DISPLAY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PROCESSING DATA THEREOF

• US 20160189641A1
• Filed: 08/28/2015
• Published: 06/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: YOU, BongHyun, PARK, Sungjae, SON, Seokyun, AHN, Kuk-Hwan, KOH, Jai-Hyun, PARK, Dong-Won, LEE, Iksoo, HONG, Seokha
• Granted Patent: US 10,140,935 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0426 Layout of electrodes and connections
• 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 2320/0209 Crosstalk reduction, i.e. to reduce direct or indirect influences of signals directed to a certain pixel of the displayed image on other pixels of said image, inclusive of influences affecting pixels in different frames or fields or sub-images which constitute a same image, e.g. left and right images of a stereoscopic display
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0233 Improving the luminance or brightness uniformity across the screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3607 for displaying colours or for displaying grey scales with a specific pixel layout, e.g. using sub-pixels display of colours in flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; grey scales specific for television H04N3/127
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3614 Control of polarity reversal in general
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence

Abstract

A display apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel including gate lines, data lines, and pixels, a gate driver, a data driver, and a timing controller. The pixels include first and second pixels. The first and second pixels are arranged in pixel rows adjacent to each other, arranged in different pixel columns, connected to the same gate line, display the same color, and receive data voltages having different polarities from each other. The image data include first pixel data displayed in the first pixels and second pixel data displayed in the second pixels. When the first pixel data have a first grayscale value and the second pixel data have a second grayscale value different from the first grayscale value, the timing controller modulates the first and second pixel data to allow the first and second pixel data to have a grayscale value between the first and second grayscale values.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a liquid crystal panel comprising a plurality of gate lines extending in a first direction, a plurality of data lines extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, and a plurality of pixels connected to the gate lines and the data lines;

a gate driver applying gate signals to the gate lines;

a data driver applying data voltages to the data lines; and

a timing controller receiving a control signal and image data to apply a gate control signal to the gate driver and to apply a data control signal to the data driver, wherein the pixels comprise pixels arranged in a h-th (h is a natural number) row and pixels arranged in a (h+1)th row, which are adjacent to each other in the second direction such that a (k+1)th (k is a natural number) of the gate lines is disposed between the pixels arranged in the h-th row and the pixels arranged in the (h+1)th row, first pixels displaying a first color and connected to the (k+1)th gate line among the pixels arranged in the h-th row, and second pixels displaying the first color and connected to the (k+1)th gate line among the pixels arranged in the (h+1)th row, are spaced apart from each other in the first direction and receive data voltages having different polarities, the image data comprise first pixel data displayed in at least a portion of the first pixels and second pixel data displayed in at least a portion of the second pixels, and when the first pixel data have a first grayscale value and the second pixel data have a second grayscale value different from the first grayscale value, the timing controller modulates the first and second pixel data to allow the first and second pixel data to have a grayscale value between the first and second grayscale values.

2. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timing controller modulates the first pixel data to generate first modulated pixel data having a third grayscale value different from the first and second grayscale values and modulates the second pixel data to generate second modulated pixel data having the third grayscale value.

3. The display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the third grayscale value corresponds to a half of a sum of the first and second grayscale values.

4. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timing controller comprises:

a pattern analyzing part configured to analyze a pattern of the image data and determining whether a boundary of the pattern extending in the first direction is disposed between the first and second pixels;

a modulation determining part configured to determine whether a number of the first pixels displaying the pattern or a number of the second pixels displaying the pattern is equal to or greater than a reference number; and

a data modulating part configured to modulate the first and second pixel data.

5. The display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the data modulating part modulates the first and second pixel data when the boundary extending in the first direction of the pattern is disposed between the first and second pixels and the number of the first pixels displaying the pattern or the number of the second pixels displaying the pattern is equal to or greater than the reference number.

6. The display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the data modulating part does not modulate the first and second pixel data when the boundary extending in the first direction of the pattern is not disposed between the first and second pixels or when the number of the first pixels displaying the pattern or the number of the second pixels displaying the pattern is smaller than the reference number.

7. The display apparatus of claim 4, wherein, when the first grayscale value is not zero and the second grayscale value is zero, the modulation determining part checks whether the number of the first pixels displaying the pattern is equal to or greater than the reference number, and when the second grayscale value is not zero and the first grayscale value is zero, the modulation determining part checks whether the number of the second pixels displaying the pattern is equal to or greater than the reference number.

8. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first color is a red, green, blue, or white color.

9. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pixels arranged in the h-th row comprise a first pixel group and a second pixel group, which are sequentially arranged in the first direction, the pixels arranged in the (h+1)th row comprise a third pixel group and a fourth pixel group, which are sequentially arranged in the first direction, and each of the first, second, third, and fourth pixel groups comprises an even number of pixels.

10. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the first and fourth pixel groups comprises two pixels of a red pixel, a green pixel, a blue pixel, and a white pixel, and each of the second and third pixel groups comprises the other two pixels of the red pixel, the green pixel, the blue pixel, and the white pixel.

11. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second pixels are included in the pixels arranged in a (2u+1)th (u is a natural number) column when the first pixels are included in the pixels arranged in a (2u−

1)th column, and when the first pixels are included in the pixels arranged in a 2u-th column, the second pixels are included in the pixels arranged in a (2u+2)th column.

12. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein, among the pixels arranged in the (2u−

1)th (u is a natural number) column, two pixels adjacent to each other in the second direction such that a 2k-th gate line is disposed between the two pixels are commonly connected to the 2k-th gate line, and among the pixels arranged in the 2u-th column, two pixels adjacent to each other in the second direction such that a (2k−

1)th gate line is disposed between the two pixels are commonly connected to the (2k−

1)th gate line.

13. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein, among the pixels arranged in the (2u−

1)th (u is a natural number) column, two pixels adjacent to each other in the second direction such that a (2k−

1)th gate line is disposed between the two pixels are commonly connected to the (2k−

1)th gate line, and among the pixels arranged in the 2u-th column, two pixels adjacent to each other in the second direction such that a 2k-th gate line is disposed between the two pixels are commonly connected to the 2k-th gate line.

14. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pixels arranged in a u-th (u is a natural number) column, which is disposed between a j-th (j is a natural number) and a (j+1)th data line of the data lines, are alternately connected to the j-th data line and the (j+1)th data line in the unit of at least one pixel.

15. The display apparatus of claim 14, wherein the polarity of the data voltages applied to the data lines is inverted every at least one data line.

16. The display apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pixels arranged in the h-th row, which is disposed between a k-th gate line and a (k+1)th gate line of the gate lines, are alternately connected to the k-th gate line and the (k+1)th gate line in the unit of at least one pixel.

20. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timing controller comprises:

a pattern analyzing part configured to analyze a pattern of the image data and determining whether a boundary of the pattern extending in the first direction is disposed between the first and second pixels;

a modulation determining part configured to determine whether sum of gray voltage of the first pixels displaying the pattern or sum of gray voltage of the second pixels displaying the pattern is equal to or greater than a reference voltage; and

a data modulating part configured to modulate the first and second pixel data.

17. A method of processing data of a display apparatus, comprising:

providing a liquid crystal panel comprising a plurality of gate lines extending in a first direction, a plurality of data lines extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, and a plurality of pixels connected to the gate lines and the data lines, the pixels comprising pixels arranged in a h-th (h is a natural number) row and pixels arranged in a (h+1)th row, which are adjacent to each other in the second direction such that a (k+1)th (k is a natural number) of the gate lines is disposed between the pixels arranged in the h-th row and the pixels arranged in the (h+1)th row, first pixels displaying a first color and connected to the (k+1)th gate line among the pixels arranged in the h-th row, and second pixels displaying the first color and connected to the (k+1)th gate line among the pixels arranged in the (h+1)th row, being spaced apart from each other in the first direction and receiving data voltages having different polarities;

determining whether a boundary extending in the first direction of a pattern of the image data is disposed between the first and second pixels;

determining whether a number of the first pixels displaying the pattern or a number of the second pixels displaying the pattern is equal to or greater than a reference number when the boundary extending in the first direction of the pattern of the image data is disposed between the first and second pixels; and

modulating the image data comprising first pixel data corresponding to the first pixels and having a first grayscale value and second pixel data corresponding to the second pixels and having a second grayscale value when the number of the first pixels or the second pixels displaying the pattern of the image data is equal to or greater than the reference number to generate first modulated pixel data corresponding to the first pixels and having a third grayscale value between the first and second values and second modulated pixel data corresponding to the second pixels and having a fourth grayscale value between the first and second grayscale values.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the third grayscale value is substantially equal to the fourth grayscale value.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the image data are not modulated when the boundary extending in the first direction of the pattern of the image data is not disposed between the first and second pixels or the number of the first pixels displaying the pattern or the number of the second pixels displaying the pattern is smaller than the reference number.