CN111710273B

CN111710273B - Display apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN111710273B
Application number: CN201910203590.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄冠宪; 张益诚; 王佑诚
Original assignee: Innolux Display Corp
Current assignee: Innolux Corp
Priority date: 2019-03-18
Filing date: 2019-03-18
Publication date: 2023-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-18
Also published as: CN111710273A

Abstract

The invention provides a display device, which comprises a first scanning line, a second scanning line, a signal control circuit and a grid circuit. The first scanning line is coupled with a first number of the plurality of pixels. The second scanning line is coupled with a second number of the plurality of pixels. The signal control circuit outputs a first output start signal and a second output start signal. The grid circuit is coupled with the first scanning line and the second scanning line, generates a first scanning signal to the first scanning line according to the first output starting signal, and generates a second scanning signal to the second scanning line according to the second output starting signal. The first number is smaller than the second number, and a first pulse width of the first output start signal is larger than a second pulse width of the second output start signal.

Description

Display apparatus

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a non-rectangular display device having uniform picture quality.

Background

The conventional display panels are rectangular, but recently, non-rectangular displays have been developed in response to various creative designs. The length of each pixel column in a non-rectangular display is not the same, and thus each pixel column may have a different RC load (RC loading), resulting in uneven picture quality of the display. Therefore, a scheme is required to solve the problem of non-uniform picture quality of the non-rectangular display device.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is necessary to provide a non-rectangular display device to improve the uniformity of the display.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problem of uneven picture quality, the invention provides a display device.

A display device of the present invention includes a first scanning line, a second scanning line, a signal control circuit, and a gate circuit. The first scanning line is coupled with a first number of pixels. The second scan line is coupled to a second number of pixels. The signal control circuit outputs a first output start signal and a second output start signal. The grid circuit is coupled with the first scanning line and the second scanning line, generates a first scanning signal to the first scanning line according to the first output starting signal, and generates a second scanning signal to the second scanning line according to the second output starting signal. The first number is smaller than the second number, and a first pulse width of the first output start signal is larger than a second pulse width of the second output start signal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the signal control circuit includes a first register and a second register, wherein the first register outputs the first pulse width, and the second register outputs the second pulse width.

In an embodiment of the invention, the signal control circuit includes a first pulse counter and a second pulse counter, wherein the first pulse counter receives the first pulse width and outputs the first output start signal, and the second pulse counter receives the second pulse width and outputs the second output start signal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the display apparatus further includes: a width controller and a selection circuit electrically connected with the width controller.

In an embodiment of the invention, the signal control circuit includes a register, wherein the register outputs the first pulse width of the first output enable signal or the second pulse width of the second output enable signal in a transformed manner according to a frequency signal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a width of the second scan signal corresponding to the second scan line is greater than a width of the first scan signal corresponding to the first scan line.

In an embodiment of the invention, the signal control circuit includes a pulse counter, wherein the pulse counter outputs the first output enable signal or the second output enable signal to the gate circuit in a transformed manner according to the first pulse width or the second pulse width.

In an embodiment of the invention, the display device further includes a third scan line coupled to a third number of the plurality of pixels, wherein the third number is greater than the second number, and a third pulse width of a third output enable signal corresponding to the third scan line is smaller than the second pulse width of the second output enable signal.

The invention also provides a display device comprising a first group of scanning lines, a second group of scanning lines, a signal control circuit and a grid circuit. The signal control circuit outputs a first output start signal and a second output start signal. The gate circuit is coupled to the first set of scan lines and the second set of scan lines, generates a first scan signal to the first set of scan lines according to the first output start signal, and generates a second scan signal to the second set of scan lines according to the second output start signal. The number of pixels coupled to any one of the first set of scan lines is smaller than the number of pixels coupled to any one of the second set of scan lines, and a first pulse width of the first output start signal is larger than a second pulse width of the second output start signal.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the signal control circuit includes a register and a pulse counter.

Drawings

In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between a scan signal and an output enable signal for a scan line.

Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of a non-rectangular display device.

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a scan line driver circuit according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a signal waveform diagram showing when the scan line driver circuit of fig. 3 drives a non-rectangular display device.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of the scan line driver circuit of fig. 3 for changing the pulse width of the output enable signal.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a scan line driver circuit according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a signal waveform diagram showing when the scan line driver circuit of fig. 6 drives a non-rectangular display device.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of the scan line driver circuit of fig. 6 for changing the pulse width of the output enable signal.

The reference numerals of the elements in the drawings illustrate:

1. non-rectangular display device

10. Display area

20. Non-display area

30. 30' signal control circuit

31. 31a, 31b, 31n buffers

32. 32a, 32b, 32n pulse counter

33. Width controller

34. Selection circuit

40. Gate circuit

CKV frequency signal

SL, ga, ga+1, gb, gb+1, gc, gd scan line

STV Start Signal

T, ta, ta+1, tb, tb+1, tc, td high potential width

t, ta, tb, tc, tn pulse width

W, W1, W2, wa, wb, wc, wd scan signal width

OE output enable signal

Detailed Description

The following description provides many different embodiments for implementing different features of the invention. The components and arrangements described in the following examples are only intended to be illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the description of a structure with a first feature on or over a second feature includes direct contact between the first and second features, or with another feature disposed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features are not in direct contact.

The terms first, second, etc. in this specification are used for clarity of explanation only and are not intended to correspond to or limit the scope of the patent. The terms first and second are not limited to the same or different terms.

Spatially relative terms, such as upper or lower, for example, may be used herein for ease of description only if one element or feature is related to another element or feature in the drawings. Other than the orientations depicted in the drawings, means for use in or operation with different orientations are included. The shapes, dimensions, and thicknesses in the drawings may not be to scale or simplified for clarity of illustration, and are provided for illustrative purposes only.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between a scan signal and an output enable signal of a scan line. The output enable signal (Output Enable Signal) OE is an enable signal for controlling the output time point of the scanning signal of each scanning line SL, and when each output enable signal OE is lowered from a high level to a low level, each scanning line SL sequentially outputs the scanning signal to each pixel (not shown) on the scanning line SL. The gate (not shown) of each pixel starts to charge after receiving the scan signal, and when the potential of the gate is maintained at a high potential, the pixel starts to read the image signal. Since the charge and discharge of the pixel itself each require a period of time, the scan signal width W is larger than the high potential width T when the pixel is at the high potential.

Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of a non-rectangular display device 1. The non-rectangular display device 1 in fig. 2 has a curved profile. The non-rectangular display device 1 has a display area 10 and a non-display area 20 disposed adjacent to the display area 10. Since the circumference of the display area 10 is arc-shaped, the lengths of the respective scan lines may be the same or different, and the number of pixels (transistor numbers) driven by the scan lines may be the same or different. Here, four scanning lines Ga, ga+1, gb, and gb+1 are exemplified as the plurality of scanning lines, wherein the scanning lines Ga and ga+1 are adjacent, the scanning lines Gb and gb+1 are adjacent, and the scanning lines Gb and ga+1 are not adjacent to each other, with a plurality of scanning lines therebetween. In the non-rectangular display device 1 of fig. 2, since the lengths of the scanning lines Ga, ga+1, gb, gb+1 are different, the number of pixels (the number of transistors) to be driven is different, resulting in different RC loads.

When the RC load is larger, the charging and discharging time of each pixel of the scanning line is increased, and the pulse width of the scanning signal is insufficient. When the pulse width is insufficient, the time for representing the pixel to read the image voltage is insufficient, so that the image voltage cannot reach the predetermined voltage to affect the image quality.

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a scan line driver circuit according to an embodiment of the invention. And fig. 4 is a signal waveform diagram showing the case where the scan line driver circuit of fig. 3 drives a non-rectangular display device. In the present embodiment, the scanning line driving circuit includes a signal control circuit (Signal control circuit) 30, a Gate circuit (Gate circuit) 40. The signal control circuit 30 includes a first Register 31a, a second Register 31b, a first Pulse counter 32a, a second Pulse counter 32b, a Width controller 33, and a selection circuit 34. The buffer 31a stores the first pulse width ta and provides the pulse width to the pulse counter 32a. The buffer 31b stores the second pulse width tb and provides the pulse width to the pulse counter 32b. The width controller 33 can determine which scan line is currently driven according to the start signal STV and the frequency signal CKV, and control the selection circuit 34 according to different scan lines. The selection circuit 34 selects the output enable signal OE of the first pulse counter 32a or the second pulse counter 32b, the first pulse counter 32a outputting the output enable signal OE including the first pulse width ta, and the second pulse counter 32b outputting the output enable signal OE including the second pulse width tb. The start signal STV, the frequency signal CKV and the output enable signal OE are output to the gate circuit 40, and the gate circuit 40 outputs the scan signal to the scan lines Ga, ga+1, gb, gb+1 according to the level change of the output enable signal OE each time. It should be noted that, in the present invention, the Gate circuit 40 may be a Gate driver IC (Gate driver IC), or a Gate driver circuit directly fabricated in a display panel (not shown) of the display device 1. It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the scan lines Ga and ga+1 can be regarded as a first group of scan lines, the scan lines Gb and gb+1 are a second group of scan lines, the number of pixels coupled to any one of the scan lines Ga and ga+1 of the first group is smaller than the number of pixels coupled to any one of the scan lines Gb and gb+1 of the second group, and the scan signals output to the first group of scan lines Ga and ga+1 correspond to the first pulse width ta, and the scan signals output to the second group of scan lines Gb and gb+1 correspond to the second pulse width tb.

The technical features of the present invention are described in the case of two sets of scan lines, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the designer may adjust the grouping number of scan lines, and the number of scan lines per group may be the same or different.

In the present embodiment, the signal control circuit 30 outputs the output enable signal OE including the first pulse width ta for the first group of scan lines Ga, ga+1 to enable the scan signal, and outputs the output enable signal OE including the second pulse width tb for the second group of scan lines Gb, gb+1 to enable the scan signal. Since the first pulse width Ta is larger than the second pulse width Tb, the second group of scan lines Gb, gb+1 can obtain a longer on-time (corresponding to a wider scan signal width W2), so that the high potential widths Tb, tb+1 of the scan lines Gb, gb+1 of the second group increase to approach the high potential widths Ta, ta+1 of the scan lines Ga, ga+1 of the first group. In this way, the problem of inconsistent display quality of the non-rectangular display device 1 caused by the variable scanning line length is improved.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of the scan line driver circuit of fig. 3 for changing the pulse width of the output enable signal. First, the setting width controller 33 switches the pulse width of the output enable signal OE with the nth scan line as a boundary, and outputs the pulse width default ta of the enable signal OE in step S11. In step S12, the width controller 33 counts whether the current scan line number is greater than n according to the start signal STV and the frequency signal CKV, and when the scan line number is less than or equal to n, the pulse width of the output enable signal OE corresponding to the scan line is still ta, and the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the width controller 33 adds 1 to the counted number of scan lines according to the start signal STV and the frequency signal CKV, and then returns to step S12 to determine whether the current number of scan lines is greater than n. When the number of scanning lines is greater than n, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the width controller 33 controls the selection circuit 34 to select the output enable signal OE of the output pulse width tb, and then returns to step S13. Steps S12 to S14 are repeated until all scan lines have corresponding output enable signals OE generated. The above is a flowchart of the pulse width control of the output enable signal OE for driving an entire frame (frame) by the non-rectangular display device 1, and the flow must be restarted from step S11 when the next frame is entered.

According to the above-described embodiment, the problem of non-uniformity in picture quality of the non-rectangular display device 1 can be improved. It should be noted that the embodiments shown in fig. 3 to 5 only divide the scan lines of the non-rectangular display device 1 into two groups, but may be divided into more scan line groups, and even in some embodiments, each scan line has a different output enable signal OE. Hereinafter, an example when the number of groups of scanning lines is greater than 2 groups will be briefly described.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a scan line driver circuit according to another embodiment of the invention. Fig. 7 is a signal waveform diagram showing driving of a non-rectangular display device with the scan line driver circuit of fig. 6. In the present embodiment, the scanning line driving circuit includes a signal control circuit 30', a gate circuit 40. The gate circuits 40 are connected to the scanning lines Ga, gb, gc, gd each located in a different group. The signal control circuit 30' includes n buffers 31a, 31b, … n, n pulse counters 32a, 32b, …, 32n, a width controller 33, and a selection circuit 34. The registers 31a, 31b, … n each store the pulse width ta, tb, tc, …, tn of the output enable signal OE, and provide the pulse width to the pulse counters 32a, 32b, …, 32n, respectively. The width controller 33 can determine which scan line is currently driven according to the start signal STV and the frequency signal CKV, and control the selection circuit 34 according to different scan lines, wherein the selection circuit 34 selects one of the output pulse counters 32a, 32b, …, 32n to output the start signal OE. The start signal STV, the frequency signal CKV and the output enable signal OE are output to the gate circuit 40, and the gate circuit 40 outputs a scan signal to the scan line Ga, gb, gc, gd according to the level change of the output enable signal OE each time.

In the present embodiment, the display area 10 of the non-rectangular display device 1 is divided into n regions, and the signal control circuit 30' outputs the output start signal OE including different pulse widths ta, tb, tc, … tn for the scan lines Ga, gb, gc, gd respectively located in the respective regions to start the scan signals. In this embodiment, since the RC load Ga < Gb < Gc < Gd of each scan line is greater than the pulse width ta > tb > tc > tn of the output enable signal OE, the scan signal width Wa < Wb < Wc < Wn of each corresponding scan line Ga, gb, gc, gd, that is, the scan line with a larger RC load can obtain a longer on-time, so that the high potential widths Ta, tb, tc, td of the scan lines Ga, gb, gc, gd are similar. In this way, by dividing the scanning lines into a plurality of groups and providing the corresponding output enable signal OE pulse width for each group, the problem of inconsistent display quality of the non-rectangular display device 1 can be improved.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of changing the pulse width of the output enable signal OE by the scan line driver circuit of fig. 6. The 1 st to x th scanning lines are divided into a first group, the x+1 th to y th scanning lines are divided into a second group, the y+1 th to z th scanning lines are divided into a third group, and the q-th or more scanning lines to the last scanning line are divided into an nth group. First, the set width controller 33 switches the output enable signal OE at the x, y, z, …, q (q > z > y > x) scan lines as the pulse width boundary, and outputs the enable signal OE at step S21. In step S22, the width controller 33 counts whether the current scan line number is greater than x and less than or equal to y (x < count scan line number is less than or equal to y) according to the start signal STV and the frequency signal CKV. If the judgment formula of step S22 is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S23. Step S23 further judges whether the current counted scanning line number is larger than y and smaller than or equal to z (y < counted scanning line number is smaller than or equal to z), and when the judgment formula of step S23 is not met, the step proceeds to the judgment formula of the next section. If the number of scan lines does not meet each judgment formula, the process proceeds to step S24. If the counted number of scan lines does not meet the judgment formula in step S24, it is determined that the scan lines belong to the first group (the pulse width of the output enable signal OE corresponding to the first group of scan lines is ta), and the process proceeds to step S25. According to the flow of step S22 to step S24, the grouping group corresponding to each scan line can be determined. When the number of scan lines matches the judgment formula of step S22 (the number of counted scan lines is greater than x and less than or equal to y), step S26 is entered. In step S26, the width controller 33 controls the selection circuit 34 to select the output enable signal OE of the output pulse width tb, and then returns to step S25. Similarly, when the number of the coincident scanning lines meets the judgment formula of step S23, the process proceeds to step S27. In step S27, the width controller 33 controls the selection circuit 34 to select the output enable signal OE of the output pulse width tc, and then returns to step S25. When the number of the scan lines matches the judgment formula of step S24, the process proceeds to step S28. In step S28, the width controller 33 controls the selection circuit 34 to select the output enable signal OE of the output pulse width tn, and then returns to step S25. In step S25, the width controller 33 adds 1 to the counted number of scan lines according to the start signal STV and the frequency signal CKV, and then returns to step S22 to determine which group the counted number of scan lines belongs to.

In this embodiment, steps S22 to S28 are repeated until all scan lines have corresponding output enable signals OE generated. The above is a flowchart of the pulse width control of the output enable signal OE for driving an entire frame (frame) from above to below of the non-rectangular display device 1, and when the next frame is entered, the process must start again from step S21.

Although the foregoing describes the possible embodiments of the present invention, the present invention can be modified in various ways under the technical concept of outputting the output start signal with different pulse widths according to the scan lines with different lengths. For example, when the signal control circuit can write corresponding pulse widths into the buffer in real time according to the frequency signal, so that the buffer can output different pulse widths of the output start signal in a changing manner, the signal control circuit of the present invention also includes embodiments in which a single buffer is used together with a single pulse counter or a plurality of pulse counters. In other embodiments, when the signal control circuit can have a plurality of registers for storing pulse widths of different output enable signals, one of the output enable signals is selected by the selection circuit to be output to the single pulse counter, and the same pulse counter can output the output enable signals to the gate circuit in a unified manner.

The display device of the present invention may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD display), an organic light emitting diode display (OLED display), a quantum dot light emitting diode display (QLED display or QD-LED display), a sub-millimeter light emitting diode display (mini-LED display), a micro light emitting diode display (micro-LED display), or the like. The display of the present invention may be applied to various electronic devices such as televisions, electronic billboards, smart phones, tablet computers, etc.

The described features may be combined with, modified by, substituted for, or interchanged with one or more of the disclosed embodiments in any suitable manner and are not limited to the specific embodiments.

While the invention has been described in terms of various embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described, but is capable of modification and variation in detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The above embodiments are therefore not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention thereto, and it is to be understood that other modifications and improvements may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is therefore defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A display device characterized by comprising:

a first scanning line coupled with a first number of pixels;

a second scan line coupled to a second number of the plurality of pixels;

a signal control circuit outputting a first output start signal and a second output start signal; and

and a gate circuit coupled to the first scan line and the second scan line, for generating a first scan signal to the first scan line according to the first output enable signal, generating a second scan signal to the second scan line according to the second output enable signal, wherein the first number is smaller than the second number, and a first pulse width of the first output enable signal is larger than a second pulse width of the second output enable signal, so that a high potential width of the second scan line is increased to be close to the high potential width of the first scan line, and a charging time in the second scan line is increased to be longer than a charging time in the first scan line.

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein the signal control circuit comprises a first register and a second register, wherein the first register outputs the first pulse width and the second register outputs the second pulse width.

3. The display device of claim 1, wherein the signal control circuit comprises a first pulse counter and a second pulse counter, wherein the first pulse counter receives the first pulse width and outputs the first output enable signal, and the second pulse counter receives the second pulse width and outputs the second output enable signal.

4. The display device of claim 1, further comprising: a width controller and a selection circuit electrically connected with the width controller.

5. The display device of claim 1, wherein the signal control circuit includes a register, wherein the register is configured to switchably output the first pulse width of the first output enable signal or the second pulse width of the second output enable signal according to a frequency signal.

6. The display device of claim 1, wherein a width of the second scan signal corresponding to the second scan line is greater than a width of the first scan signal corresponding to the first scan line.

7. The display device of claim 1, wherein the signal control circuit comprises a pulse counter, wherein the pulse counter outputs the first output enable signal or the second output enable signal to the gate circuit in accordance with the first pulse width or the second pulse width.

8. The display device of claim 1, further comprising a third scan line coupled to a third number of pixels, wherein the third number is greater than the second number, and a third pulse width of a third output enable signal corresponding to the third scan line is less than the second pulse width of the second output enable signal.

9. A display device characterized by comprising:

a first set of scan lines;

a second set of scan lines;

a gate circuit coupled to the first and second groups of scan lines for generating a first scan signal to the first group of scan lines according to the first output start signal and a second scan signal to the second group of scan lines according to the second output start signal,

the number of pixels coupled to any one of the first set of scan lines is smaller than the number of pixels coupled to any one of the second set of scan lines, and a first pulse width of the first output start signal is larger than a second pulse width of the second output start signal, so that a high potential width of the second set of scan lines increases to be close to the high potential width of the first set of scan lines, and a charging time of the second set of scan lines increases to be longer than a charging time of the first set of scan lines.

10. The display device of claim 9, wherein the signal control circuit includes a register and a pulse counter.