This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201810005203.8, filed on Jan. 3, 2018, titled “A SIGNAL CONTROL DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD, DISPLAY CONTROL DEVICE, AND DISPLAY DEVICE”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to the field of display technologies, and in particular, to a signal control device and a control method, a display control device, and a display device.
When the display panel displays an image, the timing controller sends a timing signal to control the time for transmitting the scanning signal and data signal to the display panel, thereby realizing image display of the display panel.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a signal control device, which comprises: a signal generator configured to generate an initial enable control signal; and a pulse modulator connected to the signal generator and configured to modulate pulse displacements of the initial enable control signal, so as to obtain a modulated enable control signal, wherein the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal increase in order in each scanning period, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control output timings of display control signals.
In some embodiments, a pulse width of the modulated enable control signal is the same as a pulse width of the initial enable control signal, and a pulse amplitude of the modulated enable control signal is the same as a pulse amplitude of the initial enable control signal.
In some embodiments, the display control signals are scanning signals, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals.
In some other embodiments, the display control signals are data signals, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the data signals.
In yet some other embodiments, the display control signals include scanning signals and data signals, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals, and control the output timings of the data signals.
In some embodiments, the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals, and in each scanning period, an on-time of each of thin film transistors corresponding to an nth scanning line in an array substrate is Tn=T1+(n−1)×t, wherein T1 is an on-time of each of thin film transistors corresponding to a first scanning line in the array substrate, and t is a pulse width of each of pulses of the modulated enable control signal.
In some embodiments, the pulse modulator is configured to acquire at least two node pulses from the initial enable control signal in each scanning period, and set pulse emission timings for the at least two node pulses. The pulse modulator is further configured to use an interpolation method to process a pulse emission timing of each of node pulses in each scanning period, so as to obtain the modulated enable control signal; at least one pulse is between any two adjacent node pulses of the at least two node pulses.
In some embodiments, the signal control device further comprises a first storage element, a second storage element, and a voltage controller. The first storage element is configured to store the modulated enable control signal and transmit the modulated enable control signal in response to receiving a trigger signal. The second storage element is configured to store the display control signals. The voltage controller is configured to retrieve a display control signal of the display control signals under a control of the modulated enable control signal, and boost a voltage value of the display control signal to obtain a boosted display control signal, so that a voltage value of the boosted display control signal is greater than a threshold value of the display control signal.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a signal control method, comprising: acquiring an initial enable control signal; modulating pulse displacements of the initial enable control signal to obtain a modulated enable control signal, wherein the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal increase in order in each scanning period; and controlling output timings of display control signals according to the modulated enable control signal.
In some embodiments, modulating the pulse displacements of the initial enable control signal to obtain the modulated enable control signal comprises: acquiring at least two node pulses from the initial enable control signal in each scanning period, wherein at least one pulse is between the at least two node pulses; setting pulse emission timings for the at least two node pulses, and using an interpolation method to process a pulse emission timing of each of node pulses in each scanning period to obtain the modulated enable control signal.
In some embodiments, controlling the output timings of the display control signals according to the modulated enable control signal comprises: storing the modulated enable control signal; retrieving the modulated enable control signal in response to receiving a trigger signal; acquiring a display control signal of the display control signals under a control of the modulated enable control signal; and boosting a voltage value of the display control signal to obtain a boosted display control signal, so that a voltage value of the boosted display control signal is greater than a threshold value of the display control signal; transmitting the boosted display control signal to a display driving circuit, so that the display driving circuit drives a display panel for display according to the boosted display control signal.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display control device, which comprises the signal control device as mentioned above, and the signal control device is connected to a display driving circuit.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display device, which comprises the display control device as mentioned above.
Technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some but not all of embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments made on the basis of the embodiments of the present disclosure by a person of ordinary skill in the art without paying any creative effort shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.
In a large-sized display panel, due to a large resistance drop in an array substrate in the display panel, there will be higher losses in a signal during the transmission of the signal. Therefore, when the signal is transmitted to an area of the array substrate far from the signal terminal, it cannot meet the charging requirement of the sub-pixels in the area of the array substrate far from the signal terminal, resulting in a low charging rate in the thin-film transistors contained in the area of the array substrate far from the signal terminal. Consequently, the display effect of the display panel is reduced.
In response to the above problem, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a signal control device. As shown in
In some embodiments, the signal generator 11 is implemented by a circuit. In some other embodiments, the signal generator 11 is implemented by a microprocessor programmed to perform one or more of the operations and/or functions described herein. In yet some other embodiments, the signal generator 11 is implemented in whole or in part by specially configured hardware (e.g., by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC(s)).
In some embodiments, the pulse modulator 12 is implemented by a circuit. In some other embodiments, the pulse modulator 12 is implemented by a microprocessor programmed to perform one or more of the operations and/or functions described herein. In yet some other embodiments, the pulse modulator 12 is implemented in whole or in part by specially configured hardware (e.g., by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC(s)).
As shown in
In some embodiments, the display driving circuit 2 includes a gate driving circuit 21, and the display control signals are scanning signals. In some other embodiments, the display driving circuit 2 includes a data driving circuit 22, and the display control signals are data signals. In yet some other embodiments, the display driving circuit 2 includes a gate driving circuit 21 and a data driving circuit 22, and the display control signals includes scanning signals and data signals.
In some embodiments, the display driving circuit 2, the gate driving circuit 21, and the data driving circuit 22 are all composed of various electronic devices. In some embodiments, the display driving circuit 2 is implemented in whole or in part by specially configured hardware (e.g., by one or more application-specific integrated circuits).
The role of the modulated enable control signal is different depending on the display control signals controlled by the modulated enable control signal. In some examples, the display control signals are scanning signals, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals. In some other examples, the display control signals are data signals, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the data signals. In yet some other examples, the display control signals includes scanning signals and data signals, and the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals and the output timings of the data signals.
When the output timings of the display control signals are controlled by the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal respectively, the charging time of sub-pixels in the area of the array substrate close to the signal terminal will be relatively short, while the charging time of sub-pixels in the area far from the signal terminal will be relatively long, so that the charging rate of the sub-pixels in the area of the array substrate far from the signal terminal may be ensured, and the display effect of the display panel may be improved. In addition, since the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal increase in order in each scanning period, by controlling the output timings of the display control signals, the charging time of the sub-pixels in the array substrate farther from the signal terminal will be longer.
In some embodiments, the charging time of the sub-pixels is set according to their distance from the signal terminal. For example, when a sub-pixel is relatively close to the signal terminal, the charging time will be relatively short; and when the sub-pixel is relatively far from the signal terminal, the charging time will be relatively long.
In some embodiments, the display control signals are scanning signals. As shown in
In some embodiments, the display control signals are data signals. As shown in
In the signal control device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the signal generator 11 is used to generate an initial enable control signal, and the pulse modulator 12 is used to modulate the pulse displacements of the initial enable control signal, so as to obtain a modulated enable control signal. Moreover, the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal increase in order in each scanning period. Based on this, since the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal can be used to control output timings of the display control signals, the charging time of sub-pixels in the area close to the signal terminal will be relatively short, and the charging time of sub-pixels in the area far from the signal terminal will be relatively long. That is, the farther the sub-pixel from the signal terminal, the longer the charging time. Consequently, the charging rates of sub-pixels in the array substrate far from the signal terminal may be ensured, and the display effect of the display panel may be improved.
Since the charging rates of sub-pixels can be determined by the lengths of the pulse displacements corresponding to the modulated enable control signal, and are not related to pulse widths and pulse amplitudes, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the pulse width of the modulated enable control signal is the same as the pulse width of the initial enable control signal, and the pulse amplitude of the modulated enable control signal is the same as the pulse amplitude of the initial enable control signal.
Considering that the on-time of the thin film transistors determines the charging time of sub-pixels, in some embodiments, in the case where the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals, as shown in
In some embodiments, the duration of each scanning period is fixed, for example, the scanning period is 16.7 ms, 21 ms, or 24 ms. In addition, the total time for charging the sub-pixels corresponding to all the scanning lines is not longer than the duration of the scanning period.
As to how the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal determine the charging time of the sub-pixels by the display control signals, the implementation manners thereof are various.
In some embodiments, the pulse modulator 12 is configured to acquire at least two node pulses from the initial enable control signal in each scanning period, and set pulse emission timings of the at least two node pulses. In addition, the pulse modulator 12 is configured to use an interpolation method to process the pulse emission timing of each of node pulses in each scanning period, so as to obtain the modulated enable control signal, so that the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal increase in order and meet the charging requirement of each sub-pixel.
In some embodiments, the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of the scanning signals.
Moreover, it can also be seen from
Considering that the display control signal will become relatively weak due to severe loss in the transmission process, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a voltage value of each of the display control signals is boosted to exceed a threshold value of each of the display control signals based on an Over Drive (OD) technology, so as to improve charging efficiencies of sub-pixels. Based on this, as shown in
In some embodiments, as shown in
It will be noted that after the voltage value of the display control signal is boosted, there is a rapid automatic fallback process, and when the voltage falls back to the actual desired voltage value, the voltage value will become stable.
In this way, when the display control signal is transmitted to thin film transistors connected to a corresponding signal line (scanning line or data line), a voltage of an electrode end of each of the thin film transistors connected to the signal line will quickly reach a desired voltage. That is, after the display control signal is transmitted to the thin film transistors connected to the signal line, the voltage of the electrode end of each of the thin film transistors will quickly increase to a boosted voltage value, and then quickly falls down to a normal voltage value and becomes stable. In this way, it is possible to overcome the problem of signal delay (dotted line in
In some embodiments, the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of scanning signals, and the voltage controller 14 is configured to boost a voltage of each of the scanning signals to obtain boosted scanning signals, so that the voltage of each of the boosted scanning signals is greater than a threshold voltage of a corresponding one of the scanning signals. The threshold voltage of the corresponding one of the scanning signals is a voltage at which a thin film transistor is turned on. That is, the voltage of each of the boosted scanning signals is set to be greater than a normal voltage of a corresponding one of the scanning signals (the threshold voltage of the corresponding one of the scanning signals) by using the OD technology, so that when a boosted scanning signal passes through a corresponding scanning line to make a voltage of a gate of the corresponding thin film transistor reach the voltage of the boosted scanning signal, the thin film transistor can be turned on earlier (relative to a turn-on time of the thin film transistor that has not undergone the OD process). Then after a certain amount of loss, an actual turn-on voltage of the thin film transistor becomes stable. It can be seen that by using the OD technology to boost the voltage of the scanning signal, the thin film transistor may be turned on earlier; and although there is loss, the turn-on status of the thin film transistor will not be affected within the time range of the loss.
In some embodiments, the modulated enable control signal is used to control the output timings of data signals, and the voltage controller 14 can boost a voltage of each of the data signals to obtain boosted data signals, so that the voltage of each of the boosted data signal is greater than a threshold voltage of a corresponding one of the data signals. In some embodiments, grayscale correction is performed on the boosted data signals to increase a display brightness of a display panel.
The first storage element 13 and the second storage element 15 can be selected according to actual needs. For example, the first storage element 13 is a computer-readable recording/storage medium such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), or a flash memory. The second storage element 15 is a latch.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a signal control method. As shown in
In S100, the pulse modulator acquires an initial enable control signal.
In S200, the pulse modulator modulates pulse displacements of the initial enable control signal, so as to obtain a modulated enable control signal, wherein the pulse displacements of the modulated enable control signal increase in order in each scanning period.
In S300, the pulse modulator controls timings of display control signals according to the modulated enable control signal.
The advantageous effects of the signal control method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are the same as the advantageous effects of the signal control device 1 provided by the above embodiments, and will not be described in detail herein.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In S201, the pulse modulator acquires at least two node pulses from the initial enable control signal in each scanning period, and at least one pulse is between the at least two node pulses.
It will be understood that for any scanning period, if two node pulses are acquired from the initial enable control signal, the two node pulses are a first pulse and a last pulse in the scanning period. If more than two node pulses are acquired from the initial enable control signal, then according to a total number of the node pulses, one node pulse is acquired every other one or more pulses in addition to a first node pulse. That is, one or more pulses are between any two adjacent nodes in the more than two node pulses.
In S202, the pulse modulator sets the pulse emission timings of the at least two node pulses, and uses the interpolation method to process a pulse emission timing of each of node pulses in each scanning period, so as to obtain the modulated enable control signal.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In S301, the first storage element stores the modulated enable control signal.
In S302, the first storage element retrieves the modulated enable control signal in response to receiving a trigger signal.
In S303, the voltage controller retrieves a display control signal under the control of the modulated enable control signal.
In S304, the voltage controller boosts a voltage value of the display control signal to obtain a boosted display control signal, so that the voltage value of the boosted display control signal is greater than a threshold value of the display control signal.
In S305, the voltage controller sends the boosted display control signal to the display driving circuit, so that the display driving circuit drives the display panel for display according to the boosted display control signal.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a display control device. As shown in
The advantageous effects of the display control device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are the same as the advantageous effects of the signal control device 1 provided by the above embodiments, and will not be described in detail herein.
In some embodiments, the display driving circuit 2 includes a gate driving circuit 21 and a data driving circuit 22, and the signal control device 1 is connected to the gate driving circuit 21 and the data driving circuit 22.
In some embodiments, the signal control device 1 includes a voltage controller 14, and the voltage controller 14 is connected to the gate driving circuit 21 and the data driving circuit 22, so as to ensure that the display control signals can be transmitted to the gate driving circuit 21 and the data driving circuit 22.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a display device. As shown in
The advantageous effects of the display device 100 provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are the same as the advantageous effects of the signal control device 1 provided by the above embodiments, and will not be described in detail herein.
The display device is, for example, any product or component having a display function such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television set, a display, a notebook computer, a digital photo frame, or a navigator.
In the above description of the implementation manners, specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.
The foregoing descriptions are merely some specific implementation manners of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the changes or replacements that any person skilled in the art can easily think of in the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure should be within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2018 1 0005203 | Jan 2018 | CN | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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20090109197 | Tu | Apr 2009 | A1 |
20130314392 | Kim | Nov 2013 | A1 |
20180182355 | Kobayashi | Jun 2018 | A1 |
20180330655 | Tsuchi | Nov 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190206302 A1 | Jul 2019 | US |