Organic light-emitting diode display unit, driving method thereof and display device

• US 9,525,010 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2015
• Issued: 12/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. (BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.), BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. (BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.), BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Yang, Shengji, Dong, Xue, Xue, Hailin, Wang, Haisheng, Zhao, Yiming, Sun, Xiao, Liu, Peng, Liu, Hongjuan, Liu, Yingming
• Primary Examiner(s): Bolotin, Dmitriy
• Application Number:
  US14/787,808
• Publication Number:
  US 20160260781A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: 345/76, 345/77, 345/204, 315/169.3, 315/169.2, 315/503
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0439 Pixel structures
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0452 Details of colour pixel setup, e.g. pixel composed of a red, a blue and two green components
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0861 with additional control of the display period without amending the charge stored in a pixel memory, e.g. by means of additional select electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0262 The addressing of the pixel, in a display other than an active matrix LCD, involving the control of two or more scan electrodes or two or more data electrodes, e.g. pixel voltage dependent on signals of two data electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3208 organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3233 with pixel circuitry controlling the current through the light-emitting element
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/123 Connection of the pixel electrodes to the thin film transistors [TFT]
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/32 Stacked devices having two or more layers, each emitting at different wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/35 comprising red-green-blue [RGB] subpixels

Abstract

An organic light-emitting diode display unit, a driving method thereof and a display device are disclosed. At least part of pixel units are pixel units each with a stacked structure; each pixel unit with the stacked structure includes two adjacent subpixel unit stacked groups; and each subpixel unit stacked group includes at least two subpixel units which have different emitting colors and are stacked and insulated from each other. During display of different image frames, each subpixel unit stacked group in each pixel unit with the stacked structure can display gray-scale effect of at least two colors based on applied signals. Compared with an approach that each subpixel unit can only display gray-scale effect of only one color for different image frames, the display effect can be improved.

Claims

1. An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit, comprising a base substrate and a plurality of pixel units disposed on the base substrate, the plurality of pixel units including a plurality of subpixel units and pixel circuits which are respectively connected with the subpixel units in a one-to-one correspondence, wherein:

the subpixel units are OLED structures, and pixel circuits in a same pixel unit are respectively connected with different data signal lines;

at least part of the pixel units are pixel units each with a stacked structure, and each of the pixel units with the stacked structure includes two adjacent subpixel unit stacked groups;

each subpixel unit stacked group includes at least two subpixel units which have different emitting colors and are stacked and insulated from each other, and a quantity of subpixel units in each subpixel unit stacked group of a same pixel unit with the stacked structure is identical;

in each pixel unit with the stacked structure, two subpixel units disposed in a same layer form a subpixel unit layer; and

in a same pixel unit with the stacked structure, only one subpixel unit layer includes two subpixel units that have same emitting colors, and one or more other subpixel unit layers each include two subpixel units that have different emitting colors.

2. The OLED display unit according to claim 1, wherein subpixel units in a same pixel unit with the stacked structure are respectively connected with corresponding pixel circuits through corresponding selector switches;

and

the selector switches are configured to respectively receive corresponding control signals which are used for controlling switching on or switching off of the selector switches.

3. The OLED display unit according to claim 1, wherein in each pixel unit with the stacked structure, each subpixel unit stacked group includes two subpixel units;

and emitting colors of four subpixel units in each pixel unit with the stacked structure are respectively red (R), blue (B), green (G) and red (R), or R, B, G and B, or R, B, G and G.

4. The OLED display unit according to claim 3, wherein a sequence of the emitting colors of the four subpixel units in each pixel unit with the stacked structure is identical.

5. The OLED display unit according to claim 3, wherein all of the pixel units are pixel units each with the stacked structure.

6. The OLED display unit according to claim 3, wherein:

each of the OLED structures includes an anode, an light emission layer and a cathode which are stacked in sequence; and

electric potentials of cathodes in corresponding OLED structures of a same pixel unit with the stacked structure are equal or unequal.

7. The OLED display unit according to claim 2, wherein each of the selector switches is a switching transistor;

a gate electrode of the switching transistor is configured to receive a corresponding control signal;

a source electrode of the switching transistor is connected with a corresponding pixel circuit; and

a drain electrode of the switching transistor is connected with a corresponding subpixel unit.

8. The OLED display unit according to claim 2, wherein in each pixel unit with the stacked structure, each subpixel unit stacked group includes two subpixel units;

and emitting colors of four subpixel units in each pixel unit with the stacked structure are respectively red (R), blue (B), green (G) and red (R), or R, B, G and B, or R, B, G and G.

9. The OLED display unit according to claim 2, wherein all of the pixel units are pixel units each with the stacked structure.

10. The OLED display unit according to claim 2, wherein:

each of the OLED structures includes an anode, an light emission layer and a cathode which are stacked in sequence; and

electric potentials of cathodes in corresponding OLED structures of a same pixel unit with the stacked structure are equal or unequal.

11. The OLED display unit according to claim 1, wherein all of the pixel units are pixel units each with the stacked structure.

12. The OLED display unit according to claim 11, wherein all of the pixel units with the stacked structure are arranged in a matrix;

and in each pixel unit with the stacked structure, two subpixel unit stacked groups are adjacent to each other along a row direction or a column direction.

13. The OLED display unit according to claim 11, wherein all of the pixel units with the stacked structure are regularly arranged;

in each pixel unit with the stacked structure, two subpixel unit stacked groups are adjacent to each other along a row direction;

arrangement positions of odd rows of pixel units with the stacked structure correspond to each other, and arrangement positions of even rows of pixel units with the stacked structure correspond to each other; and

in two adjacent rows of pixel units with the stacked structure, two subpixel unit stacked groups which are adjacent to each other in position and have a same structure are misaligned.

14. A method for driving the OLED display unit according to claim 13, comprising:

during display of an odd image frame, controlling one subpixel unit layer in each odd row of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light, and during display of an even image frame, controlling another subpixel unit layer in each odd row of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light; and

during display of the odd image frame, controlling one subpixel unit layer in each even row of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light, and during display of the even image frame, controlling another subpixel unit layer in each even row of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light,

wherein during display of each image frame, subpixel units which emit light and are in the odd rows of pixel units with the stacked structure and subpixel units which emit light and are in the even rows of pixel units with the stacked structure are in different layers.

15. The OLED display unit according to claim 11, wherein all of the pixel units with the stacked structure are regularly arranged;

in each pixel unit with the stacked structure, two subpixel unit stacked groups are adjacent to each other along a column direction;

arrangement positions of odd columns of pixel units with the stacked structure correspond to each other, and arrangement positions of even columns of pixel units with the stacked structure correspond to each other; and

in two adjacent columns of pixel units with the stacked structure, two subpixel unit stacked groups which are adjacent to each other in position and have a same structure are misaligned.

16. A method for driving the OLED display unit according to claim 15, comprising:

during display of an odd image frame, controlling one subpixel unit layer in each odd column of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light, and during display of an even image frame, controlling another subpixel unit layer in each odd column of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light; and

during display of the odd image frame, controlling one subpixel unit layer in each even column of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light, and during display of the even image frame, controlling another subpixel unit layer in each even column of pixel units with the stacked structure to emit light,

wherein during display of each image frame, subpixel units which emit light and are in the odd columns of pixel units with the stacked structure and subpixel units which emit light and are in the even columns of pixel units with the stacked structure are in different layers.

17. The OLED display unit according to claim 1, wherein:

each of the OLED structures includes an anode, an light emission layer and a cathode which are stacked in sequence; and

electric potentials of cathodes in corresponding OLED structures of a same pixel unit with the stacked structure are equal or unequal.

18. A method for driving the OLED display unit according to claim 1, comprising:

receiving video signals of images; and

controlling, based on corresponding colors of an image at corresponding positions of the pixel units in the OLED display unit, subpixel units that display light of the corresponding colors and that are in the pixel units at the corresponding positions to display, wherein the image corresponds to a video signal of a current image frame.

19. The driving method according to claim 18, wherein each subpixel unit stacked group in each pixel unit with the stacked structure is controlled to display light of at least two colors based on video signals of a plurality of image frames.

20. A display device, comprising the OLED display unit according to claim 1.