JP2003346659A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a display contrast by increasing the number of lines visible by an observer with a display device having the M number of display electrode pairs. <P>SOLUTION: With the display device in which a support body 1, a plurality of discharge tubules 2 arrayed on the support body and equipped with phosphors and with discharge gas sealed in, data electrodes 13 fitted in contact with an outside wall of each discharge tubule along its length direction, and display electrodes 11 alternately fitted in contact with the outside wall of each discharge tubule opposing the data electrode and connected in a direction crossing each discharge tubule are supported by a front-face support body 3 which is in a structure crimped to the discharge tubules and a display is made by discharging a discharge gas inside the discharge tubules by impressing voltage on the display electrodes from outside, a pixel array of the discharge device is decided by an array of the discharge tubules and discharge electrode pairs formed at the front-face support body crimped to the discharge tubules. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device which performs display utilizing a discharge phenomenon by combining a plurality of discharge capillaries capable of partial light emission, and more particularly, to a method of arranging monochrome pixels of the display device. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-315460 discloses a large-sized display in which a phosphor is excited by ultraviolet rays generated by electric discharge to emit light. The display device shown in FIGS.
It comprises a number of discharge tubes arranged in parallel and a substrate supporting the discharge tubes. In each discharge tube, strip-shaped display electrodes are arranged along the length direction on the outer surface of the glass tube that seals the discharge gas, and elongated data electrodes are arranged inside the glass tube so as to intersect all the display electrodes. I have. Display electrodes adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval form an electrode pair for surface discharge. A strip-shaped metal bus electrode intersecting with the data electrode is arranged on the substrate, and a display thin tube is arranged on the substrate so that the display electrode is in contact with the bus electrode. Each metal bus electrode connects the display electrodes of the same rank in common conductive connection across all the display tubes. That is, the display electrode group and the data electrode group form an electrode matrix.
An arbitrary image can be displayed by controlling the potential of the electrode matrix in the same manner as a general matrix drive display device.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
In the pixel array disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 000-315460, since the red, green, and blue single-color pixels are arranged on the same straight line in the horizontal direction, M rows in the vertical direction and N pixels in the horizontal direction are used.
In a display device having display pixels constituted by single-color pixels of red, green, and blue in a column, M display electrode pairs, the number of which is equal to the number of rows, are required to display M rows of lines, The number of lines in the vertical direction that can be visually recognized by a viewer is at most M equivalent to the number of lines of the display device. Further, since the display surface of the display device has a structure with a high reflectance to external light incident on the display surface, there is a problem that a display contrast, which is a ratio of luminance between the display portion and the non-display portion, cannot be sufficiently secured. Was.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to increase the number of rows that can be visually recognized by a viewer in a display device having M pairs of display electrodes, thereby improving display contrast. .

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention can easily change the pixel configuration of a display device in which discharge capillaries are juxtaposed by setting the pattern shape and / or pattern size of a display electrode pair formed on a front support. Can be changed,
By optimizing them, a display device with improved display performance was invented.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support, a plurality of discharge tubes, each of which is provided with a phosphor inside and juxtaposed on the support and in which a discharge gas is sealed, and an outer wall surface of each discharge tube. A data electrode provided in contact with and along the longitudinal direction thereof;
A display electrode pair connected to the outer wall surface of the discharge capillary facing the data electrode and connected in a direction crossing each discharge capillary is formed on the front support, and the display has a structure in which the front support is crimped to the discharge capillary. A display device that performs display by applying a voltage between an electrode pair and discharging a discharge gas in a discharge capillary.
A display device characterized in that a display pixel array of the display device is set by an arrangement of discharge tubes and a pair of display electrodes formed on a front support pressed to the discharge tube.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the display pixel arrangement of the display device is set according to the electrode pattern shape of the display electrode pair formed on the surface of the front support which is in contact with the discharge capillary in the front support pressed to the discharge capillary. Is a display device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the distance (pitch) from the center of the display electrode pair formed on the surface of the front support body in contact with the discharge capillary to the center of the adjacent display electrode pair is fixed. A display device characterized by setting a display pixel array of the display device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support, and a phosphor which emits each of the three primary colors of red, green and blue inside the juxtaposed side of the support, and each of the three primary colors is filled with a discharge gas. A group of discharge tubes arranged with a predetermined arrangement cycle of discharge tubes emitting light by discharge, a data electrode provided in contact with the outer wall surface of each discharge tube along the longitudinal direction thereof, and facing the data electrode A display electrode pair, which is provided alternately in contact with the outer wall surface of the discharge capillary and is connected in a direction crossing each discharge capillary, is formed on the front support, and the front support has a structure in which the front support is crimped to the discharge capillary. A display device for performing a matrix display of M rows in the vertical direction and N columns in the horizontal direction for performing display by applying a voltage between the electrode pairs and discharging a single color pixel defined by the intersection of the data electrode and the display electrode pair. , Column n (n
<N) The display device is characterized in that a single color pixel which is <N) and a single color pixel in the (n + 1) th column of the same color are separated at a predetermined interval in a vertical direction.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the distance between the single pixel in the n-th column (n <N) and the single-color pixel in the (n + 1) -th column of the same color is
The display device is characterized in that it is 1/2 of a line interval of M lines in the vertical direction.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the m-th row (m <
A display device, wherein a region of a light-blocking layer that blocks light emitted from the discharge capillary is provided between the single-color pixel of M) and the single-color pixel of the (m + 1) th row.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device, wherein the light shielding layer is formed on a discharge capillary.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is the display device, wherein the light shielding layer is formed on the front support.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display device using a discharge capillary to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a plurality of support members 1 (three for three colors of red, green, and blue in the figure) are provided on the back surface of a support 1 made of a resin substrate and a glass substrate.
Are provided, and a discharge capillary made of a glass capillary for three primary colors is provided so as to be in contact with the electrodes. A pair of display electrodes 11 is disposed on the outer wall surface of each discharge capillary opposite to the data electrode 13 so as to cross each discharge capillary in a direction perpendicular to the data electrodes. In FIG. 1, the pairs of display electrodes 11 are configured to be parallel to each other. However, the gist of the present invention is to provide a feature in the arrangement of the display electrode pairs as described later. The pair of display electrodes 11 is formed on the front support 3, and the front support 3 is attached to each discharge tube by an adhesive layer (not shown) provided on the display electrode formation surface. Although not shown,
Since the display electrode 11 has a laminated structure of a transparent electrode and a metal bus electrode, the line resistance of the electrode is reduced, the light-shielding area is reduced, and discharge light emission generated in the discharge tube can be efficiently taken out.

In each of the discharge tubes, a discharge gas is sealed, an electron emission film 14 is formed on the entire inner wall, and phosphor layers 16R, 16G, and 16B of three primary colors are color-coded for each tube. Provided. The phosphor layer is formed on the phosphor support 15 in advance, and the phosphor layer is inserted into the discharge capillary and arranged. The discharge capillary may have a flat elliptical cross section as shown in this figure, or may have an elliptical or circular cross section.

The display is performed by first generating a selective discharge between the data electrode on the selected discharge capillary and the display electrode pair, and then generating a discharge that continues the discharge between the pair of display electrodes.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. Red discharge capillary 21R and green discharge capillary 2 in the figure
1G and the blue discharge capillary 21B have the same internal structure as the discharge capillary 2 described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows only the discharge capillaries of each color, the front support 3, and the display electrode 11, but other structures not shown have the structure shown in FIG.

In the display device having the structure shown in FIG. 2, red, green and blue discharge tubes 21R, 21G and 21 are arranged in the horizontal direction.
The number of horizontal pixels is determined by repeatedly arranging B one by one, and a pair of linear display electrodes 11 formed on the surface of the front support 3 provided on each color discharge capillary tube on the side in contact with the discharge capillary tube. The number of vertical pixels is determined by the number of the plurality of display electrode pairs constituted by. In this figure, the size of each color single color pixel 22R, 22G, 22B defined by the intersection of each of the red, green, and blue color discharge capillaries 21R, 21G, 21B and the display electrode pair is the same size, and each single color pixel The distance H between the pixels and the distance V between the display electrode pairs are the same.

FIG. 3 shows a first modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. Red, green and blue discharge capillaries 21R, 21
G and 21B are the same as the discharge capillaries of the display device shown in FIG. 2, except that only one red discharge capillaries 21R and one green discharge capillaries 21G and two blue discharge capillaries 21B are set. Four color discharge capillaries 21R, 21G, 21
The number of horizontal pixels is determined by repeatedly arranging B and 21B, and the number of vertical pixels is determined by the number of display electrode pairs as in FIG. In the case of this modification, the blue discharge tube 21B is
Although the intervals H between the single-color pixels are different due to this arrangement, the luminance of blue can be doubled by using two blue discharge tubes 21B, so that the color temperature when displaying white is reduced. There is an advantage that it can be set higher than the display device of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the horizontal single-color pixel array can be easily changed only by changing the array of discharge capillaries of each color. In this modification, the number of blue discharge tubes 21B is two. However, the number of discharge tubes of other colors in the set may be increased according to the intended use, and conversely, a discharge tube of a certain color may not be used. No problem.

In the second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4, the arrangement of the discharge tubes is the same as that of the first embodiment of FIG. The difference is that the discharge location generated in the thin tube is shifted from the sustain electrode pair interval V by に for each discharge thin tube. Such a single-color pixel arrangement in which the single-color pixels are shifted by 1/2 V in the vertical direction, and the light emission state of each discharge capillary (light emission / non-light emission)
, The sustain electrode pair arranged in the vertical direction becomes M
Even in the case of a pair, the number of lines that can be visually recognized by the viewer is about 1.
The vertical resolution can be increased to a value equivalent to 5M rows (books).

In a third modification of the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal direction is the same as the first embodiment of FIG. 2, but the arrangement interval of the sustain electrode pairs in the vertical direction is set to 2V. Is different. This arrangement is effective for applications that do not always require resolution such as viewing from a distance from a screen such as a public display, and the resolution in the vertical direction is reduced by half compared to the example of FIG. Although it gets lost,
Since the number of driver circuits is also halved, a structure of a display device which can reduce the cost of the display device can be realized.

The first embodiment has been described so far. In the case of this display device, the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is
It is determined by the number assigned to each set of monochromatic discharge tubes and the number of times the set is repeated, and the number of pixels in the vertical direction is arbitrarily determined by the number of display electrode pairs formed on the inner surface of the front support and the distance between the display electrode pairs. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly configure the display device according to the intended use of the display device.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. A display device having a plurality of sets of discharge capillaries of each color arranged and having display pixels of M rows in the vertical direction and N columns in the horizontal direction, wherein the center of the single-color pixel in the n-th column (n <N) and the (n + 1) -th column It is a great feature that the position of the center with respect to the single color pixel is shifted at a constant interval in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the distance of this shift is the distance between the center of the single-color pixel in the n-th column and the center of the unit pixel in the (n + 1) -th column, which is Ｐ of half the pitch P of the unit pixels in the vertical direction. Desirably. In the display device of this configuration, it is possible to intentionally move by selecting the input of the image signal in units of １ ／ P of the pitch P of the unit pixel in the vertical direction of the display line, and the apparent number of display lines can be reduced by M. It is possible to increase more than rows.

As a further preferred embodiment, a light-shielding layer 23 for blocking a display color emitted from the discharge capillary is provided between the m-th row (m <M) and the (m + 1) -th row of the single-color pixel in the same column. The reflectivity of external light on the surface can be reduced, and the contrast, which is the ratio of the luminance of the lit portion and the non-lit portion of the display screen, can be improved. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, a display device with and without a light-shielding layer 23 is manufactured, and the upper surface of the display device is set to 45 ° so that the illuminance on the surface of the display device becomes 150 lx.
As a result of measuring the contrast with lighting from
It was found that the contrast of the display device provided with the light-shielding layer was improved 1.8 times as compared with the display device provided with no light-shielding layer. This means that when viewed in a bright room using a normal display device, the black, which is the non-lighted portion, looks more black, and the displayed image is sharpened.

In FIG. 6, the light shielding layer 23 is arranged in a dot shape. However, in the case of the display device shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, even if a stripe light shielding layer is provided between the single color pixels. Similar effects can be obtained.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a method of forming a light shielding layer according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the light shielding layer 23 may be formed on the discharge capillary 2 in advance. In this case, a portion of the discharge capillary 2 where the light-shielding layer 23 is not formed is previously masked with a resist or the like, and an oxide such as a transition metal element Fe, Ni, Co, or Mn, a mixture of these oxides, or a black pigment such as graphite is used. In addition, a binder such as a resin and an organic solvent are mixed, and the resist is formed by coating and drying the discharge capillary 2 and then peeling off the formed resist. Further, a material containing a black pigment may be directly applied to a portion where the light shielding layer 23 is formed by a pad printing method. In the case where the light shielding layer 23 is formed on the discharge capillary in which the structure inside the discharge capillary has been formed, an organic pigment may be used.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the light shielding layer 23 is formed on the front support 3. In this case, after the display electrode 11 is formed on the front support 3, a light-shielding layer is formed on the entire surface, and the light-shielding layer is patterned into a desired pattern by a photolithography technique. In this embodiment, in order to form the display electrode 11 and the light-shielding layer 23 on the front support 3, as compared with the case where the light-shielding layer is formed directly on the discharge capillary shown in FIG. In this case, there is an advantage in manufacturing that alignment between the display electrode and the light shielding layer is not required.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the number of horizontal sustain electrode pairs is M, the number of horizontal lines becomes M or more, so that the number of horizontal lines can be increased without increasing the number of sustain electrode pairs, and the introduction of a light shielding layer. Thereby, the display contrast can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a third modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of forming a light shielding layer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing another example of a method for forming a light shielding layer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 support 2 Discharge capillary 3 Front support 10 Glass capillary 11 Display electrode 13 Data electrode 14 Electron emission film 15 Phosphor support 16R red phosphor layer 16G green phosphor layer 16B blue phosphor layer 21R red discharge capillary 21G green discharge capillary 21B Blue discharge capillary 22R red single color pixel 22G green single color pixel 22B Blue single color pixel 23 Shading layer

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A support, a plurality of discharge tubes filled with a discharge gas and provided with a phosphor inside and arranged in parallel on the support; and a longitudinal direction in contact with an outer wall surface of each discharge tube. A data electrode provided along the display electrode pair, and a display electrode pair connected to a direction crossing each discharge capillary in contact with an outer wall surface of the discharge capillary facing the data electrode, formed on the front support; A display device having a structure in which the discharge capillary is crimped, and performing a display by applying a voltage between the display electrode pairs to discharge a discharge gas in the discharge capillary. A display pixel array of the display device set by a display electrode pair formed on the front support member pressed against the discharge tube. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the electrode pattern of the pair of display electrodes formed on a surface of the front support body in contact with the discharge thin tube of the front support pressed against the discharge thin tube. A display device, wherein a display pixel array is set. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a center of the pair of display electrodes adjacent to a center of the pair of display electrodes formed on a surface of the front support body that is in contact with the thin capillary of the front support pressed to the thin capillary. A display pixel array of the display device is set according to a distance (pitch) to the display device. 4. A support, and a phosphor that emits each of the three primary colors of red, green, and blue provided inside the support juxtaposed, and emits light by discharge of each of the three primary colors in which a discharge gas is sealed. A group of discharge capillaries in which discharge capillaries to be performed are arranged at a predetermined arrangement cycle; a data electrode provided in contact with the outer wall surface of each discharge capillaries along the longitudinal direction; and the discharge capillaries facing the data electrodes A display electrode pair alternately provided in contact with the outer wall surface of the display tube and connected in a direction crossing each discharge capillary is formed on the front support, and the front support is crimped to the discharge capillary; A display device that performs display by applying a voltage between a pair of display electrodes and discharging a monochromatic pixel defined by an intersection of the data electrode and the display electrode pair in a matrix of M rows in the vertical direction and N columns in the horizontal direction And the n-th column (n <N) Display device and some monochromatic pixel, and a single-color pixels of the same color of the (n + 1) row, characterized in that apart at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. 5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein the distance between the single pixel in the n-th column (n <N) and the single-color pixel in the (n + 1) -th column of the same color is equal to the row distance of M rows in the vertical direction. A display device characterized in that the ratio is 1/2. 6. The display device according to claim 4, wherein the discharge capillary emits light between the single-color pixel on the m-th row (m <M) and the single-color pixel on the (m + 1) -th row in the same column. A display device provided with a region of a light shielding layer for blocking light to be emitted. 7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the light shielding layer is formed on the discharge capillary. 8. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the light shielding layer is formed on the front support.