JP2005164692A - Display device and dimmer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a display device which can reduce the feeling of pressure given to a user in an image display halting state. <P>SOLUTION: The display device is provided with: an image display means; a dimmer means which is mounted on the display surface side of the image display means and selects either a concealment state to conceal the image display means or a transmissive state to transmit image light emitted from the image display means; and a dimmer control means to control the dimmer means to be in the transmissive state when the image display means is in the image display state and to control the dimmer means to be in the concealment state when the image display means is in the image display halting state. Thereby the feeling of pressure given to the user is reduced by concealing the image display means which is in the nearly black image display halting state with the dimmer means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device and a light control device, and is suitably applied to, for example, a television device.

In recent years, a screen of a display device such as a television device has been enlarged. In the display device, the display contrast of the screen is increased in order to make a dark scene such as nighttime look beautiful (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-234186 A

  Here, when the large-screen display device as described above is installed in a home, there is a problem in that it gives the user a feeling of pressure because of its size. In general, bright colors such as white and light beige are often used on the wall surface of the home. On the other hand, the display device with high contrast described above has a display surface very close to black in the rest state (video display stop state). For this reason, the display device in the video display stopped state occupies the user's field of view as a large black object with respect to the bright wall surface, thereby giving the user a feeling of pressure.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose a display device capable of reducing the feeling of pressure given to the user in a video display stop state.

  In order to solve such a problem, in the present invention, a video display means, a concealed state provided on the display surface side of the video display means and concealing the video display means, and a transmissive state that transmits video light emitted by the video display means, A dimming means that can select a light control means, and a dimming means that controls the dimming means when the video display means is in the video display state, and a dimming control that controls the dimming means when the video display means is in the video display stopped state. The light control means is provided in the display device.

  As a result, in this display device, the video display means in the video display stopped state and in a state close to black can be concealed by the light control means, thereby reducing the feeling of pressure given to the user.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the image display means, the concealed state provided on the display surface side of the image display means and concealing the image display means, and the transmission state that transmits the image light emitted by the image display means are provided. A dimming unit that can be selected and a dimming unit that controls the dimming unit to a transmission state when the video display unit is in a video display state and controls the dimming unit to a concealment state when the video display unit is in a video display stop state By providing the control means in the display device, it is possible to realize a display device that can reduce the feeling of pressure applied to the user by concealing the video display means in a video display stopped state and a state close to black by the light control means. .

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Television Device FIG. 1 shows a television device as a display device to which the present invention is applied. A control unit 2 that performs overall control of the television device 1 has a tuner unit 3, a display circuit 4, The display unit 5 and the operation unit 6 are connected.

  Some circuits in the control unit 2 always operate even when the television apparatus 1 is in a sleep state, and each part of the television apparatus 1 is operated in accordance with a power-on operation input via the operation unit 6 or the remote controller 7. The power supply to is started and the television apparatus 1 is shifted (activated) to an operating state.

  Then, the control unit 2 generates a channel selection control signal corresponding to the channel selection operation input via the operation unit 6 or the remote controller 7 and supplies this to the tuner unit 3. The tuner unit 3 selects and demodulates the broadcast wave received via the antenna 8 according to the channel selection signal supplied from the control unit 2, generates a reception signal, and supplies this to the display circuit 4. The display circuit 4 generates a video signal from the received signal and supplies it to the display unit 5.

(2) Configuration of Display Unit As shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 5 includes a video display panel 10, a backlight 11 provided on the back side of the video display panel 10, and a front side of the video display panel 10 ( And a light control panel 12 provided on the display surface side.

  An image display panel 10 as an image display means is a transmissive color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and a liquid crystal 10C is provided between two transparent substrates 10A and 10B provided in parallel, for example, made of a glass plate or an acrylic plate. Is filled. A plurality of transparent electrodes 10D and 10E arranged in a matrix are provided on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 10A and 10B, respectively, and an applied voltage based on a video signal is applied between the opposing transparent electrodes 10D and 10E. Thus, the arrangement direction of the liquid crystal is controlled, whereby the transmittance with respect to the illumination light emitted from the backlight 11 is varied, and thus the video display panel 10 displays a video corresponding to the video signal.

  On the other hand, in the light control panel 12 as the light control means, the polymer dispersed liquid crystal 12C is filled in a thickness of about 5 to 100 [μm] between the two transparent substrates 12A and 12B provided in parallel. Has been. A plurality of linear transparent electrodes 12D are arranged on the inner surface of the transparent substrate 12A in parallel with the horizontal direction of the screen, whereas a plurality of linear transparent electrodes 12E are arranged on the inner surface of the transparent substrate 12B. The transparent electrode 12D and the transparent electrode 12E are arranged in parallel to the vertical direction of the screen and constitute a simple matrix. Then, by applying an applied voltage based on a dimming control signal supplied from the control unit 2 to the transparent electrodes 12D and 12E, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal can be controlled. This polymer-dispersed liquid crystal 12C is disclosed in, for example, the document “T. Fujisawa, H. Nakata, M. Hayashi, Y. Tani, M. Aizawa“ Influence of Diacrylate Having Alkyl Side-chain on Electro-Optical Properties in Liquid Crystal / Composite Films ”. A liquid crystal having a composition such as “PAL-746” described in “Dainippon ink & Chemicals Inc., Central Research Laboratories, Japan” can be applied.

  In the state where the applied voltage is 0 [V] (off state), the light control panel 12 reflects the incident light L1 incident at an angle of 30 [°] with respect to the surface with a reflectance of 80% or more. Thereby, the light control panel 12 will be in the white state which reflects (disperses) external light in a high ratio in the OFF state.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, in the light control panel 12, when the applied voltage is maximum (on state), the incident light L <b> 2 incident at a right angle is 80% with respect to the range of 0 to 30 °. It is transparent. Thereby, the light control panel 12 will be in a substantially transparent state in the ON state.

  And the control part 2 of the television apparatus 1 controls the whole surface of the light control panel 12 to an OFF state in the pause state of the said television apparatus 1. Therefore, the television device 1 changes to the white state (the concealed state) of the entire light control panel 12 in the resting state, thereby concealing the video display panel 10 that is in the video display stopped state and close to black from the user. Thus, the feeling of pressure given to the user by the video display panel 10 in the video display stop state is reduced (FIG. 4A).

  In addition, the control unit 2 of the television device 1 controls the entire surface of the light control panel 12 to be in an on state in the operation state of the television device 1. For this reason, in the operation state of the television device 1, the entire surface of the light control panel 12 is in a transparent state, so that the user can visually recognize the video display panel 10 in the video display state (FIG. 4B). ).

  In this way, the television apparatus 1 puts the entire surface of the light control panel 12 in a white state during the pause, thereby concealing the video display panel 10 that is close to black in the video display stopped state and applying pressure to the user. In contrast to reducing the feeling, when the image is displayed, the entire surface of the light control panel 12 is made transparent so that the user can visually recognize the image displayed on the image display panel 10.

  Here, in the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal 12C, the on-state transmittance and the off-state reflectance change according to the film thickness. FIG. 5 shows an example of the change in transmittance according to the film thickness and the detected angle of transmitted light (this corresponds to the angle at which the user views the display unit 5) in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal 12C in the off state. The transmittance decreases as the thickness increases and the detection angle increases. On the other hand, the off-state reflectivity increases as the film thickness increases. For this reason, the film thickness of the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal 12C may be selected to be an appropriate value in consideration of the on-state transmittance and the off-state reflectance.

Further, non-reflective coating films 12F and 12G are respectively provided on the outer surface sides of the transparent substrates 12A and 12B (that is, the interface side in contact with air) (FIG. 2). These non-reflective coating films 12F and 12G are formed by laminating several layers of thin films having different refractive indexes, for example, MgF ₂ (refractive index of about 1.38) and Ti ₂ O ₂ (refractive index of about 2.3 to 2.5), as shown in FIG. Furthermore, it has a very low reflectance in the visible light region.

  With the non-reflective coating films 12F and 12G, the light control panel 12 reduces the influence on the display image due to the reflection of external light and reduces the reflection of the display image light coming from the image display panel 10 side. It is designed not to interfere with light.

(3) Display control of the light control panel at the start / end of operation As described above, a plurality of transparent electrodes 12D and 12E are arranged in a matrix on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 12A and 12B of the light control panel 12. . For this reason, in the light control panel 12, the arbitrary voltage of the light control panel 12 is controlled to a transparent state or a white state by selectively controlling the applied voltage with respect to the transparent electrodes 12D and 12E, and the light control panel 12 concerned. A two-tone pattern can be displayed.

  And the control part 2 of the television apparatus 1 is the light control panel 12 as shown to FIG. 7 (A)-FIG.7 (C) at the time of the starting which the said television apparatus 1 transfers from a dormant state to an operation state. The transparent area is expanded horizontally from the center of the screen toward the left and right ends of the screen. And the control part 2 starts the video display with respect to the video display panel 10 in the state (FIG.7 (D)) where the whole surface of the light control panel 12 became transparent (FIG.7 (E)).

  On the other hand, at the end of the operation in which the television apparatus 1 shifts from the operating state to the resting state, the control unit 2 stops the video display on the video display panel 10 (FIG. 7D), and then the light control panel. The transparent area is reduced in the horizontal direction from the left and right ends of the screen 12 toward the center of the screen (FIGS. 7C to 7A).

  Thus, the television device 1 displays such a display pattern on the dimming panel 12 at the time of starting and at the end of the operation, so that the curtain provided on the front surface of the video display panel 10 opens and closes. A visual effect can be given to the user.

  Next, display control for the light control panel at the start-up and the end of the operation of the above-described television apparatus 1 will be described in detail with reference to flowcharts.

  As described above, some of the circuits in the control unit 2 of the television apparatus 1 are always operating even when the television apparatus 1 is in a sleep state. Then, the control unit 2 enters from the start step of the startup / operation end processing procedure routine RT1 shown in FIG. 8, and proceeds to the next step SP1. In step SP1, the control unit 2 determines whether or not a power switch (not shown) of the television device 1 is turned on by the user. If it is determined in step SP1 that the power switch is not turned on, the control unit 2 moves to step SP2 to make the entire surface of the light control panel 12 white, and then returns to step SP1.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step SP1 that the power switch is turned on, the control unit 2 proceeds to step SP3 to turn on the power of the entire television apparatus 1 and starts up, and then proceeds to next step SP4.

  In step SP4, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7E, the control unit 2 expands the transparent region in the horizontal direction from the center of the screen of the light control panel 12 toward both left and right ends of the screen. . Then, when the entire surface of the light control panel 12 becomes transparent, the control unit 2 proceeds to step SP5, starts video display on the video display panel 10 and completes startup of the television device 1, and then proceeds to next step SP6.

  In step SP6, the control unit 2 waits for a user to turn off the power switch of the television apparatus 1. When the control unit 2 detects that the power switch is turned off by the user, the control unit 2 proceeds to the next step SP7.

  In step SP7, the control unit 2 stops displaying the video on the video display panel 10, and then proceeds to step SP8 to reduce the transparent area in the horizontal direction from the left and right ends of the light control panel 12 toward the center of the screen. Go. And the control part 2 will move to step SP9, if the whole surface of the light control panel 12 turns white. In step SP9, the control unit 2 puts the control unit 2 into a sleep state except for some circuits that are always operating, and returns to step SP1.

(4) Display control of the light control panel according to the aspect ratio of the display image In addition to the above configuration, in the television device 1, when the aspect ratio of the display image and the aspect ratio of the image display panel 10 are different, FIG. ) And FIG. 9B, the area of the light control panel 12 corresponding to the peripheral area of the display image (hereinafter referred to as a mask area) is set in a white state.

  In this case, the control unit 2 detects a blanking portion (that is, this corresponds to a mask region) in the video signal supplied from the display circuit 4 to the display unit 5, and an area corresponding to the blanking portion in the light control panel 12. To a white state.

  This mask area is displayed as a black portion in the conventional television apparatus. For this reason, the conventional television apparatus has a problem that the black mask area gives a visual feeling to the user and makes the display image appear smaller than the actual size. On the other hand, in the television apparatus 1 of the present invention, the mask area in the light control panel 12 is set in a white state (hidden state), thereby concealing only the mask area and reducing the feeling of pressure given by the mask area. Can do.

(5) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, the control unit 2 of the television apparatus 1 controls the entire surface of the light control panel 12 to a white state when the television apparatus 1 is stopped, so that the video display stopped state is achieved. Therefore, the video display panel 10 close to black is concealed from the user to reduce the feeling of pressure applied to the user.

  Then, when the television apparatus 1 is activated, the control unit 2 expands the transparent area in the horizontal direction from the center of the screen of the light control panel 12 toward both left and right ends of the screen, and the entire surface of the light control panel 12 Is set as the transparent area, and video display on the video display panel 10 is started. Thereby, the television apparatus 1 can give a user a special visual effect as if the stage curtain opens and video display starts.

  In addition, after the operation of the television apparatus 1 is finished, the control unit 2 stops the video display on the video display panel 10 and then reduces the transparent area in the horizontal direction from the left and right ends of the light control panel 12 toward the center of the screen. Then, after setting the entire surface of the light control panel 12 to a white region, the television apparatus 1 is put into a resting state. Thus, the television apparatus 1 can give the user a special visual effect as if the stage curtain is closed and the operation ends.

  Furthermore, when the display image and the aspect ratio of the image display panel 10 are different, the control unit 2 controls the area of the light control panel 12 corresponding to the mask area to a white state, thereby making the mask area inconspicuous, It is possible to reduce a sense of incongruity or pressure caused by a mismatch in the aspect ratio between the display image and the image display panel 10.

(6) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, the case where the video display panel 10 formed of a transmissive transmissive color LCD is used as the video display means has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Various image display means such as a plasma display panel, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or a rear projection display can be used.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a television device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to a display device having no tuner function or a display device of a personal computer. In addition, the present invention can be applied to various display devices such as a display unit of a fixed phone or a mobile phone and a display unit of a digital still camera.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the blanking portion of the video signal supplied to the display unit 5 is detected by the control unit 2, and the region corresponding to the blanking portion in the light control panel 12 is made white, Although the mask area of the display video is concealed, the present invention is not limited to this, and the display circuit 4 detects the aspect ratio of the video signal and notifies it to the control unit 2, and according to the notified aspect ratio. The control unit 2 may conceal the mask area of the light control panel 12. As a method for detecting the aspect ratio by the display circuit 4, the blanking portion of the video signal may be detected as described above. In the case of digital broadcasting such as digital satellite broadcasting and digital terrestrial broadcasting, the received digital broadcasting is used. The number of pixels and the number of lines on the screen are obtained from the data stream, and the aspect ratio of the display image is detected using various methods such as concealing the mask area of the light control panel 12 based on the information. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the separate light control panel 12 is provided on the front side of the video display panel 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the transparent substrate of the video display panel 10 shown in FIG. 10E and the transparent substrate 12D of the light control panel 12 may be shared, and the video display panel and the light control panel may be integrated.

  That is, FIG. 10 shows an integrated video display / light control panel 15, which includes three transparent substrates 15A, 15B, and 15C.

  A liquid crystal 15D for video display is filled between the transparent substrates 15A and 15B, and transparent electrodes 15E and 15F for video display are provided on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 15A and 15B, respectively. The transparent substrates 15B and 15C are filled with a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal 15G for dimming, and transparent electrodes 15H and 15I for dimming are provided on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 15B and 15C, respectively. It has been. Further, an antireflection coating film 15J is provided on the outer surface of the transparent substrate 15C.

  Thus, in the video display / light control panel 15 in which the video display function and the light control function are integrated, the number of transparent substrates is one as compared with the case where the separate video display panel and the light control panel are combined. This can be reduced, thereby simplifying the configuration.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the television apparatus 1 is started, the transparent area is expanded in the horizontal direction from the center of the screen of the light control panel 12 toward the left and right ends of the screen, and at the end of the operation, Conversely, the transparent area is reduced from the left and right ends of the screen toward the center of the screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the transparent area is enlarged and reduced in the vertical direction of the screen, or the transparent area. The transparent area may be enlarged and reduced by various display patterns such as expanding and reducing the image from the center of the screen vertically and horizontally.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the entire surface of the light control panel 12 is set in the white state when the television apparatus 1 is in a suspended state, and the image display panel 10 in the suspended state is completely hidden. Not limited to this, an arbitrary display pattern may be displayed on the light control panel 12 when the television apparatus 1 is at rest. In this case, the transparent area of the light control panel is seen through the black image display panel 10 in the display pause state, so that the display pattern is visually recognized as a two-gradation monochrome image. Note that in this case, it is not necessary to turn on the backlight, and only the driving circuit of the light control panel 12 needs to be operated, so that the power consumption of the television device can be kept low.

  If a relatively simple image such as a screen saver image of a personal computer is displayed on the light control panel 12, the feeling of pressure given by the television device 1 can be further reduced and the interior can be enhanced. . Further, if various types of information such as time information and teletext data are displayed on the light control panel 12, information can be provided to the user even when the television device 1 is in a resting state.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of transparent electrodes 12D and 12E are provided in a matrix on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 12A and 12B of the light control panel 12, and an arbitrary region of the light control panel 12 is selectively transparent. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a single transparent electrode is provided on the entire inner surface of each of the transparent substrates 12A and 12B. The entire surface may be collectively controlled to a transparent state or a white state. In this case, although an arbitrary display pattern cannot be displayed on the light control panel 12, the video display panel 10 in a video display stop state can be hidden with a simpler configuration.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the light control panel 12 is built in the television device 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the light control panel alone is operated as the light control device, and the light control panel 12 is operated. The optical device may be used after being attached to the display surface of the television device.

  In this case, the light control device may be controlled from the control unit of the television device as a dedicated accessory of the television device, or may be a general-purpose accessory that can be used by being attached to various television devices.

  The present invention can be applied to a monitor device such as a television device or a personal computer.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the television apparatus by this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows the structure of a display part. It is a characteristic curve figure which shows the transmittance | permeability of the light control panel in an ON state. It is a basic diagram which shows the light control panel in a rest state and an operation state. It is a characteristic curve figure which shows the relationship between the film thickness in the OFF state, and the transmittance | permeability. It is a characteristic curve figure which shows the reflectance of a non-reflective coating. It is a basic diagram which shows the display change of the light control panel at the time of starting. It is a flowchart of a start-up / operation end processing procedure. It is a basic diagram which shows the display change of the light control panel in case an aspect ratio differs. It is a basic diagram which shows the structure of the integrated image display and light control panel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Television apparatus, 2 ... Control part, 3 ... Tuner part, 4 ... Display circuit, 5 ... Display part, 6 ... Operation part, 7 ... Remote control, 8 ... Antenna, 10 ... Image display panel, 11 ... Backlight, 12 ... Light control panel.

Claims (10)

Video display means;
A dimming means provided on the display surface side of the video display means and capable of selecting a concealment state for concealing the video display means and a transmission state for transmitting the video light emitted by the video display means;
Dimming for controlling the dimming means to the transmission state when the video display means is in the video display state, and for controlling the dimming means to the concealment state when the video display means is in the video display stop state. And a display means. The dimming means is
Two transparent substrates provided in parallel;
A polymer-dispersed liquid crystal filled between the two transparent substrates;
A transparent electrode provided on the inner surface side of each of the transparent substrates,
2. The display according to claim 1, wherein the transparent state is obtained by applying a voltage between the transparent electrodes, and the concealing state in which external light is dispersed is stopped by stopping the voltage application between the transparent electrodes. apparatus. The display device according to claim 2, further comprising a non-reflective coating film formed by laminating a plurality of thin films having different refractive indexes on an interface side in contact with air in the transparent substrate. The display device according to claim 2, wherein one of the two transparent substrates also serves as a transparent substrate included in the video display means. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the dimming unit can select the transmission state and the concealment state for each predetermined range. The dimming control means sets the predetermined display pattern when the video display means shifts from the video display stop state to the video display state and when the video display state shifts from the video display state to the video display stop state. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the display is displayed on a light control unit. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the dimming control unit displays a predetermined display pattern on the dimming unit when the video display unit is in the video display stop state. When the aspect ratio of the display video displayed on the video display means is different from the aspect ratio of the video display means, the dimming control means is an area of the dimming means corresponding to a mask area around the display video. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the display device is controlled in the concealed state. A dimming means provided on the display surface side of the video display means and capable of selecting a concealment state for concealing the video display means and a transmission state for transmitting the video light emitted by the video display means;
Dimming for controlling the dimming means to the transmission state when the video display means is in the video display state, and for controlling the dimming means to the concealment state when the video display means is in the video display stop state. A light control device comprising: control means. The dimming means is
Two transparent substrates provided in parallel;
A polymer-dispersed liquid crystal filled between the two transparent substrates;
A transparent electrode provided on the inner surface side of each of the transparent substrates,
The control according to claim 9, wherein the transparent state is obtained by applying a voltage between the transparent electrodes, and the concealing state in which external light is dispersed is stopped by stopping the voltage application between the transparent electrodes. Optical device.

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