Staggered column drive circuit systems and methods

• US 7,515,147 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2005
• Issued: 04/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Snaptrack Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: IDC, LLC
• Inventors: Mignard, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe; Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIMNHUNG T
• Application Number:
  US11/054,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20060044246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,519 Days
• Field of Search: 345 87-100, 345/204
• US Class Current: 345/204
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0218 with collection of electrodes in groups for n-dimensional addressing
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0275 Details of drivers for data electrodes, other than drivers for liquid crystal, plasma or OLED displays, not related to handling digital grey scale data or to communication of data to the pixels by means of a current
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/025 Reduction of instantaneous peaks of current
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3466 based on interferometric effect

Abstract

A system and method for staggered actuation of columns of interferometric modulators. In one embodiment, the method determines data for actuating two or more groups of columns in the array, each group having one or more columns, and provides the data to the array to actuate two or more group of columns so that each group is activated during a group addressing period. In another embodiment, a display includes at least one driving circuit and an array comprising a plurality of interferometric modulators disposed in a plurality of columns and rows, said array being configured to be driven by said driving circuit which is configured to stagger the actuation of the plurality of columns during an array addressing period.

Claims

1. A display, comprising:

at least one driving circuit; and

an array comprising a plurality of interferometric modulators disposed in a plurality of columns and rows, said array being configured to be driven by said driving circuit, and said interferometric modulators having at least a released state and an actuated state,

wherein said driving circuit is configured to

stagger the assertion of a signal for two or more columns of interferometric modulators during a column addressing period and maintain the asserted signal on each column during a row addressing period, the row addressing period being subsequent to said column addressing period, and

strobe a row of the array during the row addressing period to actuate or release interferometric modulators in the two or more columns of interferometric modulators disposed in said row.

2. The display of claim 1, wherein said driving circuit is further configured to assert signals on two or more groups of columns and maintain the asserted signals on said two or more groups during the row addressing period, the signals being asserted on each of the two or more groups during a group addressing period within the column addressing period, each group having one or more columns, wherein the group addressing period of each group is at least partially different than the group addressing period of any other group.

3. The display of claim 2, wherein each of said two or more groups has one column.

4. The display of claim 2, wherein said driving circuit asserts signals for each of said two or more groups in a predetermined order.

5. The display of claim 2, wherein said driving circuit asserts signals for one or more groups in a predetermined order.

6. The display of claim 2, wherein said driving circuit asserts signals for one or more groups in a random order.

7. The display of claim 2, wherein each group contains the same number of columns.

8. The display of claim 2, wherein one or more groups contain a different number of columns.

9. The display of claim 1, wherein said driving circuit is further configured to assert signals on two or more groups of columns and maintain the asserted signals on said two or more groups during a row addressing period, the signals being asserted on each group during a group addressing period within the column addressing period, and each group having one or more columns.

10. The display of claim 1, wherein said driving circuit is further configured to assert signals for two or more groups of columns and maintain the asserted signals on said two or more groups during a row addressing period, the signals being asserted on each group during a group addressing period within a column addressing period, each group having one or more columns, wherein the relative start time for each group addressing period is temporally distinct.

11. The display of claim 1, wherein said driving circuit is further configured to assert a signal for a first column at a first time and a second column at a second time, wherein the first time and the second time are different.

12. The display of claim 1, wherein said driving circuit asserts signals for each column in a sequential order.

13. The display of claim 1, wherein said driving circuit asserts signals for at least two or more columns in a non-sequential order.

14. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a processor that is in electrical communication with said display, said processor being configured to process image data; and

a memory device in electrical communication with said processor.

15. The device of claim 14, further comprising a controller configured to send at least a portion of said image data to said driving circuit.

16. The device of claim 14, further comprising an image source module configured to send image data to said processor.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein said image source module comprises at least one of a receiver, transceiver, and transmitter.

18. The device of claim 14, further comprising an input device configured to receive input data and to communicate said input data to said processor.

19. A display, comprising:

at least one driving circuit; and

an array comprising a plurality of columns of interferometric modulators and a plurality of rows of interferometric modulators, said array being configured to be driven by said driving circuit, and said columns of interferometric modulators and rows of interferometric modulators having at least a released state and an actuated state,

wherein said driving circuit is configured to receive column data for the plurality of columns, and is further configured to use the column data to non-simultaneously assert a signal on each of two or more columns of interferometric modulators during a column addressing period and maintain the asserted signal on each column during a row addressing period, and to strobe a row of the array during the row addressing period to actuate or release interferometric modulators in the columns of interferometric modulators disposed in said row.

20. A method of providing data to an array having a plurality of columns of interferometric modulators and rows of interferometric modulators, the method comprising:

asserting a signal on each column in a first group of one or more columns based on a first data set during a first group addressing period and maintaining the asserted signal on each column in the first group during a row addressing period;

asserting a signal on each column in a second group of columns using a second data set during a second group addressing period and maintaining the asserted signal on each column in the second group during the row addressing period, the row addressing period being subsequent to said first and second group addressing periods; and

strobing a row of the array during the row addressing period to actuate or release interferometric modulators in the columns of interferometric modulators disposed in said row.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first group includes a different number of columns than the second group.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the first group addressing period and the second group addressing period are in a predetermined order.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the first group addressing period and the second group addressing period are in random order.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the first group includes the same number of columns as the second group.

25. A driver circuit configured to drive an array of a plurality of interferometric modulators, each of the interferometric modulators being connected to a column electrode and a row electrode, the driving circuit comprising:

a storage device to store predetermined display data; and

a signal device in data communication with said storage device, said signal device configured to assert a signal on each electrode of two or more columns and rows non-simultaneously, wherein the signals are based on the predetermined display data,

wherein the predetermined display data includes information to stagger the assertion of a signal for two or more columns of interferometric modulators during a column addressing period and maintain the asserted signal on each column during a row addressing period, the row addressing period being subsequent to said column addressing period, and

and wherein the predetermined display data further includes information to strobe a row of the array during the row addressing period to actuate or release interferometric modulators in the two or more columns of interferometric modulators disposed in said row.

26. A method of driving a display that includes an array having a plurality of interferometric modulators disposed in a plurality of columns and rows, said array being configured to be driven by a driving circuit, and said interferometric modulators having at least a released state and an actuated state, the method comprising:

staggering the assertion of a signal for two or more columns of interferometric modulators during a column addressing period and maintaining the asserted signal on each column during a row addressing period, the row addressing period being subsequent to said column addressing period; and

strobing a row of the array during the row addressing period to actuate or release interferometric modulators in the two or more columns of interferometric modulators disposed in said row.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein each group contains the same number of columns.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein a group addressing period of each group is at least partially different than a group addressing period for any other group.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein a group addressing period of each group begins at a temporally distinct time.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein a group addressing period of two or more groups are in a predetermined order.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein a group addressing period of two or more groups are in a random order.