Image display apparatus and electronic apparatus

• US 20050001857A1
• Filed: 06/21/2002
• Published: 01/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamakura, Makoto, Nakamura, Mika, Koizumi, Takashi, Nakakita, Tomoki
• Application Number:
  US10/481,566
• Publication Number:
  US 20050001857A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/690
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0428 Gradation resolution change
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/12 Frame memory handling
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/18 Use of a frame buffer in a display terminal, inclusive of the display panel
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/39 Control of the bit-mapped memory

Abstract

An image display device of this invention includes image memory (3) which is constructed of SRAM and which does not need any refreshing operation, image memory (3) being composed of MSB division memory (13) for storing MSB data of each pixel data item and lower-order bit division memory (14) for storing lower-order bit data other than the MSB data. In a normal mode MSB division memory (13) and lower-order bit division memory (14) are driven to cause the MSB data and the lower-order bit data to be read/written, whereas in an electric power saving mode only MSB division memory (13) is driven with lower-order bit division memory (14) remaining undriven to cause the MSB data to be read/written.

Claims

1. An image display device comprising:

a display section having a plurality of pixels for image display; and

image memory which is operative to store pixel data associated with colors to be displayed by the pixels and which does not need any refreshing operation,

the image memory having first memory for storing a predetermined bit of the pixel data and second memory for storing bits of the pixel data other than the predetermined bit,

the image display device having an arrangement capable of switching between a first mode in which the predetermined bit is read out of the first memory and the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit thus read out and a second mode in which the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit are read out of the first memory and the second memory, respectively, and the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit thus read out.

2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the pixel data comprises data items indicative of respective gradations of the three primary colors and the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective predetermined bits of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

3. The image display device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective MSBs of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

4. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein in the first mode the predetermined bit is read out of the first memory and the display section is caused to display the image by a frame rate control exercised in accordance with the predetermined bit thus read out.

5. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein in the first mode the predetermined bit is read out of the first memory and the display section is caused to display the image by a duty control based on pulse width modulation in accordance with the predetermined bit thus read out.

20. An electronic apparatus comprising:

an image display device as recited in claim 1;

and an arrangement for outputting pixel data to the image display device.

6. An image display device comprising:

a display section having a plurality of pixels for image display; and

image memory which is operative to store pixel data associated with colors to be displayed by the pixels and which does not need any refreshing operation,

the image memory having first memory for storing a predetermined bit of the pixel data and second memory for storing bits of the pixel data other than the predetermined bit,

the image display device having an arrangement capable of switching between a first mode in which a predetermined bit of pixel data for a predetermined pixel is read out of the first memory and the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit thus read out and a second mode in which the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit of pixel data for each of the pixels are read out of the first memory and the second memory, respectively, and the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit thus read out.

7. The image display device according to claim 6, wherein the pixel data comprises data items indicative of respective gradations of the three primary colors and the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective predetermined bits of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

8. The image display device according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective MSBs of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

9. The image display device according to claim 6, which has an arrangement capable of changing the predetermined pixel in the first mode.

10. An image display device comprising:

a display section having a plurality of pixels for image display, and

image memory which is operative to store pixel data associated with colors to be displayed by the pixels and which does not need any refreshing operation,

the image memory having first memory for storing a predetermined bit of pixel data for each of the pixels and second memory for storing bits of the pixel data other than the predetermined bit,

the image display device having an arrangement capable of switching between a first mode in which;

a specific pixel is selected from the plurality of pixels depending on a residual capacity of an electric power supply battery;

a predetermined bit of pixel data for the specific pixel thus selected is read out of the first memory or the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit of the pixel data for the specific pixel thus selected are read out of the first memory and the second memory, respectively; and

the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit read out or in accordance with the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bits read out and a second mode in which;

a predetermined bit and bits other than the predetermined bit of pixel data for each of the pixels are read out of the first memory and the second memory, respectively; and

the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit thus read out.

11. The image display device according to claim 10, wherein the pixel data comprises data items indicative of respective gradations of the three primary colors and the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective predetermined bits of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

12. The image display device according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective MSBs of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

13. An image display device comprising:

a display section having a plurality of pixels for image display;

first memory and second memory which are operative to store pixel data associated with colors to be displayed by the pixels and which do not need any refreshing operation; and

a control section for switching between a first mode in which pixel data for each of the pixels is written to the first memory and a second mode in which a predetermined bit of the pixel data for each of the pixels is written to the second memory, wherein

in the first mode the pixel data for each of the pixels is read out of the first memory and the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the pixel data thus read out, whereas in the second mode the predetermined bit of the pixel data for each of the pixels is read out of the second memory and the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit of the pixel data thus read out.

14. The image display device according to claim 13, wherein the pixel data comprises data items indicative of respective gradations of the three primary colors and the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective predetermined bits of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

15. The image display device according to claim 14, wherein the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective MSBs of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

16. An image display device comprising:

a display section having a plurality of pixels for image display;

first memory which is operative to store a predetermined bit of pixel data associated with colors to be displayed by the pixels and which does not need any refreshing operation;

second memory which is operative to store bits of the pixel data other than the predetermined bit and which does not need any refreshing operation; and

third memory which is operative to store fixed data having a bit width equal to the bits of the pixel data other than the predetermined bit and which does not need any refreshing operation,

the image display device having an arrangement capable of switching between a first mode in which;

the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit are read out of the first memory and the second memory, respectively; and

the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit and the bits other than the predetermined bit thus read out and a second mode in which;

the predetermined bit and the fixed data are read out of the first memory and the third memory, respectively; and

the display section is caused to display an image in accordance with the predetermined bit and the fixed data thus read out.

17. The image display device according to claim 16, wherein the pixel data comprises data items indicative of respective gradations of the three primary colors and the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective predetermined bits of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

18. The image display device according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined bit of the pixel data comprises a set of respective MSBs of the data items indicative of the respective gradations of the three primary colors.

19. The image display device according to claim 16, which has an arrangement capable of changing the fixed data.