This application claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201810076398.5, filed on Jan. 26, 2018, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of display technology and, more particularly, relates to a pixel driving circuit, a driving method, a display panel, and a display device thereof.
The display panels provided by existing technologies include a plurality of pixels, the pixels include a pixel driving circuit, and the pixel driving circuit is provided for controlling the plurality of pixels to emit lights.
The pixel driving circuit can be classified, according to the operating principle, into a current-programmed-type pixel driving circuit and a voltage-programmed-type pixel driving circuit. In the current-programmed-type pixel driving circuit, the problem of charging duration being too long may occur, and the phenomenon of an electric leakage current can also be present in the wiring for transmitting electric current signals, leading to a larger difference between the electric current finally written into the pixel driving circuit and the electric current initially programmed, which affects the display effect of the plurality of pixels and lowers the display quality of a display panel.
The disclosed display panel, driving method, and display device thereof are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.
One aspect of the present disclosure provides a pixel driving circuit. The pixel driving circuit comprises: a data writing module, in response to a scan signal transmitting a data signal; a mirror driving module, receiving the data signal and generating a driving current, and including a first transistor and a second transistor; and a light-emitting element, in response to the driving current emitting lights. A gate electrode of the first transistor and a gate electrode of the second transistor are both electrically connected to a first joint. A first electrode of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first electrode of the second transistor. A threshold voltage of the first transistor is equal to a threshold voltage of the second transistor. An aspect ratio of the first transistor is A and an aspect ratio of the second transistor is B, and A<B≤20A.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a display panel. The display panel comprises: a non-display area; a display area, including a plurality of pixels; and a pixel driving circuit for driving the plurality of pixels. The pixel driving circuit comprises: a data writing module, in response to a scan signal, for transmitting a data signal; a mirror driving module for receiving the data signal and generating a driving current, including a first transistor and a second transistor; and a light-emitting element, in response to the driving current for emitting lights. A gate electrode of the first transistor and a gate electrode of the second transistor are both electrically connected to a first joint. A first electrode of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first electrode of the second transistor. A threshold voltage of the first transistor is equal to a threshold voltage of the second transistor. An aspect ratio of the first transistor is A and an aspect ratio of the second transistor is B, and A<B≤20A.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a driving method of a pixel driving circuit. The pixel driving circuit includes a data writing module, a mirror driving module, and a light-emitting element. The mirror driving module includes a first transistor and a second transistor. A gate electrode of the first transistor and a gate electrode of the second transistor are both electrically connected to a first joint. A first electrode of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first electrode of the second transistor. A threshold voltage of the first transistor is equal to a threshold voltage of the second transistor. An aspect ratio of the first transistor is A and an aspect ratio of the second transistor is B, and A<B. The driving method comprises: providing a data writing stage and a light-emitting stage; in the data writing stage, inputting a scan signal into the data writing module, in which the data writing module in response to the scan signal transmits a data signal to the first joint; and in the light-emitting stage, receiving, by the mirror driving module, the data signal and generating a driving current to drive the light-emitting element for emitting lights.
Other aspects of the present disclosure can be understood by those skilled in the art in light of the description, the claims, and the drawings of the present disclosure.
The following drawings are merely examples for illustrative purposes according to various disclosed embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless it is stated otherwise, the relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions and values set forth in these embodiments are for examples only and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The following description of at least one embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is by no means intended to limit the disclosure and its application or use.
Techniques, methods, and devices known to those skilled in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but the techniques, methods, and devices should be considered as part of the description where appropriate.
In examples presented and discussed herein, any specific value should be interpreted as illustrative only and not as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.
It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters refer to similar items in the accompanying drawings. Hence, once an item is defined in one figure, it doesn't need to be further discussed in subsequent figures.
The present disclosure provides a pixel driving circuit, including a data writing module 10, a mirror driving module 20, and a light-emitting element D.
The data writing module 10 may transmit a data signal IDATA in response to a scan signal SCAN.
The mirror driving module 20 may receive the data signal IDATA and generate a driving current.
The mirror driving module 20 may include a first transistor M1 and a second transistor M2. A gate electrode of the first transistor M1 and a gate electrode of the second transistor M2 may be both electrically connected to a first joint N1. A first electrode of the first transistor M1 may be electrically connected to a first electrode of the second transistor M2.
A threshold voltage of the first transistor M1 may be equal to a threshold voltage of the second transistor M2. An aspect ratio (i.e., width-to-length ratio) of the first transistor M1 may be A, an aspect ratio of the second transistor M2 may be B, and A<B≤20A.
The light-emitting element D may emit lights in response to the driving current.
The pixel driving circuit disclosed by this embodiment is of a current-programmed type. The data signal IDATA may be written into the pixel driving circuit in the form of an electric current signal.
In the mirror driving module 20, the gate electrode of the first transistor M1 may be electrically connected to the gate electrode of the second transistor M2, and the first electrode of the first transistor M1 may be electrically connected to the first electrode of the second transistor M2, such that the first transistor and the second transistor form an electric current mirror, which is characterized as that an output current is a proportional “copy” of an input current.
In particular, it is known that when a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) operates in a saturation region, the electric current is expressed by the following equation:
I=0.5k*(W/L)*(Vgs−Vth)2. (1)
In this embodiment, an input current Ie may be fed to the mirror driving module 20, the mirror driving module 20 can generate an output current Io, in which the data signal IDATA is the input current Ie.
According to the operating principle of the electric current mirror, the input current Ie is the electric current of the second transistor M2 operating in the saturation region, while the output current Io is the electric current of the first transistor M1 operating in the saturation region.
In accordance with the equation (1), the input current Ie is given by Ie=0.5k*(W2/L2)*(Vgs2−Vth2) □, where W2/L2 is the aspect ratio of the second transistor M2, Vgs2 is the gate-source voltage of the second transistor M2, and Vth2 is the threshold voltage of the second transistor M2. The output current Io is expressed as Io=0.5k*(W1/L1)*(Vgs1−Vth1) □, where W1/L1 is the aspect ratio of the first transistor M1, Vgs1 is the gate-source voltage of the first transistor M1, and Vth1 is the threshold voltage of the first transistor M1.
Then, the ratio of the output current Io to the input current Ie is expressed by the following equation (2):
Since k is a constant, after eliminating k, equation (2) simplifies to:
In this embodiment, since the gate electrode of the first transistor M1 is electrically connected to the gate electrode of the second transistor M2, and the first electrode of the first transistor M1 is electrically connected to the first electrode of the second transistor M2, the relationship of Vgs1=Vgs2 holds. Moreover, in this embodiment, the threshold voltage of the first transistor M1 may be set to be equal to the threshold voltage of the second transistor M2, i.e., Vth1=Vth2. As a result, the ratio of the output current Io to the input current Ie becomes:
It can be understood that the threshold voltage of the first transistor M1 may not be equal to the threshold voltage of the second transistor M2. If the threshold voltage of the first transistor M1 is close to the threshold voltage of the second transistor M2, the following r relationship can be obtained:
In the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure, the aspect ratio of the first transistor M1 may be set as A, i.e., W1/L1=A, and the aspect ratio of the second transistor M2 may be set as B, i.e., W2/L2=B. Thus, the ratio of the output current Io to the input current Ie yields:
According to equation (5), the relationship of
can be obtained. In this embodiment, the condition A<B≤20A can be set, i.e.,
That is, in the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure, the output current of the mirror driving module 20 is smaller than the input current of the mirror driving module 20, and
The pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure may require a relatively stable process. The process is of a high stability when the semiconductor portion of the transistor uses silicon (Si) as a substrate. Thus, the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure has a promising application on the Si substrate. If the material of the semiconductor portion of the first transistor M1 is identical to the material of the semiconductor portion of the second transistor M2 (i.e., both materials use Si), then the larger the aspect ratio is, the bigger the area of the transistor will become. Hence, the aspect ratio of the second transistor M2 should not be too large, otherwise, the area of the second transistor M2 becomes bigger, leading to that the area occupied by the pixel driving circuit also becomes bigger, which is unfavorable to implement the pixel driving circuit in the display panel. In particular, in this embodiment, the condition A<B≤20A can be set. According to existing manufacturing processes, when the relationship of B=20A holds in the display panel of a high PPI (i.e., pixel per inch, e.g., 2500 PPI), the existing manufacturing process can fabricate the second transistor M2. However, if B is greater than 20 times A (i.e., B>20A), the manufacturing process will become demanding. Thus, in this embodiment, the value of 20 times A is selected as a maximum of B.
In the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure, the mirror driving module 20 is supplied with a larger input current Ie to obtain a smaller output current Io. Since the data signal IDATA is the input current, in other words, in the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure, if the mirror driving module 20 is supplied with a larger data signal IDATA, a smaller output current Io will be obtained.
In particular, for example, the pixel driving circuit may only need an output current Io of 40 nA, when B is set as B=10 A, the data signal IDATA can be set to 400 nA. Due to a larger electric current of the data signal, the pixel driving circuit can be rapidly charged, thus greatly expediting the charging speed of the data signal IDATA and improving the working efficiency of the pixel driving circuit.
Moreover, the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure can lower the influence of leakage current. In particular, since the leakage current is present during transmitting the data signal IDATA, if the leakage current is 1 nA, as for the pixel driving circuit without the mirror driving module 20, in which the output current Io is equal to the data signal IDATA, then the output current Io will correspondingly lose by 1 nA. In contrast, with respect to the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure, owing to having the mirror driving module 20 set as B=10A, the output current is
That is, when the leakage current is 1 nA during transmitting the data signal IDATA, the output current only loses by 0.1 nA, thus significantly lowering the impact of the leakage current on the output current Io. Because the output current associates with the driving current of the pixel driving circuit, the uniformity in the driving current of a number of pixel driving circuits can be enhanced, and the working performance of the pixel driving circuits can be improved.
Optionally, the light-emitting element D may be an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), and the second electrode of the first transistor M1 may be electrically connected to an anode of the OLED. OLED display technology has the advantages of self-luminescence, wide viewing angle, almost infinite contrast, lower power consumption, and high-speed response. The OLED generally includes an anode, an organic light-emitting portion, and a cathode, in which the organic light-emitting portion is sandwiched between the anode and the cathode. The anode and the cathode of the OLED are supplied with an appropriate voltage, electrons injected from the cathode recombines with holes from the anode in the organic light-emitting portion to produce light emission. In this embodiment, the driving current may be generated by the mirror driving module 20, and may be transmitted from the second electrode of the first transistor M1 to the anode of the OLED. The OLED may emit lights in response to the driving current.
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
Optionally, referring to
Optionally, in the pixel driving circuit shown in
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
Optionally, referring to
Each of the high-voltage-signal input terminal pvdd, the low-voltage-signal input terminal pvee, and the reference-voltage input terminal vref may supply with a constant-voltage signal. Optionally, a second electrode plate of a capacitive element C may be electrically connected to any one of the high-voltage-signal input terminal pvdd, the low-voltage-signal input terminal pvee, and the reference-voltage input terminal vref. Only one embodiment of these connections is illustrated in
It should be noted that, in
Optionally, referring to
In addition to the disclosed pixel driving circuit, the present disclosure also provides a display panel. Referring to
When the display panel consistent with the present disclosure is operating, the electric current of the data signal of the pixel P may be set relatively large. Since the electric current of the data signal is relatively large, the pixel driving circuit PC can be rapidly charged, which significantly expedites the charging speed of the data signal and improves the working efficiency of the pixel driving circuit. If the display panel has a relatively high PPI, within one frame, the number of pixels P that need to be refreshed will be relatively high, which leads to a reduction in working time for each pixel P. Because, in the display panel consistent with the present disclosure, the working efficiency of the pixel driving circuit is relatively high, requirements by the high-PPI display panel can be satisfied.
Moreover, the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure can mitigate the influence of the leakage current. Since the display area AA includes the plurality of pixels P and the distances between the plurality of pixels P and a data signal terminal (not shown) are different, the data signal IDATA of the data signal terminal is transmitted to different pixels P at varied distances and the amount of the leakage current during transmitting the data signal IDATA is varied. The display panel consistent with the present disclosure can significantly lower the influence of the leakage current on the plurality of pixels P, thereby improving the uniformity in the driving currents of the driving circuits PC of the plurality of pixels P (i.e., improving the uniformity of the plurality of pixels P), and enhancing the display quality.
The display panel consistent with the present disclosure may have the beneficial effects of the pixel driving circuit consistent with the present disclosure. The details can be referred to the specific description of the pixel driving circuit in each of the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated herein.
In addition to the disclosed pixel driving circuit and display panel, the present disclosure also provides a display device including the disclosed display panel. Referring to
In addition to the disclosed pixel driving circuit, display panel and display device, the present disclosure also provides a driving method of a pixel driving circuit. Referring to
The driving method may include a data writing stage T1 and a light-emitting stage T2. In the data writing stage T1, the data writing module 10 is inputted with the scan signal SCAN. The data writing module 10 in response to the scan signal SCAN may transmit the data signal IDATA to the first joint N1. In the light-emitting stage T2, the mirror driving module 20 may receive the data signal IDATA, and generate a driving current for driving the light-emitting element D to emit lights.
In the driving method consistent with the present disclosure, the mirror driving module 20 may be supplied with a larger data signal IDATA to obtain a smaller output current. Since the electric current of the data signal is relatively large, the pixel driving circuit can be rapidly charged, which can significantly expedite the charging speed of the data signal IDATA and improve the working efficiency of the pixel driving circuit. Moreover, the driving method consistent with the present disclosure can lower the impact of the leakage current, and can enhance the working performance of the pixel driving circuit.
Optionally, referring to
Optionally, in the data writing stage T1, the light-emitting control signal EMIT may be a first voltage, and the scan signal SCAN may be a second voltage. In the light-emitting stage T2, the light-emitting control signal EMIT may be the second voltage, and the scan signal SCAN may be the first voltage.
In particular, in the data writing stage T1, the third transistor M3 and the light-emitting control transistor M4 may be turned on under the control of the low-voltage scan signal. The data signal IDATA may be transmitted to the first joint N1. When the voltage VN1 of the first joint N1 satisfies IDATA=K*(VN1−VPVDD−Vth)2, the voltage VN1 of the first joint N1 may be maintained and remain as VN1, where Vth is the threshold voltage of the first transistor M1, and VPVDD is the voltage of the first voltage signal PVDD received by the first electrode of the first transistor M1.
In the light-emitting stage T2, the third transistor M3 and the light-emitting control transistor M5 may be turned off under the control of the high-voltage scan signal SCAN, while the light-emitting control transistor M5 may be turned on under the control of the low-voltage light-emitting control signal EMIT. After the data writing stage T1 is completed, the voltage VN1 of the first joint N1 may be maintained stable by the capacitive element C, and the first transistor M1 may be turned on under the control of the voltage VN1 of the first joint N1. The first voltage signal PVDD may be transmitted to the mirror driving module 20, and the mirror driving module 20 may generate the driving current. The generated driving current may be transmitted through the light-emitting control transistor M5 to the light-emitting element D, and the light-emitting element D may emit lights in response to the driving current.
Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by certain examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are only for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should also understand that the above embodiments may be modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201810076398.5 | Jan 2018 | CN | national |