JP2012194252A - Electro-optic device and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electro-optic device or the like capable of maintaining the down-sizing of an electrooptical panel by storing waveform data of each company corresponding to a plurality of pieces of environment information and a plurality of waveform modes in an easily searchable manner.SOLUTION: An integrated circuit device 100 has a first waveform information storing part 120 for storing waveform information for driving an electrooptical panel 10 in accordance with acquired environment information, and a host device 50 has a second waveform information storing part 53 for storing waveform information corresponding to N kinds of environment information. The second waveform information storing part includes a large section information storing part 53B for storing information of a large section corresponding to the N kinds of environment information, an intermediate section information storing part 53C obtained by dividing each of N large sections into intermediate sections corresponding to M kinds of waveforms to store a drive condition in an intermediate section corresponding to each of N×M drive modes, and a small section information storing part 53D obtained by subdividing each of N×M intermediate sections into a plurality of small sections in each combination of NI/CI data to store waveform data in a plurality of small sections.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus.

  Conventionally, an EPD (Electrophoretic Display) panel is known as an electro-optical panel (Patent Document 1). In driving such an EPD panel (electrophoresis panel), the drive voltage is changed sequentially. Therefore, a voltage transition table is required for driving the EPD panel.

JP 2009-251615 A

  Conventionally, the voltage transition table is determined by each company, and the versatility of storing an arbitrary voltage transition table selected from among a plurality of products in one product is not ensured, and the convenience is low.

  In addition, the electro-optical material has a driving characteristic that changes depending on the environment such as the temperature of the electro-optical material. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a voltage transition table corresponding to a plurality of environment information in advance and drive using a voltage transition table that matches the environment information acquired by measurement. This means an increase in memory capacity and makes it difficult to search for desired waveform data.

  On the other hand, the display controller, the display memory, the waveform memory, the temperature sensor, and the power supply module disclosed in Patent Document 1 are required to be integrated on the electro-optical panel. Since the electro-optic panel cannot be enlarged unnecessarily, the increase in memory capacity prevents the controller / driver IC from being COG (Chip On Glass) on the panel or COF (Chip On Film) on the film substrate connected to the panel. It becomes.

  Some embodiments of the present invention enable easy retrieval and storage of waveform data of various companies corresponding to a plurality of environment information and a plurality of waveform modes, and can maintain the miniaturization of the electro-optic panel and an electronic apparatus. Can be provided.

(1) One aspect of the present invention is
An electro-optic panel comprising: a first substrate on which a plurality of pixel electrodes are formed; a second substrate on which a counter electrode is formed; and an electro-optic material disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate;
An integrated circuit device mounted on the first substrate or a flexible substrate connected to the first substrate and driving the electro-optical panel;
A host device connected to the integrated circuit device;
Have
The integrated circuit device includes:
A drive voltage output unit that outputs a drive voltage supplied to the plurality of pixel electrodes of the electro-optical panel;
A display data storage unit for storing the first display data and the second display data;
First waveform information storage for storing drive waveform information for changing the display state at the pixel from the first display state corresponding to the first display data to the second display state corresponding to the second display data And
An acquisition unit for acquiring environmental information;
A drive waveform information output unit that outputs the drive waveform information selected by the first waveform information storage unit based on the first display data and the second display data to the drive voltage output unit;
Have
The host device includes a second waveform information storage unit that stores the drive waveform information corresponding to each of N types of environment information,
The first waveform information storage unit stores the drive waveform information corresponding to each of N (N is an integer of 2 or more) types of environmental information stored in the second waveform information storage. The drive waveform information corresponding to the environmental information acquired in the above is stored,
The second waveform information storage unit
A large-section information storage unit for storing N large-section information corresponding to N types of environmental information;
Each of the N large sections is divided into M (M is an integer of 2 or more) medium sections corresponding to M types of waveform modes, and is driven to the medium section corresponding to each of N × M drive modes. A medium section information storage unit for storing conditions;
Each of the N × M medium sections divided into M in each of the N large sections is further subdivided into a plurality of small sections for each combination of the first display data and the second display data. And an electro-optical device including a sub-section information storage unit that stores waveform data in the plurality of sub-sections.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, the integrated circuit device mounted on the first substrate or the flexible substrate corresponds to each of the N types of environmental information stored in the second waveform information storage provided in the host device. Of the drive waveform information, drive waveform information corresponding to the environmental information acquired by the acquisition unit is stored. Therefore, it is possible to drive the electro-optical panel with the drive waveform information corresponding to each of the N types of environmental information while maintaining the miniaturization of the electro-optical panel.

  Furthermore, the storage information of the second waveform information storage provided in the host device is formatted so that each company can use it in common. Therefore, when the user uses this format, the degree of freedom that the user can select and use from a plurality of types of voltage transition waveform data is expanded.

  In order to drive the electro-optical device, drive waveform information that matches environment information acquired in advance by N types of acquisition units is required. Even under the same environmental conditions, the number and shape of the required drive waveforms differ depending on the number of gradations. That is, drive waveforms corresponding to a plurality of waveform modes (for example, different gradations for each waveform mode) are required in the same environment information. The final drive waveform differs depending on the combination of CI / NI when shifting from the current display data CI (Current Image) to the next display data NI (Next Image).

  Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention, waveform data is stored in three layers. The large classification information storage unit stores large classification information corresponding to N types of environmental information. The middle section information storage unit stores driving conditions of N × M driving modes obtained by dividing each of the N large sections into M types of waveform modes. The small section information storage unit has a waveform in small sections obtained by subdividing each of the N × M medium sections, each of which is divided into M types of waveform modes, into sub-divided parts for each combination of CI / NI. I remember the data. With such a format, each company can share and search for reaching the final drive waveform is as follows: 1) Search by temperature information → 2) Search by waveform mode → 3) Search by combination of CI / NI It can be carried out in the order. At this time, since the search of 1) is performed in advance when the second drive information storage unit of the host device is transferred to the first drive information storage unit in the integrated circuit device, the search of 2) and 3) is performed. As a result, the capacity of the first drive information storage unit to be implemented is reduced and the search and processing time during actual driving is shortened. In addition, the waveform data capacity of the small section having the largest number is reduced. Even with such a format, the total memory capacity of the drive waveform information can be reduced.

  (2) In one aspect of the present invention, the major division information storage unit includes a pointer that specifies a start address of the major division set in each of the middle division information storage unit and the minor division information storage unit, A temperature look-up table (LUT) stored in association with N types of environmental information can be used.

  As described above, the large-segment information storage unit is a temperature LUT, and the integrated circuit device stores the start addresses of the major categories in the medium-segment information storage unit and the small-segment information storage unit for each of N types of temperatures. This is convenient in obtaining drive waveform information in one temperature region from the host device. The integrated circuit device first recognizes one of the major categories corresponding to the acquired temperature by searching the major category information storage unit. Next, the start position of the waveform information to be extracted in the data area in the medium section information storage section and the small section information storage section can be acquired from the start address recorded in the selected large section.

  (3) In one aspect of the present invention, the first waveform information storage unit includes the acquisition of the storage information belonging to each of the N large categories in the middle category information storage unit and the small category information storage unit. The information stored in each large section corresponding to the environmental information acquired by the section can be stored.

  Thereby, the integrated circuit device can acquire drive waveform information necessary for driving the electro-optical panel in one temperature region.

  (4) In one aspect of the invention, the waveform mode may include two or more gradation modes having different gradation numbers in the second display state.

  The waveform mode is a factor in which drive waveform information is different when driving the electro-optical panel in one temperature region, and a representative example is a difference in gradation value. The waveform mode is not limited to this, and may be, for example, an image quality emphasis mode or a low power consumption mode. If image quality is important, a method of increasing the image update time and raising the drive voltage can be considered, and if image quality can be neglected, a method of shortening the image update time and lowering the drive voltage can be considered, each having a different waveform. In the low power consumption mode, it may be possible to adopt a waveform with a reduced drive voltage.

  (5) In one aspect of the present invention, the drive voltage output unit outputs the drive voltage according to the waveform information over a plurality of subframes, and the middle section information storage unit stores the gradation value. The waveform mode defined by (1) and the number of subframes can be stored.

  In this way, when the temperature regions are different, driving can be performed by changing the number of subframes.

  (6) In one aspect of the present invention, the middle section information storage unit can store at least one of a subframe rate and a voltage value of the waveform pattern in the middle section.

  In this way, when the waveform mode is different, it is possible to drive by changing the voltage value of the sub-frame rate and the drive waveform.

  (7) In one aspect of the present invention, the second waveform information storage unit stores the encoded drive waveform information, and the integrated circuit device decodes the drive waveform information sent from the host device The decoding part which performs can be further provided.

  The drive waveform information is encoded when stored in the host device or read from the host device, and is decoded only when actually used in the integrated circuit device. In this way, it is prevented that the drive waveform information, which is confidential information of each company, leaks technology.

  (8) Another aspect of the invention defines an electronic apparatus having the above-described electro-optical device.

1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an electro-optical device according to an aspect of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the pixel of an electro-optical panel. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the electrophoresis microcapsule which is an electro-optic element. It is a figure which shows an example of a sub-frame drive waveform. It is a schematic block diagram of the integrated circuit device which drives a data line. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the whole format of the 2nd waveform information storage part of a host apparatus. It is a figure which shows the format of an information header. It is a figure which shows the major division (N temperature LUT) of a 2nd waveform information storage part. It is a figure which shows the format of the major division (N temperature LUT) of a 2nd waveform information storage part. It is a figure which shows the middle division (temperature type N x waveform mode M) of the 2nd waveform information storage part. It is a figure which shows the format of the middle division (temperature type N x waveform mode M) of the 2nd waveform information storage part. It is a figure which shows the small division (Temperature kind Nx Waveform mode MxCI / NI combination number) of the 2nd waveform information storage part. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the number K of the small divisions of a 2nd waveform information storage part, and the number of CI / NI combinations. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the whole format of the 1st waveform information storage part of an integrated circuit device. It is a block diagram which shows the specific example of the display engine shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an image update area. It is an operation | movement flowchart. It is a block diagram which shows an electronic device.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The present embodiment described below does not unduly limit the contents of the present invention described in the claims, and all the configurations described in the present embodiment are indispensable as means for solving the present invention. Not necessarily.

1. Outline of Electro-Optical Panel FIG. 1 shows an EPD that is an electro-optical device. An EPD panel (electro-optical panel) 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an active matrix substrate (first substrate) 12 on which a plurality of scanning lines 14, a plurality of data lines 16, and a plurality of pixels 20 are formed. As shown in FIG. 2, the pixel 20 is provided with a pixel selection transistor 22, a storage capacitor 24, and a pixel electrode 26. In the pixel selection transistor 22, the scanning line 14 is connected to the gate, the data line 16 is connected to the source, and the drain is connected to the storage capacitor 24 and the pixel electrode 26.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a counter electrode (common electrode) 28 facing a plurality of pixel electrodes 26 formed on an active matrix substrate (first substrate) 12 is formed on a counter substrate (second substrate) not shown. A plurality of microcapsules 30 for forming an electrophoretic layer with an electro-optic material is provided between two substrates. Each microcapsule 30 includes positively charged black particles 32 and negatively charged white particles 33 floating in the fluid 31.

  Here, the counter electrode 28 can be held at a predetermined voltage. The voltage applied to the pixel electrode 26 can be controlled by using the scanning line 14 and the data line 16 of FIG. When the electric field is positive, the black particles 32 move in the direction of the counter electrode 26 as shown in the microcapsule 30a. As a result, the pixel 20 viewed from the transparent counter electrode 28 side becomes white. Conversely, when the electric field is negative, the white particles 33 move in the direction of the pixel electrode 26 as shown in the microcapsule 30b, and as a result, the pixel 20 viewed from the counter electrode 28 side becomes white. The microcapsule 30c shows a pixel that completely displays gray other than white or black. For example, to generate a pixel having black, white or gray, a sequence of voltage pulses is applied to the pixel electrode 26. When the display of the electro-optical panel 10 is updated, a driving waveform voltage is applied to the pixel 20 via the data line 16. The specific waveform to be applied is selected based on the display state after the update of the pixel 20 and the display state before the update.

  By applying voltage pulses of appropriate polarity, duration, and amplitude to the pixel electrode 26, the pixel 20 can be driven to black, white, or a dark gray intensity. The voltage pulse applied to the pixel 20 can be modulated in duration, amplitude, or both duration and amplitude, depending on environmental information such as temperature and waveform mode.

  The EPD pixel 20 is driven by a pulse train as shown in FIG. The pulse train is composed of a plurality of pulses, and is also called a “waveform” or a “voltage transition sequence”. The application time of a single pulse corresponds to one subframe (SF). The pulse train (waveform) can be composed of several tens to several tens of subframes.

  EPD can operate using several different waveform modes. In the present embodiment, for example, an initialization mode, a 2 gradation (monochrome) mode (1 bpp: bit per pixel), a 4 gradation mode (2 bpp), an 8 gradation mode (3 bpp), a 6 gradation mode (4 bpp), The EPD can be operated using 32 gradation modes (5 bpp) and 64 gradations (6 bpp).

  For example, there are 16 × 2 = 32 types of pulse trains (waveforms) for updating the pixel 20 from any value in the maximum 16 gradation mode to any value in the 2 gradation mode. There are 16 × 4 = 64 types of pulse trains (waveforms) for updating the pixel 20 from any value in the maximum 16 gradation mode to any value in the 4 gradation mode. There are 16 × 8 = 128 types of pulse trains (waveforms) for updating the pixel 20 from any value in the maximum 16 gradation mode to any value in the 8 gradation mode. There are 16 × 16 = 256 types of pulse trains (waveforms) for updating the pixel 20 from any value in the maximum 16 gradation mode to any value in the 16 gradation mode. In the maximum 64 gradation mode, the number of types of waveforms is further increased. For example, the pulse train (waveform) for updating the pixel 20 from any value in the maximum 64 gradation mode to any value in the 64 gradation mode is 64 × 64 = There are 4096 types.

  The waveform mode according to the number of gradations is displayed in, for example, 3 bits, (0, 0, 0) is a 2 gradation mode, (0, 0, 1) is a 4 gradation mode, and (0, 1, 0) is the 8th floor. Tone mode, (0, 1, 1) is a 16 gradation mode, (1, 0, 0) is a 32 gradation mode, and (1, 0, 1) is a 64 gradation mode.

2. 1. Outline of Electro-Optical Device An active matrix substrate (glass substrate) 12 shown in FIG. 1 includes a scanning line driving unit 40 that drives scanning lines 14, a data line driving unit 100 that drives data lines 16, and a data line driving unit. A temperature sensor 200 connected to 100 is provided. Both drive units 40 and 100 are formed by an integrated circuit device (IC) and can be COG mounted on the active matrix substrate 12. Alternatively, when a flexible film substrate is connected to the active matrix substrate 12, the data line driving unit 100 may be COF mounted on the film substrate. The scanning line driving unit 40 may be configured by a TFT (thin film transistor) formed on the active matrix substrate (glass substrate) 12 or may be accommodated in the data line driving unit 100. The data line driving unit 100 can function as a master that controls the scanning line driving unit 40 that is a slave.

  The host device 50 connected to the data line driving unit 100 includes a CPU 51, an image memory 52, a host waveform memory (second driving waveform storage unit) 53, and an interface (I / F) 54. The host device 50 transmits various commands and data (control data such as waveform mode data, image data, or driving waveform data) to the data line driving unit 100. This embodiment is characterized by the data format of the host waveform memory 53 of the host device 50 and the configuration of the data line driving unit 100, and the scanning line driving unit 40 can use the conventional device as it is. Hereinafter, the driver IC refers to the data line driving unit 100.

3. Outline of Data Line Drive Unit The data line drive unit 100 is a driver IC having a controller function. As shown in FIG. 5, the data line driving unit 100 includes a host interface 101 connected to the host device 50, a register 102 and a memory interface 103 connected to the host interface 101. The register 102 stores various information such as control data transmitted from the host device 50. A display memory (display data storage unit) 110, a waveform decoder (decoding unit) 121, and a waveform memory (first waveform information storage unit) 120 are connected to the memory interface 103.

  The display memory 110 includes a current image (CI) buffer 111 and a next image (NI) buffer 112. The display memory 110 may be a RAM. The current image memory 111 and the next image memory 112 may not exist in one memory, and may be different memories.

  The host device 50 or another image data source stores the current image or a part of the image in the CI buffer 111 as the first display data. The NI buffer 112 stores the next image or part of the image as second display data. The CI buffer 111 and the NI buffer 112 store a current pixel CP (Current Pixel) and a next pixel NP (Next Pixel) for each pixel of the electro-optical panel 10.

  Here, the current image is image data corresponding to the image displayed on the electro-optical panel 10. When the image of the electro-optical panel 10 is being updated, the current image is image data corresponding to the image before update, and the next image is image data corresponding to the image after update. The same applies to the current pixel CP and the next pixel NP.

  In the waveform RAM 120, the waveform information in one temperature region out of the waveform information in the entire temperature region encoded and sent from the host device 50 is decoded by the waveform decoder 121 and stored. Further, by prohibiting direct access to the waveform RAM 120 from the outside, the confidentiality of the waveform data is maintained.

  For example, the display engine 130 acquires the waveform mode designated by the host device 50 from the register 102 and acquires the current pixel CP data and the next pixel NP data from the display memory 110. As a result, the display engine 130 reads out all the drive waveform data in the corresponding waveform mode from the waveform RAM 120 by one subframe and outputs it to the timing controller 140.

  The timing controller 140 repeatedly stores the drive waveform data corresponding to the waveform mode from the waveform RAM 120 for each subframe by the number of subframes and sequentially stores it in the FIFO 141, and the H / V (horizontal / vertical) counter in the display engine 130. Drive waveform information is output to the data line driver 150 together with a control signal based on the clock from 131A. The control signal from the timing controller 130 is also sent to the scanning line driving unit 40 via the scanning line controller 160. The display engine 130 and the timing controller 140 constitute a drive waveform information output unit.

  The temperature detection unit (environment information acquisition unit) 170 detects the temperature based on, for example, a signal from the external temperature sensor 200. The external temperature sensor 200 can be configured by a thermistor, for example. The temperature sensor 200 can also be provided in the data line driving unit 100. The temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 170 is stored in the register 102.

4). Host Waveform Memory FIG. 6 to FIG. 9 show waveform formats adopted in the host waveform memory 53 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the waveform format includes a large division information storage unit 53B, a medium division information storage unit 53C, and a small division information storage unit 53D in addition to the information header 53A. The information header 53A shown in FIG. 6 is 16 × 3 = 48 bits of information shown in FIG. Among them, the number N of temperature LUTs (look-up tables), the number M of waveform modes, and the waveform depth relate to information for determining the waveforms stored in the lower storage units 53B to 53D. The waveform depth is the number of crest values that can be taken by the unit pulse of the drive waveform shown in FIG. 4 as an example. , 0).

  As shown in FIG. 8, the large division information storage unit 53B has a temperature LUT in the N large divisions LD1 to LDN. The number N of the major divisions LD1 to LDN matches the number N of temperature LUTs in the information header 53A shown in FIG. The format of the major divisions LD1 to LDN is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, for example, in association with one of N types of temperatures (temperature bands) divided every several degrees Celsius, a pointer WHPTR that specifies the start address of the corresponding major section in the middle section information storage unit 53C, A pointer WSPTR for designating a corresponding major division start address in the minute information storage unit 53D is stored (8 bytes).

  As described above, the major divisions LD1 to LDN are temperature LUTs, and the start addresses of the major divisions in the middle division information storage unit 53C and the small division information storage unit 53D are stored for each of the N types of temperatures, so that the data line This is convenient when the drive unit 100 acquires only drive waveform information in one temperature region from the host device 50. First, the data line driving unit 100 recognizes one of the major divisions LD1 to LDN corresponding to the temperature stored in the register 102 by searching the major division information storage unit 53B. Next, the start position of the data area in the middle category information storage unit 53C and the small category information storage unit 53D to be extracted can be acquired from the start address recorded in the selected major category.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the middle section information storage unit 53C includes M medium sections MD (n, 1) to N large sections DNn (1 ≦ n ≦ N) corresponding to M types of waveform modes. The driving conditions are stored in the middle sections MD (1, 1) to MD (N, M) that are divided into MD (n, M) and correspond to N × M driving modes. Further, the pointers WHPTR1 to WHPTRN stored in the respective large sections LD1 to LDN in FIG. 8 indicate the start addresses (start addresses of the large sections) of the M medium sections having the same temperature (temperature band) as shown in FIG. You can see that

  The format of the middle sections MD (1, 1) to MD (N, M) of the middle section information storage unit 43C is as shown in FIG. In the M waveform modes, as described above, the NI data is divided into the 2 gradation mode, the 4 gradation mode, the 8 gradation mode, the 16 gradation mode, the 32 gradation mode, and the 64 gradation mode (M = 6 example). The CI gradation numbers shown in FIG. 11 are all 16 gradations or less, and the NI gradation numbers are different from 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 depending on the waveform mode. For example, in the middle section MD (1, 1), the number of CI gradations is 2, in the middle section MD (1, 2), the number of CI gradations is 4, and in the middle section MD (1, 3), the CI gradation number. The number is 8, and the number of CI gradations is 16 in the middle section MD (1, 3). In the middle sections MD (1, 1) to MD (N, M) of the middle section information storage unit 53C, the number of subframes in the waveform mode determined by the number of NI gradations, the drive voltage, the frame rate, and the like are stored. The drive voltage is a voltage for driving the scanning line 14 and the data line 16, and the frame rate is a sub-frame frequency. When environmental information such as temperature is different, at least one of the number of subframes, drive voltage, and frame rate is changed.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the small section information storage unit 53D has N × M medium sections MD (1, 1) to MD (N (N) divided into M pieces in each of the N large sections LD1 to LDN. , M) are further divided into subdivisions SD (1, 1, 1) to SD (N, M, K) for each combination of the first display data (CI data) and the second display data (NI data). It is subdivided and waveform data is stored in each subsection. The waveform data stored in the subsections SD (1, 1, 1) to SD (N, M, K) is the transition state of the potentials (+ VS, 0, −Vs) for a plurality of subframes SF shown in FIG. It is. Each of the N × M medium sections MD (1, 1) to MD (N, M) specified by the temperature and the waveform mode is subdivided into, for example, K subsections SD (1, 1, 1). ~ SD (N, M, K) each have (CI gradation bit) x (NI gradation bit number) x (number of bits indicating the number of subframes) x (number of bits indicating the depth of waveform data). Has bit capacity.

  Here, the number K of the small sections SD (1, 1, 1) to SD (N, M, K) may be variable for each of the medium sections MD (1, 1) to MD (N, M). For example, when the waveform mode is the two-gradation mode, as shown in FIG. 13A, there are 16 types of CI gradation levels that can be taken, and there are two types of NI gradation levels after transition, so K = 16 × 2 = 32. As an example, K = 16 × 4 = 64 (see FIG. 13B) in the four gradation mode, K = 16 × 8 = 128 (see FIG. 13C) in the eight gradation mode, and K in the 16 gradation mode. = 16 × 16 = 256 (see FIG. 13D). Or you may fix to K = Kmax = 256 in all the middle divisions.

  The information stored in the information header 53A can be handled by a CSV file or a spreadsheet file and can be easily edited. A comment can be added to each item in the CSV file or the spreadsheet file so that the meaning and format of the data can be easily understood. Also, the large category information storage unit 53A and the middle category information storage unit 53C are provided by a dedicated tool. In addition, the drive waveform information in the small section information storage unit 53D can be combined. In the customer system, the corresponding voltage transition waveform can be determined by referring to the temperature LUT, the driving condition, and the waveform data arranged at the determined position.

5. Waveform RAM for data line driver
In the waveform RAM 120 of the data line driving unit 100, a part of information of the host waveform memory 53 is stored. Some of the information is acquired by the temperature detection unit 170 among the storage information (all temperature regions) belonging to each of the N large divisions LD1 to LDN in the middle division information storage unit 53C and the small division information storage unit 53D. Information stored in each large division LDn (n is an integer satisfying 1 ≦ n ≦ N) corresponding to each temperature (temperature band).

  The format of the waveform RAM 120 is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 14, a waveform RAM 120 includes a 4-byte (32-bit width) × 16-stage header information storage unit 120A (120A1 to 120A16), and a waveform data storage unit 120B (120B1) that stores waveform data in 16 areas with a 32-bit width. ~ 120B16).

  In the header information storage units 120A1 to 120A16, storage information of all the medium sections MD (n, 1) to MD (n, M) in one large section LDn in the medium section information storage section 53B of the host waveform memory 53 is stored. Is stored. The waveform data storage units 120B1 to 120B16 include all the small sections MD (n, 1,1) to MD (n, M, K in one large section LDn in the small section information storage section 53C of the host waveform memory 53. ) Waveform data is stored for each of the middle sections MD (n, 1) to MD (n, M). The storage information in the small section information storage unit 53C of the host waveform memory 53 and the information in the waveform data storage unit 120B of the waveform RAM 120 are the same. On the other hand, the storage information in the middle section information storage unit 53B of the host waveform memory 53 and the information in the header information storage unit 120A of the waveform RAM 120 are mostly the same, but are partially changed in accordance with the RAM 120.

  Here, the start addresses of the corresponding waveform data storage units 120B1 to 120B16 are registered in the header information storage units 120A1 to 120A16. The start address 1 of the waveform data storage unit 120B1 stored in the header information storage unit 120A1 can be obtained by converting the pointer WSPTRn shown in FIG. 9 or 12 into the address of the waveform RAM 120. The other start addresses 2 to 16 are the total capacity of the waveform data storage unit interposed between the waveform data storage unit 120B1 and its own waveform data storage unit 120Bj (j is an integer satisfying 2 ≦ j ≦ 16). Can be calculated based on As a premise, the waveform data storage units 120B1 to 120B16 are assumed to be continuous addresses. The capacity of one waveform data storage unit is the number of bits of (CI level) × (NI level) × (number of subframes) × (depth of waveform).

  In the header information storage units 120A1 to 120A16, the CI / MI level and the number of subframes are stored in the middle section MD (n, 1) to MD (n, M) in the middle section information storage section 53B of the host waveform memory 53. Set based on information. The waveform mode is a 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 gradation mode determined by the number of gradations of the NI level described above. This information is stored in the register 102 of the data driver 100 from the host device 50 and in the header information storage unit 120A of the waveform RAM 120.

  The sign bit 1b of the header information storage unit 120A is driven by the waveform data of the corresponding waveform data storage unit 120B if it is “0”, but the waveform data of the waveform data storage unit 120B corresponding to “1”. Is ignored and is forcibly changed to waveform data for initialization. Therefore, the actual waveform mode includes the initialization mode determined by the sign bit 1b in addition to the 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 gradation modes determined by the number of gradations at the NI level.

6). Specific Example of Display Engine FIG. 15 shows a specific example of the display engine 130 in the data line driving unit 100 shown in FIG. In FIG. 15, the display engine 130 includes a pipeline control unit 131, an image data read control unit 132, a waveform data read control unit 133, a waveform data buffer 134, and a DMAC (direct memory access controller) 135. Can do.

  For example, the pipeline control unit 131 can perform parallel drawing processing of the plurality of regions 11A and 11B on the screen 11 of the electro-optical panel 10 illustrated in FIG. For this purpose, the pipeline control unit 131 includes a plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,. The pipeline control unit 131 manages the count number of subframes, selection of the waveform mode used for updating, and management of the image update areas 11A and 11B for a plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,. Specifically, in the management of the image update area, the position information of the pixel to be updated is acquired from the image data read control unit 132, and the acquired pixel position is any of the plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,. It is determined whether it is included in one processing area. When the pixel being processed is included in the areas of the plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,..., The pipeline is identified, and information on the identified pipeline is sent to the waveform data read control unit 133. Further, it is necessary to update the waveform data stored in the waveform buffer 134 for each subframe. The pipeline control unit 131 manages the subframe counts of the plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,... Based on the output from the H / V (horizontal / vertical) counter 131A, and at the start of the subframe, the waveform A request to update the data in the waveform buffer 134 is sent to the data read control unit 133, and at the same time, the number of subframes and the waveform mode necessary for updating the waveform data are sent. Since the pipeline control unit 131 individually manages a plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,..., A plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,. Drawing processing can be performed.

  The image data read control unit 132 is a circuit that reads image data from the display memory 110, generates an address of the waveform buffer 134, and reads a waveform. The address of the waveform buffer 134 is read from the display memory 110 and generated based on the NI / CI data.

  The image data read control unit 132 can update the entire screen 11 shown in FIG. 16 and the entire screen in the designated areas 11A and 11B. At that time, the CI data and the NI data in the update area may be compared to update only the pixels whose values have changed, and 0 V may be applied to the pixels having the same value.

  The waveform read control unit 133 reads the waveform for one subframe from the waveform RAM 120 for each subframe and writes it to the waveform buffer 134. The update of the waveform stored in the waveform buffer 134 is started by a request from the pipeline control unit 131. The pipeline control unit 131 individually controls a waveform update request for each of the pipelines 0, 1, 2,..., And the waveform read control unit 133 updates the pipelines 0, 1, 2,. Arbitration was performed for processing.

  The waveform buffer 134 is a buffer composed of flip-flops for storing waveform data for one subframe for all pipelines 0, 1, 2,. If the reading speed of the waveform RAM 120 is faster than the refresh rate of the EPD panel 10, the waveform buffer 134 may be omitted. Alternatively, the waveform buffer 134 may be a double buffer, and the waveform may be read out in one region and written in the other. However, it should be avoided because it increases memory capacity. In the present embodiment, the waveform buffer 134 is a single buffer, and new waveform data corresponding to the pipeline being updated is acquired from the waveform RAM 120 every time one subframe is completed. The time for acquiring the waveform data from the waveform RAM 120 is about several tens of μs, which is sufficiently small as compared with 20 ms of one subframe period and does not cause a problem.

  In the DMAC 135, immediately after the image update, the image data in the NI buffer 112 is transferred to the CI buffer 111 for the next image update. The pipeline control unit 131 sends a data transfer request for the CI buffer 111 from the NI buffer 112 to the DMAC 135 for the area corresponding to the desired pipeline individually after the end of each pipeline 0, 1, 2,. When data transfer requests for a plurality of pipelines 0, 1, 2,... Conflict, the DMAC 135 can arbitrate the plurality of requests and proceed with processing in a time division manner. By the time division processing, the circuit scale can be reduced as compared with the parallel processing.

7). Description of Operation Next, the operation from power-on to image display of the apparatus according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 shows the operation of the CPU 51 of the host device 50 and the operation of the data line driving unit (driver IC) 100.

  First, when the power of the apparatus is turned on (S1), the CPU 51 turns on the external clock (S2). Further, the driver IC 100 is turned on to supply the internal clock of the driver IC 100 (S3).

  Thereafter, the CPU 51 issues a firmware write command for the driver IC 100 (S4), and the driver IC 100 writes the firmware in a dedicated memory (not shown) (S10).

  Next, the CPU 51 issues a command for initializing the driver IC 100 (S5). Thereby, the driver 1C100 initializes the register 102 (S11). Further, based on the sensing result of the temperature sensor 200, the temperature detection unit 170 detects the temperature and stores the current temperature in the register 102.

  Thereafter, the CPU 51 issues a waveform information write command (S 6), and the encoded waveform information for the entire temperature region shown in FIG. 6 is sent from the host waveform memory 53 of the host device 50. In the driver IC 100, referring to the temperature value of the register 102, the waveform decoder 121 decodes the waveform information for one temperature region and stores it in the waveform RAM 120 (S12). At this time, header information and waveform data extracted from all the data in FIG. 6 are stored in the format shown in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 51 issues a command for initializing the CI buffer 111 (S7). The driver IC 100 initializes the image in the CI buffer 111 (S13). Thereafter, when the CPU 51 issues an image write command (S8), the driver IC 100 stores the image sent from the host device 50 or the like in the NI buffer 112.

  Thereafter, when a panel image update start command is issued from the CPU 51 (S9), the waveform mode specified by the panel image update command is stored in the register 102, and the first subframe of the waveform data corresponding to the waveform mode is By the operations of the pipeline control unit 130 and the waveform data read control unit 133, the data is read from the waveform RAM 120 and transferred to the waveform buffer 134 (S15).

  Thereafter, the panel image is updated using the extracted waveform data (S16). For this purpose, the image data read control unit 132 reads the image data from the C1 buffer and the NI buffer 112, and generates the addresses of the pipelines 0, 1, 2,... Being read and updated based on the CI / NI data. Then, a read request is made to the waveform buffer 134. Then, the timing controller 140 fetches the waveform data from the waveform buffer 134 and stores it in the FIFO 141. The waveform data of the FIFO 141 is transmitted to the data line driver 150 at an appropriate timing simultaneously with the driver control signal. The timing controller 140 sends a control signal to the scanning line driving unit 40 via the scanning line controller 160. As a result, the image of the electro-optical panel 10 of FIG. 1 is updated in a line sequential manner. These operations are repeated every time one subframe is completed, and all subframes necessary for image update are completed.

  Finally, the CI buffer 111 is updated (S17). For this purpose, the pipeline control unit 131 requests the DMAC 135 to transfer the data in the NI buffer 112 to the CI buffer 111. As a result, the DMAC 135 transfers the data in the NI buffer 112 to the CI buffer 111.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 16, when updating the image for the designated area 11A of the screen 11, the CPU 51 sends the start address (X1, Y1) and the rectangular sizes a1, b1 of FIG. Data is stored in the register 102. Therefore, if the image data read control unit 132 reads data from the CI buffer 111 and the NI buffer 112 only for the designated area 11A in FIG. 16, the image data only for the designated area 11A can be updated in the same manner as described above. it can.

  The image can be updated in the same manner for the designated area 11B in FIG. At this time, in order to simultaneously update the images of the designated areas 11A and 11B, the pipeline control unit 131 performs simultaneous parallel control on the designated area 11A using, for example, pipeline 0 and the designated area 11B using, for example, pipeline 1 simultaneously. Can be commanded. At that time, in the designated areas 11A and 11B, the waveform mode, that is, the gradation of the NI image can be made different from one of two gradations and the other of 16 gradations.

8). Electronic Device FIG. 18 shows a configuration example of an electronic device 300 including the electro-optical device of the present embodiment. The electronic apparatus 300 includes an electro-optical panel 10, a host device 50, an integrated circuit device 100, an operation unit 310, a storage unit 320, and a communication unit 330. Various modifications such as omitting some of these components and adding other components are possible.

  The electro-optical panel 100 is for displaying various images (information) as an output device of the electronic apparatus 300, and is, for example, an EPD panel or an ECD panel. The operation unit 310 is used by the user to input various information, and can be realized by various buttons, a keyboard, and the like. The storage unit 320 stores various information such as image data, and can be realized by a RAM, a ROM, or the like. The communication unit 330 performs communication processing with the outside.

  Note that examples of the electronic device realized by the present embodiment include various devices such as an electronic card (credit card, point card, etc.), electronic paper, a remote control, a clock, a mobile phone, a portable information terminal, and a calculator. it can.

  Although the present embodiment has been described in detail as described above, it will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications can be made without departing from the novel matters and effects of the present invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included in the scope of the present invention. For example, a term (such as an EPD panel) that is described at least once together with a different term (such as an electro-optical panel) in a broader or synonymous manner in the specification or drawings is referred to as the different term in any part of the specification or drawings. Can be replaced. Further, the configurations and operations of the integrated circuit device and the electronic device are not limited to those described in this embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, the environmental information may be other parameters such as brightness, humidity, and atmospheric pressure that affect the display characteristics of the electro-optical panel, in addition to the environmental temperature detected by an internal circuit device or an external temperature sensor. . Further, the electro-optical panel may be a passive type instead of an active type as in the present embodiment. The electro-optic material is not limited to this embodiment, and any material that can be driven by a voltage transition waveform may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electro-optical panel (EPD panel), 12 1st board | substrate, 20 pixels, 26 pixel electrode, 28 Counter electrode, 30 Electro-optical material, 40 Scan line drive part, 50 Host apparatus, 51 CPU, 53 Host waveform memory (2nd Waveform information storage section), 53B large section information storage section, 53C middle section information storage section, 53D small section information storage section, 100 data line drive section (integrated circuit device), 110 display data storage section (display memory), 120 Waveform RAM (first waveform information storage unit), 121 decoding unit, 130, 140 Drive waveform information output unit (display engine, timing controller), 150 Drive voltage output unit (data line driver), 170 Acquisition unit (temperature detection) Part), 200 temperature sensor, 300 electronic equipment

Claims (8)

An electro-optic panel comprising: a first substrate on which a plurality of pixel electrodes are formed; a second substrate on which a counter electrode is formed; and an electro-optic material disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate;
An integrated circuit device mounted on the first substrate or a flexible substrate connected to the first substrate and driving the electro-optical panel;
A host device connected to the integrated circuit device;
The integrated circuit device includes:
A drive voltage output unit that outputs a drive voltage supplied to the plurality of pixel electrodes of the electro-optical panel;
A display data storage unit for storing the first display data and the second display data;
First waveform information storage for storing drive waveform information for changing the display state at the pixel from the first display state corresponding to the first display data to the second display state corresponding to the second display data And
An acquisition unit for acquiring environmental information;
A drive waveform information output unit that outputs the drive waveform information selected by the first waveform information storage unit based on the first display data and the second display data to the drive voltage output unit;
Have
The host device includes a second waveform information storage unit that stores the drive waveform information corresponding to each of N types of environment information,
The first waveform information storage unit stores the drive waveform information corresponding to each of N (N is an integer of 2 or more) types of environmental information stored in the second waveform information storage. The drive waveform information corresponding to the environmental information acquired in the above is stored,
The second waveform information storage unit
A large-section information storage unit for storing N large-section information corresponding to N types of environmental information;
Each of the N large sections is divided into M (M is an integer of 2 or more) medium sections corresponding to M types of waveform modes, and is driven to the medium section corresponding to each of N × M drive modes. A medium section information storage unit for storing conditions;
Each of the N × M medium sections divided into M in each of the N large sections is further subdivided into a plurality of small sections for each combination of the first display data and the second display data. An electro-optical device comprising: a sub-section information storage unit that stores waveform data in the plurality of sub-sections. In claim 1,
The major category information storage unit stores a pointer that specifies the start address of the major category set in each of the middle category information storage unit and the minor category information storage unit in association with the N types of environment information. An electro-optical device that is a temperature lookup table. In claim 2,
The first waveform information storage unit corresponds to the environment information acquired by the acquisition unit among the storage information belonging to each of the N large categories in the middle category information storage unit and the small category information storage unit. An electro-optical device in which information stored in each one large section is stored. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3,
The electro-optical device, wherein the waveform mode includes two or more gradation modes having different gradation numbers in the second display state. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4,
The drive voltage output unit outputs the drive voltage according to the waveform information over a plurality of subframes,
The electro-optical device, wherein the middle section information storage unit stores a waveform mode defined by the gradation value and the number of subframes. In claim 5,
The electro-optical device, wherein the middle section information storage unit stores at least one of a subframe rate and a voltage value of a driving waveform in the middle section. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6.
The second waveform information storage unit stores the encoded driving waveform information,
The integrated circuit device further includes a decoding unit that decodes the drive waveform information transmitted from the host device.   An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 1.

Images