1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sub-field driven display device and method, wherein sub-fields are weighted and duplicated for providing a plurality of gray levels by way of a plurality of sub-fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a sub-field driven display and method are known from European Patent Application No. EP-A-0 896 317, corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,014,258 and 6,208,467, which discloses a color image display device wherein color video signals are supplied to red, green and blue light-emitting cells, for example, the cells of a plasma display device. The device employs the known sub-field method of displaying the required gray scale representation by controlling the light-emitting luminous levels of the respective red, green and blue light-emitting cells. In this known sub-field method, one display field is divided into a plurality of sub-fields on a time base, light-emitting weights are allotted to the respective sub-fields, and light emission in each of the respective sub-fields is then controlled in an on/off manner so as to provide the appropriate gray level gradation. The required gradation is commonly provided by employing a binary ratio weighting for the sub-fields.
It is an object of the invention to provide for a sub-field driven display device and method offering improved performance, which can be disadvantageously limited with such known display devices and methods. In particular, the present invention seeks to provide improved performance through the identification of particular limitations, and related problems, as found in the prior art and which are identified in accordance with the present invention, and arise particularly in view of the number of sub-fields employed, which serves to disadvantageously limit the performance of known devices and methods due to motion artefacts and the limited number of gray levels available.
The present invention further seeks to provide for an improved sub-field driven display device and method which readily allows for the adoption of duplicated sub-field addressing.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sub-field driven display device of the type defined above, characterized in that the sub-fields are weighted in accordance with a ternary distribution of sub-field weights.
As will be illustrated further within the present application, the adoption of a ternary distribution of weights advantageously optimizes the ratio of gray levels to sub-fields adopted such that, when compared with known weighting distributions, and for a given number of sub-fields, the present invention advantageously allows for an increased number of gray levels, thereby advantageously enhancing the performance of sub-field driven display devices. Stated in the alternative, the invention, therefore, has the advantage that, with a minimal number of sub-fields, the highest maximum value of gray level can be achieved while still retaining the possibility of also producing all intermediate gray level values.
The above-described display device, wherein the sub-field converter is arranged to employ symmetrical duplicated ternary weights, is particularly advantageous in readily allowing for the application of a duplicated sub-field addressing method which, in turn, advantageously reduces motion artefact problems that can be apparent in such devices.
The above-described display device, wherein the sub-field converter is arranged to distribute the ternary weights in a manner of increasing weighted value toward a central value or values, further facilitates such advantages, and the above-described display, wherein the sub-field converter is arranged to provide the highest sub-field weight at the center of the ternary distribution, has the advantage that, with the heaviest weighting value found within the middle of the sub-field weighting distribution, this central sub-field position can advantageously act as a reference time value for motion compensation.
A method of driving a display device by means of a plurality of weighted and duplicated sub-fields, wherein the weighting of the sub-fields is in accordance with a ternary distribution of weights, and wherein symmetrical duplicated ternary weights are used, specifically introduces the adoption of a duplicated sub-field addressing method which can readily be achieved in accordance with the sub-field distribution arising in the present invention. Such an addressing method allows for motion artefact reduction, even without use of a motion estimator, and even though the method, if required, can be combined with motion compensation based on motion estimation.
The present invention is described further hereinafter by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
It should be appreciated that the present invention can readily employ the techniques for weighting and distributing duplicated sub-fields as disclosed in European Patent Application Nos. EP-A-0 899 710, EP-A-0 698 874 and EP-A-0 896 317, corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,061,049, 5,619,228 and 6,014,258 (and 6,208,467), respectively.
As will be appreciated, the present invention relates to the adoption of a ternary weighting distribution for a sub-field driven display device and related method in which, as will be illustrated below, specific advantages leading to an improved performance in display devices can be achieved.
For example, the ternary distribution:
As will be appreciated, through the effective use of seven sub-fields, i.e., each employing a respective one of the weightings noted above, all integer values of gray level between 0 and the maximum possible gray level, 53 in this example, can be realized. When compared, for example, with a binary distribution as known in the prior art, a greater number of sub-fields will be required in order to arrive at a similar number of gray level values. This is particularly true for symmetrical series.
The ternary distribution has associated advantages in that it readily allows for particularly effective motion artifact reduction through the application of the known duplicated sub-field addressing method which, if required, can be combined with motion compensation based on motion estimation.
As noted in the above example, it is particularly advantageous to provide for the heaviest weighting value in the center of the sub-field weighting distribution since this sub-field position can then readily act as a reference time t=0, for motion compensation. This can be preferred since the maximum amount of light is generated within the middle of the sub-field distribution and is not liable to be effected by any possible truncation error. The lower weights, i.e., the weighting values of the sub-fields on either side of the central heaviest weight, are then effectively duplicated on either side of the central weight and turned on in accordance with the example of two driven pixels as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Turning now to
Referring now to the drawing, shown in
In further detail, consideration can be given to the distribution of (2n+1) values ai:
The heaviest weights will preferably be in the middle of the distribution, while the smaller values are located further away from the middle; therefore, a0=1.
A distribution for n=4 is advantageously constructed as follows:
Thus, all integer values between 0 and a maximum gray level of 161 can be produced giving G9=162 gray levels.
For a symmetrical binary series of (2n+1) sub-fields, with the highest weight in the middle, the number of gray levels equals G2n+1=2.2n, which is a factor ( 3/2)n less. At (2n+1)=9 sub-fields (thus n=4), this differs a factor 5.0625 ( 5). This clearly illustrates how, for a given number of sub-fields, the device and method of the present invention can provide for an optimum number of gray scale values.
At an even number of sub-fields, one additional term is generally to be determined. To keep the distribution fully symmetrical, the heaviest weight can be copied, or repeated, in the middle as follows:
Alternatively, a series can be developed in which the term a0 is not duplicated. Using the same values as above, this arrives at:
As will be appreciated, the maximum possible number of gray levels is advantageously achieved in accordance with the present invention while, if required, for the highest of all possible weights, a symmetrical value can also be adopted. When also applying the duplicate sub-field method so as to achieve motion compensation, the pixels identified as A pixel and B pixel in the duplicated sub-field method can advantageously be addressed by one of the symmetrical options.
It should of course be appreciated that the present invention can be used in all displays which employ sub-field distributions and include, but are not limited to, Plasma Display Panels, Digital Mirror Devices and Dynamic Foil Displays.
Also the invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment since, for example, an asymmetrical ternary distribution, and without having the highest weighted value centrally located, could still nevertheless advantageously be employed so as to arrive at advantages offered by the present invention.
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