Display-integrated type tablet device having and idle time in one display image frame to detect coordinates and having different electrode densities

• US 5,534,892 A
• Filed: 02/28/1994
• Issued: 07/09/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Corporation (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Tagawa, Takao
• Primary Examiner(s): Weldon, Ulysses
• Assistant Examiner(s): Luu, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US08/203,006
• Time in Patent Office: 862 Days
• Field of Search: 345/104, 345/173-180, 345/103, 178/18, 178/19
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0441 using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for receiving changes in electrical potential transmitted by the digitiser, e.g. tablet driving signals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

There is provided a display-integrated type tablet device which can achieve a high coordinate detection accuracy even when an electrode density of electrodes is greater than a electrode density of the other electrodes in a display panel. A segment electrode scanning clock signal for scanning segment electrodes having an electrode density three times as high as that of common electrodes has a frequency three times as high as a common electrode scanning clock signal. Shift data input to a segment electrode drive circuit has the same pulse width as that of the shift data input to a common electrode drive circuit. As a result, a scanning speed in an x-direction (shift speed of a segment electrode scanning signal) can be made approximately equal to a scanning speed in a y-direction (shift speed of a common electrode scanning signal). Furthermore, the width of the segment electrodes in an active state is made equal to the width of the common electrode. Thus a waveform of a voltage induced at a detection electrode of a detection pen in an x-coordinate detection period and a waveform of a voltage induced in a y-coordinate detection period are made approximately equal to each other to obtain a high coordinate detection accuracy.

Claims

1. A display-integrated type tablet device including a matrix-shaped display panel having first electrodes and second electrodes which are intersecting each other at right angles and a display material, a detection pen having at a tip end of the detection pen an electrode to be electrostatically coupled with the first electrodes and second electrodes of the display panel, a first drive circuit for driving the first electrodes, a second drive circuit for driving the second electrodes, a display control circuit for displaying an image on the display panel by controlling the first drive circuit and the second drive circuit, a detection control circuit for sequentially scanning the first electrodes of the display panel by controlling the first drive circuit and sequentially scanning the second electrodes of the display panel by controlling the second drive circuit, an x-coordinate detection circuit for detecting an x-coordinate at a position pointed by the tip end of the detection pen on the display panel according to a timing of generating an output signal from the detection pen and a timing of scanning the first electrodes, a y-coordinate detection circuit for detecting a y-coordinate at a position pointed by the tip end of the detection pen on the display panel according to a timing of generating an output signal from the detection pen and a timing of scanning the second electrodes, the display-integrated type tablet device comprising:

a clock generating section which generates a second clock signal having a frequency higher than a frequency of a first clock signal output from the display control circuit;

a display data storage section into which display data of one display image frame is written in synchronization with an input sync signal and from which the written display data of one display image frame is read in synchronization with an input sync signal; and

a line switching section which switches a line of a sync signal input to the display data storage section in synchronization with a display image frame set up by the display control circuit to input the first clock signal as the sync signal to the display data storage section in writing the display data into the display data storage section and input the second clock signal as the sync signal to the display data storage section in reading the display data from the display data storage section, wherein

a time required for reading the display data of one display image frame from the display data storage section is made shorter than a time required for writing the display data of one display image frame into the display data storage section to provide a display data reading time and an idle time in one display image frame to thereby operate the detection control circuit in the idle time.

2. A display-integrated type tablet device including a matrix-shaped display panel having first electrodes and second electrodes which are intersecting each other at right angles and a display material, a detection pen having at a tip end of the detection pen an electrode to be electrostatically coupled with the first electrodes and second electrodes of the display panel, a first drive circuit for driving the first electrodes, a second drive circuit for driving the second electrodes, a display control circuit for displaying an image on the display panel by controlling the first drive circuit and the second drive circuit, a detection control circuit for sequentially scanning the first electrodes of the display panel by controlling the first drive circuit and sequentially scanning the second electrodes of the display panel by controlling the second drive circuit, an x-coordinate detection circuit for detecting an x-coordinate at a position pointed by the tip end of the detection pen on the display panel according to a timing of generating an output signal from the detection pen and a timing of scanning the first electrodes, a y-coordinate detection circuit for detecting a y-coordinate at a position pointed by the tip end of the detection pen on the display panel according to a timing of generating an output signal from the detection pen and a timing of scanning the second electrodes, the display-integrated type tablet device comprising:

a clock generating section which generates a second clock signal having a frequency higher than a frequency of a first clock signal output from the display control circuit; and

a display data storage section into which display data is written in synchronization with an input sync signal and from which the written display data is read in synchronization with an input sync signal, wherein

display data are input to the display data storage section according to the first clock signal which serves as the sync signal in writing the display data into the display data storage section and read from the display data storage section according to the second clock signal serving as the sync signal, in reading the display data from the display data storage section, and

a time required for reading the display data from the display data storage section is made shorter than a time required for writing the display data transmitted from the display control circuit in a specified period into the display data storage section to provide a display data reading time and an idle time in the specified period to thereby operate the detection control circuit in the idle time.

4. A display-integrated type tablet device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the display data storage section is a semiconductor memory provided with a data input terminal and a data output terminal, and display data output from the output terminal is output after an elapse of a specified delay time according to input sequence of the display data input from the input terminal.

5. A display-integrated type tablet device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the display data storage section has a storage capacity smaller than a capacity of the number of display pixels in one frame of the display panel.

3. A display-integrated type tablet device including a matrix-shaped display panel having first electrodes and second electrodes which are intersecting each other at right angles and a display material, a detection pen having at a tip end of the detection pen an electrode to be electrostatically coupled with the first electrodes and second electrodes of the display panel, a first drive circuit for driving the first electrodes, a second drive circuit for driving the second electrodes, a display control circuit for displaying an image on the display panel by controlling the first drive circuit and the second drive circuit in an image display period, a detection control circuit for sequentially scanning the first electrodes of the display panel by controlling the first drive circuit and sequentially scanning the second electrodes of the display panel by controlling the second drive circuit in a coordinate detection period, an x-coordinate detection circuit for detecting an x-coordinate at a position pointed by the tip end of the detection pen on the display panel according to a timing of generating an output signal from the detection pen and a timing of scanning the first electrodes, a y-coordinate detection circuit for detecting a y-coordinate at a position pointed by the tip end of the detection pen on the display panel according to a timing of generating an output signal from the detection pen and a timing of scanning the second electrodes, wherein

the first drive circuit is composed of two first drive circuits of a first first drive circuit and a second first drive circuit where the first first drive circuit and the second first drive circuit are arranged opposite to each other with interposition of the display panel,

the second drive circuit is composed of two second drive circuits of a first second drive circuit and a second second drive circuit where the first second drive circuit and the second second drive circuit are arranged opposite to each other with interposition of the display panel,

the first electrodes driven by the first first drive circuit and the first electrodes driven by the second first drive circuit are arranged alternately with each other while the second electrodes driven by the first second drive circuit and the second electrodes driven by the second second drive circuit are arranged alternately with each other,

the display control circuit controls the drive circuits so as to display an image on the display panel having the first electrodes and the second electrodes driven by the first first drive circuit, the second first drive circuit, the first second drive circuit, and the second second drive circuit, and

the detection control circuit controls the first first drive circuit, the second first drive circuit, the first second drive circuit, and the second second drive circuit so as to continuously scan the electrodes sequentially from an electrode located at an end of the display panel to an electrode located at the other end of the display panel.