Construction of large, robust, monolithic and monolithic-like, AMLCD displays with wide view angle

• US 20020051111A1
• Filed: 12/17/2001
• Published: 05/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rainbow Displays, Inc.
• Inventors: Seraphim, Donald P., Skinner, Dean W., Greene, Raymond G., Yost, Boris, Krusius, J. Peter
• Granted Patent: US 6,693,684 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 349/149
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13336 Combining plural substrates to produce large-area displays, e.g. tiled displays
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1345 Conductors connecting electrodes to cell terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13456 Cell terminals located on one side of the display only
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0285 using tables for spatial correction of display data
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607

Abstract

The present invention features are series of techniques for designing and assembling of large, robust monolithic and monolithic-like flat panel displays. Many techniques originally developed for creating tiled, flat-panel displays having visually imperceptible seams may be advantageously applied to monolithic structures. These techniques include single-sided wiring, two-sided wiring from opposite sides, segmented row and column lines, and reordering row and column lines in fan-out region. Single-sided wiring facilitates the construction of displays with small outlines. By using these techniques, display sharpness and contrast may be improved. In addition, color and luminance balance and uniformity across the display may also be improved.

Claims

1. A monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display having improved mechanical stiffness and controlled contrast, luminance and chromaticity across a wide range of view angles, comprising:

a) a liquid crystal display element comprising pixels disposed in a two-dimensional array organized into rows and columns, each of said pixels comprising at least one sub-pixel;

b) support means comprising at least one from the group of cover plate and back plate affixed to and extending beyond said two-dimensional array of pixels;

c) row interconnection means disposed in channels proximate said rows of pixels and electrically connected thereto;

d) column interconnection means disposed in channels proximate said columns of pixels and electrically connected thereto;

e) insulating means for electrically isolating said row interconnection means from said column interconnection means; and

f) electrical connection means comprising a fan-out region and being operatively connected to said row interconnection means and to said column interconnection means and being disposed along at least one edge of said two-dimensional array of pixels;

whereby each of said sub-pixels is electrically connected to at least one of said row and said column interconnection means.

2. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 1, wherein said pixels comprise active areas and inactive areas and said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means are placed in said inactive area.

3. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 2, wherein said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means comprise at least one channel placed in at least one from the group:

inactive areas between said rows of pixels, inactive areas between said columns of pixels, inactive areas adjacent an outside column of said array, and inactive areas adjacent an outside row of said array of pixels.

4. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 3, wherein said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means comprise at least one electrical conductor disposed in said channels.

5. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 4, wherein said at least one electrical conductor comprises multiple electrical conductors disposed in said channels.

6. The monolithic, or monolilthic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

g) parallel access interconnection means disposed in at least one of said channels between said rows or said columns of said two-dimensional array and being selectively electrically connected to at least one of said row interconnection means or said column interconnection means, said parallel access interconnection means providing an electrical connection among said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means, and said electrical connection means.

7. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 6, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional display is a single edge substantially parallel to said row interconnection means.

8. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 6, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional array is a single edge substantially parallel to said column interconnection means.

9. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 6, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional array comprises two adjacent edges.

10. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 6, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional array comprises two opposing, parallel edges.

11. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 6, wherein said electrical connection means comprises external electrical connection means for connecting said display to externally-generated signals.

12. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 11, wherein said external electrical connection means comprises at least one from the group:

TABs anisotropic adhesive film connections, solder ball connections, wirebond connections

13. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 12, wherein said electrical connection means connected to said parallel access interconnection means comprises fan-out means comprising fan-out lines to facilitate reordering individual ones of said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means relative to said external electrical connection means.

14. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means comprises a segmented electrical conductor

16. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 15, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional array comprises one of the configurations:

two opposing edges, two adjacent edges, a single edge, and all four edges.

17. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 15, wherein said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means comprise at least one electrical conductor disposed in said channels.

18. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 17, wherein said at least one electrical conductor comprises multiple electrical conductors disposed in said channels.

19. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

g) parallel access interconnection means disposed in at least one of said channels between said rows or said columns of said two-dimensional array of pixels and being selectively electrically connected to at least one of said row interconnection means or said column interconnection means, said parallel access interconnection means providing an electrical connection among said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means and said electrical connection means.

20. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 19, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional array is a single edge substantially parallel to said column interconnection means.

21. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 19, wherein said at least one edge of said two-dimensional array is a single edge substantially parallel to said row interconnection means.

22. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 19, wherein said electrical connection means comprises external electrical connection means for connecting said display to externally-generated signals.

23. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 22, wherein said external electrical connection means further comprises at least one driver circuit having a predetermined physical order of drive signal output lines, and wherein said predetermined physical order corresponds to a predetermined order in said electrical connection means.

24. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 23, wherein said predetermined physical order of drive signal output lines corresponds one-to-one with said predetermined order in said electrical connection means whereby fan-out line connections do not cross one another.

25. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 23, wherein said predetermined physical order of drive signal output lines corresponds one-to-one with said predetermined order in said electrical connection means whereby at least two of said fan-out line connections cross one another.

26. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 23, wherein said at least one driver circuit comprises at least one driver circuit generating both row and column signals.

27. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 22, wherein said external electrical connection means comprises at least one from the group:

TABs anisotropic adhesive film connections, solder ball connections, wirebond connections

28. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 19, wherein said electrical connection means connected to parallel access interconnection means comprises fan-out means comprising fan-out lines to facilitate reordering said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means relative to said external electrical connection means.

29. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 15, wherein at least one of said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means comprises a segmented electrical conductor.

15. A monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display having improved mechanical stiffness and controlled contrast, luminance and chromaticity across a wide range of view angles, comprising:

a) a liquid crystal display element comprising pixels disposed in a two-dimensional array organized into rows and columns, each of said pixels comprising at least one sub-pixel having both an active area and an inactive area;

b) support means comprising at least one from the group of cover plate and back plate affixed to and extending beyond said two-dimensional array of pixels;

c) row interconnection means disposed in channels disposed in said inactive areas proximate said rows of pixels and electrically connected thereto;

d) column interconnection means disposed in channels disposed in said inactive areas proximate said columns of pixels and electrically connected thereto;

e) insulating means for electrically isolating said row interconnection means from said column interconnection means; and

f) electrical connection means operatively connected to said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means and being disposed along at least one edge of said two-dimensional array;

whereby each of said sub-pixels is electrically connected to at least one of said row interconnection means and said column interconnection means.

30. A monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display having improved mechanical stiffness and controlled contrast, luminance and chromaticity across a wide range of view angles, comprising:

a) a liquid crystal display element comprising pixels having predetermined pixel geometries, disposed in a predetermined pattern in a two-dimensional array organized into rows and columns, each of said pixels comprising at least one sub-pixel having both an active area and an inactive area;

b) support means comprising at least one from the group of cover plate and back plate affixed to and extending beyond said two-dimensional array of pixels;

c) at least one row electrical conductor disposed in a channel disposed in said inactive area proximate said rows of pixels and electrically connected thereto for supplying at least one of a pixel row control voltage and a pixel row data voltage to said rows of pixels;

d) at least one column electrical conductor disposed in a channel disposed in said inactive areas proximate said columns of pixels and electrically connected thereto for supplying at least one of a pixel column control voltage and a pixel column data voltage to said columns of pixels.

e) insulating means for electrically isolating said at least one row conductor from said at least one column conductor; and

f) electrical connection means operatively connected to said at least one row conductor and said at least one column conductor and disposed along at least one edge of said two-dimensional array of pixels;

each of said pixels in combination with said at least one row conductor and said at least one column conductor

31. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, wherein variations in said unique, local pixel environments result in variations in the waveform of at least one of:

said pixel row control voltage, said pixel row data voltage, said pixel column control voltage, and said pixel column data voltage.

32. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 31, wherein said variations result at least in part from variations in capacitances between said sub-pixels and said at least one row conductor and said at least one column conductor.

33. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 32, wherein said variations are minimized by altering the arrangement of said sub-pixels within at least one of said pixels.

34. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 33, wherein said variations are selectively controlled by altering the arrangement of said sub-pixels to minimize a visually perceptible pattern arising from an artifact of the display.

35. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 32, wherein said variations of capacitances are minimized by controlling a layout parameter of at least one of:

said sub-pixels, said at least one row conductor, and said at least one column conductor.

36. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, wherein said at least one layout parameter comprises at least one of:

width of a line segment, layout of elements contributing to coupling capacitance, selection of a tap point, and implementation of line segmentation.

37. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, wherein said liquid crystal display element comprises at least one thin film transistor (TFT) element.

38. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 37, wherein said at least one TFT element comprises plural TFT elements associated with at least one of said sub-pixel elements such that the size of said at least one TFT element may be minimized and whereby double on and triple on TFT drive strategies may be implemented.

39. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, further comprising at least one conductive element proximate at least one of said sub-pixels of said array of pixels to offset said differences in capacitance, wherein said variations between said unique pixel local environments are minimized.

40. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 39, wherein said conductive element comprises at least one from the group:

electrically floating element, element connected to at least one other element within one of said pixels, element connected to a shield, element connected to a local ground, element connected to a global ground, and element connected to a common element.

41. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 32, wherein said variations in capacitance result in variations in voltage waveforms at said sub-pixels.

42. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 41, wherein said variation in said waveforms is caused at least in part by a kick back voltage.

43. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 42, further comprising at least one discrete component operatively connected to at least one of said sub-pixels, said row conductor and said column conductor, whereby said kick back voltage is made substantially constant across substantially all of said pixels in said array.

44. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 43, further comprising at least one from the group:

discrete capacitor, distributed capacitance, wherein said row-to-column coupling capacitance is selectively altered.

45. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 44, wherein said capacitor or capacitance maintains uniformity of total column line capacitance for each pixel of said array

46. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 32, wherein a ratio of a local pixel cell capacitance to row-to-column coupling capacitance is made substantially constant for each of said pixels.

47. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 46, wherein said capacitor or capacitance maintains uniformity of total row line capacitance for each pixel of said array.

48. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, wherein said electrical connection means comprises a fan-out region and wherein said fan-out region further comprises capacitance control means wherein at least one of said row electrical and said column electrical conductor capacitances maintain uniformity of total row line capacitance for each pixel of said array.

49. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, further comprising capacitance control means for controlling at least one of said row electrical and said column electrical conductor capacitances such that the total row line capacitance of each pixel of said array is substantially uniform.

50. The monolithic, or monolithic-like, AMLCD display as recited in claim 30, wherein said electrical connection means disposed along at least one edge allows for narrow perimeters on at least one side of a frame enclosing said monolithic, or monolithic-like AMLCD display.