JP5407137B2 - Lighting device, lighting unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is an illumination device using a light emitting element such as LED and LD, and a lighting unit that constitute the lighting device.

  Conventionally, incandescent bulbs, halogen lamps, and the like have been used as light sources for various types of illumination. In recent years, high-luminance light-emitting elements such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) have been developed for the three primary colors of light, red (Red), green (Green), and blue (Blue) RGB. As each was developed, large self-luminous full-color displays were produced. Among other things, LED displays are lightweight, thin, and have features such as high brightness and low power consumption, so they range from large displays that can be used outdoors to medium- and small-screen sizes in semi-indoors such as platforms. There are demands for LED displays with various screen sizes depending on applications and locations. In order to respond to such demands for screen size, vertical / horizontal screen ratio (aspect ratio), shape, etc., a display system is constructed by combining a plurality of LED units in which a large number of LEDs are arranged in a matrix or a line. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, in addition to such display applications, illumination apparatuses in which a large number of LEDs are arranged in a planar shape are also used in illumination applications. Conventionally, incandescent bulbs and halogen lamps have been used as light sources for various types of lighting. Compared to these, semiconductor light-emitting elements such as LEDs have advantages such as low power consumption and high impact resistance, and long life. Therefore, it may be unnecessary to replace the ball, and replacement with an illumination device using an LED is desired.

FIG. 7 shows an example of an illumination device 700 that can control the illumination color, the amount of light, and the like. In the lighting device 700 shown in this figure, a plurality of lighting units 72 are connected to a controller 71 via a communication cable 73, and a source of an illumination signal is connected to the controller 71 (not shown). From the controller 71, illumination data including data such as the lighting color and lighting time of the LEDs arranged on the display unit 75 is sent out via the communication cable 73 for each lighting unit 72. Each lighting unit 72 includes a communication circuit 78 and performs data communication between the lighting units 72. Further, by assigning an identification ID to each lighting unit 72 and including the identification ID of the transmission destination as the illumination data as packet data, the lighting control of the light emitting elements arranged on the display unit 75 of each lighting unit 72 is performed. 77 can be individually controlled.
JP 11-1206047 A JP 2007-35639 A

  Such a data communication system has been performed in the same manner as the data communication system conventionally performed in the LED display. That is, in the lighting using a conventional light bulb or the like, the lighting amount is controlled by adjusting the current amount, whereas in the LED lighting, the lighting amount is controlled by adjusting the energization time by PWM or the like. In addition, LED lighting data is sent in packets from the controller 71 to each lighting unit 72 for each frame so as to display an image source such as a moving image, and each lighting unit 72 receives packet data addressed to itself, The display unit 75 is turned on. In this case, it is necessary to synchronize the timing of the lighting data sent from the controller 71 and the lighting timing of the display unit 75 in the illumination unit 72. Therefore, it is necessary to provide synchronization maintaining means 79 for synchronizing the data transfer between the communication circuit 78 or the display control unit 77.

  However, the LEDs that are turned on by the lighting unit 72 are turned on at high speed from the viewpoint of flicker prevention and the like, whereas the transfer speed of the LED lighting data sent from the controller 71 is generally slower than this. Therefore, in order to light the LED at a high lighting cycle, it is necessary to increase the communication speed of the controller 71, and an expensive system is required for data communication with the controller 71. In particular, when high-speed data communication is performed by connecting a large number of lighting units 72, it becomes more difficult to maintain synchronization. On the other hand, when the data communication speed with the controller 71 is lowered, the lighting cycle in the lighting unit 72 is delayed, and the problem of flickering in lighting occurs.

The present invention has been made to solve such conventional problems. One object of the present invention, illuminable illumination device illumination regardless of the transmission speed of the lighting data, to provide a lighting unit.

  On the other hand, in the field of display, since image data is displayed at a prescribed cycle, such as 60 frames per second, from the viewpoint of displaying moving images, the communication speed between the controller and the LED unit is also transferred accordingly. Data communication is performed at the timing. On the other hand, in the lighting field, a drastic change like a moving image is not required, and the lighting data update speed is not particularly defined. For this reason, the communication speed between the controller and the lighting unit is not uniquely determined, and it is different depending on the manufacturer and model. For this reason, it is possible to connect only between specific models, and it is impossible to connect controllers and lighting units of different manufacturers and models, so that there is a problem of lack of versatility.

The present invention has been made to further solve such problems. Another object of the present invention, the illumination device configured data communicable lighting units even for different data rates controller is to provide a lighting unit.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

In order to achieve the above object, according to the illumination device of the present invention, a lighting unit provided with a plurality of light emitting elements, a lighting control unit that controls lighting of the light emitting elements, and data communication with the outside are provided. A communication control unit that sends the data to the lighting control unit, and a state in which an illumination signal that controls each lighting unit in the lighting units connected to each other as lighting can be sent to the communication control unit A controller unit connected to the lighting unit, wherein the lighting control unit includes a first timing signal used for data communication between the controller unit and the communication control unit, and each lighting unit. It is operated asynchronously and second timing signals used in the data communication between the lighting unit and the lighting control unit in the inner, the controller unit, said first timing signal The external frame synchronization signal is generated and the illumination signal is sent to the lighting unit according to the external frame synchronization signal. The lighting control unit is independent of the external frame synchronization signal and has a higher refresh rate than this. It does can Rukoto a timing generation circuit for generating an internal frame synchronization signal as a second timing signal for performing the internal frame synchronization. This eliminates the need to synchronize the interior of each lighting unit for data communication with the controller unit that transmits the lighting signal, so that the lighting unit can be operated at high speed regardless of the timing of sending and updating the lighting data. it can. In addition, the specifications of connectable lighting units have been limited for controller units that had a specific operation timing for each model. However, in this lighting device, the lighting unit is independent of the operation timing of the controller unit. Can be connected, and there is an advantage that a single lighting unit can be used for a controller unit of various specifications without being limited by the manufacturer or model.

Also , by making the refresh rate of the internal frame synchronization signal faster than that of the external frame synchronization signal, the change in the update timing in each lighting unit can be made inconspicuous.

According to the second lighting device, the refresh rate of the internal frame synchronization signal is fixed to a predetermined value, and the refresh rate of the external frame synchronization signal can be configured to be variable. As a result, it can be connected to the lighting unit regardless of the operation cycle of the controller unit, and it can be connected to the lighting unit regardless of the operating frequency of the controller unit, and a lighting system can be constructed regardless of the manufacturer or model. Benefits are gained.

Furthermore , according to the third lighting device, the refresh rate of the internal frame synchronization signal can be set to four times or more the refresh rate of the external frame synchronization signal. Thereby, flickering is reduced and high-quality illumination light can be obtained.

Furthermore, according to the fourth illumination device, the controller unit sends the illumination signal from the controller unit to the communication control unit of the corresponding illumination unit every time a desired illumination pattern is updated. Can be configured. As a result, only the necessary illumination signal can be sent to the corresponding illumination unit at any time, so the amount of data communication can be reduced to the minimum necessary, and the load on the system can be reduced.

On the other hand, according to the fifth lighting unit, it is communicably connected to the controller unit, and a plurality of lighting units can be connected to each other, and receives an illumination signal for lighting the light emitting element from the controller unit. A lighting unit in which a plurality of light emitting elements having different emission colors are arranged in a line or matrix, a lighting control unit that controls lighting of the light emitting elements, and the controller unit A communication control unit that performs data communication of an illumination signal and transmits a data communication result to the lighting control unit, and the lighting control unit is used for data communication between the controller unit and the communication control unit. The controller side timing signal and the unit side timing signal used in data communication between the lighting control unit and the lighting unit in each lighting unit It can be operated in the period. Thus, when data communication with the controller portion for transmitting the illumination signal, it is not necessary to synchronize the internal each lighting unit, delivery of the illumination data, is operated at high speed an illumination unit side without depending on the update timing, the controller The controller generates the controller side timing signal and sends the illumination signal to the lighting unit side according to the controller side timing signal, and the lighting control unit is independent of the controller side timing signal and has a refresh rate higher than that. There can Rukoto with fast, timing generating circuit for generating a unit-side timing signal for the internal frame synchronization. In addition, the specifications of the lighting units that can be connected to the controller unit, which conventionally has a specific operation timing for each model, are limited. However, in this lighting unit, the controller unit is independent of the operation timing of the controller unit. It is possible to connect to a controller unit with various specifications without being limited by the manufacturer or model.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments shown below, the lighting apparatus for embodying the technical idea of the present invention are intended to illustrate the illumination unit, the present invention is an illumination device, identify the lighting unit to the following do not do. Moreover, the member shown by the claim is not what specifies the member of embodiment. In particular, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts described in the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified, and are merely explanations. It is just an example. Note that the size, positional relationship, and the like of the members shown in each drawing may be exaggerated for clarity of explanation. Furthermore, in the following description, the same name and symbol indicate the same or the same members, and detailed description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, each element constituting the present invention may be configured such that a plurality of elements are constituted by the same member and the plurality of elements are shared by one member, and conversely, the function of one member is constituted by a plurality of members. It can also be realized by sharing. In addition, the contents described in some examples and embodiments may be used in other examples and embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a lighting apparatus according to an embodiment. The lighting device 100 shown in this figure includes a controller unit 1 and a plurality of lighting units 2. The controller unit 1 and the illumination unit 2 are connected to a state in which data communication is possible via a communication signal line. In the example of FIG. 1, the lighting units 2 are connected in a daisy chain shape by a communication signal line 3. However, it may be connected in a loop. In this case, information can be sent from the lighting unit side to the controller unit, and for example, status information and failure information of each lighting unit can be notified to the controller unit. Specifically, the disconnection information of the LEDs of the lighting units included in each lighting unit can be notified to the controller unit. A star-type connection can also be used as appropriate. Furthermore, the connection is not limited to a wired connection through a physical medium such as a cable, and a wireless connection using infrared rays, radio waves, electromagnetic waves, light, sound waves, or the like can also be used.
(Lighting unit 2)

A plurality of lighting units 2 can be connected and connected. That is, by connecting a plurality of lighting units 2 each having a plurality of light emitting elements 4 according to the size and shape of the lighting device, an advantage that the size and shape of the lighting device can be arbitrarily configured is obtained. As an example, the appearance of a single unit of the lighting unit 2 is shown in FIGS. For example, the illumination unit 2A shown in FIG. 2 has 16 dots × 16 dots LEDs (light emitting elements 4) arranged in a matrix. This is modularized as one lighting unit 2A, and a plurality of lighting units 2A are connected vertically and / or horizontally. A desired lighting device can be configured by connecting the lighting units 2A in a matrix according to the screen size, vertical / horizontal aspect ratio, and the like. Alternatively, a plurality of rod-shaped illumination units 2B as shown in FIG. 3 can be connected in a line to form a linear light source. Each lighting unit 2 includes a communication control unit 8, a lighting control unit 6, and a lighting unit 5.
(Lighting part 5)

  In the lighting unit 5, a plurality of light emitting elements 4 having different emission colors are arranged on a substrate in a line shape or a matrix shape. In the case of the matrix-shaped lighting unit 5, clusters that constitute one pixel with a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix of m rows × n columns on a substrate on which a conductive pattern is formed. As the light emitting element 4, a semiconductor light emitting element such as an LED or an LD, an EL, a PDP, or the like is used. The semiconductor light emitting device has the advantage that the linearity of the output with respect to the input is good, the efficiency is excellent, and it can be used stably with a long life. In this embodiment, an LED is used. An LED is preferable from the viewpoint of durability and cost because there is no fear of running out of a bulb as compared with a light bulb or the like. For example, one pixel (pixel) is composed of LED clusters in which LEDs each capable of emitting red, green, and blue (R, G, B) are arranged adjacent to each other in units of three. An LED having RGB adjacent to each pixel can realize full color display. The three primary colors of light generally refer to the above R, G, and B, but CMY, CMYK, or their complementary colors can also be used.

A semiconductor light emitting device such as an LED is formed on a substrate by a liquid phase growth method, an HDVPE method, or an MOCVD method. Those formed as a light emitting layer are preferably used. Depending on the material of the semiconductor layer and the degree of mixed crystal thereof, the emission wavelength of the semiconductor light emitting element can be variously selected from ultraviolet light to infrared light. In particular, when a display device that can be suitably used outdoors, a light emitting element capable of emitting light with high luminance is required. Therefore, it is preferable to select a nitride semiconductor as a material of a light emitting element that emits green and blue light with high luminance. For example, In _X Al _Y Ga _1-XY N (0 ≦ X ≦ 1, 0 ≦ Y ≦ 1, X + Y ≦ 1) can be used as the material of the light emitting layer. In addition, a light-emitting element in which such a light-emitting element and various phosphors that emit light having a wavelength different from the emission wavelength of the light-emitting element are excited by the light emission can be combined. It is preferable to select a gallium / aluminum / arsenic semiconductor or an aluminum / indium / gallium / phosphorous semiconductor as a material of a light emitting element emitting red light. In order to obtain a color display device, it is preferable to combine LED chips having a red emission wavelength of 610 nm to 700 nm, green of 495 nm to 565 nm, and blue emission wavelength of 430 nm to 490 nm.

  The light emitting element is electrically connected to a lead electrode that supplies electric power to the light emitting element, and an LED is formed by covering the light emitting element with a sealing member that protects the light emitting element from the outside. As the light emitting element, a semiconductor light emitting element in which a semiconductor layer is epitaxially grown on a growth substrate can be suitably used. For the growth substrate, for example, a known material such as sapphire, spinel, SiC, GaN, or GaAs can be used. In addition, by using a conductive substrate such as SiC, GaN, or GaAs instead of an insulating substrate such as sapphire, the p electrode and the n electrode can be arranged to face each other.

  Further, if necessary, a wavelength conversion member may be disposed around the light emitting element to convert the light wavelength of the light emitting element, and convert the light to a different wavelength for output. The wavelength conversion member is formed, for example, by mixing in a translucent resin a phosphor that emits fluorescence when excited by light from a light emitting element. Thereby, the light of the light emitting element can be converted into light having a longer wavelength, and mixed color light of the light of the light emitting element and the long wavelength light converted by the wavelength conversion member can be extracted to the outside.

Further, LEDs having various shapes can be used. For example, an LED chip which is a light emitting element is electrically connected to a lead terminal, and a bullet type covered with a mold resin or the like, a chip type LED, a form using the light emitting element itself, and the like can be mentioned.
(Lighting control unit 6)

Each light emitting element 4 of the lighting unit 5 is driven and controlled by the lighting control unit 6. The lighting control unit 6 can drive only a desired light emitting element 4 by supplying power to the light emitting element 4 such as an LED. When dynamically driving an LED arranged in a dot matrix, the LED group arranged in each segment is selected and controlled by a common driver at a constant period, and the current is passed through the segment driver to adjust the time during which the current flows. Color can be obtained. In this example, the lighting control unit 6 performs the lighting control based on the driving of the light emitting element 4 and the lighting signal from the communication control unit 8, but is not limited to this configuration and performs communication with the communication control unit. It goes without saying that a drive circuit for driving each light emitting element can be provided separately from the lighting control unit. Further, if necessary, storage means for temporarily storing the transmitted data, storage means for storing identification information provided for each lighting unit in advance, and the transmitted data as identification information for each lighting unit. Comparing means for comparing and determining that it is own lighting unit data, calculating means for calculating the power supplied to each LED based on the data received and processed after the comparison determination, and the like can also be provided. These various means can be configured by using a semiconductor memory, a logic circuit, or a central processing unit.
(Timing generation circuit 7)

The lighting control unit 6 includes a controller-side timing signal used for data communication between the controller unit 1 and the communication control unit 8, and data communication between the lighting control unit 6 and the lighting unit 5 in each lighting unit 2. Asynchronously with the unit side timing signal used in Therefore, the lighting control unit 6 includes a timing generation circuit 7 and generates an internal frame synchronization signal as a unit side timing signal for performing internal frame synchronization in the timing generation circuit 7. The internal frame synchronization signal sets a cycle (refresh rate) faster than this, independently of the external frame synchronization signal. In particular, when an LED is used as the light emitting element, an effect of making the flickering of the LED with little afterimage effect inconspicuous can be obtained by speeding up the update (refresh) of the illumination data. As the timing generation circuit 7, an oscillator with a built-in free-run (autonomous) counter can be used. Based on this clock signal, various signals such as an internal frame synchronization signal, a blanking signal (BLANK), a data latch signal (LATCH), a shift clock signal (SCLK), and a gradation reference clock signal (GDCK) are output by a timing generation circuit. Can be generated. The internal frame synchronization signal is also called internal VSYNC (vertical synchronizing signal) indicating switching of the illumination signal, and the external frame synchronization signal is also called external VSYNC.
(Timing chart)

In this way, each lighting unit 2 can autonomously generate an internal frame synchronization signal without depending on the same signal as the external frame, so that a flexible connection independent of the specifications on the controller side is possible. In addition, there is no need to synchronize between the lighting units 2. FIG. 4 shows an example of a timing chart of the external VSYNC and the internal VSYNC of each lighting unit 2. As shown in this figure, each lighting unit 2 includes a timing generation circuit 7 and each independently generates an internal VSYNC. Therefore, each lighting unit 2 can operate autonomously at its own timing. It is possible to realize an extremely simple circuit configuration with few restrictions on data communication. As a result, it has been difficult to maintain synchronization between the units if the number of connection stages of the lighting units is increased in the past, but according to this configuration, the connection of the lighting units is not subject to such restrictions. The number of stages can be increased. In addition, since the internal frame synchronization signal can be generated inside the lighting unit, problems of signal deterioration and radiation noise can be avoided as compared with the case where these signals are sent from an external controller unit or the like.
(Reduction of shift in update timing)

  On the other hand, as a result of each lighting unit autonomously generating an internal frame synchronization signal, the timing of refreshing between lighting units differs, resulting in a change in lighting pattern for each lighting unit. Is recognized by the human eye. As shown in FIG. 4, the time difference of image update between the lighting units occurs with one period of the internal VSYNC as a maximum. In particular, when the number of lighting units is small, such a shift or update delay becomes conspicuous. Conversely, if the number of connected lighting units is large, even if timing variations occur between the lighting units, the deviations are averaged, so that timing variations can be suppressed. For this reason, since the dispersion | variation in timing can be absorbed, so that there are many connected lighting units, it is preferable.

Also, the higher the frequency of the internal VSYNC, the shorter the one cycle and the less the deviation. For this reason, it is preferable that the lighting timing of a lighting part is high-speed. Alternatively, the same effect can be obtained when the difference between the internal VSYNC and the external VSYNC is large. In particular, since the LED has little afterimage effect, flickering occurs when the refresh rate, that is, the frequency of the internal VSYNC is low. If an attempt is made to match the communication speed with the controller unit, for example, an illumination signal is transmitted at 30 Hz, and if synchronized with this cycle, flickering occurs due to lighting at 30 Hz. For this reason, the lighting speed at the lighting unit on the lighting unit side is turned on at a predetermined cycle so that illumination light of a constant quality can be obtained regardless of the communication speed with the controller unit. For this reason, the internal frame synchronization signal is faster than the external frame synchronization signal, and is synchronized with the external frame synchronization signal as an integer multiple. In the example of FIG. 4, for example, when the external frame synchronization signal is 30 Hz, the internal frame synchronization signal is set to 60 Hz, 120 Hz, 240 Hz, or the like. Preferably, the refresh rate of the internal frame synchronization signal is set to be equal to or more than four times the refresh rate of the external frame synchronization signal (120 Hz in the example of FIG. 4). Thereby, the flickering of the lighting part can be suppressed.
(Communication control unit 8)

The communication control unit 8 performs data communication of the illumination signal with the controller unit 1 and sends the data communication result to the lighting control unit 6. In the example of FIG. 1, the communication control unit 8 is connected to the communication signal line 3 and performs data communication with the controller unit 1.
(Controller part 1)

  The controller unit 1 distributes an illumination signal received from an external source or the like or a pre-recorded illumination signal to each illumination unit 2. For this reason, the controller unit 1 can perform data communication with the communication control unit 8 so as to sequentially transmit illumination signals for illuminating each lighting unit 5 with the lighting units 2 connected in a daisy chain. Connected to the state. The controller unit 1 generates an external frame synchronization signal as a controller side timing signal, and sends an illumination signal to the illumination unit 2 side according to the external frame synchronization signal. As shown in FIG. 1, the control / display signal output of the controller unit 1 is connected to the communication signal line 3 and performs data communication with the communication control unit 8.

  Further, the controller unit is not limited to one, and a plurality of controllers can be connected. Although not shown, one or more distributors may be disposed between the controller unit and the lighting unit. For example, when the lighting units are arranged two-dimensionally, a distributor is provided for each row, and lighting data and various control signals are supplied to each lighting unit. Control signals include, for example, lighting data clocks, synchronization signals, blanking signals, gradation reference signals, and lighting data latch signals. Signals are generated within the controller, and are sent to each lighting unit via a distributor. Supply. The illumination data transmitted from the distributor to each illumination unit requires illumination data of each color of RGB (red, green, blue) when performing color illumination, and the bit width of the illumination data is determined according to the gradation resolution. For example, when displaying with 256 gradations per color, an illumination data bus having an 8-bit width is required for three colors. These illumination data are supplied to the illumination unit by time-dividing the number of illumination units × the number of display dots. The illumination data is bit-shifted by a shift register circuit in each illumination unit, and the data is latched when a predetermined number of data is supplied, and the illumination data can be captured and displayed as illumination data. The amount of lighting data varies depending on conditions such as the number of dots of the lighting unit, lighting cycle, number of display colors, number of LEDs per unit lighting cycle, etc., but can be freely set on the system design side according to the specifications. Furthermore, the illumination data can also be used to perform LED lighting instructions and extinction instructions for each lighting unit, gradation clock frequency division setting, LED driver control, lighting unit internal circuit control, and the like.

Unlike a video device that displays a moving image or the like, the lighting device has a special circumstance that the external frame synchronization and the internal frame synchronization do not need to be completely synchronized. A low refresh rate is also allowed. In the present embodiment, in consideration of such circumstances unique to the lighting field, the amount of data flowing through the communication signal line can be reduced, the hardware requirement for data communication can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. It can also contribute to the reduction of signal lines and the simplification of interfaces such as connectors. At this time, the same illumination signal is transmitted to all the illumination units and the same illumination is performed, and it is also possible to control the illumination units to be differently illuminated. In this case, individual identification information can be given in advance for each lighting unit to be connected, and the identification information can be added to the illumination data for transmission. As a result, only the illumination signal required at the time of update can be sent to the corresponding illumination unit, so that the amount of data communication can be reduced to the minimum necessary, and a stable, high-speed, lightweight, and inexpensive illumination system with reduced system load can be constructed. The data is preferably sent in packet form.
(Difference between lighting and display)

In a conventional lighting system using a lamp-type light emitting element such as a light bulb, the amount of current is adjusted by controlling the amount of current by changing the resistance value. On the other hand, in an illumination system using a semiconductor light emitting element such as an LED, the amount of light is adjusted by controlling the lighting time width such as PWM control. For this reason, it is necessary to send a signal for controlling lighting to the light emitting element. In the case of a display in which RGB full-color LED units are combined, display data is transmitted to the LED units via the communication signal line 3. The data update cycle is T _dchg , the basic cycle for LED unit display update is T _r , and the LED lighting time is T _ron . FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the update period of these data, the basic period, and the lighting time. PWM that performs lighting control by controlling the pulse time width of T _ron is generally used. Here, T _r and T _dchg cannot be made equal. T _dchg is defined as 1/60 second in the case of a television, but in the case of an LED, the afterimage effect is small, and therefore flickers in this cycle. Therefore, in the case of an LED, double speed display is adopted, and _Tr is normally set to an integer of T _dchg . In the example of FIG. 5, it is set to ¼ and is displayed at 4 × speed.

Such a method is suitable for display on an LED display, and T _dchg is strictly defined for displays and televisions. In general, the operating frequency of the display is fixed at a predetermined frequency such as 60 Hz or 75 Hz. However, in order to maximize the display performance of the LED unit, the PWM needs to be fully counted (for example, 256 times in the case of 8 bits) within the period of _Tr . For this reason, the PWM frequency and the like are naturally determined. _There are several _types of T _{dchg in the} television standard, and it was _necessary to correspond to a plurality of PWN frequencies in order to correspond to this.

On the other hand, in the case of illumination, there is no standard for T _dchg , and even in the DMX standard related to control signals, it is ambiguous as 1 second at maximum. For this reason, the update timing of lighting equipment has not been unified, and as a result of the adoption of various specifications for each manufacturer and model, it is difficult to connect different models, and it has been made compatible with the specifications of each model. There has been a problem that designing and manufacturing a lighting device is complicated and expensive.

In contrast, in the illumination apparatus according to this embodiment, since the a T _r is independent of T _dchg, without depending on T _dchg employed in the connected devices, it can support a variety of T _dchg period, Increases connection flexibility. In particular, in the case of illumination, it is sufficient to send the illumination signal unilaterally, and there is no need to synchronize between the transmission side and the reception side, and further synchronization between the illumination units can be eliminated. For this reason, it was possible to design with a concept different from that of a display for displaying moving images.

  On the other hand, the LED lighting data for illumination often has a smaller amount of data and is less frequently updated than moving image data or the like. Also, the minimum update cycle is not required in the standard. For this reason, even a low refresh rate that is unacceptable for moving images is permitted. In addition, since synchronization between the controller unit and the lighting unit is unnecessary, an update method in which the controller unit transmits illumination data at an arbitrary timing only when necessary can be employed.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the data update timing and the basic period _Tr . As shown in this figure, T _r is set to be constant regardless of the operating frequency of the controller unit connected to the outside, while T _dchg can be fixed or variable. The period of T _ron does not have to be in the first period of _Tr period, and may be anywhere within the period of _Tr . Furthermore, it does not have to be in a fixed position in each _Tron .

The lighting unit 2 generates a constant _Tr on the basis of an oscillator included in the timing generation circuit 7. On the other hand, the display data is received every T _dchg from an externally connected controller and reflected in the lighting section of the illumination is the timing when the PWM counts up and moves to the next _Tr . This method can _widen the range of T _dchg and is suitable for illumination control. Further, a deviation between the lighting units 2 is allowed.

  According to the lighting device described above, the data transmission speed between the controller unit and the lighting unit is decreased according to the lighting data to reduce data communication, while the lighting cycle in the lighting unit is increased regardless of this. High-quality lighting. In particular, since a circuit or the like for maintaining synchronization between the lighting unit side and the controller unit is not necessary, the circuit configuration can be simplified and the advantage that the lighting unit can be configured at low cost is obtained. In addition, since the data transmission speed between lighting units can be changed according to the specifications of the connected controller unit, it is possible to construct a lighting system that does not depend on the manufacturer, model name, or specification of the connected controller unit. The lighting unit can be used universally, and the flexibility of the lighting system configuration can be enhanced.

Lighting device, the lighting unit of the present invention, as a color illumination with LED, or a plurality of line light source of the light emitting elements arranged in a linear, can be suitably utilized in intelligent lighting, and indirect lighting.

It is a block diagram which shows the illuminating device which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows an example of an illumination unit. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the other example of a lighting unit. It is a timing chart which shows the timing of external VSYNC and internal VSYNC. It is a timing chart which shows the relationship between the update period of data, a basic period, and lighting time. It is a timing chart which shows the timing when data is updated. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the conventional illuminating device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Illuminating device 1 ... Controller part 2, 2A, 2B ... Illuminating unit 3 ... Communication signal line 4 ... Light emitting element 5 ... Lighting part 6 ... Lighting control part 7 ... Timing generation circuit 8 ... Communication control part 700 ... Conventional lighting apparatus 71 ... Controller; 72 ... Lighting unit; 73 ... Communication cable; 75 ... Display unit; 77 ... Display control unit; 78 ... Communication circuit;

Claims (5)

A lighting part in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged;
A lighting control unit for controlling lighting of the light emitting element;
A communication control unit for sending data obtained by data communication with the outside to the lighting control unit;
A plurality of lighting units comprising:
A controller unit connected in a state capable of sending an illumination signal for controlling each lighting unit in the illumination units connected to each other as illumination, to the communication control unit;
A lighting device comprising:
The lighting control unit includes a first timing signal used for data communication between the controller unit and the communication control unit, and data communication between the lighting control unit and the lighting unit in each lighting unit. and a second timing signal used to operate asynchronously,
The controller unit generates an external frame synchronization signal as the first timing signal, and sends an illumination signal to the lighting unit according to the external frame synchronization signal.
The lighting control unit includes a timing generation circuit that generates an internal frame synchronization signal as a second timing signal for performing internal frame synchronization, which is independent of the external frame synchronization signal and has a higher refresh rate than the external frame synchronization signal. A lighting device. The lighting device according to claim 1 ,
The refresh rate of the internal frame synchronization signal is fixed to a predetermined value;
A lighting device, wherein the refresh rate of the external frame synchronization signal is variable. The lighting device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The illuminating device, wherein a refresh rate of the internal frame synchronization signal is set to be four times or more a refresh rate of the external frame synchronization signal. It is an illuminating device as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3 ,
The controller device transmits the illumination signal from the controller unit to the communication control unit of the corresponding illumination unit every time a desired illumination pattern is updated. A lighting unit that is connected so as to be communicable with a controller unit and that can connect a plurality of lighting units, receives an illumination signal for lighting and illuminating a light emitting element from the controller unit, and performs illumination.
A lighting unit in which a plurality of light emitting elements having different emission colors are arranged in a line or matrix, and
A lighting control unit for controlling lighting of the light emitting element;
A communication control unit that performs data communication of the illumination signal with the controller unit, and sends a data communication result to the lighting control unit;
With
The lighting control unit is used for data communication between the lighting control unit and the lighting unit in each lighting unit and a controller side timing signal used for data communication between the controller unit and the communication control unit. The unit side timing signal to be operated asynchronously ,
The controller unit generates the controller side timing signal and sends the illumination signal to the lighting unit side according to the controller side timing signal,
The lighting control unit, independently of the controller-side timing signal, than this refresh rate also is faster, characterized Rukoto a timing generation circuit for generating a unit-side timing signal for the internal frame synchronization Lighting unit.

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