Display apparatus

• US 8,599,344 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2011
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AU Optronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: AU Optronics Corporation
• Inventors: Yeh, Chao-Wei, Liao, Chien-Huang, Hsu, Wen-Hao
• Primary Examiner(s): CALEY, MICHAEL H
• Application Number:
  US13/219,705
• Publication Number:
  US 20120293750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 828 Days
• Field of Search: 349/33, 349/96, 349/129, 349/144
• US Class Current: 349/129
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1323 Arrangements for providing a switchable viewing angle
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133528 Polarisers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133753 with different alignment orientations or pretilt angles on a same surface, e.g. for grey scale or improved viewing angle
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133757 with different alignment orientations
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134345 Subdivided pixels, e.g. for grey scale or redundancy

Abstract

A display apparatus includes a display panel disposed between a first polarizer and a second polarizer and having at least one first area and at least one second area. A first light-transmission axis direction of the first polarizer is substantially perpendicular to a second light-transmission axis direction of the second polarizer. The first light-transmission axis direction intersects a horizontal axis direction by about 45 degrees. When the display panel is in a narrow viewing angle display mode, the first and second areas have different brightness in a side viewing angle direction but have the same brightness in and around a normal viewing angle direction. When the display panel is in a wide viewing angle display mode, the first and second areas have substantially the same brightness in various viewing angle directions.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel disposed between a first polarizer and a second polarizer, a first light-transmission axis direction of the first polarizer being substantially perpendicular to a second light-transmission axis direction of the second polarizer, the first light-transmission axis direction intersecting a horizontal axis direction by approximately 45 degrees, the display panel having at least one first area and at least one second area, the at least one first area and the at least one second area respectively having a plurality of pixel units arranged in arrays, a row direction of the pixel units being substantially parallel to the horizontal axis direction, each of the pixel units having;

a first sub-pixel area comprising a first alignment area, a second alignment area, and a third alignment area, a first alignment direction of the first alignment area being substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis direction; and

a second sub-pixel area, the second sub-pixel area being a fourth alignment area, a fourth alignment direction of the fourth alignment area being opposite to the first alignment direction, wherein

when the display panel is in a narrow viewing angle display mode, a driving voltage at the first sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area is substantially lower than a driving voltage at the second sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area and a driving voltage at the first sub-pixel areas in the at least one second area, and the driving voltage at the second sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area is substantially higher than the driving voltage at the first sub-pixel areas in the at least one second area and a driving voltage at the second sub-pixel areas in the at least one second area.

2. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the first sub-pixel areas and the second sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area are enabled, and the first sub-pixel areas in the at least one second area are enabled.

3. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the second sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area and the first sub-pixel areas in the at least one second area are enabled, and the first sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area are disabled.

4. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second alignment direction of the second alignment area is opposite to a third alignment direction of the third alignment area.

5. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second alignment direction of the second alignment area and a third alignment direction of the third alignment area are substantially parallel to the horizontal axis direction, and the fourth alignment direction and the first alignment direction are substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis direction.

6. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the driving voltages at the first sub-pixel areas and the second sub-pixel areas located in the at least one second area during displaying a normal viewing brightness are lower than the driving voltages at the second sub-pixel areas located in the at least one first area during displaying the normal viewing brightness.

7. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the driving voltages at the first sub-pixel areas located in the at least one second area during displaying a normal viewing brightness are different from the driving voltages at the second sub-pixel areas located in the at least one second area during displaying the normal viewing brightness.

8. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the driving voltage at the first sub-pixel areas located in the at least one second area during displaying a normal viewing brightness are equal to the driving voltage at the second sub-pixel areas located in the at least one second area during displaying the normal viewing brightness.

9. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the pixel units further comprises a third sub-pixel area, a fifth alignment direction of each of the third sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area intersects the first light-transmission axis direction by about 0 degree to about 45 degrees, a sixth alignment direction of each of the third pixel areas in the at least one second area intersects the second light-transmission axis direction by about 0 degree to about 45 degrees, and each of the second sub-pixel areas and each of the third sub-pixel areas in the at least one first area and the at least one second area are enabled when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode.

10. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein when the display panel is in a wide viewing angle display mode, the third sub-pixel areas are disabled.

11. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the fifth alignment direction is not parallel to the first light-transmission axis direction, and the sixth alignment direction is not parallel to the second light-transmission axis direction.

12. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the pixel units is driven by three scan lines and one data line.

13. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the pixel units is driven by two scan lines and two data lines.

14. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the pixel units comprises:

a first scan line;

a second scan line;

a common line;

a data line intersecting the first scan line, the second scan line, and the common line;

a first pixel electrode defining the first sub-pixel area;

a second pixel electrode defining the second sub-pixel area;

a third pixel electrode defining the third sub-pixel area, wherein the first scan line is located between the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode, and the second scan line is located between the first pixel electrode and the third pixel electrode;

a first active device driven by the first scan line and connected to the data line, the first pixel electrode, and the second pixel electrode;

a second active device driven by the second scan line and connected to the data line and the third pixel electrode; and

a third active device driven by the second scan line and connected to the common line and the first pixel electrode.

15. The display apparatus of claim 14, wherein when the display panel is in a wide viewing angle display mode, the second scan line is enabled before the first scan line is enabled, and when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the first scan line is enabled before the second scan line is enabled.

16. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the pixel units comprises:

a first scan line;

a second scan line;

a data line intersecting the first scan line and the second scan line;

a first pixel electrode defining the first sub-pixel area;

a second pixel electrode defining the second sub-pixel area;

a third pixel electrode defining the third sub-pixel area, wherein the first scan line is located between the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode, and the third pixel electrode is located between the second pixel electrode and the second scan line;

a first active device driven by the first scan line and connected to the data line, the first pixel electrode, and the second pixel electrode; and

a second active device driven by the second scan line and connected to the data line, the second pixel electrode, and the third pixel electrode.

17. The display apparatus of claim 16, wherein when the display panel is in a wide viewing angle display mode, the second scan line and the first scan line are sequentially enabled, and when the display panel is in the narrow viewing angle display mode, the first scan line and the second scan line are sequentially enabled.

18. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first sub-pixel areas and the second sub-pixel areas are in different rows.