Driver, display and recorder

• US 20050122150A1
• Filed: 11/23/2004
• Published: 06/09/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Yamashita, Takanori, Kawano, Fujio, Kawasaki, Somei, Iseki, Masami
• Granted Patent: US 7,817,114 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 327/215
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0842 forming a memory circuit, e.g. a dynamic memory with one capacitor
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0861 with additional control of the display period without amending the charge stored in a pixel memory, e.g. by means of additional select electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0289 Details of voltage level shifters arranged for use in a driving circuit
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/026 Arrangements or methods related to booting a display
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/045 Protection against panel overheating
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3241 the current through the light-emitting element being set using a data current provided by the data driver, e.g. by using a two-transistor current mirror
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/325 the data current flowing through the driving transistor during a setting phase, e.g. by using a switch for connecting the driving transistor to the data driver
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3266 Details of drivers for scan electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3283 in which the data driver supplies a variable data current for setting the current through, or the voltage across, the light-emitting elements

Abstract

The present application discloses a driver having a configuration comprising: a drive transistor for supplying a current of the quantity corresponding to a gate potential, into the element as a driving current; a first switch installed in the path of the driving current passing between the element and the drive transistor, for controlling the flow of the driving current; a second switch for switching between the first state of setting the gate potential of the drive transistor and the second state of keeping the set gate potential; a circuit for supplying a signal for controlling the flow of the driving current in a restricted state to the first switch, for a predetermined period in a period after the starting the supply of the potential for driving the drive transistor from a power source and until start of driving the element in a normal operation; a circuit for supplying a signal for setting the second switch at the first state, to the second switch: and a circuit for interrupting a signal for setting the gate potential while the second switch is in the first state in the predetermined period.

Claims

1. A driver for driving an element comprising:

a drive transistor for supplying a current of the quantity corresponding to a gate potential, into the element as a driving current;

a first switch installed in the path of the driving current passing between the element and the drive transistor, for controlling the flow of the driving current;

a second switch for switching the state between the first state of setting the gate potential of the drive transistor and the second state of keeping the set gate potential;

a circuit for supplying a signal for controlling the flow of the driving current in a restricted state to the first switch, for a predetermined period in a period after starting the supply of the potential for driving the drive transistor from a power source and until a start of driving the element in a normal operation;

a circuit for supplying a signal for setting the second switch at the first state, to the second switch; and

a circuit for interrupting a signal for setting the gate potential while the second switch is in the first state in the predetermined period.

2. The driver according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of drive circuits arranged in matrix form, wherein each drive circuit has the drive transistor and the first switch.

3. The driver according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of drive circuits arranged in a matrix form, wherein each drive circuit has the drive transistor and the second switch.

4. The driver according to claim 1, wherein the signal for setting the gate potential is a current signal having a current value corresponding to a requested driving state of the element.

5. The driver according to claim 1, wherein the drive transistor, the first switch, the second switch, the circuit for supplying the signal to the first switch, and the circuit for supplying the signal to the second switch are arranged on a common insulative substrate.

13. A display comprising:

a driver according to claim 1;

and

the element driven by the drive circuit,

wherein the element conducts a displaying operation when the driving current is supplied to it.

18. A recorder comprising:

a recording device for recording image information in a recording medium; and

the display according to claim 13, for displaying pictorial images based on the image information recorded in the recording medium.

6. A driver for driving an element comprising:

a drive transistor for supplying a current of the quantity corresponding to a gate potential, into the element as a driving current;

a first switch installed in the path of the driving current passing between the element and the rive transistor, for controlling the flow of the driving current;

a second switch for switching between the first state of setting the gate potential of the drive transistor and the second state of keeping the set gate potential;

a circuit for supplying a signal for controlling the flow of the driving current in a restricted state to the first switch, for a predetermined period in a period after starting the supply of the potential for driving the drive transistor from a power source and until a start of driving the element in a normal operation;

a circuit for supplying a signal for setting the second switch at the first state, to the second switch; and

a circuit for supplying a signal for setting the gate potential to a potential for passing the driving current so as to control the element to a low level of a driving state while the second switch is in the first state for the predetermined period, as the signal for setting the gate potential.

14. A display comprising:

a driver according to claim 6;

and

the element driven by the drive circuit,

wherein the element conducts a displaying action when the driving current is supplied to it.

19. A recorder comprising:

a recording device for recording image information in a recording medium; and

the display according to claim 14, for displaying pictorial images based on the image information recorded in the recording medium.

7. A driver for driving an element comprising:

a plurality of drive circuits arranged in a matrix form for driving each of the plurality of elements, each of which has a driving transistor for supplying the driving current to the element, and a switch installed in the current path of the driving current between the element and the driving transistor, for controlling the flow of the driving current;

a plurality of hard-wires, wherein each of the hard-wires connects to a part of the plurality of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form; and

a circuit for simultaneously supplying a signal for controlling the switch to the state of restricting the flow of the driving current, to each of the switches in the plurality of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form, through the plurality of the hard-wires.

8. The driver for driving the element according to claim 7, further comprising a plurality of data lines, wherein each of the data lines connects to a part of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form;

and

the plurality of the hard-wires also serve as the hard-wires for supplying the control signal for keeping the flow of the driving current in the current path between the drive transistor and the element in the restricted state, to the selected drive circuit, in the period while the gate potential of the drive transistor is set according to a modulating signal supplied from the data line, in the selected drive circuit.

15. A display comprising:

a driver according to claim 7;

and

the element driven by the drive circuit,

wherein the element conducts a displaying action when the driving current is supplied to it.

20. A recorder comprising:

a recording device for recording image information in a recording medium; and

the display according to claim 15, for displaying pictorial images based on the image information recorded in the recording medium.

9. A driver for driving an element comprising:

a plurality of drive circuits arranged in a matrix form for driving each of a plurality of elements, each of which has a driving transistor for supplying a driving current to the element, and a switch for switching between a first state of setting a gate potential of the drive transistor to the potential in which the drive transistor can pass a predetermined driving current and a second state of keeping the set gate potential;

a plurality of hard-wires, wherein each of the hard-wires connects to a part of the plurality of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form; and

a circuit for simultaneously supplying a signal for controlling the switch to the first state, to each of the switches of the plurality of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form, through the plurality of the hard-wires.

10. The driver for driving the element according to claim 9, further comprising

a plurality of data lines, wherein each of the data lines connects to a part of the plurality of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form;

and

a circuit for interrupting a supply path of supplying a modulating signal to the plurality of the drive circuits from each of the plurality of the data lines, when simultaneously supplying the signals to each of the switches in the plurality of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form, through the plurality of the hard-wires.

11. The driver for driving the element according to claim 9, further comprising a plurality of data lines, wherein each of the data lines connects to a part of the drive circuits arranged in the matrix form;

and

the plurality of the hard-wires also serve as scanning lines for selecting the drive circuits for setting the gate potential of the drive transistor according to a modulating signal supplied from the data lines during a scanning drive.

16. A display comprising:

a driver according to claim 9;

and

the element driven by the drive circuit,

wherein the element conducts a displaying action when the driving current is supplied to it.

17. A display comprising:

a driver according to claim 9;

and

the element driven by the drive circuit.

21. A recorder comprising:

a recording device for recording image information in a recording medium; and

the display according to claim 16, for displaying pictorial images based on the image information recorded in the recording medium.

22. A recorder comprising:

a recording device for recording image information in a recording medium; and

the display according to claim 17, for displaying pictorial images based on the image information recorded in the recording medium.

12. A driver for driving a display element comprising:

a plurality of drive circuits arranged in a matrix form for driving each of a plurality of display elements, each of which has a driving transistor for passing a driving current to the display element, and a first switch installed in the current path of the driving current between the display element and the driving transistor, for controlling the flow of the driving current; and

a circuit for supplying a signal for controlling the flow of the driving current in a restricted state to the first switch, for a predetermined period in a period after starting supply of the potential for driving the drive transistor and until start of driving the plurality of the display elements in a normal operation.