Display device

• US 8,803,858 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2011
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Japan Display West Incorporated (Japan Display Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Japan Display West Incorporated (Japan Display Incorporated)
• Inventors: Noguchi, Koji, Sakai, Eiji, Ikeda, Masanobu, Ishizaki, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yang, Nan-Ying
• Application Number:
  US13/211,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20120050237A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,091 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/204
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133707 Structures for producing distorted electric fields, e.g. bumps, protrusions, recesses, slits in pixel electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134336 Matrix
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0426 Layout of electrodes and connections
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/08 Details of timing specific for flat panels, other than clock recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0214 with crosstalk due to leakage current of pixel switch in active matrix panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3674 Details of drivers for scan electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3677 suitable for active matrices only

Abstract

A display device includes: a plurality of drive electrodes extending in a first direction and arranged side-by-side in a second direction with an inter-electrode slit in between; and a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in matrix in the first and second directions. Each of the drive electrodes has one or more inner-electrode slits, and a center of the pixel electrode is located in the inter-electrode slit or in the inner-electrode slit.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

a plurality of drive electrodes extending, in a first direction, with a length larger than that of an effective display region, and arranged side-by-side in a second direction with an inter-electrode slit in between, each of the drive electrodes being supplied with a drive signal;

a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix in the first and second directions to face the drive electrodes, each of the pixel electrodes being supplied with an image signal;

a gate driver allowing pixel electrodes in a pixel line in the first direction to be supplied with a scan signal; and

a drive electrode driver allowing the drive electrodes to be supplied with the drive signal,

wherein,

the inter-electrode slit extends to pass over a center region of each of the pixel electrodes,

each of the drive electrodes has a width in the second direction corresponding to a size in the second direction of two or more pixel electrodes, and has one or more inner-electrode slits extending in the first direction at least within the effective display region,

each of the inner-electrode slit and the inter-electrode slit extends to pass over center regions of the pixel electrodes that belong to the pixel line in the first direction,

when the scan signal from the gate driver is to be applied to a first pixel line located in a region corresponding to the inter-electrode slit, the drive electrode driver applies the drive signal to both of a couple of drive electrodes that are adjacent to each other with the inter-electrode slit in between, and

when the scan signal is to be applied to a second pixel line located in a region other than a region corresponding to the inter-electrode slit, the drive electrode driver applies the drive signal to a single drive electrode corresponding to the second pixel line.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein each of the inner-electrode slits is configured to be discontinuous in a region between the pixel electrodes in the first direction.

3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a second inner-electrode slit is provided, in the center of each of the pixel electrodes, to extend in the second direction.

4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein each of the drive electrodes has a width in the second direction corresponding to a size in the second direction of each of the pixel electrodes, and the inner-electrode slit extends to pass over a center region of each of the pixel electrodes that belong to the pixel line in the first direction.

5. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a pixel substrate having the pixel electrodes, an image signal wiring, and a drive signal wiring, the image signal wiring supplying the pixel electrodes with the image signal, and the drive signal wiring supplying the drive electrodes with the drive signal;

an opposed substrate disposed to face the pixel substrate and having the drive electrodes; and

a contact portion provided at a location that is between the pixel substrate and the opposed substrate and outside of the effective display region, the contact portion allowing each drive electrode to be in conduction with the drive signal wiring.

6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein:

each of the drive electrodes has two or more inner-electrode slits, and

one or both of a first spacing and a second spacing have dimensions of about 500 micrometers or less, the first spacing representing a distance in the second direction between the adjacent inner-electrode slits, and the second spacing representing a distance in the second direction between the inner-electrode slit and the inter-electrode slit that are adjacent to each other.

7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein one or both of the first spacing and the second spacing have dimensions of about 300 micrometers or less.

8. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a liquid crystal layer of a vertical alignment mode disposed between the drive electrodes and the pixel electrodes.

9. A display device, comprising:

a plurality of drive electrodes extending, in a first direction, with a length larger than that of an effective display region, and arranged side-by-side in a second direction with an inter-electrode slit in between, each of the drive electrodes being supplied with a drive signal;

a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix in the first and second directions to face the drive electrodes, each of the pixel electrodes being supplied with an image signal;

a gate driver allowing pixel electrodes in a pixel line in the first direction to be supplied with a scan signal; and

a drive electrode driver allowing the drive electrodes to be supplied with the drive signal,

wherein,

the inter-electrode slit extends to pass over a center region of each of the pixel electrodes,

each of the drive electrodes has a width in the second direction corresponding to a size in the second direction of each of the pixel electrodes, and the inner-electrode slit extends to pass over a center region of each of the pixel electrodes that belong to the pixel line in the first direction, and

when the scan signal from the gate driver is to be applied to a pixel line located in a region corresponding to the inter-electrode slit, the drive electrode driver applies the drive signal to both of a couple of drive electrodes that are adjacent to that inter-electrode slit.

10. A display device, comprising:

a plurality of drive electrodes extending, in a first direction, with a length larger than that of an effective display region, and arranged side-by-side in a second direction with an inter-electrode slit in between, each of the drive electrodes being supplied with a drive signal; and

a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix in the first and second directions to face the drive electrodes, each of the pixel electrodes being supplied with an image signal,

wherein,

the inter-electrode slit extends to pass over a center region of each of the pixel electrodes,

each of the drive electrodes has a width in the second direction corresponding to a size in the second direction of two or more pixel electrodes, and has two or more inner-electrode slits extending in the first direction at least within the effective display region,

each of the inner-electrode slit and the inter-electrode slit extends to pass over center regions of pixel electrodes that belong to a pixel line in the first direction, and

one or both of a first spacing and a second spacing have dimensions of about 500 micrometers or less, the first spacing representing a distance in the second direction between the adjacent inner-electrode slits, and the second spacing representing a distance in the second direction between the inner-electrode slit and the inter-electrode slit that are adjacent to each other.

11. The display device according to claim 10, wherein one or both of the first spacing and the second spacing have dimensions of about 300 micrometers or less.

12. A display device, comprising:

a plurality of drive electrodes extending in a first direction and arranged side-by-side in a second direction with an inter-electrode slit in between;

a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix in the first and second directions;

a gate driver allowing the pixel electrodes to be supplied with a scan signal; and

a drive electrode driver allowing the drive electrodes to be supplied with a drive signal,

wherein,

each of the drive electrodes has one or more inner-electrode slits,

a center of each pixel electrode is located in the inter-electrode slit or in the inner-electrode slit, and

when the scan signal from the gate driver is to be applied to a pixel line located in a region corresponding to the inter-electrode slit, the drive electrode driver applies the drive signal to both of a couple of drive electrodes that are adjacent to that inter-electrode slit.