FLAT PANEL DISPLAY HAVING DYNAMIC ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM AND IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD THEREOF

• US 20110090260A1
• Filed: 09/23/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AU Optronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: AU Optronics Corporation
• Inventors: Chu Ke, Hui, Cheng, Sheng-Wen
• Granted Patent: US 9,837,047 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/690
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0452 Details of colour pixel setup, e.g. pixel composed of a red, a blue and two green components
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/064 by time modulation of the brightness of the illumination source
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0646 Modulation of illumination source brightness and image signal correlated to each other
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/06 using colour palettes, e.g. look-up tables

Abstract

A flat panel display includes a four-color conversion unit, a backlight control unit, a backlight module, and a pixel array. The four-color conversion unit provides a first set of four color image signals corresponding to three color image input signals based on a preliminary conversion lookup table and provides corresponding conversion scaling factors. The backlight control unit generates a backlight adjusting factor based on the conversion scaling factors. The backlight module provides a backlight output having an intensity adjusted according to the backlight adjusting factor. The four-color conversion unit further provides a second set of four color image signals corresponding to the three color image input signals based on the backlight adjusting factor. The pixel array displays an image according to the second set of four color image signals and the backlight output.

Claims

1. A flat panel display comprising:

a four-color conversion unit comprising a preliminary conversion lookup table, the four-color conversion unit being utilized for providing a first set of four color image signals corresponding to three color image input signals based on the preliminary conversion lookup table and providing a plurality of corresponding conversion scaling factors;

a dynamic backlight control unit, electrically connected to the four-color conversion unit, for generating a backlight adjusting signal according to the conversion scaling factors, wherein the four-color conversion unit is further utilized for converting the three color image input signals into a second set of four color image signals according to the backlight adjusting signal;

a backlight module, electrically connected to the dynamic backlight control unit, for providing a backlight output having an intensity adjusted according to the backlight adjusting signal;

a source driver, electrically connected to the four-color conversion unit, for providing a plurality of data signals according to the second set of four color image signals; and

a pixel array unit, electrically connected to the source driver, for displaying an image according to the data signals and the backlight output.

2. The flat panel display of claim 1, further comprising:

a backlight driving unit, electrically connected between the dynamic backlight control unit and the backlight module, for generating a pulse width modulation signal according to the backlight adjusting signal, the pulse width modulation signal being employed to drive the backlight module.

3. The flat panel display of claim 2, wherein the backlight driving unit comprises:

a duty cycle adjusting unit for adjusting a duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal according to the backlight adjusting signal.

4. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein the dynamic backlight control unit comprises:

a scaling factor analysis unit for generating an analysis value through analyzing the conversion scaling factors; and

a backlight adjusting lookup table for providing the backlight adjusting signal corresponding to the analysis value.

5. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein the dynamic backlight control unit is further utilized for providing a conversion correction signal according to the backlight adjusting signal, and wherein the four-color conversion unit further comprises:

a plurality of input conversion lookup tables, the four-color conversion unit selecting a corresponding input conversion lookup table out of the input conversion lookup tables according to the conversion correction signal and providing the second set of four color image signals corresponding to the three color image input signals based on the corresponding input conversion lookup table.

6. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein the dynamic backlight control unit is further utilized for providing a conversion correction signal according to the backlight adjusting signal, and wherein the four-color conversion unit is further employed to generate a corrected conversion lookup table according to the preliminary conversion lookup table and the conversion correction signal, and the four-color conversion unit provides the second set of four color image signals corresponding to the three color image input signals based on the corrected conversion lookup table.

7. The flat panel display of claim 1, further comprising:

a gate driver, electrically connected to the pixel array unit, for providing a plurality of gate signals to control writing operations of the data signals.

8. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein the pixel array unit displays the image according to the data signals in coordination with the backlight output.

9. A flat panel display comprising:

a four-color conversion unit comprising a preliminary conversion lookup table, the four-color conversion unit being utilized for providing a first set of four color image signals corresponding to three color image input signals based on the preliminary conversion lookup table and providing a plurality of corresponding conversion scaling factors;

a dynamic backlight control unit, electrically connected to the four-color conversion unit, for generating a backlight adjusting signal according to the conversion scaling factors;

a compensation unit, electrically connected to the four-color conversion unit and the dynamic backlight control unit, for compensating the first set of four color image signals to become a second set of four color image signals according to the backlight adjusting signal;

a backlight module, electrically connected to the dynamic backlight control unit, for providing a backlight output having an intensity adjusted according to the backlight adjusting signal;

a source driver, electrically connected to the compensation unit, for providing a plurality of data signals according to the second set of four color image signals; and

a pixel array unit, electrically connected to the source driver, for displaying an image according to the data signals and the backlight output.

10. The flat panel display of claim 9, wherein the dynamic backlight control unit is further utilized for providing a conversion correction signal according to the backlight adjusting signal, and wherein the compensation unit comprises:

a plurality of compensation lookup tables, the compensation unit selecting a corresponding compensation lookup table out of the compensation lookup tables according to the conversion correction signal and compensating the first set of four color image signals to become the second set of four color image signals based on the corresponding compensation lookup table.

11. The flat panel display of claim 9, further comprising:

a backlight driving unit, electrically connected between the dynamic backlight control unit and the backlight module, for generating a pulse width modulation signal according to the backlight adjusting signal, the pulse width modulation signal being employed to drive the backlight module.

12. The flat panel display of claim 11, wherein the backlight driving unit comprises:

a duty cycle adjusting unit for adjusting a duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal according to the backlight adjusting signal.

13. The flat panel display of claim 9, wherein the dynamic backlight control unit comprises:

a scaling factor analysis unit for generating an analysis value through analyzing the conversion scaling factors; and

a backlight adjusting lookup table for providing the backlight adjusting signal corresponding to the analysis value.

14. The flat panel display of claim 9, wherein the pixel array unit displays the image according to the data signals in coordination with the backlight output.

15. An image display method for use in a flat panel display, the image display method comprising:

receiving a set of three color image input signals;

providing a first set of four color image signals corresponding to the set of three color image input signals based on a preliminary conversion lookup table and providing a plurality of corresponding conversion scaling factors;

providing a backlight adjusting signal according to the conversion scaling factors;

adjusting an intensity of a backlight output according to the backlight adjusting signal;

generating a second set of four color image signals according to the backlight adjusting signal; and

displaying an image according to the second set of four color image signals in coordination with the backlight output.

16. The image display method of claim 15, wherein the step of generating the second set of four color image signals according to the backlight adjusting signal comprises:

generating a conversion correction signal according to the backlight adjusting signal;

generating a corrected conversion lookup table according to the conversion correction signal and the preliminary conversion lookup table; and

providing the second set of four color image signals corresponding to the set of three color image input signals based on the corrected conversion lookup table.

17. The image display method of claim 15, wherein the step of generating the second set of four color image signals according to the backlight adjusting signal comprises:

generating a conversion correction signal according to the backlight adjusting signal;

selecting a corresponding input conversion lookup table out of plural input conversion lookup tables according to the conversion correction signal; and

providing the second set of four color image signals corresponding to the set of three color image input signals based on the corresponding input conversion lookup table.

18. The image display method of claim 15, wherein the step of generating the second set of four color image signals according to the backlight adjusting signal comprises:

generating a conversion correction signal according to the backlight adjusting signal;

selecting a corresponding compensation lookup table out of plural compensation lookup tables according to the conversion correction signal; and

compensating the first set of four color image signals to become the second set of four color image signals based on the corresponding compensation lookup table.

19. The image display method of claim 15, wherein the step of adjusting the intensity of the backlight output according to the backlight adjusting signal comprises:

adjusting a duty cycle of a pulse width modulation signal according to the backlight adjusting signal; and

providing the backlight output according to the pulse width modulation signal.

20. The image display method of claim 15, wherein the step of providing the backlight adjusting signal according to the conversion scaling factors comprises:

analyzing the conversion scaling factors for generating an analysis value; and

providing the backlight adjusting signal according to the analysis value.

21. The image display method of claim 20, wherein the analysis value is a quantity of the conversion scaling factors less than a threshold.