JP2003229953A - Display controller, electric equipment and foldable portable telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make compact and inexpensive an electric equipment provided with a plurality of display means. <P>SOLUTION: In the electric equipment provided with a plurality of liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-2, a display memory 806 for storing display data to be supplied to the liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-2 is provided commonly for the plurality of liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-2 and a selector 807 is provided for switching which of the plurality of liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-2 the display data stored in the display memory 806 are to be supplied to. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric device (for example, a foldable portable telephone) provided with a plurality of display means (for example, a liquid crystal panel).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been provided a portable telephone which is made foldable by dividing a previously integrated casing into two and connecting them by a hinge.
In a foldable portable telephone, a display screen for displaying various information such as the telephone number of the called party, the current time, and the operation method is usually provided on the inner surface of one of the casings. An operation key for the user to perform various inputs such as input of a telephone number is provided on the inner surface of the other housing. The inner surface of the housing means a surface that is not exposed to the outside when the telephone is folded.

If such a foldable portable telephone is folded when it is not in use, it can be downsized, and in addition, it is possible to prevent the disadvantage that the operation key is depressed unintentionally. It is effective for carrying.

However, in the previous foldable portable telephone, the display screen is provided on the inner surface of the housing as described above, so that the user can see the display screen when the telephone is folded. I could not do it, and it was inconvenient to use.

In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-2001
In the folding mobile phone disclosed in the publication of -186226, one of both surfaces of one liquid crystal panel is used as a display screen on the inner surface of the housing, and the other is used as a display screen on the outer surface of the housing. The outer surface of the housing means a surface exposed to the outside even in a folded state. As a result, the user can see the display screen even when the mobile phone is folded, and the usability is improved.

However, when both surfaces of one liquid crystal panel are used as screens, a backlight for irradiating light from the back surface of the liquid crystal panel (the surface opposite to the surface used as the screen) should be provided. Therefore, there is a problem that the visibility of the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel is poor in a dark place.

A foldable portable type in which two liquid crystal panels are provided, one liquid crystal panel is used as a display screen on the inner surface of the housing, and the other liquid crystal panel is used as a display screen on the outside of the housing. A telephone is provided. In this case, since one side of the liquid crystal panel is used as a screen, a backlight can be provided, that is, the visibility of the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel can be improved.

The display of an image on the liquid crystal panel is usually carried out by storing the display data in a memory, reading the data from the memory and supplying the read data to the liquid crystal panel. In an electric device having a plurality of liquid crystal panels such as the telephone set, a memory for storing display data is conventionally provided for each liquid crystal panel.

[0009]

However, in the structure in which the memory for storing the display data is provided for each liquid crystal panel as described above, the size and cost of the electric device having a plurality of liquid crystal panels are increased. Was invited to rise. In particular, in recent years, there has been a demand for a larger display screen and a larger number of display colors. To realize this, a memory with a larger capacity is required as a memory for storing display data. Therefore, the larger the capacity of the memory becomes, the larger the cost becomes, and the higher the cost becomes. Therefore, the above problem becomes more remarkable.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to reduce the size and cost of an electric device having a plurality of display means.

[0011]

To achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a display controller for controlling a plurality of display means, a display memory for storing display data supplied to the display means is provided. The display means is commonly provided for a plurality of display means, and it is possible to switch to which of the plurality of liquid crystal panels the display data stored in the display memory is supplied.

Further, according to the present invention, in an electric device having a plurality of display means, the display controller having the above-mentioned configuration is provided as means for controlling the plurality of display means.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a first casing and a second casing, and the first casing and the second casing are connected in a relatively rotatable state. In a foldable portable telephone, the telephone of the first or second casing is folded on a surface that is not exposed to the outside when the telephone of the first or second casing is folded. A memory for storing the display data supplied to the first and second display means and the display data respectively provided on the surfaces exposed to the outside even in the state of being The display memory commonly provided for the first and second display means and the display data stored in the display memory are supplied to the first display means when the telephone is not folded. , Meanwhile, the phone is folded In it are state and a, a switching means for supplying to said second display means. At this time,
The first and second display means may both be an active matrix type liquid crystal panel using thin film transistors.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are external views of a foldable portable telephone 100 which is an embodiment of the present invention. The foldable portable phone 100 is
It has an upper housing 101 and a lower housing 102. The upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102 are connected to each other by a hinge or the like in a relatively rotatable state. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102 are separated from each other. As shown in FIG. 2, an upper casing 101 and a lower casing 102
It is possible to freely adjust the positional relationship between the upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102 while the and are overlapped (hereinafter, referred to as "the folded state of the telephone 100").

On the inner surface of the upper housing 101 (the surface that is not exposed to the outside when the telephone 100 is folded) and the outer surface (the surface that is exposed to the outside even when the telephone 100 is folded), the telephone numbers of the callees are received. A main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and a sub liquid crystal panel 82-2 for displaying various kinds of information such as the current time and operation method are provided.
Various operation keys 601 are provided on the inner surface of the lower housing 102 for the user to perform various inputs such as input of a telephone number.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile phone 100. In FIG. 3, 1 is an antenna, 2 is a communication unit, 3 is a communication processing unit, 4 is a speaker, 5 is a microphone, 6 is an operation unit, 7 is a control unit, 8 is a display unit, and 9 is a state detection unit.

The signal received by the antenna 1 is sent to the communication unit 2
After being demodulated by, it is decoded by the communication processing unit 3 in a predetermined method. The signal decoded by the communication processing unit 3 is converted into voice by the speaker 4. The microphone 5 converts the input voice into an electric signal. Microphone 5
The electrical signal obtained in 1 is encoded by the communication processing unit 3 in a predetermined manner, then modulated by the communication unit 2 and transmitted from the antenna 1.

The operation unit 6 includes operation keys 601 shown in FIG.
The user's operation is converted into an electric signal and given to the control unit 7. The control unit 7 is composed of a microcomputer and controls the operation of the portable telephone 100 as a whole in accordance with a signal given from the user interface 6.

As will be described later, the display section 8 is provided with the main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the telephone number of the called party, the current time, When the telephone 100 is not in the folded state, various information such as the operation method is displayed on the main liquid crystal panel 82-1 provided on the inner surface of the upper housing 101. On the other hand, when the telephone 100 is in the folded state, The images are displayed on the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2 provided on the outer surface of the upper housing 101 as needed. The state detection unit 9 detects whether or not the telephone 100 is in a folded state, and gives the detection result to the control unit 7.

The display section 8 in FIG. 3 will be described.
The display unit 8 has a display controller 8 as shown in FIG.
1, main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and sub liquid crystal panel 82-
2. Backlight 83-1 for main liquid crystal panel, and
It is composed of a backlight 83-2 for the sub liquid crystal panel.

The liquid crystal panel controller 81 is a single IC
And the host interface 801 and register 80
2, bus controller 803, address generator 8
04, memory interface 805, display memory 806, selector 807, main liquid crystal panel interface 808-1, sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2, timing generator 809, and
A clock generator 810 is provided.

The host interface 801 controls the exchange of signals with the host CPU 701 (CPU in the microcomputer 7 of FIG. 3). The host CPU 7 is stored in the register 802.
The control data is written by 01 via the host interface 801 and the operation of the liquid crystal panel controller 81 is set according to the data held in the register 802.

The bus controller 803 sets the number of bits of display data handled by the host interface 801, the memory interface 805, the main liquid crystal panel interface 808-1, and the sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2 to a value stored in the register 802. Control accordingly. The address generator 804 is
An address to be accessed in the display memory 806 is designated for the memory interface 805. The memory interface 805 controls access to the display memory 806 from the host CPU 701 and transfer of display data from the display memory 806 to the selector 807.

The display memory 806 has a host C
RGB display data sent from the PU 701 is stored via the host interface 801 and the memory interface 805. The selector 807 supplies the RGB display data transferred from the display memory 806 to either the main liquid crystal panel interface 808-1 or the sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2. The selector 807 stores in the register 3 which of the main liquid crystal panel interface 808-1 and the sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2 the RGB display data transferred from the display memory 806 is supplied to. Determine according to the data.

Main liquid crystal panel interface 808
The sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2 converts the RGB image data supplied from the display memory 806 through the selector 807 into a format compatible with the main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2. It is supplied to the main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2.

The timing generator 809 generates a timing signal required for displaying on the liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-2 to generate liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-.
Supply to 2. The clock generator 810 generates a reference clock for the liquid crystal panel controller 81.

As shown in FIG. 5, the main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2 are each an active matrix type liquid crystal panel 821 using a TFT (thin film transistor), a scanning electrode driver 822, and a signal electrode. The driver 823 is provided. The liquid crystal panel 821 will be described. The plurality of scanning lines X are arranged in parallel, and the plurality of signal lines Y are arranged in parallel so as to be orthogonal to the scanning lines X. A TFT 8211 and a liquid crystal layer 8212 are provided near the position where the scanning line X and the signal line Y intersect. The gate of the TFT 8211 is connected to the corresponding scanning line X. One electrode (hereinafter, referred to as “signal electrode”) 8213 sandwiching the liquid crystal layer 8212 is T
It is connected to the corresponding signal line Y via the drain-source of the FT8211. The other electrode (hereinafter, referred to as “counter electrode”) 8214 sandwiching the liquid crystal layer 8212 is
It is connected to the common line COM in common with the counter electrodes of all other liquid crystal layers. The common line COM is driven with an appropriate voltage by a driver (not shown).

The scan electrode driver 822 is synchronized with the timing signal T supplied from the timing generator 809 of the liquid crystal panel controller 81, and the liquid crystal panel 82.
The TFTs 8211 sequentially turn on the plurality of scanning lines X one by one.
It is driven by the voltage that turns on. In the signal electrode driver 823,
Although not shown, the number of kinds of voltages corresponding to the number of gradations is supplied, and the signal electrode driver 823 supplies these voltages from the liquid crystal panel interfaces 808-1 and 808-2 of the liquid crystal panel controller 81. R,
The signal lines Y corresponding to R, G, and B of the liquid crystal panel 821 are driven by the voltages according to the display data of G and B, respectively.

Backlight 83-for the main liquid crystal panel
1. The sub liquid crystal panel backlight 83-2 includes a main liquid crystal panel 82-1 and a sub liquid crystal panel 82-2, respectively.
Irradiate light from the back. Backlight 83-1 and 8
The lighting control of 3-2 is performed by the host CPU 70 in this embodiment.
It is supposed to be done by 1. However, the same control may be performed by the liquid crystal panel controller 81 instead of the host CPU 701.

The operation performed when an image is displayed on the display unit 8 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the host CPU 701 determines whether or not the telephone 100 is in a folded state based on a signal from the state detection unit 9 (# 1). When it is determined that the telephone 100 is not in the folded state (No in # 1), the operation setting of the liquid crystal panel controller 81 is performed by writing necessary control data in the register 802 of the liquid crystal panel controller 81. At this time, Selector 807
Is set to supply the display data transferred from the display memory 806 to the main liquid crystal panel interface 808-1 (# 2). Further, the backlight 83-1 for the main liquid crystal panel is turned on (# 3).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the telephone 100 is in the folded state (Yes in # 1), the operation setting of the liquid crystal panel controller 81 is performed by writing necessary control data in the register 802 of the liquid crystal panel controller 81. At this time, the selector 807 is set to supply the display data transferred from the display memory 806 to the sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2 (# 4). Further, the backlight 83-2 for the sub liquid crystal panel is turned on (# 5).

Next, the display data is transferred from the host CPU 701 to the liquid crystal panel controller 81 and stored in the display memory 806 (# 6). Then, in the liquid crystal panel controller 81, when the storage of the display data transferred from the host CPU 701 in the display memory 806 is completed, the timing generator 809 starts the generation of the timing signal, and the memory interface 805 causes the display memory 806 to operate.
The display data stored in is transferred to the selector 807 (# 7).

In # 7, the processes of # 1 to # 5 described above are performed. Therefore, when the telephone 100 is not in the folded state, the main liquid crystal panel interface 808-
When display data is supplied to the main liquid crystal panel 82-1 via the sub telephone 1, and the telephone 100 is in a folded state, the sub liquid crystal panel interface 808-2 is displayed.
Display data is supplied to the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2 via the.

The host CPU 701, when displaying an image on the display unit 8, switches the telephone 100 from the unfolded state to the folded state by a signal from the state detection unit 9. The sub-liquid crystal panel interface 808 recognizes the display data transferred from the display memory 806 by the selector 807.
The data in the register 802 is rewritten so as to be supplied to -2.

Similarly, the host CPU 701 has the display unit 8
When the telephone 100 is switched from the folded state to the unfolded state while displaying the image on the screen, this is recognized by the signal from the state detection unit 9,
The display data transferred from the display memory 806 by the selector 807 is transferred to the main liquid crystal panel interface 8
The data in the register 802 is rewritten so as to be supplied to 08-1.

From the above, when the telephone 100 is not in the folded state based on the display data transferred from the host CPU 701 to the liquid crystal panel controller 81,
Main liquid crystal panel 8 provided on the inner surface of the upper housing 101
The image is displayed on 2-1 while the image is displayed on the sub liquid crystal panel 82-2 provided on the outer surface of the upper housing 101 when the telephone 100 is in the folded state.
Therefore, the user can see the displayed image not only when the telephone 100 is not folded, but also when the telephone 100 is folded, which is excellent in usability.

In the foldable portable telephone 100 of this embodiment, two liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 8-2 are provided.
2-2 is provided, but a display memory (memory for storing display data) is not provided for each of them, but the destination to which the display data is transferred from the display memory is switched by the selector 807. 1 for two liquid crystal panels 82-1 and 82-2
Since only one display memory 806 is provided,
It is possible to promote downsizing and cost reduction of the telephone 100.

Although the above-described embodiment applies the present invention to a foldable portable telephone, it can also be applied to other electric equipment having a plurality of display means. Further, although the above-described embodiment has two display means, it may have three or more display means, and the larger the number of display means provided, the more the present invention can be achieved. The effect will be remarkable.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Regardless of the number of display means provided, the number of memories for storing the display data is only one, so that it is possible to promote miniaturization and cost reduction of an electric device having a plurality of display means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a foldable portable phone according to an embodiment of the present invention in an open state.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the telephone in a closed state.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the telephone.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a display unit in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing each configuration of a main liquid crystal panel and a sub liquid crystal panel in FIG.

6 is a flowchart of an operation performed when displaying on the display unit in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 antenna 2 Communications department 3 Communication processing unit 4 speakers 5 microphone 6 Operation part 7 control unit 8 Display 9 Status detector 81 Display controller 82-1 Main liquid crystal panel 82-2 Sub liquid crystal panel 83-1 Backlight for main liquid crystal panel 83-2 Sub LCD backlight 100 foldable mobile phone 101 upper case 102 lower housing 601 Operation key 701 Host CPU 801 host interface 802 register 803 bus controller 804 address generator 805 memory interface 806 display memory 807 selector 808-1 Main LCD panel interface 808-2 Sub LCD panel interface 809 Timing Generator 810 clock generator 821 Active matrix type liquid crystal panel 822 Scan electrode driver 823 signal electrode driver 8211 TFT 8212 liquid crystal layer 8213 signal electrode 8214 Counter electrode

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04M 1/02 H04M 1/02 C 5K067 H04Q 7/38 H04B 7/26 109T F term (reference) 2H088 EA22 HA05 HA06 MA16 MA20 2H089 HA21 HA27 HA31 HA40 KA20 QA16 TA00 UA00 UA09 2H093 NC15 NC29 NC34 ND42 ND49 ND50 ND54 NE10 NG01 5K023 AA07 BB03 DD08 HH07 5K027 AA11 BB14 FF22 MM17 5BB04 HEE34 ABB34

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a display controller for controlling a plurality of display means, a display memory for storing display data supplied to the display means is provided commonly to the plurality of display means, and the display memory is provided in the display memory. A display controller capable of switching to which of the plurality of liquid crystal panels the stored display data is supplied. 2. An electric device comprising a plurality of display means, as a means for controlling the plurality of display means.
An electric device provided with the display controller described in 1. 3. A first housing having a first housing and a second housing.
In a foldable portable telephone by connecting the casing of the first casing and the second casing in a relatively rotatable state, the telephone of the first or second casing is folded. The first and second display means respectively provided on the surface not exposed to the outside in a state where the telephone is exposed to the outside even when the telephone of the first or second casing is folded. A memory for storing display data supplied to the first or second display means, the display memory being provided in common to the first and second display means; The display data being supplied to the first display means when the telephone is not folded, and the switching means which is supplied to the second display means when the telephone is folded. Equipment Telephone, characterized in that the. 4. The telephone according to claim 2, wherein both the first and second display means are active matrix type liquid crystal panels using thin film transistors.