Display Device and Mobile Terminal Using the Same

• US 20170004798A1
• Filed: 12/28/2015
• Published: 01/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Kwanwoong, Kwon, Sanghoon, Kim, Jongyoon
• Granted Patent: US 10,643,565 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0408 Integration of the drivers onto the display substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0478 related to liquid crystal pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0297 Special arrangements with multiplexing or demultiplexing of display data in the drivers for data electrodes, in a pre-processing circuitry delivering display data to said drivers or in the matrix panel, e.g. multiplexing plural data signals to one D/A converter or demultiplexing the D/A converter output to multiple columns
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/04 Partial updating of the display screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0247 Flicker reduction other than flicker reduction circuits used for single beam cathode-ray tubes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0686 with two or more screen areas displaying information with different brightness or colours
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0435 Change or adaptation of the frame rate of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/04 Display device controller operating with a plurality of display units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/16 Calculation or use of calculated indices related to luminance levels in display data
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3406 Control of illumination source illumination devices structurally associated with liquid crystal cells G02F1/1336
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3666 with the matrix divided into sections
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3677 suitable for active matrices only
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3688 suitable for active matrices only
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3696 Generation of voltages supplied to electrode drivers

Abstract

A display device and a mobile terminal include a main display unit and an auxiliary display unit that are driven in a full display mode or an always-on mode. The display device includes a data driver configured to supply a data voltage to the data lines, a first gate driver connected to gate lines of the main display unit, and a second gate driver connected to gate lines of the auxiliary display unit. In the full display mode, at least a portion of the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit display image data. In the always-on mode, at least a portion of the auxiliary display unit displays image data.

Claims

1. A display device comprising:

a display panel in which pixel arrays include pixels that are disposed in a matrix form according to an intersection structure of data lines and gate lines, the pixel arrays divided into a main display unit and an auxiliary display unit both on a common substrate;

a data driver configured to supply a data voltage to the data lines;

a first gate driver connected to gate lines of the main display unit; and

a second gate driver connected to gate lines of the auxiliary display unit,

wherein, in a full display mode, the first gate driver supplies gate pulses to the gate lines of the main display unit and the second gate driver supplies gate pulses to the gate lines of the auxiliary display unit, and

in an always-on mode, the first gate driver fixes a voltage of the gate lines of the main display unit to a preset low voltage less than a ground voltage, and the second gate driver supplies the gate pulses to the gate lines of the auxiliary display unit.

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein one or more of the data lines are connected to pixels of both the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit.

3. The display device of claim 1, wherein the gate pulses alternate between a gate high voltage and a gate low voltage less than the ground voltage, and wherein the preset low voltage equals the gate low voltage.

4. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a multiplexer comprising switching elements configured to distribute the data voltage to the data lines, the switching elements switched on and off in response to a selection signal,

wherein, in the always-on mode, the selection signal is fixed to a direct current (DC) voltage during a driving period of the main display unit and is generated as an alternating current (AC) voltage during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit, and

the switching elements of the multiplexer are maintained in an ON state during the driving period of the main display unit in response to the DC voltage of the selection signal.

5. The display device of claim 4, further comprising:

an image analyzing unit configured to analyze data of an input image to determine a non-display area without the input image and a display area in which the input image is displayed in the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit,

wherein, in the full display mode, the selection signal is fixed to the DC voltage during a driving period of the non-display area and fixed to the AC voltage during a driving period of the display area, and

the switching elements of the multiplexer are maintained in the ON state during the driving period of the non-display area in response to the DC voltage of the selection signal.

6. The display device of claim 1, wherein, in the always-on mode, the data driver fixes the data voltage to the ground voltage during a driving period of the main display unit and generates the data voltage as an AC voltage during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit.

7. The display device of claim 6, further comprising:

an image analyzing unit configured to analyze data of an input image to determine a non-display area without the input image and a display area in which the input image is displayed in the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit,

wherein, in the full display mode, the data driver fixes the data voltage to the ground voltage during a driving period of the non-display area and generates the data voltage as the AC voltage during a driving period of the display area.

8. The display device of claim 1, wherein, in the always-on mode, the second gate driver generates the gate pulses only during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit, and the first gate driver does not generate any gate pulses during the driving period of the main display unit.

9. The display device of claim 8, further comprising:

an image analyzing unit configured to analyze data of an input image to determine a non-display area without the input image and a display area in which the input image is displayed in the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit,

wherein, in the full display mode, the first gate driver and second gate driver generate the gate pulses only during a driving period of the display area.

10. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a multiplexer comprising switching elements configured to distribute the data voltage to the data lines, the switching elements switched on and off in response to a selection signal,

wherein, in the always-on mode, the selection signal is fixed to a DC voltage during a driving period of the main display unit and is generated as an AC voltage during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit,

the switching elements of the multiplexer are maintained in an ON state during the driving period of the main display unit in response to the DC voltage of the selection signal.

the data driver fixes the data voltage to the ground voltage during the driving period of the main display unit and generates the data voltage as an AC voltage during the driving period of the auxiliary display unit in the always-on mode, and

the second gate driver generates the gate pulses only during the driving period of the auxiliary display unit in the always-on mode, and the first gate driver does not generate any gate pulses during the driving period of the auxiliary display unit.

11. The display device of claim 10, further comprising:

an image analyzing unit configured to analyze data of an input image to determine a non-display area without the input image and a display area in which the input image is displayed in the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit,

wherein, in the full display mode, the selection signal is fixed to the DC voltage during a driving period of the non-display area and generated as an AC voltage during a driving period of the display area,

the switching elements of the multiplexer are maintained in the ON state during the driving period of the non-display area in response to the DC voltage of the selection signal,

the data driver fixes the data voltage to the ground voltage during the driving period of the non-display area and generated as an AC voltage during the driving period of the display area in the full display mode, and

the first gate driver and the second gate driver generate the gate pulses only during the driving period of the display area in the full display mode.

12. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory configured to store data to be displayed on the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit; and

a memory controller configured to drive only a partial area of the memory in the always-on mode, the partial area of the memory storing data to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit.

13. The display device of claim 12, further comprising:

an image analyzing unit configured to analyze data of an input image to determine a non-display area without the input image and a display area in which the input image is displayed in the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit,

wherein the memory controller is configured to drive only a partial region of the memory in the full display mode, the partial region of the memory storing data to be displayed in the display area.

14. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a reference frequency generating unit configured to generate a reference frequency;

a DC-DC converter configured to generate a driving voltage of the display panel including a data voltage and a voltage of a gate pulse on the basis of the reference frequency; and

a reference frequency control unit configured to reduce the reference frequency in response to transitioning to the always-on mode from the full display mode, thereby lowering an output voltage of the DC-DC converter.

15. The display device of claim 14, further comprising:

an image analyzing unit configured to analyze data of an input image to determine a non-display area without the input image and a display area in which the input image is displayed in the main display unit and the auxiliary display unit,

wherein the reference frequency control unit is configured to reduce the reference frequency, thereby reducing an output voltage of the DC-DC converter when the non-display area is greater than a preset area in the full display mode.

16. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) capable of communicating to receive watch data for display; and

an internal data generating unit configured to generate the watch data without communication through the MIPI,

wherein the watch data generated by the internal data generating unit is displayed on the auxiliary display unit.

17. The display device of claim 1,

wherein the display panel has a concavely indented corner portion having an internal angle greater than 180°

and less than or equal to 300°

, and

the auxiliary display unit is disposed between two adjacent corner portions including the concavely indented corner portion.

18. The display device of claim 17, further comprising a backlight unit configured to irradiate light to the display panel, wherein the backlight unit comprises:

a main light source configured to irradiate light to the main display unit; and

an auxiliary light source disposed in a space secured by the concavely indented corner portion to irradiate light to the auxiliary display unit.

19. A mobile terminal comprising:

a display module including;

a display panel in which a pixel arrays include pixels disposed in a matrix form according to an intersection structure of data lines and gate lines, the pixel arrays divided into a main display unit and an auxiliary display unit both on a common substrate,

a data driver configured to convert data of an input image into a data voltage and supply the converted data voltage to the data lines,

a first gate driver connected to gate lines of the main display unit, and

a second gate driver connected to gate lines of the auxiliary display unit; and

a host system configured to transmit the data of the input image to the display module,

wherein, in a full display mode, the first gate driver supplies gate pulses to the gate lines of the main display unit and the second gate driver supplies gate pulses to the gate lines of the auxiliary display unit, and

in an always-on mode, the first gate driver fixes a voltage of the gate lines of the main display unit to a preset low voltage less than a ground voltage, and the second gate driver supplies the gate pulse to the gate lines of the auxiliary display unit.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 19,

wherein the display panel has a concavely indented corner portion having an internal angle greater than 180°

and less than or equal to 300°

,

wherein the display module further comprises;

a main light source configured to irradiate light to the main display unit, and

an auxiliary light source disposed in a space secured by the concavely indented corner portion to irradiate light to the auxiliary display unit,

wherein the auxiliary display unit is disposed between two adjacent corner portions including the concavely indented corner portion, and

wherein the auxiliary light source and one or more of a camera and a sensor are disposed in a space secured by the concavely indented corner portion.

21. A display driver for a display panel in which pixel arrays include pixels disposed in a matrix form according to an intersection structure of data lines and gate lines, the pixel arrays divided into a main display unit and an auxiliary display unit both on a common substrate, the display driver comprising:

a data driver configured to supply a data voltage to the data lines;

a first gate driver connected to gate lines of the main display unit; and

a second gate driver connected to gate lines of the auxiliary display unit,

wherein, in a full display mode, the first gate driver supplies gate pulses to the gate lines of the main display unit and the second gate driver supplies gate pulses to the gate lines of the auxiliary display unit, and

in an always-on mode, the first gate driver fixes a voltage of the gate lines of the main display unit to a preset low voltage less than a ground voltage, and the second gate driver supplies the gate pulses to the gate lines of the auxiliary display unit.

22. The display driver of claim 21, further comprising:

a multiplexer comprising switching elements configured to distribute the data voltage to the data lines, the switching elements switched on and off in response to a selection signal,

wherein, in the always-on mode, the selection signal is fixed to a direct current (DC) voltage during a driving period of the main display unit and is generated as an alternating current (AC) voltage during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit, and

the switching elements of the multiplexer are maintained in an ON state during the driving period of the main display unit in response to the DC voltage of the selection signal.

23. The display driver of claim 21, wherein, in the always-on mode, the data driver fixes the data voltage to the ground voltage during a driving period of the main display unit and generates the data voltage as an AC voltage during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit.

24. The display driver of claim 21, wherein, in the always-on mode, the second gate driver generates the gate pulses only during a driving period of the auxiliary display unit, and the first gate driver does not generate any gate pulses during the driving period of the auxiliary display unit.