U.S. patent application number 16/828052 was filed with the patent office on 2021-02-04 for displays with gate driver circuitry having shared register circuits.
The applicant listed for this patent is Apple Inc.. Invention is credited to Shih-Chang Chang, Ting-Kuo Chang, Cheng-Chih Hsieh, Abbas Jamshidi Roudbari, Chuang Qian, Tsung-Ting Tsai, Shyuan Yang.
Application Number | 20210035499 16/828052 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005341281 |
Filed Date | 2021-02-04 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210035499 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Qian; Chuang ; et
al. |
February 4, 2021 |
Displays with Gate Driver Circuitry Having Shared Register
Circuits
Abstract
Electronic devices may include displays having organic
light-emitting diode pixels, display driver circuitry, and gate
driver circuitry. To reduce the amount of space occupied in the
inactive area of a display by the gate driver circuitry, one or
more of the shift registers in the gate driver circuitry may
include register circuits that are shared by multiple rows of
pixels. Different drivers may use different clock frequencies to
ensure synchronous operation of the display even when some register
circuits share pixel rows. For increased flexibility in the
arrangement of the register circuits in the shift registers, one or
more of the shift registers may be split across the active area of
the display. In some cases, one of the emission drivers may be
omitted from the gate driver circuitry and a single emission driver
may provide multiple emission control signals for the pixels.
Inventors: |
Qian; Chuang; (Santa Clara,
CA) ; Tsai; Tsung-Ting; (Cupertino, CA) ;
Yang; Shyuan; (Burlingame, CA) ; Hsieh;
Cheng-Chih; (Santa Clara, CA) ; Jamshidi Roudbari;
Abbas; (San Jose, CA) ; Chang; Ting-Kuo; (San
Jose, CA) ; Chang; Shih-Chang; (Cupertino,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Apple Inc. |
Cupertino |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005341281 |
Appl. No.: |
16/828052 |
Filed: |
March 24, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
16534946 |
Aug 7, 2019 |
10636356 |
|
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16828052 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09G 2310/0286 20130101;
G09G 3/3266 20130101; G11C 19/28 20130101; G09G 3/3275 20130101;
G09G 3/3233 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G09G 3/3233 20060101
G09G003/3233; G09G 3/3266 20060101 G09G003/3266; G11C 19/28
20060101 G11C019/28; G09G 3/3275 20060101 G09G003/3275 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 2, 2019 |
CN |
201910712810.2 |
Claims
1. A display comprising: an array of pixels in an active area of
the display, wherein the array of pixels comprises first and second
adjacent rows of pixels and wherein each pixel in the array of
pixels comprises a first switching transistor having a gate that
receives a first control signal and a second switching transistor
having a gate that receives a second control signal; display driver
circuitry in an inactive area of the display, wherein the display
driver circuitry is configured to provide image data to the pixels;
and gate driver circuitry in the inactive area of the display,
wherein the gate driver circuitry comprises: a first register
circuit that provides the first scan control signal to the pixels
in the first and second rows of pixels; and a second register
circuit that provides the second scan control signal to the pixels
in the first row of pixels.
2. The display defined in claim 1, wherein the first switching
transistor is a semiconducting-oxide switching transistor and
wherein the second switching transistor is a silicon switching
transistor.
3. The display defined in claim 1, wherein each pixel in the array
further comprises: a first emission transistor, a drive transistor,
a second emission transistor, and a light-emitting diode coupled in
series between a first power supply terminal and a second power
supply terminal.
4. The display defined in claim 3, wherein each pixel in the array
further comprises: a capacitor coupled to a gate of the drive
transistor.
5. The display defined in claim 4, wherein the first switching
transistor is coupled to the gate of the drive transistor.
6. The display defined in claim 5, wherein the second switching
transistor is coupled between the drive transistor and a data
line.
7. The display defined in claim 1, wherein the first register
circuit is part of a first shift register that includes a first
plurality of register circuits and wherein each register circuit in
the first plurality of register circuits provides the first scan
control signal to at least two respective rows of pixels.
8. The display defined in claim 7, wherein the second register
circuit is part of a second shift register that includes a second
plurality of register circuits and wherein each register circuit in
the second plurality of register circuits provides the second scan
control signal to the pixels in a respective single row of
pixels.
9. The display defined in claim 8, wherein the first shift register
receives clock signals at a first frequency and wherein the second
shift register receives clock signals at a second frequency that is
different than the first frequency.
10. The display defined in claim 1, wherein the gate driver
circuitry further comprises: a third register circuit that provides
the second scan control signal to the pixels in the second row of
pixels.
11. A display comprising: an array of pixels in an active area of
the display, wherein the array of pixels comprises first and second
adjacent rows of pixels and wherein each pixel in the array of
pixels comprises a plurality of transistors; display driver
circuitry in an inactive area of the display, wherein the display
driver circuitry is configured to provide image data to the pixels;
and gate driver circuitry in the inactive area of the display,
wherein the gate driver circuitry comprises a register circuit that
is configured to provide a control signal to both a first
transistor of the plurality of transistors in the first row of
pixels and a second, different transistor of the plurality of
transistors in the second row of pixels.
12. The display defined in claim 11, wherein the plurality of
transistors of each pixel comprises at least one silicon transistor
and at least one semiconducting-oxide transistor.
13. The display defined in claim 11, wherein each pixel in the
array of pixels comprises: a first emission transistor, drive
transistor, a second emission transistor, and light-emitting diode
coupled in series between a first power supply terminal and a
second power supply terminal.
14. The display defined in claim 13, wherein each pixel in the
array of pixels comprises: a capacitor coupled to a gate of the
drive transistor.
15. The display defined in claim 14, wherein each pixel in the
array of pixels comprises: a semiconducting-oxide switching
transistor, wherein the semiconducting-oxide switching transistor
is coupled to the gate of the drive transistor; and a silicon
switching transistor, wherein the silicon switching transistor is
coupled between the drive transistor and a data line.
16. The display defined in claim 13, wherein the register circuit
is configured to provide the control signal to the second emission
transistor of the pixels in the first row and to the first emission
transistor of the pixels in the second row.
17. The display defined in claim 16, wherein the second row is
below the first row.
18. The display defined in claim 13, wherein the register circuit
is configured to provide the control signal to the second emission
transistor of the pixels in the first row and a first additional
row of pixels above the first row and wherein the register circuit
is configured to provide the control signal to the first emission
transistor of the pixels in the second row and a second additional
row of pixels below the second row.
19. A display comprising: an array of pixels in an active area of
the display, wherein each pixel in the array of pixels comprises a
semiconducting-oxide switching transistor having a gate that
receives a first control signal and a silicon switching transistor
having a gate that receives a second control signal; display driver
circuitry in an inactive area of the display, wherein the display
driver circuitry is configured to provide image data to the pixels;
and gate driver circuitry in the inactive area of the display,
wherein the gate driver circuitry comprises: a first shift register
that includes a first plurality of register circuits, wherein each
register circuit in the first plurality of register circuits
provides the first scan control signal to at least two respective
rows of pixels; and a second shift register that includes a second
plurality of register circuits, wherein each register circuit in
the second plurality of register circuits provides the second scan
control signal to only one row of pixels.
20. The display defined in claim 19, wherein each pixel in the
array further comprises: a first emission transistor, a drive
transistor, a second emission transistor, and a light-emitting
diode coupled in series between a first power supply terminal and a
second power supply terminal; and a capacitor coupled to a gate of
the drive transistor, wherein the semiconducting-oxide switching
transistor is coupled to the gate of the drive transistor and
wherein the silicon switching transistor is coupled between the
drive transistor and a data line.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of non-provisional patent
application Ser. No. 16/534,946, filed Aug. 7, 2019, which claims
priority to CN patent application No. 201910712810.2, filed on Aug.
2, 2019, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their
entireties.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This relates generally to displays, and, more particularly,
to displays with gate driver circuitry.
[0003] Electronic devices often include displays. For example,
cellular telephones and portable computers include displays for
presenting information to users. An electronic device may have an
organic light-emitting diode display based on
organic-light-emitting diode pixels or a liquid crystal display
based on liquid crystal pixels.
[0004] Displays may include driving circuitry that is used to
provide signals to the display to operate the display. If care is
not taken, the driving circuitry may have a larger than desired
footprint and may undesirably increase the size of an inactive
border region of the display.
[0005] It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide
improved driver circuitry for electronic device displays.
SUMMARY
[0006] An electronic device may include a display such as a
light-emitting diode display. The electronic device may be a
wristwatch device.
[0007] Displays may be operable in a normal refresh rate mode and
in a low refresh rate mode. The refresh rate during the normal
refresh rate mode may be 60 Hz. The refresh rate mode during the
low refresh rate mode may be 1 Hz. During the normal refresh rate
mode, refresh frames may be used to update the data displayed by
the pixels. During the low refresh rate mode, anode reset frames
may be used intermittently in between refresh frames to reduce
luminance artifacts.
[0008] The display may include an array of pixels formed in an
active area of the display, display driver circuitry formed in an
inactive area of the display that is configured to provide image
data to the pixels, and gate driver circuitry formed in the
inactive area of the display. The gate driver circuitry may include
one or more drivers formed by shift registers that include a
plurality of register circuits. The gate driver circuitry may
include first and second scan drivers and first and second emission
drivers.
[0009] To reduce the amount of space occupied in the inactive area
of the display by the gate driver circuitry, one or more of the
shift registers may include register circuits that are shared by
multiple rows of pixels. In one arrangement, a second scan driver
may have one register circuit for each row of pixels, whereas a
first scan driver, a first emission driver, and a second emission
driver may include register circuits that are each shared by at
least two rows of pixels in the active area. Different drivers may
use different clock frequencies to ensure synchronous operation of
the display.
[0010] For increased flexibility in the arrangement of the register
circuits in the shift registers, one or more of the shift registers
may be split across the active area. For example, a shift register
may scan the pixels from the top of the active area to the bottom
of the active area. However, at least one register circuit of the
shift register may be formed on the left side of the active area
and at least one register circuit of the shift register may be
formed on the right side of the active area.
[0011] In some cases, one of the emission drivers may be omitted
from the gate driver circuitry. A single emission driver may
provide multiple emission control signals for the pixels. A
register circuit of the emission driver may have an output that is
provided to a first emission control transistor in two
corresponding rows of pixels. The output may also be provided to a
second emission control transistor in the two preceding rows of
pixels.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic
device having a display in accordance with an embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display in
accordance with an embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a diagram of an illustrative pixel circuit in
accordance with an embodiment.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a top view of an illustrative display showing how
the display's gate driver circuitry may include one or more gate
drivers and one or more emission drivers in accordance with an
embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative shift
register that may be used to form a gate driver or an emission
driver for a display in accordance with an embodiment.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative register
circuit that may be used in the shift register of FIG. 5 in
accordance with an embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a state diagram showing illustrative refresh rate
modes of a display in accordance with an embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 8 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 4 for a refresh frame
in accordance with an embodiment.
[0020] FIG. 9 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 4 for an anode reset
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0021] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display
having gate driver circuitry with at least one driver that has each
register circuit shared between multiple rows of pixels in
accordance with an embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 11 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 10 for a refresh
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0023] FIG. 12 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 10 for an anode reset
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0024] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display
having gate driver circuitry with at least one shift register that
includes register circuits on first and second opposing sides of
the active area in accordance with an embodiment.
[0025] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display
having gate driver circuitry that includes a single emission driver
that provides first and second emission signals to the display
pixels in accordance with an embodiment.
[0026] FIG. 15 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 14 for a refresh
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 16 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 14 for an anode reset
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display
having first and second scan drivers with register circuits that
each provide outputs to a single row and first and second emission
drivers that each provide output to first and second rows in
accordance with an embodiment.
[0029] FIG. 18 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 17 for a refresh
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 19 is a timing diagram showing illustrative signals
provided by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 17 for an anode reset
frame in accordance with an embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display
having first and second scan drivers with register circuits that
each provide outputs to a single row and a single emission driver
that provides first and second emission signals to the display
pixels in accordance with an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] An illustrative electronic device of the type that may be
provided with a display is shown in FIG. 1. Electronic device 10
may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer
monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a
cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable
electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a
pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded
in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user's head, or other
wearable or miniature device, a display, a computer display that
contains an embedded computer, a computer display that does not
contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device,
an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment
with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, or other
electronic equipment. Electronic device 10 may have the shape of a
pair of eyeglasses (e.g., supporting frames), may form a housing
having a helmet shape, or may have other configurations to help in
mounting and securing the components of one or more displays on the
head or near the eye of a user.
[0033] As shown in FIG. 1, electronic device 10 may have control
circuitry 16. Control circuitry 16 may include storage and
processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device 10. The
storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as hard
disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other
electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a
solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic
random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control
circuitry 16 may be used to control the operation of device 10. The
processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors,
microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors,
power management units, audio chips, application specific
integrated circuits, etc.
[0034] Input-output circuitry in device 10 such as input-output
devices 18 may be used to allow data to be supplied to device 10
and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to external
devices. Input-output devices 18 may include buttons, joysticks,
scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones,
speakers, tone generators, vibrators, cameras, sensors,
light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, etc.
A user can control the operation of device 10 by supplying commands
through input-output devices 18 and may receive status information
and other output from device 10 using the output resources of
input-output devices 18.
[0035] Input-output devices 18 may include one or more displays
such as display 14. Display 14 may be a touch screen display that
includes a touch sensor for gathering touch input from a user or
display 14 may be insensitive to touch. A touch sensor for display
14 may be based on an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes,
acoustic touch sensor structures, resistive touch components,
force-based touch sensor structures, a light-based touch sensor, or
other suitable touch sensor arrangements.
[0036] Control circuitry 16 may be used to run software on device
10 such as operating system code and applications. During operation
of device 10, the software running on control circuitry 16 may
display images on display 14.
[0037] Display 14 may be an organic light-emitting diode display, a
display formed from an array of discrete light-emitting diodes each
formed from a crystalline semiconductor die, or any other suitable
type of display. Configurations in which the pixels of display 14
include light-emitting diodes are sometimes described herein as an
example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Any suitable type
of display may be used for device 10, if desired (e.g., a liquid
crystal display).
[0038] In some cases, electronic device 10 may be a wristwatch
device. Display 14 of the wristwatch device may be positioned in a
housing. A wristwatch strap may be coupled to the housing.
[0039] FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative display. As shown in
FIG. 2, display 14 may include layers such as substrate layer 26.
Substrate layers such as layer 26 may be formed from rectangular
planar layers of material or layers of material with other shapes
(e.g., circular shapes or other shapes with one or more curved
and/or straight edges). The substrate layers of display 14 may
include glass layers, polymer layers, composite films that include
polymer and inorganic materials, metallic foils, etc.
[0040] Display 14 may have an array of pixels 22 for displaying
images for a user such as pixel array 28. Pixels 22 in array 28 may
be arranged in rows and columns. The edges of array 28 (sometimes
referred to as active area 28) may be straight or curved (i.e.,
each row of pixels 22 and/or each column of pixels 22 in array 28
may have the same length or may have a different length). There may
be any suitable number of rows and columns in array 28 (e.g., ten
or more, one hundred or more, or one thousand or more, etc.).
Display 14 may include pixels 22 of different colors. As an
example, display 14 may include red pixels, green pixels, and blue
pixels. If desired, a backlight unit may provide backlight
illumination for display 14.
[0041] Display driver circuitry 20 may be used to control the
operation of pixels 28. Display driver circuitry 20 may be formed
from integrated circuits, thin-film transistor circuits, and/or
other suitable circuitry. Illustrative display driver circuitry 20
of FIG. 2 includes display driver circuitry 20A and additional
display driver circuitry such as gate driver circuitry 20B. Gate
driver circuitry 20B may be formed along one or more edges of
display 14. For example, gate driver circuitry 20B may be arranged
along the left and right sides of display 14 in an inactive area of
the display as shown in FIG. 2. Gate driver circuitry 20B may
include gate drivers and emission drivers.
[0042] As shown in FIG. 2, display driver circuitry 20A (e.g., one
or more display driver integrated circuits, thin-film transistor
circuitry, etc.) may contain communications circuitry for
communicating with system control circuitry over signal path 24.
Path 24 may be formed from traces on a flexible printed circuit or
other cable. The control circuitry may be located on one or more
printed circuits in electronic device 10. During operation, the
control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 16 of FIG. 1) may supply
circuitry such as a display driver integrated circuit in circuitry
20 with image data for images to be displayed on display 14.
Display driver circuitry 20A of FIG. 2 is located at the top of
display 14. This is merely illustrative. Display driver circuitry
20A may be located at both the top and bottom of display 14 or in
other portions of device 10.
[0043] To display the images on pixels 22, display driver circuitry
20A may supply corresponding image data to data lines D (e.g.,
vertical signal lines) while issuing control signals to supporting
display driver circuitry such as gate driver circuitry 20B over
signal paths 30. With the illustrative arrangement of FIG. 2, data
lines D run vertically through display 14 and are associated with
respective columns of pixels 22. During compensation operations,
column driver circuitry 20 may use paths such as data lines D to
supply a reference voltage.
[0044] Gate driver circuitry 20B (sometimes referred to as gate
line driver circuitry or horizontal control signal circuitry) may
be implemented using one or more integrated circuits and/or may be
implemented using thin-film transistor circuitry on substrate 26.
Horizontal control lines G (sometimes referred to as gate lines,
scan lines, emission control lines, etc.) run horizontally through
display 14. Each gate line G is associated with a respective row of
pixels 22. If desired, there may be multiple horizontal control
lines such as gate lines G associated with each row of pixels.
Individually controlled and/or global signal paths in display 14
may also be used to distribute other signals (e.g., power supply
signals, etc.). The number of horizontal signal lines in each row
may be determined by the number of transistors in the display
pixels 22 that are being controlled independently by the horizontal
signal lines. Display pixels of different configurations may be
operated by different numbers of control lines, data lines, power
supply lines, etc.
[0045] Gate driver circuitry 20B may assert control signals on the
gate lines G in display 14. For example, gate driver circuitry 20B
may receive clock signals and other control signals from circuitry
20A on paths 30 and may, in response to the received signals,
assert a gate line signal on gate lines G in sequence, starting
with the gate line signal G in the first row of pixels 22 in array
28. As each gate line is asserted, data from data lines D may be
loaded into a corresponding row of pixels. In this way, control
circuitry such as display driver circuitry 20A and 20B may provide
pixels 22 with signals that direct pixels 22 to display a desired
image on display 14. Each pixel 22 may have a light-emitting diode
and circuitry (e.g., thin-film circuitry on substrate 26) that
responds to the control and data signals from display driver
circuitry 20.
[0046] An illustrative pixel circuit of the type that may be used
for each pixel 22 in array 28 is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG.
3, display pixel 22 may include a storage capacitor Cst and
transistors such as n-type (i.e., n-channel) transistors T1, T2,
T3, T4, T5, and T6. The transistors of pixel 22 may be thin-film
transistors formed from a semiconductor such as silicon (e.g.,
polysilicon deposited using a low temperature process, sometimes
referred to as LTPS or low-temperature polysilicon), semiconducting
oxide (e.g., indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO)), or other suitable
semiconductor material. In other words, the active region and/or
the channel region of these thin-film transistors may be formed
from polysilicon or semi-conducting oxide material.
[0047] Display pixel 22 may include light-emitting diode 304. A
positive power supply voltage ELVDD (e.g., 1 V, 2 V, more than 1 V,
0.5 to 5 V, 1 to 10 V, or other suitable positive voltage) may be
supplied to positive power supply terminal 300 and a ground power
supply voltage ELVSS (e.g., 0 V, -1 V, -2 V, or other suitable
negative voltage) may be supplied to ground power supply terminal
302. The power supply voltages ELVDD and ELVSS may be provided to
terminals 300 and 302 from respective power supply traces. For
example, a conductive layer may serve as a ground power supply
voltage trace that provides the ground power supply voltage ELVSS
to all of the pixels within the display. The state of transistor T2
controls the amount of current flowing from terminal 300 to
terminal 302 through diode 304 and therefore controls the amount of
emitted light 306 from display pixel 22. Transistor T2 is therefore
sometimes referred to as the "drive transistor." Diode 304 may have
an associated parasitic capacitance C.sub.OLED (not shown).
[0048] Terminal 308 is used to supply an initialization voltage
Vini (e.g., a positive voltage such as 1 V, 2 V, less than 1 V, 1
to 5 V, or other suitable voltage) to assist in turning off diode
304 when diode 304 is not in use. Control signals from display
driver circuitry such as gate driver circuitry 20B of FIG. 2 are
supplied to control terminals such as terminals 312, 313, 314, and
315. Terminals 312 and 313 may serve respectively as first and
second scan control terminals, whereas terminals 314 and 315 may
serve respectively as first and second emission control terminals.
Scan control signals Scan1 and Scan2 may be applied to scan
terminals 312 and 313, respectively. Emission control signals EM1
and EM2 may be supplied to terminals 314 and 315, respectively. A
data input terminal such as data signal terminal 310 is coupled to
a respective data line D of FIG. 2 for receiving image data for
display pixel 22.
[0049] Transistors T4, T2, T5, and diode 304 may be coupled in
series between power supply terminals 300 and 302. In particular,
transistor T4 has a drain terminal that is coupled to positive
power supply terminal 300, a gate terminal that receives emission
control signal EM2, and a source terminal (labeled as node N1)
coupled to transistors T2 and T3. The terms "source" and "drain"
terminals of a transistor can sometimes be used interchangeably.
Drive transistor T2 has a drain terminal that is coupled to node
N1, a gate terminal coupled to node N2, and a source terminal
coupled to node N3. Transistor T5 has a drain terminal that is
coupled to node N3, a gate terminal that receives emission control
signal EM1, and a source terminal coupled to node N4. Node N4 is
coupled to ground power supply terminal 302 via organic
light-emitting diode 304.
[0050] Transistor T3, capacitor Cst, and transistor T6 are coupled
in series between node N1 and terminal 308. In particular,
transistor T3 has a drain terminal that is coupled to node N1, a
gate terminal that receives scan control signal Scan1 from scan
line 312, and a source terminal that is coupled to node N2. Storage
capacitor Cst has a first terminal that is coupled to node N2 and a
second terminal that is coupled to node N4. Transistor T6 has a
drain terminal that is coupled to node N4, a gate terminal that
receives scan control signal Scan1 via scan line 312, and a source
terminal that receives initialization voltage Vini via terminal
308.
[0051] Transistor T1 has a drain terminal that receives a data
signal via data line 310, a gate terminal that receives scan
control signal Scan2 via scan line 313, and a source terminal that
is coupled to node N3. Connected in this way, emission control
signal EM2 may be asserted to enable transistor T4 (e.g., signal
EM2 may be driven to a high voltage level to turn on transistor
T4); emission control signal EM1 may be asserted to activate
transistor T5; scan control signal Scan2 may be asserted to turn on
transistor T1; and scan control signal Scan1 may be asserted to
simultaneously switch on transistors T3 and T6. Transistors T4 and
T5 may sometimes be referred to as emission transistors. Transistor
T6 may sometimes be referred to as an initialization transistor.
Transistor T1 may sometimes be referred to as a data loading
transistor.
[0052] In one suitable arrangement, transistor T3 may be
implemented as a semiconducting-oxide transistor while remaining
transistors Ti, T2, and T4-T6 are silicon transistors.
Semiconducting-oxide transistors exhibit relatively lower leakage
than silicon transistors, so implementing transistor T3 as a
semiconducting-oxide transistor will help reduce flicker at low
refresh rates (e.g., by preventing current from leaking through T3
when signal Scan1 is deasserted or driven low).
[0053] The arrangement of pixel 22 in FIG. 3 is merely
illustrative, and other desired pixel arrangements be used if
desired. For example, each of transistors T1-T6 may be formed from
semiconducting-oxide transistors or silicon transistors. The
arrangement of the connections between the transistors may be
changed if desired. One or more transistors may be omitted if
desired. Additional transistors may be included in the pixel if
desired.
[0054] FIG. 4 shows a top view of an illustrative display with gate
driver circuitry that includes gate drivers and emission drivers.
Gate driver circuitry 20B may be formed along one or more edges of
display 14. FIG. 4 shows an example where gate driver circuitry 20B
is formed on opposing sides of pixel array 28 (sometimes referred
to as an active area).
[0055] For example, gate driver circuitry 20B may be arranged along
the left and right sides of display 14. Gate driver circuitry 20B
may include one or more gate drivers (sometimes referred to as scan
drivers or scanning drivers) and one or more emission drivers on
each side of the active area. FIG. 4 shows gate driver 48 and
emission driver 50 on a first side of the active area and gate
driver 52 and emission driver 54 on a second, opposing side of the
display.
[0056] The gate drivers may be configured to supply control signals
to each pixel in the display. For example, gate driver 48 may
supply switching transistor control signal Scan2 to each pixel
(e.g., at terminal 313 in FIG. 3). Emission driver 50 may supply
emission control signal EM2 to each pixel (e.g., at terminal 315 in
FIG. 3). Gate driver 52 may supply switching transistor control
signal Scan1 to each pixel (e.g., at terminal 312 in FIG. 3).
Emission driver 54 may supply emission control signal EM1 to each
pixel (e.g., at terminal 314 in FIG. 3).
[0057] Each emission driver and scan driver (e.g., drivers 48, 50,
52, and 54 in FIG. 4) may contain a shift register formed from a
chain of register circuits. Each register circuit may supply
control signals (e.g., switching transistor control signals,
emission enable signals, etc.) to a corresponding row of pixels.
During operation, control circuitry 16 may initiate propagation of
a control pulse through the shift register. As the control pulse
propagates through the shift register, each gate line may be
activated in sequence, allowing successive rows of pixels 22 to be
loaded with data from data lines D. Each register circuit may be
referred to as a stage of the shift register.
[0058] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a shift register that may
be used to form a gate driver such as gate driver 48 in FIG. 4. The
shift register may include a chain of register circuits 56. Each
register circuit may supply a horizontal control signal to a
corresponding row of pixels. For example, a first register circuit
56-1 may have an output OUT.sub.1 that is coupled to the first row
of pixels in the display. The second register circuit 56-2 may have
an output OUT.sub.2 that is coupled to the second row of pixels in
the display. The third register circuit 56-3 may have an output
OUT.sub.3 that is coupled to the third row of pixels in the
display. This pattern may continue until the last row of the
display. Register circuit 56-N may be associated with the last row
of pixels in the active area and may have an output OUT.sub.N that
is coupled to the last row of pixels in the display. For gate
driver 48, OUT.sub.1 is the Scan2 signal for Row 1 (e.g.,
Scan2.sub.Row1), OUT.sub.2 is the Scan2 signal for Row 2 (e.g.,
Scan2.sub.Row2), etc. For gate driver 52, OUT.sub.1 would be the
Scan1 signal for Row 1 (e.g., Scan1.sub.ROW1), OUT.sub.2 would be
the Scan1 signal for Row 2 (e.g., Scan1.sub.ROW2), etc. Any of
drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54 may be formed from a shift register
similar to as shown in FIG. 5.
[0059] The first stage (56-1) of the shift register may receive a
start pulse (STV) at the input of the first stage. The output of
each stage in the shift register may be coupled to the input of the
subsequent stage, allowing the pulse (sometimes referred to as a
control pulse) to be propagated through the shift register. For
example, the control pulse STV may be provided to the first stage
56-1. This may activate the output of stage 56-1. The output of
56-1 is coupled to the input of stage 56-2, so when the output of
56-1 is activated, the input of 56-2 may be activated. The output
of stage 56-2 may be coupled to the input of 56-3, and this pattern
may be continued such that the control pulse STV may be propagated
through each stage of the shift register to activate the output of
each register circuit.
[0060] For simplicity, each register circuit in FIG. 5 is depicted
as having a single input and a single output. However, each
register circuit may have additional inputs and/or outputs as shown
in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of a register circuit that
may be used to form a shift register for drivers 48, 50, 52 or 54.
The register circuit may include an input (IN) and an output (OUT).
The input may be the output from the previous register circuit. The
input of the first register circuit may be control pulse STV. The
register circuit may also receive clock signals CLK1 and CLK2.
Finally, each register circuit may receive first and second supply
voltages VGH and VGL.
[0061] The shift register structure shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 was
described as forming gate driver 48. However, this type of
structure may also be used to form drivers 50, 52, and 54. The
output signals for drivers 50, 52, and 54 will correspond to
control signals EM2, Scan1, and EM1, respectively.
[0062] Display 14 may be configured to support multiple different
refresh rates. For example, display 14 may be configured to support
low refresh rate operations. Operating display 14 using a
relatively low refresh rate (e.g., a refresh rate of 1 Hz, 2 Hz,
1-10 Hz, less than 100 Hz, less than 60 Hz, less than 30 Hz, less
than 10 Hz, less than 5 Hz, less than 1 Hz, or other suitably low
rate) may be suitable for applications outputting content that is
static or nearly static and/or for applications that require
minimal power consumption.
[0063] FIG. 7 is a state diagram showing illustrative refresh rate
modes for display 14. As shown, display 14 may be operable in both
a first refresh rate mode 62 and a second refresh rate mode 64.
Control circuitry 16 may identify which mode is to be used based on
the type of content being displayed, the type of application
outputting display content, etc. In the first refresh rate mode
(sometimes referred to as a high refresh rate mode or normal
refresh rate mode), the refresh rate of the display may be 60 Hz,
120 Hz, or another desired refresh rate. In the second refresh rate
mode, the refresh rate (e.g., a second refresh rate) may be
different than in the first refresh rate mode. For example, the
second refresh rate may be less than 60 Hz (e.g., 1 Hz, 2 Hz, 1-10
Hz, less than 30 Hz, less than 10 Hz, less than 5 Hz, less than 1
Hz, etc.). The second refresh rate mode 64 may sometimes be
referred to as low refresh rate mode 64.
[0064] The example of display 14 being operable in two refresh rate
modes is merely illustrative. In general, display 14 may be
operated at any desired refresh rate. The display may have three or
more supported refresh rates, four or more supported refresh rates,
etc. The refresh rate may vary within a given refresh rate mode if
desired.
[0065] Herein, an example will be described where the refresh rate
is 60 Hz in normal refresh rate mode 62 and the refresh rate is 1
Hz in low refresh rate mode 64. This example is merely illustrative
and other desired refresh rates may be used if desired.
[0066] During 60 Hz operation, the data value of each pixel may be
refreshed or updated in each frame. A refresh frame may refer to a
frame where the data values of the pixels are updated. The refresh
frame may have a duration of 16.67 milliseconds (ms). The data
values of the pixels are updated every 16.67 milliseconds during 60
Hz operation.
[0067] As previously discussed, drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54 provide
control signals Scan2, EM2, Scan1, and EM1 to display pixels 22.
The drivers provide the control signals in a set sequence in order
to operate the display pixels. FIG. 8 is a timing diagram that
illustrates the operation of organic light-emitting diode display
pixel 22 during a refresh frame.
[0068] As shown in FIG. 8, during the data refresh frame, display
pixel 22 may be operated in at least four phases: (1) a
reset/initialization phase, (2) an on-bias stress phase, (3) a
threshold voltage sampling and data writing phase, and (4) an
emission phase. FIG. 8 is a timing diagram showing relevant signal
waveforms that may be applied to display pixel 22 during the four
phases of the data refresh operation.
[0069] Prior to time t1, signals Scan1 and Scan2 are deasserted
(e.g., the scan control signals are both at low voltage levels),
whereas signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g., the emission
control signals are both at high voltage levels). When both
emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are high, an emission current
will flow through drive transistor T2 into the corresponding
organic light-emitting diode 304 to produce light 306 (see FIG. 3).
The emission current is sometimes referred to as the OLED current
or OLED emission current, and the period during which the OLED
current is actively producing light at diode 304 is referred to as
the emission phase.
[0070] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase, which begins
a data refresh or data programming phase. At time t2, signal Scan1
may be pulsed high to activate transistors T3 and T6, which
initializes the voltage across capacitor Cst to a predetermined
voltage difference (e.g., ELVDD minus Vini). The time period where
Scan1 is asserted between t2 and t3 may sometimes be referred to as
an initialization phase, charge-up phase, initialization time
period, charge-up time period, etc.
[0071] At time t4, signal Scan1 is low, signal Scan2 is asserted
(e.g., driven high), and signal EM2 is deasserted (e.g., driven
low), which signifies the end of the initialization phase and the
beginning of the on-bias stress phase. In this configuration, only
transistors T1 and T2 are turned on (since signal Scan2 is high and
Node2 is charged up during the initialization phase). Configured in
this way, Node2 remains at VDDEL, and Node3 will be biased to Vdata
using transistor T1. In other words, the gate-to-source voltage Vgs
of transistor T2 will be set to (VDDEL-Vdata). Vdata is at least
partially applied to transistor T2 before any threshold voltage
sampling.
[0072] At time t5, scan control signal Scan1 is pulsed high while
signal Scan2 is asserted and while signals EM1 and EM2 are both
deasserted to load a desired data signal from data line 310 into
display pixel 22. This time period may be referred to as the data
writing phase, threshold voltage sampling and data writing phase,
data programming phase, etc. At time t6, scan control signal Scan1
is deasserted (e.g., driven low), which signifies the end of the
data programming phase. The emission phase then commences at t7
when emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are reasserted.
[0073] It should be noted that, if desired, the on-bias stress
period depicted in FIG. 8 may be omitted. Performing the on-bias
stress to bias the Vgs of transistor T2 with Vdata can help
mitigate hysteresis and prevent first frame dimming. However,
satisfactory display performance may sometimes be achieved without
the on-bias stress phase.
[0074] During low refresh rate operations, the data value of each
pixel may only be updated every 1 second. If, in the low refresh
rate mode the emission current is only being toggled during the
data refresh periods, luminance artifacts may arise. The luminance
of the pixels may experience dips during the refresh frames due to
sequentially shutting off and then turning on transistor T4, such
as during the four phases shown in FIG. 8. Having luminance dips at
1 Hz may result in noticeable flicker to the user. In an effort to
eliminate flicker, additional luminance dips may be inserted during
the vertical blanking period between refresh frames. The additional
luminance dips added during the vertical blanking period between
refresh frames may be referred to as anode reset frames. By
intentionally generating luminance dips at a higher frequency, the
flickering is less noticeable to the human eye.
[0075] To ensure satisfactory operation of the display in the low
refresh rate mode, anode reset frames may be performed at any
desired frequency during the time (e.g., vertical blanking period)
between refresh frames. In general, at least 10 anode reset frames,
at least 100 anode reset frames, less than 100 anode reset frames,
or more than 100 anode reset frames may be performed during the
vertical blanking period. The anode reset frames reset the
light-emitting diode anode without actually changing the pixel data
of each pixel. The anode reset frames allow for reduction of
luminance artifacts that may occur if the light-emitting diode
remained on/unchanged for full 1 second intervals.
[0076] FIG. 9 is a timing diagram that illustrates the operation of
organic light-emitting diode display pixel 22 during an anode reset
frame. Prior to time t1, signals Scan1 and Scan2 are deasserted
(e.g., the scan control signals are both at low voltage levels),
whereas signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g., the emission
control signals are both at high voltage levels). When both
emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are high, an emission current
will flow through drive transistor T2 into the corresponding
organic light-emitting diode 304 to produce light 306 (see FIG. 3).
The emission current is sometimes referred to as the OLED current
or OLED emission current, and the period during which the OLED
current is actively producing light at diode 304 is referred to as
the emission phase.
[0077] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase. Since
on-bias stress is applied during the data refresh frame, on-bias
stress may also be applied during the anode reset frame to help
maintain balance in terms of biasing the pixel transistors. At time
t2, signal EM2 is deasserted and signal Scan2 is asserted. This
marks the beginning of the on-bias stress phase. Only transistors
T1 and T2 are turned on for the on-bias stress phase. Configured in
this way, Node3 will be biased to Vdata using transistor Ti.
[0078] At time t3, signal EM1 is asserted (e.g., EM1 is driven
high) to turn on transistor T5, which marks the end of the on-bias
stress phase and the beginning of the anode reset phase. At this
time, transistors T1 and T5 are both on, so diode anode terminal
Node 4 is reset to Vdata (e.g., the voltage of the data line). At
time t4, signal Scan2 can be deasserted to mark the end of the
anode reset phase. At t5, emission signals EM1 and EM2 are both
high to allow the emission current to flow.
[0079] In general, an on-bias stress phase may accompany and
immediately precede any number of anode reset operations during the
vertical blanking period to help replicate and mirror the on-bias
stress throughout the operation of display 14. However, the on-bias
stress phase may also optionally be omitted before the anode reset
operations if desired.
[0080] In the example of FIGS. 4 and 5, drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54
each are formed by shift registers that have one register circuit
per row in the active area of the display. It may be desirable to
minimize the size of the inactive border area around the active
area of the display. The register circuits of drivers 48, 50, 52,
and 54 may occupy a larger than desired amount of space.
[0081] To reduce the amount of space in the inactive area taken up
by the register circuits of the gate driver circuitry of the
display, register circuits in the shift registers may be used to
drive two or more rows of pixels (instead of just one row of
pixels). FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing how one or more
register circuits may be shared by two rows of pixels.
[0082] As shown in FIG. 10, scan driver 48 is used to provide Scan2
signals to each row of pixels in the active rea, emission driver 50
is used to provide EM2 signals to each row of pixels in the active
rea, scan driver 52 is used to provide Scan1 signals to each row of
pixels in the active rea, and emission driver 54 is used to provide
EM1 signals to each row of pixels in the active rea. Similar to as
shown in FIG. 5, scan driver 48 has a register circuit for each row
of pixels in active area 28. The stage 1 register circuit of scan
driver 48 is used to provide Scan2 signals to row 1 of the active
area, the stage 2 register circuit of scan driver 48 is used to
provide Scan2 signals to row 2 of the active area, etc. Each stage
of scan driver 48 provides an output signal (Scan2) to one row of
pixels in the active area as well as the next stage of the scan
driver.
[0083] In contrast, emission driver 50 includes a register circuit
for every two rows of active area 28. As shown, stage 1 of emission
driver 50 is used to provide EM2 signals to both rows 1 and 2 of
active area 28. Stage 2 of emission driver 50 is used to provide
EM2 signals to both rows 3 and 4 of active area 28. Each stage of
emission driver 50 provides an output signal (EM2) to two rows of
pixels in the active area as well as the next stage of the emission
driver. This concept may be applied to other drivers, such as scan
driver 52 and emission driver 54.
[0084] Scan driver 52 includes a register circuit for every two
rows of active area 28. As shown, stage 1 of scan driver 52 is used
to provide Scan1 signals to both rows 1 and 2 of active area 28.
Stage 2 of scan driver 52 is used to provide Scan1 signals to both
rows 3 and 4 of active area 28. Each stage of scan driver 52
provides an output signal (Scan1) to two rows of pixels in the
active area as well as the next stage of the scan driver.
[0085] Emission driver 54 includes a register circuit for every two
rows of active area 28. As shown, stage 1 of emission driver 54 is
used to provide EM1 signals to both rows 1 and 2 of active area 28.
Stage 2 of emission driver 54 is used to provide EM1 signals to
both rows 3 and 4 of active area 28. Each stage of emission driver
54 provides an output signal (EMI) to two rows of pixels in the
active area as well as the next stage of the emission driver.
[0086] The arrangement of FIG. 10 reduces the number of register
circuits that have to be fit in the inactive area of the display.
Consider a scenario in which the active area of the display has n
rows. If each of the drivers has a one register circuit per row (as
in FIGS. 4 and 5), then the total number of register circuits will
equal 4n. In FIG. 10, the total number of register circuits is
2.5n, meaning the arrangement of FIG. 10 results in a 37.5%
reduction in the number of register circuits required compared to
the arrangement of FIGS. 4 and 5.
[0087] As shown in FIG. 10, each of the drivers has corresponding
power supply lines to supply voltages VGL and VGH. Each register
circuit in each of the drivers receives supply voltages VGL and
VGH. Stage 1 of each of the drivers receives a corresponding start
pulse for that driver. Stage 1 of scan driver 48 receives a Scan2
start pulse (Scan2 VST), stage 1 of emission driver 50 receives an
EM2 start pulse (EM2 VST), stage 1 of scan driver 52 receives a
Scan1 start pulse (Scan1 VST), and stage 1 of emission driver 54
receives an EM1 start pulse (EM1 VST).
[0088] Each driver may have corresponding clock signals provided by
clock signal paths. Clock signal paths 30-1 and 30-2 provide first
and second clock signals (CLK1 and CLK2) for Scan2 driver 48. Clock
signal paths 30-3 and 30-4 provide first and second clock signals
(CLK1 and CLK2) for EM2 driver 50. Clock signal paths 30-5 and 30-6
provide first and second clock signals (CLK1 and CLK2) for Scan1
driver 52. Clock signal paths 30-7 and 30-8 provide first and
second clock signals (CLK1 and CLK2) for EM1 driver 54. Having
different clock signals for the different drivers may allow for the
drivers with different numbers of register circuits to still
operate in a synchronous fashion. For example, if the same clock
signal was used for scan drivers 48 and 52, the Scan1 pulse would
propagate through the rows of the active area twice as fast as the
Scan2 pulse. The Scan1 driver may therefore use a clock signal that
is half the frequency of the clock signal for the Scan2 driver for
synchronous operation.
[0089] In FIG. 10, scan driver 52 and emission drivers 50 and 54
may receive clock signals of the same frequency (e.g., a first
frequency). Scan driver 48 may receive clock signals of a second
frequency that is twice the frequency of the frequency (e.g., there
will be two clock signals for scan driver 48 for every one clock
signal for drivers 50, 52, and 54). If drivers 50, 52, and 54 have
register circuits that provide signals to three rows in the active
area, then the second frequency (for driver 48) may be three times
the first frequency (for drivers 50, 52, and 54). In general, scan
driver 48 may use clock signals at a baseline frequency. The other
drivers may use clock signals at a frequency that is equal to the
baseline frequency divided by the number of rows shared by each
register circuit in that driver. In some examples, drivers may have
register circuits that share different numbers of rows per register
circuit. For example, each register circuit in scan driver 52 may
provide signals to two rows of pixels whereas each register circuit
in emission drivers 50 and 54 may provide signals to three rows of
pixels. In this example, scan driver 48 may use clock signals at
the baseline frequency, scan driver 52 may use clock signals at a
second frequency that is half of the baseline frequency, and
emission drivers 50 and 54 may use clock signals at a third
frequency that is a third of the baseline frequency. Reducing the
clock frequency of the drivers (e.g., drivers 50, 52, and 54) may
reduce power consumption of the gate driver circuitry.
[0090] Clock signal paths that provide the same clock signals may
be shorted together if desired. For example, in FIG. 10, clock
signal paths 30-3, 30-5, and 30-7 may provide the same CLK1 signal
to drivers 50, 52, and 54. Clock signal paths 30-3, 30-5, and 30-7
may therefore optionally be shorted together. Similarly, clock
signal paths 30-4, 30-6, and 30-8 may provide the same CLK2 signal
to drivers 50, 52, and 54. Clock signal paths 30-4, 30-6, and 30-8
may therefore optionally be shorted together.
[0091] In FIG. 10, the scan direction of drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54
is parallel to columns of pixels in the active area. In other
words, the rows of pixels in the active area may extend along a
first dimension and the columns of pixels in the active area may
extend along a second dimension that is orthogonal to the first
dimension. The scan direction of drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54 may be
parallel to the second dimension and orthogonal to the first
dimension.
[0092] Signal waveforms that may be applied to display pixel 22 by
the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 10 are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
FIG. 11 shows a timing diagram for a refresh frame. In the example
of FIG. 11, the on-bias stress phase is omitted from the pixel
operation. The timing diagrams for both the first and second rows
and third and fourth rows of the active area are shown in FIG. 11.
As shown in FIG. 11, the Scan1, EM1, and EM2 signals are provided
to rows 1 and 2 of the active area. In contrast, rows 1 and 2
receive unique Scan2 signals.
[0093] Prior to time t1, signals Scan1 and Scan2 (for both rows)
are deasserted (e.g., the scan control signals are both at low
voltage levels), whereas signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g.,
the emission control signals are both at high voltage levels). When
both emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are high, an emission
current will flow through drive transistor T2 into the
corresponding organic light-emitting diode 304 to produce light
306.
[0094] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase, which begins
a data refresh or data programming phase. Scan1 may be pulsed high,
which initializes the voltage across capacitor Cst to a
predetermined voltage difference (e.g., ELVDD minus Vini). The time
period where Scan1 is asserted between t1 and t2 may sometimes be
referred to as an initialization phase, charge-up phase,
initialization time period, charge-up time period, etc. Because the
Scan1 signal is identical for rows 1 and 2, the initialization
phase for rows 1 and 2 may be concurrent.
[0095] At time t3, scan control signal Scan2 for row 1 is pulsed
high while signal Scan1 is asserted and while signals EM1 and EM2
are both deasserted to load a desired data signal from data line
310 into display pixels 22 in row 1. This time period may be
referred to as the row 1 data writing phase, threshold voltage
sampling and data writing phase, data programming phase, etc. At
time t4, scan control signal Scan2 for row 2 is pulsed high while
signal Scan1 is asserted and while signals EM1 and EM2 are both
deasserted to load a desired data signal from data line 310 into
display pixels 22 in row 2. This time period may be referred to as
the row 2 data writing phase, threshold voltage sampling and data
writing phase, data programming phase, etc. The emission phase then
commences at t5 when emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are
reasserted.
[0096] The same signal sequence will be repeated for rows 3 and 4,
but with a delay for the signals to propagate through the shift
register. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the pixels may still
operate effectively during the refresh frame even when the Scan1,
EM1, and EM2 drivers have register circuits shared between two rows
of pixels.
[0097] FIG. 12 shows a timing diagram for an anode reset frame that
is driven by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 10. Prior to time
t1, signals Scan1 and Scan2 (for both rows) are deasserted (e.g.,
the scan control signals are both at low voltage levels), whereas
signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g., the emission control
signals are both at high voltage levels). Emission control signal
EM1 remains at the high voltage level throughout the anode reset
frame and Scan1 remains at the low voltage level throughout the
anode reset frame. When both emission control signals EM1 and EM2
are high, an emission current will flow through drive transistor T2
into the corresponding organic light-emitting diode 304 to produce
light 306 (see FIG. 3).
[0098] At time t1, emission control signal EM2 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase. Since
on-bias stress is omitted during the data refresh frame (as shown
in FIG. 10), on-bias stress may also be omitted during the anode
reset frame to help maintain balance in terms of biasing the pixel
transistors.
[0099] At time t2, signal Scan2 for row 1 is asserted (e.g., Scan2
is driven high) to turn on transistor Ti. At this time, transistors
T1 and T5 are both on, so diode anode terminal Node 4 is reset to
Vdata (e.g., the voltage of the data line). Asserting signal Scan2
at t2 begins the row 1 anode reset phase. Signal Scan2 for row 1 is
then deasserted to end the row 1 anode reset phase. At time t3,
signal Scan2 for row 2 is asserted (e.g., Scan2 is driven high) for
the row 2 anode reset phase. At t4, emission signals EM1 and EM2
are both high to allow the emission current to flow.
[0100] In the example of FIGS. 10-12, an example is described where
each stage of a shift register is shared between two rows of pixels
in the active area of the display. However, this example is merely
illustrative. For additional reduction of the space occupied by the
gate driver circuitry, each stage of a shift register may be shared
by more than two rows of pixels. Each register circuit may provide
signals to three rows of pixels, four rows of pixels, more than
four rows of pixels, more than eight rows of pixels, more than ten
rows of pixels, between two and four rows of pixels, less than ten
rows of pixels, between two and ten rows of pixels, etc.
[0101] In the example of FIG. 10, the number of register circuits
is asymmetric on the left and right sides of the active area of the
display. If desired, register circuits for a single driver may be
positioned on both sides of the active area. This may allow for a
symmetrical design where the number of register circuits on each
side of the active area is equal.
[0102] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example where
register circuits are shared between multiple rows and register
circuits for a given driver are positioned on first and second
opposing sides of the active area. As shown in FIG. 13, emission
drivers 50 and 54 may have a similar arrangement to as in FIG. 10.
Each register circuit of the emission drivers may be shared by two
rows of pixels. Similar to FIG. 10, shift register 50 is formed
entirely on a left side of the active area and shift register 54 is
formed entirely on a right side of the active area. In contrast,
scan drivers 48 and 52 are split between the left side of the
active area and the right side of the active area.
[0103] As shown in FIG. 13, scan driver 48 includes a first portion
48-1 formed on the left side of the active area. Stage 1 of the
Scan2 driver may provide an output signal (Scan2) to row 1 of the
active area and to stage 2 of the Scan2 driver. Stage 2 of the
Scan2 driver may similarly provide an output signal to row 2 of the
active area and to stage 3 of the Scan2 driver. However, in FIG.
13, stage 3 of the Scan2 driver is positioned on the other side of
the active area. Portion 48-2 of the Scan2 driver is formed on the
right side of the active area. Despite the register circuits being
split across the active area, the control signals still propagate
through the stages of the shift register as if the shift register
was all on one side of the active area.
[0104] Scan driver 52 includes a first portion 52-1 formed on the
right side of the active area and a second portion 52-2 formed on
the left side of the active area. Stage 1 of the Scan1 driver may
provide an output signal (Scan1) to rows 1 and 2 of the active area
and to stage 2 of the Scan1 driver. Stage 2 of the Scan1 driver may
provide signals to rows 3 and 4 of the active area. However, in
FIG. 13, stage 2 of the Scan1 driver is positioned on the opposite
side of the active area as stage 1.
[0105] In FIG. 13, similar to as in FIG. 10, the scan direction of
drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54 is parallel to columns of pixels in the
active area. The active area of the display may have first and
second opposing sides (e.g., upper and lower edges) connected by
third and fourth opposing sides (e.g., left and right edges). The
scan direction of drivers 48, 50, 52, and 54 may be from the first
side of the active area to the second side of the active area
(e.g., the drivers scan from the upper edge of the active area to
the lower edge of the active area). Drivers 48 and 52 are split
across the active area such that some register circuits are formed
on both the third and fourth sides of the active area.
[0106] Similar to as shown in FIG. 10, the display of FIG. 13 also
may include supply lines to provide supply voltages VGL and VGH,
clock paths to provide clock signals to each driver, and control
lines to provide start pulses to each driver.
[0107] The pattern of the register circuits for the scan drivers
switching between the left side of the display and the right side
of the display (as shown in FIG. 13) may continue for the duration
of the shift register. The shift register may `jump` across the
active area at regular or irregular intervals depending on the
design requirements of the specific display. Splitting the shift
register across the display at one or more locations allows for
more flexibility in how the register circuits are distributed in
the inactive area of the display.
[0108] Additional register circuits may be eliminated from the
display by combining the EM1 driver and the EM2 driver into one
shift register. In some cases, the waveforms of the EM1 and EM2
signals are the same, just shifted in time relative to one another.
Therefore, a single register circuit may be used to provide both
the EM1 and EM2 signals.
[0109] As shown in FIG. 14, the emission driver may have a first
stage that provides an output signal to both rows 1 and 2. The
output signal serves as EM1 for rows 1 and 2 (e.g., the output
signal is provided to terminal 314 of FIG. 3). The output signal is
also provided to the second stage of the EM1 shift register. Stage
2 then provides the output signal to rows 3 and 4 to serve as EM1
for rows 3 and 4. However, stage 2 also provides the output signal
back to rows 1 and 2 to serve as EM2 for rows 1 and 2. In other
words, the output of stage 2 is coupled both to terminal 314 of the
pixels in rows 3 and 4 to serve as EM1 for rows 3 and 4 and to
terminal 315 of the pixels in rows 1 and 2 to serve as EM2 for the
two previous rows (rows 1 and 2). Because EM1 and EM2 have the same
waveform during operation of the pixels, the operation of the pixel
will not be affected by using just one emission driver for both the
EM1 and EM2 signals.
[0110] Similar to as shown in FIG. 10, the display of FIG. 14 also
may include supply lines to provide supply voltages VGL and VGH,
clock paths to provide clock signals to each driver, and control
lines to provide start pulses to each driver.
[0111] Signal waveforms that may be applied to display pixel 22 by
the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 14 are shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.
FIG. 15 shows a timing diagram for a refresh frame. In the example
of FIG. 15, the on-bias stress phase is omitted from the pixel
operation. The timing diagrams for both the first and second rows
and third and fourth rows of the active area are shown in FIG. 15.
As shown in FIG. 15, the Scan1, EM1, and EM2 signals are provided
to rows 1 and 2 of the active area. In contrast, rows 1 and 2
receive unique Scan2 signals.
[0112] Prior to time t1, signals Scan1 and Scan2 (for both rows)
are deasserted (e.g., the scan control signals are both at low
voltage levels), whereas signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g.,
the emission control signals are both at high voltage levels). When
both emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are high, an emission
current will flow through drive transistor T2 into the
corresponding organic light-emitting diode 304 to produce light
306.
[0113] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase, which begins
a data refresh or data programming phase. Scan1 may be pulsed high,
which initializes the voltage across capacitor Cst to a
predetermined voltage difference in both rows 1 and 2. The time
period where Scan1 is asserted between t1 and t2 may sometimes be
referred to as an initialization phase, charge-up phase,
initialization time period, charge-up time period, etc.
[0114] At time t3, scan control signal Scan2 for row 1 is pulsed
high while signal Scan1 is asserted and while signals EM1 and EM2
are both deasserted to load a desired data signal from data line
310 into display pixels 22 in row 1. This time period may be
referred to as the row 1 data writing phase, threshold voltage
sampling and data writing phase, data programming phase, etc. At
time t4, scan control signal Scan2 for row 2 is pulsed high while
signal Scan1 is asserted and while signals EM1 and EM2 are both
deasserted to load a desired data signal from data line 310 into
display pixels 22 in row 2. This time period may be referred to as
the row 2 data writing phase, threshold voltage sampling and data
writing phase, data programming phase, etc. The emission phase then
commences at t5 when emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are
reasserted.
[0115] The same signal sequence will be repeated for rows 3 and 4,
but with a delay for the signals to propagate through the shift
register. As shown, the delay in the signal sequence between rows 1
and 2 and rows 3 and 4 is such that the waveform of EM2 for rows 1
and 2 is the same as the waveform of EM1 for rows 3 and 4. As
shown, when EM2 for rows 1 and 2 drops at t2, EM1 for rows 3 and 4
also drops. Then, when EM2 for rows 1 and 2 rises at t5, EM1 for
rows 3 and 4 also rises. This enables the same signal to be used
both for EM2 for rows 1 and 2 and for EM1 for rows 3 and 4.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, the pixels may still operate
effectively during the refresh frame even when a single emission
driver provides both the EM1 and EM2 signals.
[0116] FIG. 16 shows a timing diagram for an anode reset frame that
is driven by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 14. Prior to time
t1, signals Scan1 and Scan2 (for both rows) are deasserted (e.g.,
the scan control signals are both at low voltage levels), whereas
signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g., the emission control
signals are both at high voltage levels). Scan1 remains at the low
voltage level throughout the anode reset frame. When both emission
control signals EM1 and EM2 are high, an emission current will flow
through drive transistor T2 into the corresponding organic
light-emitting diode 304 to produce light 306 (see FIG. 3).
[0117] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase. Since
on-bias stress is omitted during the data refresh frame of FIG. 15,
on-bias stress may also be omitted during the anode reset frame of
FIG. 16 to help maintain balance in terms of biasing the pixel
transistors.
[0118] At time t2, emission control signal EM2 is deasserted.
Signal EM1 is subsequently asserted at t3. At time t4, signal Scan2
for row 1 is asserted (e.g., Scan2 is driven high) to turn on
transistor Ti. At this time, transistors T1 and T5 are both on, so
diode anode terminal Node 4 is reset to Vdata (e.g., the voltage of
the data line). Signal Scan2 for row 1 is deasserted to end the row
1 anode reset phase. At time t5, signal Scan2 for row 2 is asserted
(e.g., Scan2 is driven high) for the row 2 anode reset phase. At
t6, emission signals EM1 and EM2 are both high to allow the
emission current to flow.
[0119] In FIG. 16, similar to as in FIG. 15, the same signal
sequence will be repeated for rows 3 and 4, but with a delay for
the signals to propagate through the shift register. The delay in
the signal sequence between rows 1 and 2 and rows 3 and 4 is such
that the waveform of EM2 for rows 1 and 2 is the same as the
waveform of EM1 for rows 3 and 4. This enables the same signal to
be used both for EM2 for rows 1 and 2 and for EM1 for rows 3 and 4.
Therefore, the pixels may operate effectively during both the anode
reset frames and the refresh frames even when a single emission
driver provides both the EM1 and EM2 signals.
[0120] In addition to the reduced required inactive area space,
omitting one of the emission drivers reduces the amount of power
consumption required by the gate driver circuitry.
[0121] If desired, register circuits for a driver in FIG. 14 may be
positioned on both sides of the active area, similar to as shown in
FIG. 13.
[0122] In the example of FIGS. 10-16, the on-bias stress phase is
omitted during the refresh frames and anode reset frames. In some
displays, it may be desirable to include the on-bias stress phase
while still reducing the number of total register circuits in the
display. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display
that has register circuit sharing for reduced inactive area space
consumption while still allowing an on-bias stress phase during the
refresh frames and anode reset frames. As shown in FIG. 17, both
scan drivers 48 and 52 may include one register circuit per row.
Emission drivers 50 and 54 may include one register circuit per two
rows in the active area.
[0123] Emission driver 50 includes a register circuit for every two
rows of active area 28. As shown, stage 1 of emission driver 50 is
used to provide EM2 signals to both rows 1 and 2 of active area 28
(as well as stage 2 of the emission driver). Stage 2 of emission
driver 50 is used to provide EM2 signals to both rows 3 and 4 of
active area 28. Each stage of emission driver 50 provides an output
signal (EM2) to two row of pixels in the active area as well as the
next stage of the emission driver.
[0124] Emission driver 54 includes a register circuit for every two
rows of active area 28. As shown, stage 1 of emission driver 54 is
used to provide EM1 signals to both rows 1 and 2 of active area 28.
Stage 2 of emission driver 54 is used to provide EM1 signals to
both rows 3 and 4 of active area 28. Each stage of emission driver
54 provides an output signal (EMI) to two row of pixels in the
active area as well as the next stage of the emission driver.
[0125] The arrangement of FIG. 17 reduces the number of register
circuits that have to be fit in the inactive area of the display.
Consider a scenario in which the active area of the display has n
rows. If each of the drivers has a one register circuit per row (as
in FIGS. 4 and 5), then the total number of register circuits will
equal 4n. In FIG. 17, the total number of register circuits is 3n,
meaning a 25% reduction in the number of register circuits
required. Thus, there is still a significant reduction in required
register circuits while still enabling on-bias stress during the
refresh frames and anode reset frames.
[0126] Similar to as in FIG. 10, each of the drivers in FIG. 17 has
corresponding power supply lines to supply voltages VGL and VGH.
Each register circuit in each of the drivers receives supply
voltages VGL and VGH. Stage 1 of each of the drivers receives a
corresponding start pulse for that driver. Stage 1 of scan driver
48 receives a Scan2 start pulse (Scan2 VST), stage 1 of emission
driver 50 receives an EM2 start pulse (EM2 VST), stage 1 of scan
driver 52 receives a Scan1 start pulse (Scan1 VST), and stage 1 of
emission driver 54 receives an EM1 start pulse (EM1 VST).
[0127] Each driver may have corresponding clock signals provided by
clock signal paths. Clock signal paths 30-1 and 30-2 provide first
and second clock signals (CLK1 and CLK2) for Scan2 driver 48. Clock
signal paths 30-3 and 30-4 provide first and second clock signals
(CLK1 and CLK2) for EM2 driver 50. Clock signal paths 30-5 and 30-6
provide first and second clock signals (CLK1 and CLK2) for Scan1
driver 52. Clock signal paths 30-7 and 30-8 provide first and
second clock signals (CLK1 and CLK2) for EM1 driver 54. Having
different clock signals for the different drivers may allow for the
drivers with different numbers of register circuits to still
operate in a synchronous fashion. The EM1 and EM2 drivers may
therefore use a clock signal that is half the frequency of the
clock signal for the Scan1 and Scan2 drivers for synchronous
operation.
[0128] In general, for all of the embodiments described herein,
appropriate adjustments may be made to the clock signals (as
discussed above) in order to allow for synchronous operation of
shift registers that include different numbers of register
circuits.
[0129] Signal waveforms that may be applied to display pixel 22 by
the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 17 are shown in FIGS. 18 and 19.
FIG. 18 shows a timing diagram for a refresh frame. In the example
of FIGS. 17-19, the on-bias stress phase is included in the pixel
operation.
[0130] As shown in FIG. 18, the EM1, and EM2 signals are provided
to both rows 1 and 2 of the active area. In contrast, rows 1 and 2
receive unique Scan1 and Scan2 signals. Prior to time t1, signals
Scan1 and Scan2 are deasserted (e.g., the scan control signals are
both at low voltage levels), whereas signals EM1 and EM2 are
asserted (e.g., the emission control signals are both at high
voltage levels). When both emission control signals EM1 and EM2 are
high, an emission current will flow through drive transistor T2
into the corresponding organic light-emitting diode 304 to produce
light 306 (see FIG. 3).
[0131] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 for rows 1 and 2 is
deasserted (i.e., driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission
phase, which begins a data refresh or data programming phase.
Signal Scan1 for row 1 may be pulsed high for a row 1
initialization phase. At t2, while Scan 1 for row 1 is deasserted,
EM1 for rows 1 and 2 is deasserted, and EM2 for rows 1 and 2 is
asserted, signal Scan1 for row 2 may be pulsed high for a row 2
initialization phase.
[0132] At time t3, while EM1, EM2, and Scan1 for row 1 are
deasserted, signal Scan2 for row 1 may be asserted to begin the
on-bias stress phase for row 1. Then at t4, while EM1, EM2, and
Scan1 for row 2 are deasserted, signal Scan2 for row 2 may be
asserted to begin the on-bias stress phase for row 2.
[0133] At time t5, scan control signal Scan1 for row 1 is pulsed
high while signal Scan2 for row 1 is asserted and while signals EM1
and EM2 are both deasserted to load a desired data signal from data
line 310 into display pixels 22 in row 1. At time t6, scan control
signal Scan1 for row 2 is pulsed high while signal Scan2 for row 2
is asserted and while signals EM1 and EM2 are both deasserted to
load a desired data signal from data line 310 into display pixels
22 in row 2. The emission phase then commences at t7 when emission
control signals EM1 and EM2 are reasserted.
[0134] The same signal sequence will be repeated for rows 3 and 4,
but with a delay for the signals to propagate through the shift
register. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, the pixels may still
operate effectively and implement an on-bias stress phase during
the refresh frame even when the EM1 and EM2 drivers have register
circuits shared between two rows of pixels.
[0135] FIG. 19 shows a timing diagram for an anode reset frame that
is driven by the gate driver circuitry of FIG. 17. Prior to time
t1, signals Scan1 (for both rows) and Scan2 (for both rows) are
deasserted (e.g., the scan control signals are both at low voltage
levels), whereas signals EM1 and EM2 are asserted (e.g., the
emission control signals are both at high voltage levels). Scan1
for both row 1 and row 2 may remain at the low voltage level
throughout the anode reset frame. When both emission control
signals EM1 and EM2 are high, an emission current will flow through
drive transistor T2 into the corresponding organic light-emitting
diode 304 to produce light 306 (see FIG. 3).
[0136] At time t1, emission control signal EM1 is deasserted (i.e.,
driven low) to temporarily suspend the emission phase. Since
on-bias stress is included during the data refresh frame of FIG.
18, on-bias stress may also be included during the anode reset
frame of FIG. 19 to help maintain balance in terms of biasing the
pixel transistors.
[0137] At time t2, while signal EM2 is deasserted, signal Scan2
(for row 1) is asserted. This marks the beginning of the on-bias
stress phase for row 1. Then, at t3, signal Scan2 for row 2 is
asserted, marking the beginning of the on-bias stress phase for row
2. At time t4, signal EM1 is asserted (e.g., EM1 is driven high) to
turn on transistor T5, which marks the end of the on-bias stress
phase for rows 1 and 2. Asserting signal EM1 at t4 also begins the
anode reset phase for rows 1 and 2. The row 1 anode reset phase
concludes when the Scan2 signal for row 1 is deasserted. The row 2
anode reset phase concludes when the Scan2 signal for row 2 is
deasserted. At time t5, emission signals EM1 and EM2 are both high
to resume the emission phase.
[0138] It should be noted that the pulse widths of the waveforms
depicted in FIGS. 18 and 19 (or in FIGS. 11, 12, 15, and 16) may be
tuned. The pulse widths may be tuned actively during operation of
the display, may be tuned during a calibration procedure during
manufacturing, etc. For example, the EM1 and EM2 pulse widths may
be modified to mitigate any luminance artifacts during operation of
the display, control the on-bias stress to maintain balance in
biasing the pixel transistors, etc.
[0139] The concept of using a single emission driver to provide
both the EM1 and EM2 emission signals (as shown in connection with
FIGS. 14-16) may be applied to the gate driver scheme shown in
FIGS. 17-19. An example of this type is shown in FIG. 20. As shown
in FIG. 20, scan drivers 48 and 52 each include one register
circuit for each row of pixels in the active area. Emission driver
54, similar to as in FIG. 17, has one register circuit for every
two rows of pixels in the active area. Additionally, emission
driver 50 is omitted and emission driver 54 provides both the EM1
and EM2 signals (similar to as shown in FIG. 14).
[0140] The waveforms of the EM1 and EM2 signals may be the same
except for a shift in time relative to one another. Therefore, a
single shift register may be used to provide both the EM1 and EM2
signals. As shown in FIG. 20, emission driver 54 may have a first
stage that provides an output signal to both rows 1 and 2. The
output signal serves as EM1 for rows 1 and 2 (e.g., the output
signal is provided to terminal 314 of FIG. 3). The output signal is
also provided to the second stage of the EM1 shift register. Stage
2 then provides the output signal to rows 3 and 4 to serve as EM1
for rows 3 and 4. However, stage 2 also provides the output signal
back to rows 1 and 2 to serve as EM2 for rows 1 and 2. In other
words, the output of stage 2 is coupled both to terminal 314 of the
pixels in rows 3 and 4 to serve as EM1 for rows 3 and 4 and to
terminal 315 of the pixels in rows 1 and 2 to serve as EM2 for the
two previous rows (rows 1 and 2). Because EM1 and EM2 have the same
waveform during operation of the pixels, the operation of the pixel
will not be affected by using just one emission driver for both the
EM1 and EM2 signals.
[0141] Operation of the pixels by the driver circuitry of FIG. 20
during the refresh frames and the anode reset frames may be the
same as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, with the EM1 and EM2 waveform
having the same shape. The pixels may operate effectively during
both the anode reset frames and the refresh frames even when a
single emission driver provides both the EM1 and EM2 signals.
[0142] It should be understood that the positions of the drivers
and the corresponding register circuits in FIGS. 10, 13, 14, 17,
and 20 are merely illustrative. In general, each driver may be
positioned on either side of the display. Each driver may have any
desired position relative to the other drivers. In the embodiments
shown herein, drivers are formed on first and second opposing sides
of the active area. However, this is not required, and if desired
all of the drivers may be formed on one side of the active area of
the display. Any of the shift registers shown in FIGS. 10, 13, 14,
17, and 20 may be split across the active area as shown and
discussed in connection with FIG. 14.
[0143] The foregoing is merely illustrative and various
modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments.
The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any
combination.
* * * * *