JPH06138047A - Method for inspecting display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable display of information necessary for specification of accurate defect address positions by means of cursor display and for working proceeding by using the display function of a display device under inspection as an inspection auxiliary display function and to improve inspection efficiency. CONSTITUTION:A voltage preset by a program is impressed from a power source 6 onto a drive circuit 7, and preprogrammed patterns are displayed on a liquid crystal panel 8 one after another to make inspections. For example, in the case of bright point defect inspection, the whole inspection screen is blackened, where only sizes and times to allow recognition as 'bright point defect' in arbitrary positions on the screen are displayed to make an inspection stuff recognize inspection contents: when display is over, the screen is turned to display only inspection patterns. When recognizing defects, an inspection stuff operates a mouse 4 to move the cursor to defect positions for entry of defects and for display of defect kinds. This process enables most of inspection while viewing only the inspection screen and spcification of defect parts only by setting the cursor, thereby improving inspection efficiency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a display element such as a liquid crystal display and a plasma display. More specifically, it relates to an inspection auxiliary display method at the time of visual inspection of the matrix type display element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A matrix type display element (hereinafter referred to as a display element in the present specification) has a large number of pixels arranged in a matrix and has a display function of displaying arbitrary characters, figures and the like. However, the display elements are becoming larger and higher definition. Along with this, the defects that occur in the production process have become diverse, and the inspection contents have also become diverse. For this reason, the visual inspection, which is performed at the stage where the display element satisfies the display function near the final process of the production process, becomes complicated, and various inspection patterns are displayed to perform detailed inspection.

In this visual inspection, an inspection result entry sheet is prepared, the inspection pattern is displayed on the display element to be inspected, and if there is a defect, the type and position of the defect is determined according to the format determined on the inspection result entry sheet. And so on. Regarding the position, only the approximate position is recorded. In some cases, a repair operation was performed for repairable defects based on these inspection results.

[0004]

In order to execute a repair operation for a repairable defect on the basis of these inspection results, it is efficient to obtain accurate defect address position information for that purpose. Further, regarding defects that cannot be repaired, it is important to identify defective address positions in order to classify display elements into quality grades according to the number and distribution state. However, in the case of a 10-inch color liquid crystal display element, which is currently the mainstream in OA equipment, etc., it has about 900,000 pixels, and the address position of a certain defective pixel among them can be visually checked accurately. Since it is almost impossible to count, visual inspection is used to specify a rough defect address position and perform inefficient repair based on the rough defect address. Further, at the time of repair, it becomes necessary to manually input the data written on the inspection result entry sheet by visual inspection into the repair device again. Inefficient work such as searching for a true address to be repaired based on this rough address is required. Also, every time a defect is recorded, the line of sight must be moved from the inspected display element to the inspection result entry sheet, and after the defect is entered, it must be returned to the inspected display element again, and the work complexity reduces the work efficiency. I am letting you.

Most of display elements including obvious defects are excluded before the visual inspection in which the inspection is performed at various places in the production process and various inspection patterns are displayed on the inspection screen to inspect the display quality in detail. Has been done. Therefore, in the stage where a detailed visual inspection is performed, the display element to be inspected usually has only small-scale defects, and the defective address position, the number of defects, the size of unevenness, etc. are judged to determine a good product. The main focus of the inspection is to search for a defective address position for correction. Therefore, most of the display elements for which a detailed visual inspection is performed are sufficient to satisfy the display function for assisting the inspection such as the cursor display, the defect type designation display, the inspection content display, that is, the inspection auxiliary display function. The present invention is based on this fact. It should be noted that a defective display element that cannot fulfill the inspection auxiliary display function may be mixed in, but in this case, it is not worth conducting a detailed inspection, and it is necessary to immediately discontinue the detailed inspection as a defect.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks, enables more accurate recording of defective address positions, and improves the efficiency of inspection by displaying an instruction to the inspector on the display element to be inspected. It is to provide a display element inspection method.

[0007]

In order to solve the difficulty of specifying the defective address position and the poor working efficiency in the conventional method, the display function of the display element to be inspected is used to display the defective address by the cursor display. It is configured to increase the efficiency of visual inspection by using the inspection auxiliary display, which is the display of information necessary for work progress such as position identification and inspection content display.
It was done as follows. That is, (1) a display element inspecting method, wherein the display function of the inspected display element is used as an auxiliary inspection display function, and (2) the cursor displayed on the inspected display element. 2. The defective address position is specified.
2. The invention according to claim 2, which comprises the display element inspection method according to claim 3,
The content of the inspection instruction is displayed on the display element to be inspected, and the invention according to claim 3 comprising the display element inspection method according to claim 1, and (4) all or part of the inspection auxiliary display is used for moving the cursor. Therefore, the invention according to claim 4 is constituted by the display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the display device is automatically moved and displayed near the cursor.

[0008]

[Operation] As a result of displaying the auxiliary inspection display such as the cursor display, the defect type designation display, and the inspection content display on the display device screen to be inspected (hereinafter referred to as the inspection screen), most of the inspection is performed while looking only at the inspection screen. Further, as a result that the defective portion can be accurately specified by moving the cursor to the defective position, the defective address position information can be accurately extracted.

[0009]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration of an inspection method according to the present invention,
In FIG. 1, 1 is a display unit, 2 is a personal computer, 3 is a keyboard, 4 is a mouse, 5 is a display controller, 6 is a power supply unit, 7 is a drive circuit, 8 is a liquid crystal panel, and 9 is a probe pin. A liquid crystal panel 8 as a display element to be inspected is set in the visual inspection device, and is connected to the visual inspection device via a probe pin 9. The drive circuit 7 for driving the liquid crystal panel 8 is installed in the visual inspection device. There is a keyboard 3 and a mouse 4 as input devices to a personal computer 2 for controlling the inspection device such as inspection pattern generation and data collection, and a display unit 1 for displaying software development and program startup. The inspection pattern generated by the computer 2 is sent to the liquid crystal panel 8 via the display controller 5 for interfacing the image signal between the drive circuit 7 and the personal computer 2. The power supply for driving the liquid crystal panel 8 is supplied from the power supply unit 6 to the drive circuit 7. The inspection program is started by an instruction from the keyboard 3, and the inspection is started. First, a voltage preset by a program for operating the liquid crystal panel 8 is applied to the drive circuit 7 by an instruction from the personal computer 2, and then the liquid crystal panel 8 is sequentially provided with inspection patterns programmed beforehand. The inspection is executed while being displayed.

There are various inspections. Here, the present invention will be described in detail by taking the inspection of bright spot defects and black spot defects as a typical example.
The bright point defect inspection is an inspection in which the entire inspection screen is put in a black state and a defective pixel that shines brightly in that state is specified. In this inspection, a black screen is displayed first. At this time, "bright spot defect" is displayed in white on the inspection screen so that the inspector can recognize the inspection content. The position and size of the characters for this inspection content display are arbitrary, and may be displayed large at the center of the screen or relatively small at the corners of the screen. It should be noted that the display of the inspection content is terminated immediately after being displayed for a time that can be recognized by the inspector, and the inspection screen only displays the inspection pattern for the inspection and is ready for the inspection. It should be noted that the cursor display may also be prohibited and may be displayed by operating the mouse button at a necessary time. However, since the cursor movement is extremely easy and does not hinder the inspection, it is always displayed. This will be explained. In addition, in the case of an inspector who is sufficiently familiar with the inspection contents, the inspection contents may be clear without waiting for the inspection contents display. In this case, it is possible to operate in a mode in which the inspection contents display is prohibited.

Next, the case where the inspection is started and a defect is detected will be described. FIG. 2 shows a screen on which the inspection pattern is displayed. In the figure, a point defect is shown at point A, and a line defect is present between B _{1 and} B ₂ . When the inspector recognizes a point defect, he operates the mouse 4 to move the cursor 10
After moving 0 to the defect position A, the mouse button is operated (for example, pressing the right button) to input the defect position. A defect type designation display 110 for inputting a defect type when this input operation is started is displayed on the inspection screen. The cursor for inputting the defect type is moved to the position of the predetermined defect type on the defect type designation display 110. In this case, the point defect A is targeted and the cursor is moved into the area displayed as "dot". When the cursor has finished moving within a predetermined area, the mouse button is operated (for example, pressing the left button) to input the defect type. In the case of a point defect, the input of the inspection result is completed by this, and the operation for specifying the next defect is started.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the coordinates of the point defect A are input and the defect type designation display 110 is positively displayed on the liquid crystal panel which is the display element to be inspected. An example 110 is displayed at the lower right position of the center of the cursor. If the position of the cursor changes, the defect type designation display 110 moves accordingly and is displayed in the same positional relationship with respect to the cursor. In this example, there are three types of defects such as point defects, line defects and group defects. The point defect with the highest frequency of occurrence is closest to the cursor, and the group defect with the lowest frequency of occurrence is at the position farthest from the cursor. I am trying to place it. The defect type designation display 110 moves as the cursor moves, and by further arranging defect designation sections according to the frequency of occurrence, the amount of cursor movement can be reduced and efficient inspection can be performed. The defect type is always displayed in a predetermined positional relationship of the cursor, but it is easy to change the positional relationship.

Next, the input of linear defects on a straight line will be described. When the linear defect B is detected, the cursor is moved to the coordinate position of B ₁ which is one end thereof, and then the mouse button is operated to input the coordinate B ₁ . When the input of the coordinate B ₁ is started, the defect type designation display 110 is displayed, the cursor is moved into the area of “line”, and the mouse button is operated to input the defect type. Next, after moving the cursor to coordinate B ₂ ,
Input the coordinate B ₂ by operating the mouse button. For a linear defect, the inspection device automatically recognizes that the input of the linear defect is completed at the time when the coordinates of the two ends of B ₁ and B ₂ are completed,
The defect type designation display 110 is erased, and the state of waiting for input of another defect is entered. Although the point defect and the line defect have been described above, a method of inputting a region or the like is adopted for the curved line defect or the group defect which is an aggregate of the point defects. For example, a method of inputting the coordinates of two corners with the region as a square is adopted. In such a method, the coordinates and the defect type can be input by the same method as the input method for the linear defect on the straight line.

The method for inspecting the bright spot defect has been described above in detail. For the black spot defect, the inspection pattern is entirely white, and the display of the "black spot defect" of the inspection content is displayed in black characters to indicate the bright spot defect. The inspection can be performed in the same manner as the inspection. The end of the inspection according to the displayed inspection pattern is notified to the inspection device by operating the mouse button (for example, pressing the right button and the left button simultaneously), and the inspection device shifts to the operation for the next predetermined inspection. To go. that's all,
The present invention has been described in detail by taking bright spot defect inspection and black spot defect inspection as examples. Further, here, the liquid crystal panel before the drive circuit is mounted as an example of the display element to be inspected, but it is also applicable to the inspection of the liquid crystal module in which the drive circuit is mounted, and it can be applied to a display element such as a plasma display other than the liquid crystal Can also be applied.
Although the movement of the cursor is explained by using the mouse, a keyboard or a tablet can be used.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the display element inspection method characterized in that the display function of the display element to be inspected is used as the inspection auxiliary display function is shown on the inspection screen. The inspection can be performed while watching the display, and the inspection can be performed without keeping the line of sight from the inspection screen, so that the inspection efficiency can be improved. The display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the present invention is configured as in claim 2, and the defective address position is specified by a cursor displayed on the display element to be inspected. , It is possible to improve work efficiency of creating repair data and grading. The display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the present invention is configured as in claim 3 and the inspection instruction content is displayed on the display element to be inspected. It becomes possible to record, and the inspection result filling sheet and the writing instrument for writing in it which are conventionally required are not necessary, and the examination efficiency can be improved. The display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the present invention is configured as in claim 4, and all or part of the inspection auxiliary display is automatically moved according to the movement of the cursor and is displayed near the cursor. Is
It is possible to reduce the moving amount of the cursor at the time of inspection and improve the inspection efficiency. There are the above effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an inspection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an inspection assistance display

[Explanation of symbols]

1 display section 2 personal computer 3 keyboard 4 mouse 5 display controller 6 power supply section 7 driving circuit 8 liquid crystal panel 9 probe pin 110 defect type designation display 100 cursor A dot defect B linear defect B ₁ end of linear defect B ₂ The other end of the linear defect

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A display element inspection method, wherein the display function of the display element to be inspected is used as an inspection auxiliary display function. 2. The display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the defective address position is specified by a cursor displayed on the display element to be inspected. 3. The display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the inspection instruction content is displayed on the display element to be inspected. 4. The display element inspection method according to claim 1, wherein all or part of the inspection auxiliary display is automatically moved in accordance with the movement of the cursor and is displayed near the cursor.