DISPLAY DEVICE AND METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME

• US 20140354710A1
• Filed: 09/13/2013
• Published: 12/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: JUN, Bong-Ju, CHOE, Weon-Jun
• Granted Patent: US 9,153,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/691
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0233 Improving the luminance or brightness uniformity across the screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0271 Adjustment of the gradation levels within the range of the gradation scale, e.g. by redistribution or clipping
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/046 Dealing with screen burn-in prevention or compensation of the effects thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/06 Adjustment of display parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/16 Calculation or use of calculated indices related to luminance levels in display data
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/2096 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a flat panel suitable for both CRT and flat panel G09G5/006; specific for a CRT G09G1/167
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3208 organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3275 Details of drivers for data electrodes

Abstract

A display unit including pixels which display an image according to an image data signal transferred corresponding to each of the pixels, and a controller to receive and convert an external input video signal to transfer a luminance conversion data signal corresponding to the respective pixels. The controller includes: an input image data to receive the external input video signal; a scale factor calculation unit to determine at least one control factor for luminance conversion with respect to an input video signal corresponding to the pixels received from the input image data receiving unit; and a luminance data conversion unit to convert luminance data with respect to the respective pixels using the at least one determined control factor and to output the luminance conversion data signal.

Claims

1. A display device comprising:

a display unit including pixels to display an image according to an image data signal corresponding to each of the pixels; and

a controller configured to receive and convert an input video signal to transfer a luminance conversion data signal corresponding to the respective pixels,

wherein the controller comprises;

an input image data receiving unit configured to receive the input video signal from an external source;

a scale factor calculation unit configured to determine at least one control factor for luminance conversion of an input video signal corresponding to the pixels received from the input image data receiving unit; and

a luminance data conversion unit configured to convert luminance data of the input video signal into a luminance conversion data signal using the at least one determined control factor, and to output the luminance conversion data signal.

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one control factor comprises a parameter to determine a luminance variation ratio that varies within a non-recognition luminance range of a viewer during a time period when an image is displayed by the pixels.

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the at least one control factor comprises:

a repeating unit time period starting from a maximum value to sustain luminance information of the input video signal during a frame, and ending at a maximum luminance value of a next frame;

a sustain period during which the luminance information of the input video signal is converted and sustained in a step-wise manner;

a number of luminance variation steps in which the input video signal is changed within the non-recognition luminance range;

a lower luminance variation value, which is a minimum luminance value of the non-recognition luminance range used in varying the luminance information;

an upper luminance sustain period for sustaining the maximum luminance value;

a lower luminance sustain period for sustaining the minimum luminance value; and

a luminance variation ratio for framing the luminance corresponding to the luminance variation steps.

4. The display device of claim 3, wherein the lower luminance variation limit is determined differently according to grayscale intervals and according to an interval to identify entire grayscales of the input video signal.

5. The display device of claim 1, wherein the controller further comprises a high luminance region calculation unit configured to detect at least one first region emitting light with luminance of at least a reference value from the input video signal.

6. The display device of claim 5, wherein the high luminance region calculation unit is configured to separately transfer, to the scale factor calculation unit, luminance data of the input video signal corresponding to the detected first region and luminance data of the input video signal corresponding to a remaining background region excluding the detected first region.

7. The display device of claim 6, wherein the scale factor calculation unit is configured to determine a first control factor for luminance conversion of the first region, and to determine a second control factor for the background region.

8. The display device of claim 7, wherein the scale factor calculation unit is configured to determine a third control factor corresponding for luminance conversion of a second region close to the background region of the first region by linear interpolation between the first control factor and the second control factor.

9. The display device of claim 5, wherein the high luminance region calculation unit is configured to use:

a histogram of the input video signal;

a flag tagged to a video signal having luminance information of at least the reference value in luminance information of the input video signal;

or detect blocks when an average value of luminance information of corresponding pixels by blocks comprising pixels is at least the reference value, to detect the first region.

10. A method of driving a display device comprising a display unit including pixels which display an image, and a controller configured to receive and convert an external input video signal into a luminance conversion data signal that is output to the corresponding pixels to display an image,

the method comprising:

determining at least one control factor for luminance conversion of an input video signal;

converting luminance data of the input video signal into a luminance conversion data signal using the determined at least one control factor;

outputting the converted luminance conversion data signal to the respective pixels to display the image on the display unit.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising detecting at least one high luminance region that has a luminance of at least a reference value from the input video signal, before determining the control factor.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the detecting of the high luminance region comprises:

using a histogram of the input video signal;

using a flag tagged to a portion of the video signal having luminance information of at least the reference value;

or

detecting blocks of the video signal having an average value of at least the reference value.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining of the control factor comprises:

separating luminance data of the detected high luminance region from luminance data of a remaining background region excluding the detected high luminance region; and

determining a first control factor for the luminance conversion of the high luminance region and a second control factor for the background region.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the determining of the control factor comprises:

determining a third control factor corresponding to a boundary region close to the background region by linear interpolation between the first control factor and the second control factor.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one control factor comprises a parameter to determine a luminance variation ratio within a non-recognition luminance range of a viewer, during a time period that the image is displayed.