Signal conversion circuit, and multiple-primary-color liquid crystal display device provided with same

• US 8,780,029 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2009
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Kozo, Ueki, Shun, Tomizawa, Kazunari, Mori, Tomohiko, Yoshida, Yuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): SPAR, ILANA L
• Application Number:
  US13/119,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20110210911A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,761 Days
• Field of Search: 345/204, 345/690, 345/694, 345 87- 89, 345/94
• US Class Current: 345/89
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/52 RGB geometrical arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0426 Layout of electrodes and connections
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0443 with several sub-pixels for the same colour in a pixel, not specifically used to display gradations G09G3/364 takes precedence
• 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 2320/0242 Compensation of deficiencies in the appearance of colours
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/028 by changing the viewing angle properties, e.g. widening the viewing angle, adapting the viewing angle to the view direction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/06 Colour space transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3655 Details of drivers for counter electrodes, e.g. common electrodes for pixel capacitors or supplementary storage capacitors

Abstract

A multiprimary liquid crystal display device in which deteriorations in display quality caused by the coloration of a gray representation when viewed from an oblique direction are suppressed, and a signal conversion circuit for use in such a multiprimary liquid crystal display device are provided.

A signal conversion circuit according to the present invention is for use in a multiprimary liquid crystal display device, the multiprimary liquid crystal display device having a pixel defined by a plurality of subpixels including a red subpixel, a green subpixel, a blue subpixel, and a yellow subpixel, and performing multicolor display by using four or more primary colors to be displayed by the plurality of subpixels, the signal conversion circuit converting an input video signal to a multiprimary signal corresponding to four or more primary colors. When a video signal for the pixel to display a gray color having a normalized luminance of no less than 0.2 and no more than 0.3 is input, the signal conversion circuit according to the present invention performs a conversion of the video signal so that, among the normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the yellow subpixel has the lowest normalized luminance.

Claims

1. A signal conversion circuit for use in a multiprimary liquid crystal display device, the multiprimary liquid crystal display device having a pixel defined by a plurality of subpixels including a red subpixel, a green subpixel, a blue subpixel, and a yellow subpixel, and performing multicolor display by using four or more primary colors to be displayed by the plurality of subpixels, the signal conversion circuit converting an input video signal to a multiprimary signal corresponding to four or more primary colors, wherein,

when any of a plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color having a normalized luminance of no less than 0.2 and no more than 0.3 is input, the signal conversion circuit converts the plurality of video signals so that, among normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the yellow subpixel has the lowest normalized luminance;

and

when at least one of the plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color, which is an achromatic color of an intermediate gray scale and has an arbitrary normalized luminance of more than zero, is input, a normalized luminance of each of the plurality of subpixels is greater than zero, and the normalized luminance of the yellow subpixel is lower than a normalized luminance of any other one of the plurality of subpixels.

3. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein, when a the plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color having a normalized luminance of no less than 0.2 and no more than 0.3 is input, the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that, among the normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the normalized luminance of the blue subpixel is the lowest next to the normalized luminance of the yellow subpixel.

4. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of subpixels further includes a cyan subpixel.

5. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein, when the plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color having a normalized luminance of no less than 0.2 and no more than 0.3 is input, the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that, among the normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the normalized luminance of the green subpixel is the highest.

6. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein, when the plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color having a normalized luminance of no less than 0.2 and no more than 0.3 is input, the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that, among the normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the normalized luminance of the red subpixel is the highest.

7. The signal conversion circuit of claim 4, wherein, when the plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color having a normalized luminance of no less than 0.2 and no more than 0.3 is input, the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that, among the normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the normalized luminance of the cyan subpixel is the highest.

8. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that the normalized luminance of each of the plurality of subpixels monotonously increases with increase in the normalized luminance of the gray color displayed by the pixel.

9. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that the normalized luminance of at least one of the plurality of subpixels does not monotonously increase with increase in the normalized luminance of the gray color displayed by the pixel.

10. The signal conversion circuit of claim 1, wherein, given a number n of primary colors used for displaying, the signal conversion circuit obtains luminances of (n−

3) primary colors among the n primary colors by referring to a look-up table based on the input one of the plurality of video signals, and through a calculation using the luminances of the (n−

3) primary colors, calculates the luminances of the other three primary colors among the n primary colors.

11. The signal conversion circuit of claim 10, comprising:

a look-up table memory for storing the look-up table; and

a calculation section for performing the calculation.

12. A multiprimary liquid crystal display device comprising the signal conversion circuit of claim 1 and a liquid crystal display panel to which a multiprimary signal generated by the signal conversion circuit is input.

13. The multiprimary liquid crystal display device of claim 12, wherein,

the liquid crystal display panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate opposing the first substrate, and a vertical-alignment type liquid crystal layer provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, and has the plurality of subpixels;

and

in each of the plurality of subpixels, when a predetermined voltage is applied across the liquid crystal layer, liquid crystal molecules contained in the liquid crystal layer are tilted in a plurality of azimuth directions.

14. The multiprimary liquid crystal display device of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of subpixels has a plurality of regions capable of applying different voltages across the liquid crystal layer therein.

2. A signal conversion circuit for use in a multiprimary liquid crystal display device, the multiprimary liquid crystal display device having a pixel defined by a plurality of subpixels including a red subpixel, a green subpixel, a blue subpixel, and a yellow subpixel, and performing multicolor display by using four or more primary colors to be displayed by the plurality of subpixels, the signal conversion circuit converting an input video signal to a multiprimary signal corresponding to four or more primary colors, wherein,

when any of a plurality of video signals for the pixel to display a gray color, which is an achromatic color of an intermediate gray scale and has a normalized luminance of no less than 0.15 and no more than 0.35, is input, the signal conversion circuit performs a conversion of the plurality of video signals so that, among the normalized luminances of the plurality of subpixels, the yellow subpixel has the lowest normalized luminance;

and

when at least one of the plurality of video signals for the pixel to display the gray color having an arbitrary normalized luminance of more than zero is input, a normalized luminance of each of the plurality of subpixels is greater than zero, and the normalized luminance of the yellow subpixel is lower than a normalized luminance of any other one of the plurality of subpixels.