Display panel and its driving method and driving device

• US 10,657,861 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2016
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. (BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.), BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Gao, Bo, Wang, Xiurong, Zhang, Hao, Shi, Lingyun, Dong, Xue, Li, Yafei
• Primary Examiner(s): Marinelli, Patrick F
• Application Number:
  US15/115,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20170148420A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,572 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0408 Integration of the drivers onto the display substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/08 Active matrix structure, i.e. with use of active elements, inclusive of non-linear two terminal elements, in the pixels together with light emitting or modulating elements
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0205 Simultaneous scanning of several lines in flat panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0267 Details of drivers for scan electrodes, other than drivers for liquid crystal, plasma or OLED displays
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0613 The adjustment depending on the type of the information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/103 Detection of image changes, e.g. determination of an index representative of the image change
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0435 Change or adaptation of the frame rate of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/20 for presentation of an assembly of a number of characters, e.g. a page, by composing the assembly by combination of individual elements arranged in a matrix no fixed position being assigned to or needed to be assigned to the individual characters or partial characters

Abstract

A display panel and its driving method and driving device are provided for selectively reducing display resolution of a display panel, thereby decreasing display power consumption. The display panel comprises: gate lines (11) and data lines (12) disposed across to each other; at least one switching unit (13) connected between different gate lines (11), configured to control whether at least two rows of gate lines (11) are conducted; and a driving control module (14) having first output terminals (141) connected one by one to control terminals of the at least one switching unit (13) and second output terminals (142) connected one by one to input terminals of the data lines (12); wherein the driving control module (14) outputs, via the first output terminals (141), a control signal for controlling whether a corresponding switching unit (13) is switched on, and decides, based on an on/off state of the switching unit (13), whether to output an image signal to a corresponding data line (12) via the second output terminals (142).

Claims

1. A display panel, comprising:

a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, and a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, each of the plurality of gate lines is vertical to each of the plurality of data lines;

a plurality of switching units, each switching unit connected between two adjacent gate lines among the plurality of gate lines, and each switching unit being configured to control whether the two adjacent gate lines are conducted; and

a driving control module having a plurality of first output terminals and a plurality of second output terminals, each of the plurality of first output terminals being connected to a control terminal of a corresponding switching unit among the plurality of switching unit, and each of the plurality of second output terminals being connected to an input terminal of a corresponding data line among the plurality of data lines;

wherein the driving control module outputs, via each of the at least one first output terminal, a control signal for controlling whether to switch on the corresponding switching unit, and decides, according to an on/off state of the corresponding switching unit, whether to output an image signal to a corresponding data line via its second output terminal,

wherein the driving control module is configured to;

determine, based on a resolution of an image to be displayed which is transmitted by a signal source, a display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds; and

determine, based on the display mode, switching units that need to be switched on and switched off, output, via the first output terminals, a control signal for controlling whether to switch on a corresponding switching unit, and output, via the second output terminals, an image signal to a corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the switching unit,

wherein, when the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is determined as a full-high-definition display mode, either;

switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off, and an image signals of the image to be displayed is transmitted to data lines in odd-numbered rows of pixels, or

switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on, and an image signal of the image to be displayed is transmitted to data lines in even-numbered rows of pixels.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein each switching unit is a thin film transistor, and for each thin film transistor, a source and a drain of the thin film transistor are connected respectively to the two adjacent gate lines, and a gate of the thin film transistor is the control terminal of the switching unit.

3. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the driving control module is further configured to:

receive voltage signals of an image displayed in a previous frame and a current image to be displayed in a current frame which are transmitted by a signal source;

determine a image display mode based on the received voltage signals; and

in a case where the image display mode is a static display mode, determine, based on a resolution of the current image, a switching unit to be switched off among the plurality of switching units, and output via each of the plurality of first output terminals the control signal for controlling the corresponding switching unit that is to be switched on or switched off, and output via the corresponding second output terminal the image signal to the corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the corresponding switching unit.

4. The display panel according to claim 3, wherein the driving control module is further configured to:

in a case where the image display mode is a dynamic display mode, increase a frame frequency of the current frame for transmission of the current image.

5. A driving method for driving the display panel according to claim 1, comprising:

receiving voltage signals of an image displayed in a previous frame and a current image to be displayed in a current frame which are transmitted by the signal source;

determining a image display mode based on the received voltage signals; and

in a case where the image display mode is a static display mode, based on a resolution of the current image, determining a switching unit to be switched off among the plurality of switching unit, controlling each of the plurality of switching unit to be switched on or switched off, and outputting the image signal to the corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the corresponding switching unit.

6. The driving method according to claim 5, further comprising:

in a case where the image display mode is a dynamic display mode, increasing a frame frequency for the current frame for transmission of the current image.

7. The driving method according to claim 5, wherein

in a case where the voltage signals of the image displayed in the previous frame are the same as those of the current image to be displayed in the current frame, determining the image display mode as the static display mode;

in a case where the voltage signals of the current image to be displayed in the current frame are different from that of the image displayed in the previous frame, determining the image display mode as a dynamic display mode.

8. The driving method according to claim 5, wherein

in a case where the image display mode is the static display mode and the resolution of the current image is less than a maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel, each of the plurality of switching unit is controlled to be switched off, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to each of the plurality of data lines;

in a case where the image display mode is the static display mode and the resolution of the current image is less than a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to one third of the maximum resolution of the display panel, each of the plurality of switching units is controlled to be switched off, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to each of the plurality of data lines;

or, switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on and switching unit in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to data lines in the odd-numbered rows of pixels;

or, switching units in the odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off and switching units in the even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to data lines in the even-numbered rows of pixels.

9. A driving device for driving the display panel according to claim 1, comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive voltage signals of an image displayed in a previous frame and a current image to be displayed in a current frame which are transmitted by the signal source;

an image display mode determining unit configured to determine a image display mode based on the received voltage signals; and

a control unit configured to, in a case where the image display mode is a static display mode, based on a resolution of the current image, determine a switching unit to be switched off among the plurality of switching units, and output the image signal to the corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the corresponding switching unit.

10. The driving device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit is further configured to:

in a case where the image display mode is a dynamic display mode, increase a frame frequency of the current frame for transmission of the current image.

11. The driving device according to claim 9, wherein the image display mode determining unit is configured to:

in a case where the voltage signals of the image displayed in the previous frame are the same as those of the current image to be displayed in the current frame, determine the image display mode as the static display mode; and

in a case where the voltage signals of the current image to be displayed in the current frame are different from those of the image displayed in the previous frame, determine the image display mode as a dynamic display mode.

12. The driving device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit is configured to:

in a case where the image display mode is the static display mode and the resolution of the current image is less than a maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel, each of the plurality of switching units is controlled to be switched off, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to each of the plurality of data lines;

in a case where the image display mode is the static display mode and the resolution of the current image is less than a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to one third of the maximum resolution of the display panel, each of the plurality of switching units is controlled to be switched off, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to each of the plurality of data lines;

or, switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to data lines in the odd-numbered rows of pixels;

or, switching units in the odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off and switching units in the even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on, and the image signal of the current image is transmitted to data lines in the even-numbered rows of pixels.

13. A driving method for driving the display panel, the display panel comprises:

a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, and a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, each of the plurality of gate lines is vertical to each of the plurality of data lines;

a plurality of switching units, each switching unit connected between two adjacent gate lines among the plurality of gate lines, and each switching unit being configured to control whether one or both of the two adjacent gate lines are conducted; and

a driving control module having a plurality of first output terminals and a plurality of second output terminals, each of the plurality of first output terminals being connected to a control terminal of a corresponding switching unit among the plurality of switching unit, and each of the plurality of second output terminals being connected to an input terminal of a corresponding data line among the plurality of data lines;

wherein the driving control module outputs, via each of the at least one first output terminal, a control signal for controlling whether to switch on the corresponding switching unit, and decides, according to an on/off state of the corresponding switching unit, whether to output an image signal to a corresponding data line via its second output terminal

wherein the driving method comprises;

determining a resolution of an image to be displayed which is transmitted by a signal source;

determining a display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds; and

based on the display mode, determining switching units that need to be switched on and switched off, output, via the first output terminals, a control signal for controlling whether to switch on a corresponding switching unit, and output, via the second output terminals, an image signal to a corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the switching unit,

wherein, when the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is determined as a full-high-definition display mode, either;

switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off, and an image signals of the image to be displayed is transmitted to data lines in odd-numbered rows of pixels, or

switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on, and an image signal of the image to be displayed is transmitted to data lines in even-numbered rows of pixels.

14. The driving method according to claim 13, wherein

in a case where the resolution of the image to be displayed is greater than or equal to a maximum resolution of the display panel, the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is determined as an ultra-high-definition display mode;

in a case where the resolution of the image to be displayed is less than the maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel, the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is determined as the full-high-definition display mode; and

in a case where the resolution of the image to be displayed is less than a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to one third of the maximum resolution of the display panel, the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is determined as a high-definition display mode.

15. The driving method according to claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a voltage signal of an image to be displayed which is transmitted by a signal source;

determining current image display mode based on the voltage signal of the image to be displayed of two adjacent frames; and

in a case where the image display mode is a static display mode, based on a resolution of the image to be displayed, determining a switching unit that needs to be switched off, and controlling each switching unit to be switched on or off, and outputting an image signal to a corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the switching unit.

16. A driving device for driving the display panel, the display panel comprises:

a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, and a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, each of the plurality of gate lines is vertical to each of the plurality of data lines;

a plurality of switching units, each switching unit connected between two adjacent gate lines among the plurality of gate lines, and each of switching units being configured to control whether one or both of the two adjacent gate lines are conducted; and

a driving control module having a plurality of first output terminals and a plurality of second output terminals, each of the plurality of first output terminals being connected to a control terminal of a corresponding switching unit among the plurality of switching unit, and each of the plurality of second output terminals being connected to an input terminal of a corresponding data line among the plurality of data lines;

wherein the driving control module outputs, via each of the at least one first output terminal, a control signal for controlling whether to switch on the corresponding switching unit, and decides, according to an on/off state of the corresponding switching unit, whether to output an image signal to a corresponding data line via its second output terminal,

wherein the driving device comprises;

a first determining unit configured to determine a resolution of an image to be displayed which is transmitted by a signal source;

a second determining unit configured to determine a display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds; and

a first control unit configured to, based on the display mode, determine switching units that need to be switched on and switched off, output via the first output terminals a control signal for controlling whether to switch on a corresponding switching unit, and output via the second output terminals an image signal to a corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the switching unit,

wherein, when the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is determined as a full-high-definition display mode, either;

switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off, and an image signals of the image to be displayed is transmitted to data lines in odd-numbered rows of pixels, or

switching units in odd-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched off and switching units in even-numbered rows of pixels are controlled to be switched on, and an image signal of the image to be displayed is transmitted to data lines in even-numbered rows of pixels.

17. The driving device according to claim 16, wherein the second determining unit is configured to:

in a case where the resolution of the image to be displayed is greater than or equal to a maximum resolution of the display panel, determine that the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is an ultra-high-definition display mode;

in a case where the resolution of the image to be displayed is less than the maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel, determine that the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is the full-high-definition display mode; and

in a case where the resolution of the image to be displayed is less than a half of the maximum resolution of the display panel and greater than or equal to one third of the maximum resolution of the display panel, determine that the display mode to which the resolution of the image to be displayed corresponds is a high-definition display mode.

18. The driving device according to claim 16, further comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive a voltage signal of an image to be displayed which is transmitted by the signal source;

an image display mode determining unit configured to determine current image display mode based on a voltage signal of an image to be displayed of two adjacent frames; and

a second control unit configured to, in a case where the image display mode is a static display mode, based on a resolution of the image to be displayed, determine a switching unit that needs to be switched off and control each switching unit to be switched on or off, and output an image signal to a corresponding data line based on an on/off state of the switching unit.