Timing generation circuit for display apparatus and display apparatus incorporating the same

• US 6,894,674 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2001
• Issued: 05/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Japan Display Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakajima, Yoshiharu, Maekawa, Toshikazu, Maki, Yasuhito
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US10/182,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20030001800A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 345 87-102, 345 76- 83, 345204-214, 3151691-1693
• US Class Current: 345/100
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0408 Integration of the drivers onto the display substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/08 Active matrix structure, i.e. with use of active elements, inclusive of non-linear two terminal elements, in the pixels together with light emitting or modulating elements
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/027 Details of drivers for data electrodes, the drivers handling digital grey scale data, e.g. use of D/A converters
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0294 Details of sampling or holding circuits arranged for use in a driver for data electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/06 Details of flat display driving waveforms
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/2011 by amplitude modulation
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/30 using electroluminescent panels
• 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 timing generation circuit (15) is formed integrally on the same glass substrate (11) together with a display area section (12) similarly to an H driver (13U) and a V driver (14), and timing pulses to be used by the H driver (13U) and the V driver (14) are produced based on timing data produced by a shift register (31U) of the H driver (13U) and a shift register (14A) of the V driver (14). The invention thereby provides a timing generation circuit which can contribute to miniaturization and reduction of the cost of the set and a display apparatus of the active matrix type in which the timing generation circuit is incorporated.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a display area section wherein pixels each having an electro-optical element are disposed in rows and columns, a vertical driving circuit for selecting said pixels of said display area section in a unit of a row and a horizontal driving circuit for supplying an image signal to each of the pixels of the row selected by said vertical driving circuit are formed integrally on the same substrate, characterized in that a shift register which forms said horizontal driving circuit is disposed on the outermost side with respect to said display area section, and a clock line for transmitting a single-phase transfer clock to transfer stages of said shift registers is wired on the further outer side of said shift register, and characterized in that a switch is interposed between each of the transfer stages of said shift register and said clock line for selectively supplying the single-phase transfer clock to the transfer stage of said shift register.

2. A display apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the transfer stages of said shift register comprises a latch circuit for latching the single-phase transfer clock supplied thereto through the corresponding switch, and a clock selection control circuit for controlling said switch based on a latch output of the preceding transfer stage and a latch output of the self transfer stage.

3. A display apparatus of the active matrix type according to claim 1, characterized in that a clock production circuit for dividing a dot clock into two to produce the single-phase transfer clock is provided on said same substrate.

4. A display apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a pair of said horizontal driving circuits are disposed along two sides of said display area section.

7. A display apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said electro-optical element is a liquid crystal cell.

8. A display apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said electro-optical element is an electroluminescence element.

5. A display apparatus comprising:

a display area section wherein pixels each having an electro-optical element are disposed in rows and columns, a vertical driving circuit for selecting said pixels of said display area section in a unit of a row and a horizontal driving circuit for supplying an image signal to each of the pixels of the row selected by said vertical driving circuit are formed integrally on the same substrate, characterized in that a shift register which forms said horizontal driving circuit is disposed on the outermost side with respect to said display area section, and a clock line for transmitting a single-phase transfer clock to transfer stages of said shift registers is wired on the further outer side of said shift register, and characterized in that a pair of said horizontal driving circuits are disposed along two sides of said display area section, and further characterized in that the shift registers in said pair of horizontal driving circuits operate based on two different transfer clocks having phases different by 90°

from each other.

6. A display apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that a clock production circuit for dividing a dot clock into four to produce the two different transfer clocks is provided on said same substrate.

9. A display apparatus, comprising:

a display area section wherein pixels each including a liquid crystal cell are disposed in rows and columns, a counter-electrode voltage generation circuit for generating a counter-electrode voltage to be applied to a counter-electrode of said liquid crystal cell commonly to the pixels, a vertical driving circuit for selecting said pixels of said display area section in a unit of a row, and a horizontal driving circuit for supplying an image signal to each of the pixels of the row selected by said vertical driving circuit, and at least some of circuit components of said counter-electrode voltage generation circuit are produced on the same substrate together with said display area section using the same process, characterized in that said counter-electrode voltage generation circuit comprises a switch circuit for switching and outputting a positive side power supply voltage and a negative side power supply voltage in a fixed period, and a level conversion circuit for converting a DC level of an output voltage of said switch circuit and outputting a resulting voltage as the counter-electrode voltage, and further characterized in that said level conversion circuit comprises a capacitor for cutting a DC component of the output voltage of said switch circuit, and a DC voltage generation circuit for generating a predetermined DC voltage to be provided to the output voltage of said switch circuit having passed through said capacitor.

10. A display apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said vertical driving circuit and said horizontal driving circuit are produced on said same substrate together with said display area using the same process.

11. A display apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that at least some of circuit components of said counter-electrode voltage generation circuit is disposed on that one of sides of said substrate on which said horizontal driving circuit is not disposed.

12. A display apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said level conversion circuit is capable of adjusting the conversion level thereof.

13. A display apparatus according to claim 9 characterized in that said switch circuit is produced on said same substrate together with said display area section using the same process, and some of circuit components of said level conversion circuit is produced on the outside of said substrate.

14. A display apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said capacitor of said level conversion circuit is produced on the outside of said substrate, and all of the remaining circuit components are produced on said same substrate together with said display area section using the same process.

15. A display apparatus, comprising a display area section wherein pixels each including a liquid crystal cell are disposed in rows and columns, a counter-electrode voltage generation circuit for generating a counter-electrode voltage to be applied to a counter-electrode of said liquid crystal cell commonly to the pixels, a vertical driving circuit for selecting said pixels of said display area section in a unit of a row, and a horizontal driving circuit for supplying an image signal to each of the pixels of the row selected by said vertical driving circuit, and at least some of circuit components of said counter-electrode voltage generation circuit are produced on the same substrate together with said display area section using the same process, and characterized in that said counter-electrode voltage generation circuit comprises a switch circuit for switching and outputting a positive side power supply voltage and a negative side power supply voltage in a fixed period, and a level conversion circuit for converting a DC level of an output voltage of said switch circuit and outputting a resulting voltage as the counter-electrode voltage, and further, characterized in that said horizontal driving circuit comprises a reference voltage selection type D/A conversion circuit for selecting one of a plurality of reference voltages which corresponds to digital image data inputted thereto and outputting the selected reference voltage as an analog image signal, and the output voltage of said switch circuit of said counter-electrode voltage generation circuit or the output voltage of said level conversion circuit is used as a reference signal for a white signal or for a black signal from among the plurality of reference voltages.