to a predetermined voltage (e.g., if the inverter is a MOSFET, MOSFET threshold voltage). Further, the pixel circuit 100 to which the control signal SENS(n) is transferred may enable the current detector 1030 of the compensation circuit 1000 or 1000′ to branch the current flowing to the driving transistor 125 of the current source 120.
Further, according to an example embodiment, the gate driver 230 may apply the drive voltage VDD to a drive voltage terminal 121 of the pixel circuit 100.
On the other hand, under the control of the processor 300, the panel driver 200 may control the luminance of the light emitting element 130, that is, LED element, using at least one of pulse width modulation (PWM) for varying the duty ratio of the driving current Id and pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) for varying the amplitude of the drive current Id. Here, explanation will be made on the assumption that LED includes OLED. Further, a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal controls the ratio of turn-on/off of light sources, and the duty ratio [%] is determined in accordance with a dimming value input from the processor 300.
The panel driver 200 may be implemented by a plurality of LED driving modules. According to circumstances, each of the plurality of LED driving modules may be implemented to include a sub processor for controlling the operation of each pixel circuit 100 and a driving module for driving each display module in accordance with the control of the sub processor. In this case, the driving module of the sub processor may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware or integrated chip (IC). According to an example embodiment, each sub processor may be implemented by separated semiconductor ICs.
On the other hand, each of the plurality of LED driving modules may include at least one LED driver controlling the current applied to the LED element. The LED driver may be provided in each of a plurality of LED regions including a plurality of LED elements. Here, the LED region may be a region that is smaller than the LED module as described above. For example, one LED module may be divided into a plurality of LED regions including a predetermined number of LED elements, and an LED driver may be provided in each of the plurality of LED regions. In this case, current control becomes possible for each region, but is not limited thereto. The LED driver can be provided in the unit of an LED module.
In an example embodiment, the LED driver may be deployed at the rear end of a power supply to receive a voltage applied from the power supply. In another example embodiment, the LED driver may receive a voltage from a separate power supply. Further, it is also possible that an SMPS and an LED driver are implemented in the form of one integrated module.
In various example embodiments, the LED driver may use both PAM and PWM schemes, and through this, various grayscales of an image can be expressed.
The processor 300 controls the overall operation of the display device 2000. In particular, the processor 300 may control the panel driver 200 to drive the display panel 500, and thus can perform the operations of various kinds of pixel circuits 400, 400′, 600, 700, 800, 900, 400-1, and 400-2 as described above. For this, the processor 300 may be implemented by one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), and an ARM processor.
Specifically, in an example embodiment, the processor 300 may control the panel driver 200 to set the pulse width of the drive current Id in accordance with the pulse width setup voltage Vw, and to set the amplitude of the drive current Id in accordance with the amplitude setup voltage Va. In this case, if the display panel 500 is composed of n rows and m columns, the processor 300 may control the panel driver 200 to set the amplitude or pulse width of the drive current Id in the unit of a row.
Thereafter, the processor 300 may simultaneously apply the drive voltage VDD to the current sources 120 of the plurality of pixel circuits 100 included in the display panel 500, and may control the panel driver 200 to apply the linearly changed voltage Vsweep to the respective pulse width control circuits 140 of the plurality of pixel circuits 100 to display an image.
In this case, since the detailed contents that the processor 300 controls the panel driver 200 to control the operation of the respective pixel circuits 100 included in the display panel 500 are the same as those as described above with reference to
On the other hand, the light emitting elements 130 included in the pixel circuits 100 may be classified into LEDs and OLEDs, but are not limited thereto. Further, the pixel circuit 100 may be composed of TFTs, and in this case, the channel of the TFT may be made of oxide or an organic material.
Further, in an example embodiment, the transistor constituting the pixel circuit 100 may be an NMOSFET or a PMOSFET only, but is not limited thereto. The pixel circuit 100 may be implemented to include CMOSFETs.
Further, in an example embodiment, if one data signal line 410 is provided, the pulse width setup and the amplitude setup should be performed at different times. However, in another example embodiment, if two data signal lines 410-1 and 410-2 are provided, the pulse width setup and the amplitude setup may be simultaneously performed.
On the other hand, the amplitude setup of the drive current may be performed in the voltage programming scheme or in the current programming scheme according to example embodiments. Further, in an example embodiment, if the display panel 500 is configured through application of the compensation circuit 1000 to the pixel circuit 100, the display device 2000 may set the amplitude and the pulse width of the drive current Id using the amplitude setup voltage Va and the pulse width setup voltage Vw corrected through the compensation circuit 1000, and thus the deviation in threshold voltage Vth and mobility μ between the TFT transistors can be reduced to heighten the luminance uniformity.
On the other hand, if both the amplitude and the pulse width of the drive current Id are set as described above, the display device 2000 applies the drive voltage VDD and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep to the respective pixel circuits 100 to display the image frame (S1220).
Specifically, if the drive voltage VDD is applied to the current source 120 of each pixel circuit 1000, the light emitting element 130 of the pixel circuit 100 starts to emit light in accordance with the drive current Id having the set amplitude, and if the gate terminal voltage of the driving transistor 125 becomes the ground voltage (if the driving transistor 125-1 is an NMOSFET) or the drive voltage VDD (if the driving transistor 125-2 is a PMOSFET) in accordance with the linearly changed voltage, the driving transistor 125 stops to emit light, and thus an image with various grayscales can be displayed. Since other detailed contents are the same as those as described above with reference to
(a) of the
On the other hand, (b) of the
In contrast, as illustrated in (c) of the
Further, since a separate switch is not necessary between the current source 120 and the light emitting element 130, unnecessary reactive power consumption can be prevented from occurring.
Further, since the amplitude setting circuit (PAM circuit) is used together with the pulse width control circuit (PWM circuit) as hybrid, it is possible to set the operating point through the amplitude setting circuit and to control the driving transistor to operate in the saturation region, and thus the luminance deviation can be reduced even if there is a deviation in forward voltage Vf between the light emitting elements 130.
On the other hand, in various example embodiments as described above, the operation of the processor 300 of the display device 2000 or the method for driving the display device 2000 may be created by software and installed in the display device.
For example, a non-transitory computer readable medium may be provided to store therein a program for performing a method for driving a display device including setting the pulse width and the amplitude of the drive current Id for driving the respective light emitting elements 130 of the plurality of pixel circuits 100 included in the display panel 500 and displaying an image by applying the drive voltage VDD and the linearly changed voltage Vsweep to the respective pixel circuits 100.
Here, the non-transitory computer readable medium is not a medium that stores data for a short period, such as a register, a cache, or a memory, but means a medium which semi-permanently stores data and is readable by a device. Specifically, the above-described various middleware or programs may be stored and provided in the non-transitory computer readable medium, such as, a CD, a DVD, a hard disc, a Blu-ray disc, a USB, a memory card, and a ROM.
The foregoing example embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description of the example embodiments is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2017-0121742 | Sep 2017 | KR | national |
This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0121742 filed on Sep. 21, 2017 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/484,150 filed on Apr. 11, 2017 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62484150 | Apr 2017 | US |
