JPH11327502A - Picture display method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture display method and a device to convert a video signal into a signal having a prescribed characteristic easily and display based on the video signal. SOLUTION: This device is a picture display device having a display panel 13 in which elements having an electron releasing characteristic changing monotonically with respect to a driving voltage or a driving current are plurally arranged, an inputted video signal is subjected to A/D conversion to be stored in a one-line memory 11 and signals having pulse widths made to correspond to their data values by PWM generators 14. Moreover, a row wiring driving part 9 successively selects row wirings of the display panel 13 in synchronization with the horizontal synchronizing signal of the inputted video signal to impress the voltage signal inputted from an arbitrary waveform generating part 6 on the selected row wiring.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image display device having a display panel having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, and an image display method for displaying an image using the display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, research and development of thin and large-screen display devices have been actively conducted. The present inventor has been conducting research using a cold cathode as an electron source as a thin and large-screen display device.

Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices, a hot cathode device and a cold cathode device, are known. Among these, among the cold cathode devices, for example, a surface conduction type emission device, a field emission type device (hereinafter referred to as FE type), a metal / insulating layer / metal type emission device (hereinafter referred to as MIM type), and the like are known. I have.

[0004] As the surface conduction type emission element, for example, M.
I. Elinson, Radio E-ng. Electron Phys., 10, 1290,
(1965) and other examples described later.

[0005] The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current flows in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device include a device using an SnO2 thin film by Elinson et al., And a device using an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: “Thin Solid Films”, 9,317 (1)
972)] and those based on In2O3 / SnO2 thin films [M. Hart
well and CG Fonstad: "IEEE Trans. ED Conf."
519 (1975)] and those using carbon thin films [Hisashi Araki
Others: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, 22 (1983)].

FIG. 19 shows a plan view of a device by M. Hartwell et al. As a typical example of the device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices. In the figure, reference numeral 3001 denotes a substrate, and reference numeral 3004 denotes a conductive thin film made of a metal oxide formed by sputtering. The conductive thin film 3004 is formed in an H-shaped planar shape as shown. An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by applying an energization process called energization forming to be described later to the conductive thin film 3004. The interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1 [mm], and the width W is
It is set to 0.1 [mm]. In addition, for convenience of illustration, the electron emitting portion 3005 is shown in a rectangular shape at the center of the conductive thin film 3004, but this is a schematic one, and the position and shape of the actual electron emitting portion are faithfully represented. Not necessarily.

In the above-described surface conduction electron-emitting device, such as the device by M. Hartwell et al., Before the electron emission, an electron emission portion 3005 is formed by subjecting the conductive thin film 3004 to an energization process called energization forming. Was common. That is, energization forming is
A constant DC voltage or a DC voltage which is boosted at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min is applied to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004 to conduct electricity.
004 is locally destroyed, deformed, or altered to form an electron emitting portion 3005 in an electrically high-resistance state. Note that a crack is generated in a part of the conductive thin film 3004 that is locally broken, deformed, or altered. When an appropriate voltage is applied to the conductive thin film 3004 after the energization forming, electron emission is performed in the vicinity of the crack.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be formed over a large area because of its simple structure and easy manufacture. Therefore, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-31332 by the present applicant, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied.

As an example of the FE type, for example, WP Dyke
& WW Dolan, “Field emission”, Advance in Ele
ctron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or CA Spind
t, “Physical properties of thin-film field emissi
on cathodes with molybdeniumcones ”, J. Appl. Phy
s., 47, 5248 (1976).

As a typical example of this FE type device configuration, FIG. 20 shows a cross-sectional view of the device by CA Spindt et al. Described above. In the figure, 3010 is a substrate, 3011 is an emitter wiring made of a conductive material, 3012 is an emitter cone, 3013 is an insulating layer, and 3014 is a gate electrode. This device comprises an emitter cone 3012 and a gate electrode 3
By applying an appropriate voltage during 014, field emission is caused from the tip of the emitter cone 3012. As another element configuration of the FE type, FIG.
There is also an example in which an emitter and a gate electrode are arranged on a substrate almost in parallel with the substrate plane instead of the laminated structure as described above.

Examples of the MIM type include, for example, C.I.
A. Mead, “Operation of tunnel-emission Devices,
J. Appl. Phys., 32,646 (1961) and the like are known.
FIG. 21 shows a typical example of the MIM type element configuration.
The figure is a cross-sectional view, in which 3020 is a substrate,
3021 is a lower electrode made of metal, 3022 is a thickness of 100
An insulating layer as thin as about Å, and 3023 has a thickness of 8
The upper electrode is made of a metal of about 0 to 300 angstroms. In the MIM type, electrons are emitted from the surface of the upper electrode 3023 by applying an appropriate voltage between the upper electrode 3023 and the lower electrode 3021.

The above-described cold cathode device can obtain electrons at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, and therefore does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode element, and a fine element can be produced. Further, even when a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate at a high density, problems such as thermal melting of the substrate hardly occur. Also, unlike the response speed is slow because the hot cathode element operates by heating the heater,
In the case of a cold cathode device, there is also an advantage that the response speed is high. For this reason, research for applying the cold cathode device has been actively conducted.

For example, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the advantage of being able to form a large number of devices over a large area because it has a particularly simple structure and is easy to manufacture among the cold cathode devices. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 32, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied.

With respect to applications of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, image forming apparatuses such as image display apparatuses and image recording apparatuses, and charged beam sources have been studied.

Particularly, as an application to an image display device, for example, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,066,883, JP-A-2-257551 and JP-A-4-28137 by the present applicant, surface conduction is disclosed. An image display device using a combination of a mold emission element and a phosphor that emits light by electron irradiation has been studied. An image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor is expected to have better characteristics than other conventional image display devices. For example, compared to a liquid crystal display device that has become widespread in recent years, it can be said that it is excellent in that it is a self-luminous type and does not require a backlight and has a wide viewing angle.

A method of arranging and driving a large number of FE elements is disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,904,89 by the present applicant.
5 is disclosed. Further, as an example of applying the FE type to an image display device, for example, a flat panel display device reported by R. Meyer et al. Is known. [R. Meyer: “Recent D
evelopment on Microtips Display at LETI ”, Tech.Di
gest of 4th Int.Vacuum Microelectronics Conf., Na
gahama, pp. 6-9 (1991)].

An example in which a number of MIM types are arranged and applied to an image display device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 5738.

The inventors of the present application have attempted surface conduction type emission devices having various materials, manufacturing methods and structures, including those described in the above-mentioned prior art. Further, research has been conducted on a multi-electron source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, and on an image display device using the multi-electron source. For example, a multi-electron source based on the electrical wiring method shown in FIG. 22 has been tried. That is, the surface conduction type emission device is
This is a multi-electron source in which a large number of elements are arranged in a dimension, and these elements are wired in a matrix as shown in the figure.

In the figure, 4001 schematically shows a surface conduction electron-emitting device, 4002 shows a row direction wiring, and 4003 shows a column direction wiring. Although the row direction wiring 4002 and the column direction wiring 4003 actually have a finite electric resistance, they are shown as wiring resistances 4004 and 4005 in the figure. The above-described wiring method is called simple matrix wiring. Although a 6 × 6 matrix is shown for convenience of illustration, the size of the matrix is not limited to this. For example, in the case of a multi-electron source for displaying images, a desired image is displayed. Only enough elements are arranged and wired.

In the multi-electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix as described above, an appropriate electric signal is applied to the row wiring 4002 and the column wiring 4003 in order to output a desired electron beam. For example,
In order to drive any one row of surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the matrix, the selection voltage Vs is applied to the row direction wiring 4002 of the selected row, and at the same time, the row direction wiring 40 of the non-selected row is applied.
02 is applied with a non-selection voltage Vns. In synchronization with this, a driving voltage Ve for outputting an electron beam is applied to the column wiring 4003. According to this method, the wiring resistance 400
4 and 4005, the voltage of (Ve-Vs) is applied to the surface conduction type emission elements of the selected row, and (Ve-Vs) is applied to the surface conduction type emission elements of the non-selected rows.
Vns). Here, if Ve, Vs, and Vns are set to voltages of appropriate magnitudes, an electron beam with a desired intensity should be output only from the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the selected row. Different drive voltage Ve
Is applied, each of the elements in the selected row should output an electron beam having a different intensity. In addition, since the response speed of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is high, the driving voltage Ve
By changing the length of time during which the electron beam is applied, it is possible to change the length of time during which the electron beam is output.

Hereinafter, the element applied voltage at the time of selection (Ve-Vs)
Is called Vf.

Further, as another method for obtaining an electron beam from a multi-electron source having a simple matrix wiring as described above, a driving current is supplied instead of connecting a voltage source for applying a driving voltage Ve to a column wiring. Current source for the selected row, and the selection voltage Vs is applied to the row direction wiring of the row to be selected.
And driving at the same time by applying a non-selection voltage Vns to the row direction wiring of the non-selected row. Thus, due to the strong threshold characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron beam can be obtained only from the device in the selected row. Here, the current flowing through the electron source is hereinafter referred to as an element current If,
The current caused by the emitted electrons is called emission current Ie.

Therefore, a multi-electron source having a surface conduction type electron-emitting device arranged in a simple matrix has various applications. For example, if an electric signal corresponding to image information is appropriately applied, the multi-electron source can be used as an electron source for an image display device. It can be suitably used.

[0024]

However, as described above, the following problems have occurred in the multi-electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix wiring.

Up to now, there have been many cases where a CRT is used as a display device of an image display device. Therefore, correction of a non-linear characteristic between a driving voltage and a light emission amount according to a video signal of the CRT (hereinafter referred to as γ). Is generally performed on the video signal transmitting side, and the corrected video signal is output to a display device. An example is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing gamma correction characteristics for correcting the relationship between an input signal and an output signal. In the figure, a solid line indicates a curve conforming to the BTA and SMPTE standards, and a dotted line indicates a correction when γ = 0.45. The curves are shown.

When the video signal corrected according to the γ characteristic is input to an image display device using a display device other than the CRT and displayed, the driving voltage (current) of the display device and the emission characteristics of the phosphor are displayed. Therefore, the video signal must be corrected again in accordance with the relationship. For example, in the case of a display device that inputs a signal obtained by modulating multi-valued image data by pulse width modulation and expresses a gradation, the relationship between the pulse width of the input video signal and the light emission characteristics becomes linear,
In this case, a non-linear process called inverse γ correction is required. In order to perform such inverse gamma correction or conversion in accordance with the light emission characteristics of a device to be used, a method of performing non-linear processing on a video signal may be a method using an analog signal or a method using a digital signal. However,
The former has a problem in terms of stability due to a change in temperature or a change with time, and the latter has a problem in that power consumption increases and costs increase due to an increase in operation speed and an increase in circuit scale. In order to perform non-linear processing of a video signal in this way, a circuit of an appropriate scale is required, and it has been desired that the emission characteristics can be controlled by a driving method of a display device to be used.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and an image display method and apparatus capable of easily converting a video signal into a signal having desired characteristics and performing display based on the video signal. The purpose is to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image display method and apparatus for changing a voltage value applied to elements arranged in a matrix and controlling an output signal for a video signal to a desired value to display an image. To provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image display method and apparatus for changing a current value applied to elements arranged in a matrix and controlling an output signal for a video signal to a desired value to display an image. To provide.

[0030]

In order to achieve the above object, an image display device according to the present invention has the following arrangement.
That is, an image display device having a display panel in which a plurality of elements having electron emission characteristics that monotonically change with respect to a drive voltage or a drive current is arranged, and each element of the display panel is driven in accordance with an input video signal. A drive signal generating means for generating a signal, a control signal for changing a drive signal of each element in synchronization with a video signal, a control signal generating means for generating a control signal independently of the video signal, and And a drive signal changing means for changing a drive signal of each of the elements in response.

In order to achieve the above object, the image display method of the present invention comprises the following steps. That is, an image display method for displaying an image on a display panel in which a plurality of elements having electron emission characteristics that monotonically change with respect to a drive voltage or a drive current, wherein each of the display panels is operated in accordance with an input video signal. A drive signal generating step of generating a drive signal of the element, a control signal for changing a drive signal of each element in synchronization with a video signal, a control signal generating step of generating independently of the video signal, A driving signal changing step of changing a driving signal of each of the elements according to a control signal.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a timing waveform diagram showing an operation of the circuit of FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 13 denotes a display panel in which m × n surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix.
These surface conduction electron-emitting devices have device voltage-emission current characteristics shown in FIG. 1 is a video signal input terminal for inputting a video signal, 2 is an analog signal processing unit,
The A / D converter 3 performs black level clamping, amplitude level adjustment, band limitation, and the like of the analog video signal for digitizing the video signal with a necessary number of gradations. Reference numeral 4 denotes a synchronization separation unit that separates a synchronization signal from an input video signal and outputs the synchronization signal to the timing generation unit 5. The timing generator 5 receives the synchronization signal from the synchronization separator 4 and supplies necessary timing signals to the A / D unit 3, the horizontal and vertical shift registers 8, 10, the arbitrary waveform generator 6, and the like.

Numeral 7 denotes a waveform control input unit, for example, an adjustable unit for controlling the relationship between a luminance signal included in a video signal and a light emission amount to a desired characteristic by a user of the image display apparatus. 6, for example, the user's request information is transmitted as a DC offset adjustment value and a gain adjustment value. The arbitrary waveform generating unit 6 outputs a voltage value of V1 to V2 for each horizontal scanning cycle, for example.
A sawtooth voltage waveform that changes linearly up to this point is generated.
These voltage values V1 and V2 are controlled by DC offset adjustment and gain adjustment output from the waveform control input unit 7.

The row wiring driver 9 applies a buffer amplifier 15 having a sufficient driving capability to drive each row wiring of the display panel 13 and applies a sawtooth voltage waveform from the arbitrary waveform generator 6 to each row wiring. And a switch circuit 16 for selecting whether the row wiring is grounded or not. These switch circuits 16 are connected to the selected row wiring by the signal output from the vertical shift register 8 so that the sawtooth waveform of the arbitrary waveform generator 6 is applied to the selected row wiring. , And the other row wirings are grounded.

The video signal processed by the analog processing section 2 is converted by the A / D section 3 into n serial digital signals per horizontal scanning period, sent to the horizontal shift register 10 and held therein. Thus, the shift register 10
After the video data for the line is stored and converted into a parallel signal, the one-line data is sent to the one-line memory 11 and held. The column wiring driving unit 12 applies a DC bias voltage Ve to each column wiring or sets a switch circuit 17 for setting a ground level, and a pulse proportional to the size of video data held in the one-line memory 11. It has a PWM generator 14 that generates a signal for switching the switch circuit 17 with a width. As a result, a voltage pulse having a peak value Ve with a pulse width corresponding to the value of the video data is applied to the column wiring.

FIG. 2 shows the operation timing of each part in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes an example of the waveform of the input analog video signal. 202 is the A / D unit 3
2 shows an example of digital data obtained by converting the input video signal 201 into a digital signal. Reference numeral 203 denotes a waveform example of a pulse-width-modulated signal output from the column wiring driving unit 12 to the display panel 13. This pulse signal has a pulse width corresponding to the value of the video data input and converted into digital data. Reference numeral 204 denotes an example of the output signal waveform of the vertical shift register 8, in which each row wiring is sequentially selected in the cycle of the horizontal scanning signal. 205 is an arbitrary waveform generator 6
5 shows a waveform example of the output signal of FIG.
To V2 (| V1 | <| V2 |). 206
Shows a waveform example of a signal output from the row wiring driving unit 9 to the display panel 13, and shows a waveform of a voltage signal output from the arbitrary waveform generation unit 6 while the output signal of the vertical shift register 8 is at a high level. ing.

Here, suppose that in the device voltage-emission current characteristic of the surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG.
Is "7.5 V", the maximum element applied voltage is "15 V", and the arbitrary waveform generating section 6 is controlled so that when the voltage applied to the selected element is 5 to 15 V, 7 to 15 V, 7 .
FIG. 3 shows data characteristics between light emission luminance and pulse width at 5 to 15 V, 8 to 15 V, and 10 to 15 V.

As can be seen from FIG.
The relationship between the pulse width and the luminance at 5 V (indicated by “x” in the figure) is closest to the γ characteristic of the CRT (γ = 2.2), and the relationship between the luminance signal and the light emission amount is arbitrary. The control can be performed by changing the range of the voltage that changes linearly and is output from the waveform generator 6.

FIG. 3 has been described based on the case where the voltage output from the arbitrary waveform generator 6 changes linearly.
Further, for example, by giving a voltage change that superimposes a parabolic waveform on a sawtooth waveform or a voltage change represented by a plurality of polygonal lines, in addition to γ correction, it is possible to have a light emission characteristic according to the user's preference. it can.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. The description is omitted.

In the second embodiment, the waveform control input unit 7
Is an adjustable unit to which a user of the image display device inputs a control signal for controlling a relationship between a luminance signal included in a video signal and a light emission amount to a desired characteristic. In response to the input signal, for example, information required by the user is transmitted to the control arbitrary waveform generator 6a as a DC offset adjustment value and a gain adjustment value. The arbitrary waveform generator 6a outputs the positive voltage value V1 for each horizontal scanning cycle, for example.
A sawtooth voltage waveform that changes linearly up to V2 is generated. These voltage values V1 and V2 are controlled by DC offset adjustment and gain adjustment output from the waveform control input unit 7.

The row wiring drive section 9a includes a switch circuit 16 for selecting whether to apply a negative DC voltage Vs to each row wiring of the display panel 13 or to ground the row wiring. When these switch circuits 16 are selected by the output from the vertical shift register 8, by applying a DC voltage Vs to the corresponding row wiring of the display panel 13, the row wiring of the display panel 13 is driven to display. Will be

The A / D unit 3 converts the video analog signal into n serial digital signals per one horizontal period, and converts it into a parallel signal by the horizontal shift register 10.
The video data for one line is held in the one-line memory 11. The column wiring driving unit 9a includes, for each column wiring, a current source 18 that converts a voltage waveform from the arbitrary waveform generation unit 6a into a current waveform.
A switch circuit 17 for selecting either the output of the current source 18 or the ground level, and a signal for switching the switch circuit 17 with a pulse width proportional to the size of the data held in the one-line memory 11. Is provided. As a result, a current pulse amplitude-modulated by the arbitrary waveform generator 6a with a pulse width corresponding to the illuminating signal can be applied to each column wiring of the display panel 13.

The above-mentioned arbitrary waveform generators 6 and 6a
For example, a microprocessor, a memory for storing a program executed by the microprocessor, a D / A
A memory for storing data to be output to a converter and a D / A converter, a rewritable memory from a microprocessor, and a timing for outputting data to a D / A converter for each span obtained by dividing one horizontal period of a video signal by an appropriate integer. And a low-pass filter for smoothing the output of the D / A converter with an appropriate time constant. The waveform control input unit 7 is, for example, a user interface to a microprocessor included in the arbitrary waveform generation units 6 and 6a, and can change data in a memory output to the D / A converter.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the operation timing of each unit in the configuration of FIG.

The sawtooth output between the voltage values V1 and V2 output from the arbitrary waveform generating section 6a modulates the current source 18 of the column wiring drive section 12a, and outputs the sawtooth output with the current values I1 to # 2, respectively. generate. These current drive signals are gated by the switch circuit 17 of the column wiring drive unit 12 a with a PWM output modulated with video data, and applied to each column wiring of the display panel 13.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 301 denotes a waveform example of an input analog video signal, and reference numeral 302 denotes digital data of each line obtained by converting the analog video signal into a digital signal by the A / D unit 3. 303, a column wiring driving unit 12
4A shows a pulse signal train output from the pulse width modulator 14, and the pulse width has a pulse width corresponding to the value of digital video data. Reference numeral 304 denotes a waveform of a signal output from the arbitrary waveform generating unit 6a, and reference numeral 305 denotes a waveform of a signal output from the column wiring driving unit 12a. This signal waveform is clear from 303 and 304 described above.
With the same pulse width as the pulse width modulated PWM output signal,
The voltage value corresponds to the level of the voltage signal output from the arbitrary waveform generator 6a. Reference numeral 306 denotes an output signal of the row wiring drive unit 9a that drives each row wiring of the display panel 13 in synchronization with the above-described column wiring drive timing.

In FIG. 5, an example has been described in which the arbitrary waveform generator 6a generates a sawtooth wave. However, as in the first embodiment, a non-linear waveform may be generated.
Then, by controlling the output of the arbitrary waveform generating section 6a, it is possible to have the light emission luminance characteristic as shown in FIG.

In the first and second embodiments, the arbitrary waveform generators 6 and 6a generate a voltage signal between the voltage values V1 and V2 every horizontal scanning cycle. The present invention is not limited to this. For example, the period may be other periods, for example, the period of the vertical synchronization signal, and the change in the voltage value is not as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. May be used.

The arbitrary waveform generators 6 and 6a not only follow the input from the waveform control input unit 7, but also generate a predetermined waveform signal, and when a change instruction is given from the waveform control input unit 7, The designated waveform signal may be generated.

(Structure and Manufacturing Method of Display Panel) Next, the structure and manufacturing method of the display panel 13 of the image display device to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 7 shows a display panel 1 used in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of FIG. 3, with a part of the panel cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 1005 is a rear plate, 1006
Is a side wall, 1007 is a face plate, 1005
1007 form an airtight container for maintaining the inside of the display panel 13 in a vacuum. When assembling an airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of each member to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness.For example, apply frit glass to the joints, and in air or nitrogen atmosphere, Sealing was achieved by baking at 400 to 500 degrees for 10 minutes or more. A method of evacuating the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum will be described later.

The rear plate 1005 has a substrate 1001
Are fixed, but n × m cold cathode elements 1002 are formed on the substrate 1001 (n and m are positive integers of 2 or more, and are appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels). For example, in a display device for displaying high-definition television, n = 3000 and m = 100.
It is desirable to set the number to 0 or more. In the present embodiment, n = 3072 and m = 1024). These n × m cold cathode elements are composed of m row-directional wirings 1003.
And a simple matrix wiring by n column-directional wirings 1004. The part constituted by 1001 to 1004 is called a multi-electron source. The manufacturing method and structure of the multi electron beam source will be described later in detail.

In this embodiment, the substrate 1001 of the multi-electron source is fixed to the rear plate 1005 of the airtight container. However, when the substrate 1001 of the multi-electron source has a sufficient strength, The substrate 1001 of the multi-electron source may be used as the rear plate of the airtight container.

On the lower surface of the face plate 1007, a fluorescent film 1008 is formed. Since this embodiment is a color display device, phosphors of three primary colors of red, green, and blue used in the field of CRT are separately applied to a portion of the fluorescent film 1008. The phosphor of each color is, for example, as shown in FIG.
(A), a black conductor 1010 is provided between stripes of the fluorescent material. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from being shifted even if there is a slight shift in the irradiation position of the electron beam, or to prevent the reflection of external light to prevent the display contrast from being lowered. This is to prevent charge-up of the fluorescent film by the electron beam. Although graphite is used as a main component for the black conductor 1010, any other material may be used as long as it is suitable for the above purpose.

FIG. 8 shows how to paint the three primary color phosphors.
The arrangement is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 8A, but may be, for example, a delta arrangement as shown in FIG.
Other arrangements may be used. When a monochrome display panel is manufactured, a single-color phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 1008, and a black conductive material may not necessarily be used.

A metal back 1009 known in the field of CRTs is provided on the surface of the fluorescent film 1008 on the rear plate side.
Is provided. The purpose of providing the metal back 1009 is to improve the light utilization rate by mirror-reflecting a part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 1008, to protect the fluorescent film 1008 from the collision of negative ions, to accelerate the electron beam. In order to function as an electrode for applying a voltage,
This is to make 8 act as a conductive path for the excited electrons. The metal back 1009 was formed by forming a fluorescent film 1008 on the face plate substrate 1007, smoothing the surface of the fluorescent film, and vacuum-depositing Al (aluminum) thereon. Note that when a fluorescent material for low voltage is used for the fluorescent film 1008, the metal back 1009 is not used. Although not used in the present embodiment, the face plate substrate 1007 and the fluorescent film 100 are used for applying an acceleration voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film.
8, a transparent electrode made of, for example, ITO may be provided.

Dx1 to Dxm, Dy1 to Dyn, and Hv are electric connection terminals having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel 13 to the above-described circuit. Dx1 to Dxm are the row direction wirings 1003 of the multi-electron source.
And Dy1 to Dyn are column direction wirings 1004 of the multi-electron source.
And Hv are electrically connected to the metal back 1009 of the face plate.

To evacuate the inside of the hermetic container to a vacuum, after assembling the hermetic container, an exhaust pipe (not shown) and a vacuum pump are connected, and the inside of the hermetic container is raised to the power of 10 −7 [to
rr]. Thereafter, the exhaust pipe is sealed, but a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position in the airtight container immediately before or after the sealing in order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container. The getter film is, for example, B
is a film formed by heating and depositing a getter material containing a as a main component by means of a heater or high-frequency heating.
The degree of vacuum is maintained at a power of 1 × 10−7 torr.

As described above, the display panel 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention
The basic configuration and manufacturing method of No. 3 have been described.

Next, a method of manufacturing the multi-electron source used for the display panel 13 of the embodiment will be described. The material, shape, and manufacturing method of the cold cathode device are not limited as long as the multi-electron source used in the image display device of the present embodiment is an electron source in which the cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

However, in a situation where a display device having a large display screen and an inexpensive display device is required, among these cold cathode devices, a surface conduction type emission device is particularly preferable. That is, in the FE type, since the relative position and shape of the emitter cone and the gate electrode greatly affect the electron emission characteristics, extremely high-precision manufacturing technology is required, but this achieves a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. Is a disadvantageous factor. In the case of the MIM type, it is necessary to make the thicknesses of the insulating layer and the upper electrode thin and uniform, which is also a disadvantageous factor in achieving a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. On the other hand, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a relatively simple manufacturing method, it is easy to increase the area and reduce the manufacturing cost. In addition, the inventors have found that among the surface conduction electron-emitting devices, those in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film have particularly excellent electron-emitting characteristics and can be easily manufactured. Therefore, it can be said that it is most suitable for use in a multi-electron source of a high-luminance, large-screen image display device. Therefore, in the display panel of the above embodiment, a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film is used. Therefore, the basic structure, manufacturing method and characteristics of a suitable surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described first, and then the structure of a multi-electron source in which a large number of devices are arranged in a simple matrix will be described.

(Suitable Device Configuration and Manufacturing Method of Surface Conduction Emission Device) A typical configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which an electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed from a fine particle film is a flat type or a vertical type. Kinds are given. (Flat-type surface conduction electron-emitting device) First, an element configuration and a manufacturing method of a flat-type surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 9 shows a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) for explaining the configuration of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device.

In the figure, 1101 is a substrate, 1102 and 110
Reference numeral 3 denotes an element electrode; 1104, a conductive thin film; 1105, an electron-emitting portion formed by an energization forming process;
Is a thin film formed by the activation process. Substrate 11
As 01, for example, various glass substrates including quartz glass and blue plate glass, various ceramics substrates including alumina, and substrates obtained by laminating an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO2 on the various substrates described above, and the like. Can be used.

The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 provided on the substrate 1101 so as to be parallel to the substrate surface are formed of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
Materials may be appropriately selected and used from metals such as Ag and the like, alloys of these metals, metal oxides such as In 2 O 3 —SnO 2, and semiconductors such as polysilicon. An electrode can be easily formed by using a combination of a film forming technique such as vacuum evaporation and a patterning technique such as photolithography and etching. However, the electrode can be formed using other methods (for example, printing technique). I can't wait.

The shapes of these device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are appropriately designed according to the application purpose of the electron-emitting device. Generally, the electrode interval L is usually designed by selecting an appropriate value from the range of several hundreds of angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers. However, for application to a display device, it is preferable that the electrode spacing L be more than a few micrometers. It is in the range of ten micrometers. As for the thickness d of the device electrode, an appropriate numerical value is usually selected from a range of several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

In the portion of the conductive thin film 1104, a fine particle film is used. The fine particle film mentioned here is a film containing many fine particles as a constituent element (including an island-shaped aggregate).
I mean If you examine the microparticle film microscopically, usually
A structure in which the individual fine particles are spaced apart, a structure in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other, or a structure in which the fine particles overlap each other is observed.

The particle size of the fine particles used in the fine particle film is in the range of several Angstroms to several thousand Angstroms, and preferably in the range of 10 Angstroms to 200 Angstroms. Further, the thickness of the fine particle film is appropriately set in consideration of various conditions described below. That is, the device electrode 11
02, or 1103, conditions necessary for satisfactorily performing energization forming described later, conditions necessary for setting the electric resistance of the fine particle film itself to an appropriate value described later. , And so on.

Specifically, it is set within a range of several Angstroms to several thousand Angstroms, and a preferable range is between 10 Angstroms and 500 Angstroms.

Materials that can be used to form the fine particle film include, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, A
u, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, T
a, W, Pb, and other metals, PdO, S
Oxides such as nO2, In2O3, PbO, Sb2O3, etc .; HfB2, ZrB2, LaB6, CeB6,
Borides such as YB4, GdB4, etc., Ti
Carbides including C, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC, etc., nitrides including TiN, ZrN, HfN, etc., semiconductors including Si, Ge, etc., carbon, etc. And these are appropriately selected from these.

As described above, the conductive thin film 1104 is formed of a fine particle film.
It was set to be included in the range of 10 3 to 10 7 [Ohm / sq].

The conductive thin film 1104 and the device electrode 11
Since it is desirable that the wires 02 and 1103 be electrically connected well, they have a structure in which a part of each overlaps with the other. In the example of FIG. 9, the overlapping manner is such that the substrate, the device electrode, and the conductive thin film are stacked in this order from the bottom, but in some cases, the substrate, the conductive thin film, and the device electrode are stacked in this order from the bottom. I can't wait.

The electron-emitting portion 1105 is a crack-like portion formed in a part of the conductive thin film 1104, and has an electrically higher resistance than the surrounding conductive thin film. The crack is formed by performing a later-described energization forming process on the conductive thin film 1104. Fine particles having a particle size of several Angstroms to several hundred Angstroms may be arranged in the crack. Since it is difficult to accurately and accurately show the actual position and shape of the electron-emitting portion, they are schematically shown in FIG.

The thin film 1113 is a thin film made of carbon or a carbon compound, and covers the electron emitting portion 1105 and its vicinity. The thin film 1113 is formed by performing an energization activation process described later after the energization forming process.

The thin film 1113 is made of any one of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500 [Å] or less, but 300 [Å] or less. Is more preferred.

Since it is difficult to accurately show the actual position and shape of the thin film 1113, it is schematically shown in FIG. Further, in the plan view (a), the thin film 111 is formed.
The device from which a part of 3 is removed is shown.

The basic structure of the preferred device has been described above. In the embodiment, the following device is used.

That is, blue glass was used for the substrate 1101, and Ni thin films were used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrode was 1000 [angstrom], and the electrode interval L was 2 [micrometer]. Pd or PdO is used as the main material of the fine particle film, the thickness of the fine particle film is about 100 [angstrom], and the width W is 1
00 [micrometer].

Next, a description will be given of a method of manufacturing a suitable flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIGS. 10A to 10D are cross-sectional views for explaining a manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. The notation of each member is the same as in FIG.

(1) First, as shown in FIG.
Element electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed over a substrate 1101. In forming these device electrodes, the substrate 1101 is sufficiently washed in advance with a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent, and then a material for the device electrodes is deposited. (As a deposition method, for example, a vacuum film forming technique such as a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method may be used.) Then, the deposited electrode material is patterned using a photolithography / etching technique. The pair of device electrodes shown (1102 and 11
03) is formed.

(2) Next, a conductive thin film 1104 is formed as shown in FIG.

In the formation, first, an organic metal solution is applied to the substrate (a), dried, heated and baked to form a fine particle film, and then patterned into a predetermined shape by photolithography and etching. . here,
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic metal compound containing a material of fine particles used for the conductive thin film as a main element. (Specifically, in this embodiment, Pd is used as a main element.
In the embodiment, a dipping method is used as a coating method, but other methods such as a spinner method and a spray method may be used.)

As a method for forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a method other than the method of applying an organic metal solution used in the present embodiment, for example, a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or a chemical vapor deposition method In some cases, a deposition method or the like is used.

(3) Next, as shown in FIG. 9C, the forming electrodes 1110 and 1112 are supplied from the forming power supply 1110.
The electron emitting portion 1105 is formed by applying an appropriate voltage during the period 03 and performing the energization forming process. This energization forming process is a process for forming a conductive thin film 1 made of a fine particle film.
104 is energized, and a part of it is appropriately destroyed, deformed,
Alternatively, it is a process of altering the structure to change the structure into a structure suitable for emitting electrons. In a portion of the conductive thin film made of the fine particle film which has been changed to a structure suitable for emitting electrons (that is, the electron emitting portion 1105), an appropriate crack is formed in the thin film. Note that the electron emission unit 11
As compared with before the formation of the electrode 05, the electrical resistance measured between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 is significantly increased after the formation.

FIG. 11 shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the forming power supply 1110 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. When forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a pulse-like voltage is preferable. In the case of the present embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously generated at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Was applied. At that time, the peak value Vpf of the triangular wave pulse is
The pressure was increased sequentially. Also, monitor pulses Pm for monitoring the state of formation of the electron-emitting portion 1105 are inserted at appropriate intervals between the triangular-wave pulses, and the current flowing at that time is measured by the ammeter 1.
It was measured at 111.

In the embodiment, for example, in a vacuum atmosphere of about 10 −5 [torr], for example, the pulse width T1 is 1 [millisecond] and the pulse interval T2 is 10 [milliseconds].
[Milliseconds], and the peak value Vpf is set to 0.1 for each pulse.
The voltage was increased by [V]. Then, each time five triangular waves were applied, the monitor pulse Pm was inserted at a rate of once.
In order not to adversely affect the forming process,
The monitor pulse voltage Vpm was set to 0.1 [V].
Then, when the electric resistance between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 becomes 1 × 10 6 [ohm], that is, when the current measured by the ammeter 1111 when the monitor pulse is applied becomes 1
At the stage where the power became × 10 −7 [A] or less, the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

The above method is a preferable method for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment. For example, the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device such as the material and film thickness of the fine particle film or the element electrode interval L is changed. In such a case, it is desirable to appropriately change the energization conditions accordingly.

(4) Next, as shown in FIG. 10D, the activation power source 1112 supplies the device electrodes 1102 and
An appropriate voltage is applied during the period 03 to perform the activation process to improve the electron emission characteristics.

The energization activation process is a process of energizing the electron emitting portion 1105 formed by the energization forming process under appropriate conditions to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof. (In the figure, a deposit made of carbon or a carbon compound is schematically shown as a member 1113.) By performing the activation process, the emission current at the same applied voltage is typically smaller than that before the activation. Specifically, it can be increased by 100 times or more.

Specifically, 10 minus the fourth power to 1
By applying a voltage pulse periodically in a vacuum atmosphere within the range of 0 to the fifth power [torr], carbon or a carbon compound originating from an organic compound existing in the vacuum atmosphere is deposited. The deposit 1113 is any of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500.
[Angstrom] or less, more preferably 300 [angstrom] or less.

FIG. 12A shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the activation power supply 1112 in order to describe the energization method in more detail. In the present embodiment, the energization activation process is performed by applying a rectangular wave of a constant voltage periodically, but specifically, the rectangular wave voltage Vac is 14
[V], pulse width T3 is 1 [millisecond], pulse interval T4
Was set to 10 [milliseconds]. Note that the above-described energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, it is desirable to appropriately change the conditions accordingly.

Reference numeral 1114 shown in FIG. 9D denotes an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, to which a DC high voltage power supply 1115 and an ammeter 1116 are connected. Note that the substrate 1101 is
When the activation process is performed after being incorporated in the display panel, the phosphor screen of the display panel is used as the anode electrode 1114. While the voltage is applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie is measured by the ammeter 1116 to monitor the progress of the energization activation process, and the activation power supply 1112 is used.
Control the operation of. An example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116 is shown in FIG.
When the pulse voltage starts to be applied from 12, the emission current Ie increases with time, but eventually saturates and hardly increases. As described above, when the emission current Ie is substantially saturated, the application of the voltage from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process ends.

The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment. If the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, the conditions should be changed accordingly. Is desirable.

As described above, the plane type surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 10E was manufactured.

(Vertical Type Surface Conduction Emission Element) Next, another typical structure of a surface conduction type emission element in which an electron emission portion or its periphery is formed of a fine particle film, that is, a vertical type surface conduction type emission device. The configuration of the element will be described.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the basic structure of a vertical type. In FIG.
202 and 1203 are device electrodes, 1206 is a step forming member, 1204 is a conductive thin film using a fine particle film, 1205
Are electron-emitting portions formed by an energization forming process;
213 is a thin film formed by the activation process.

The difference between the vertical type and the flat type described above is that one of the device electrodes (1202) is provided on the step forming member 1206, and the conductive thin film 1204 is provided on the side surface of the step forming member 1206. It is in the point of coating. Therefore, the element electrode interval L in the planar type shown in FIG. 9 is set as the step height Ls of the step forming member 1206 in the vertical type. Note that for the substrate 1201, the element electrodes 1202 and 1203, and the conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film, the materials listed in the description of the planar type can be used in the same manner. Also, the step forming member 1206
For example, an electrically insulating material such as SiO2 is used.

Next, a method of manufacturing a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIGS. 14A to 14F are cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process, and the notation of each member is the same as FIG.

(1) First, as shown in FIG.
An element electrode 1203 is formed over a substrate 1201.

(2) Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, an insulating layer for forming a step forming member is laminated. The insulating layer may be formed by stacking, for example, SiO2 by sputtering.
For example, another film formation method such as a vacuum evaporation method or a printing method may be used.

(3) Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, an element electrode 1202 is formed on the insulating layer.

(4) Next, as shown in FIG. 11D, a part of the insulating layer is removed by using, for example, an etching method to expose the element electrode 1203.

(5) Next, as shown in FIG. 11E, a conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film is formed. For the formation, as in the case of the planar type, a film forming technique such as a coating method may be used.

(6) Next, as in the case of the flat type,
An energization forming process is performed to form an electron emission portion.
(The same process as the planar type energization forming process described with reference to FIG. 10C may be performed.) (7) Next, as in the case of the planar type, an energization activation process is performed to emit electrons. Carbon or a carbon compound is deposited near the portion. (A process similar to the planar energization activation process described with reference to FIG. 10D may be performed.) As described above, the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. Manufactured.

(Characteristics of Surface Conduction Emission Device Used in Display Device) The element configuration and manufacturing method of the planar and vertical surface conduction electron-emitting devices have been described above. Next, the characteristics of the device used in the display device will be described. Is described.

FIG. 15 shows typical examples of (emission current Ie) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics and (device current If) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics of the device used in the display device. Note that the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the device current If, and it is difficult to show them on the same scale. In addition, these characteristics are changed by changing design parameters such as the size and shape of the device. Therefore, each of the two graphs is shown in arbitrary units.

The elements used in the display device of this embodiment are as follows:
The emission current Ie has the following three characteristics.

First, when a voltage higher than a certain voltage (hereinafter referred to as a threshold voltage Vth) is applied to the element, the emission current Ie sharply increases. On the other hand, when the voltage is lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie increases. Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie changes depending on the voltage Vf applied to the element, the emission current Ie depends on the voltage Vf.
Size can be controlled.

Third, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted from the element is fast with respect to the voltage Vf applied to the element, the amount of charge of the electrons emitted from the element depends on the length of time for applying the voltage Vf. Can control.

Because of the above characteristics, the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be suitably used for a display device. For example, in a display device in which a large number of elements are provided corresponding to pixels of a display screen, if the first characteristic is used, display can be performed by sequentially scanning the display screen. That is, a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold voltage Vth is appropriately applied to the element being driven, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the element in a non-selected state. By sequentially switching the elements to be driven, the display screen can be sequentially scanned and displayed.

Further, by using the second characteristic or the third characteristic, the light emission luminance can be controlled, so that gradation display can be performed.

(Structure of a Multi-Electron Source in Which Many Devices are Wired in a Simple Matrix) Next, the structure of a multi-electron source in which the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged on a substrate and wired in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 16 shows the display panel 13 of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the multi-electron source used for FIG. On the substrate, surface conduction type emission elements similar to those shown in FIG. 9 are arranged, and these elements are wired in a simple matrix by row-direction wiring electrodes 1003 and column-direction wiring electrodes 1004. Row direction wiring electrode 1003 and column direction wiring electrode 1004
An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the electrodes at the intersections of the two to maintain electrical insulation.

FIG. 17 shows a cross section along the line AA ′ in FIG.

Incidentally, the multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After the row direction wiring electrode 1003, the column direction wiring electrode 1004, the inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), the device electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the conductive thin film are formed on the substrate 1001 in advance, the row direction wiring electrode 1003, Column direction wiring electrode 10
The device was manufactured by supplying current to each element via the element 04 and performing an energization forming process and an energization activation process.

FIG. 18 shows a configuration in which image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting can be displayed on a display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device described above as an electron source. It is a figure for showing an example of a multifunctional display. In the figure, 2100 is a display panel, 2101 is a drive circuit of the display panel, 2102 is a display controller, 2103
Is a multiplexer, 2104 is a decoder, 2105 is an input / output interface circuit, 2106 is a CPU, 210
7 is an image generation circuit, 2108, 2109 and 21
10 is an image memory interface circuit, 2111 is an image input interface circuit, 2112 and 2113
Denotes a TV signal receiving circuit, and 2114 denotes an input unit. In addition,
When the present display device receives a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of unrelated audio information are omitted.

Hereinafter, the function of each section will be described along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 2113 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication. The format of the received TV signal is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, various systems such as the NTSC system, the PAL system, and the SECAM system. Further, a TV signal (for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system) composed of a larger number of scanning lines than the above is suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Signal source. The TV signal received by the TV signal receiving circuit 2113 is output to the decoder 2104.

[0124] The TV signal receiving circuit 2112 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. As with the TV signal receiving circuit 2113, the type of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 2104.

Image input interface circuit 2111
Is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 2104. The image memory interface circuit 2110 includes:
This is a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR). The captured image signal is output to a decoder 2104. The image memory interface circuit 2109 is a circuit for taking in an image signal stored in the video disk, and the taken-in image signal is output to the decoder 2104. The image memory interface circuit 2108 is a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device storing still image data, such as a so-called still image disk, and the taken still image data is output to the decoder 2104.

The input / output interface circuit 2105 includes:
A circuit for connecting the present display device to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. In addition to inputting and outputting image data, character data, and graphic information, control signals and numerical data can be input and output between the CPU 2106 included in the display device and the outside in some cases. .

Further, the image generation circuit 2107 is provided with image data, character / graphic information input from outside via the input / output interface circuit 2105, or a CPU.
A circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from 2106.
Within this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory for storing image patterns corresponding to character codes, and a processor for performing image processing Circuits necessary for generating an image, such as those described above, are incorporated. The display image data generated by this circuit is
The data is output to an external computer network or a printer via the input / output interface circuit 2105 in some cases.

The CPU 2106 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the display device and generation, selection, and editing of a display image. For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 2103, and image signals to be displayed on the display panel are appropriately selected or combined. In this case, a control signal is generated for the display panel controller 2102 in accordance with an image signal to be displayed, and a display frequency, a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines per screen are displayed. The operation of the device is appropriately controlled.

Also, image data, character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 2107, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 2105 to access the image data, character / graphic information. Enter graphic information.

The CPU 2106 may, of course, be involved in work for other purposes. For example,
It may be directly related to a function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor.

Alternatively, as described above, an external computer network may be connected via the input / output interface circuit 2105, and operations such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 2114 is connected to the CPU 21.
06 is for the user to input commands, programs, data, and the like. For example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse, various input devices such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device can be used.

Also, the decoder 2104 has the
And 2113 are circuits for inversely converting various image signals inputted from 2113 into three primary color signals or luminance signals and I and Q signals. It is to be noted that the decoder 2104 desirably includes an image memory therein, as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. This is for handling television signals that require an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method. In addition, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image, or cooperates with the image generation circuit 2107 and the CPU 2106 to perform image processing and editing including image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and synthesis. This is because there is an advantage that it can be easily performed.

The multiplexer 2103 is connected to the C
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from the PU 2106. That is, the multiplexer 2103 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 2104 and outputs the selected image signal to the drive circuit 2101. In that case, by switching and selecting an image signal within one screen display time, it is possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen TV. .

Display panel controller 2102
Is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 2101 based on a control signal input from the CPU 2106.

First, as a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a drive power supply (not shown) for the display panel is output to the drive circuit 2101. In addition, a signal for controlling, for example, a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), which is related to the display panel driving method, is output to the driving circuit 2101. In some cases, a control signal related to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 2101.

The drive circuit 2101 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 2100. The drive circuit 2101 is based on an image signal input from the multiplexer 2103 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 2102. It works.

The function of each section has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 18, in this display device, image information input from various image information sources is displayed on the display panel 2.
100 can be displayed. That is, various image signals including television broadcasting are transmitted to the decoder 21.
After the inverse conversion at 04, the multiplexer 2103
And is input to the driving circuit 2101 as appropriate. On the other hand, the display controller 2102 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 2101 according to the image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 2101 controls the display panel 2 based on the image signal and the control signal.
100 is applied with a drive signal. Accordingly, an image is displayed on display panel 2100. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 2106.

In the present display device, the image memory incorporated in the decoder 2104, the image generation circuit 21
07 and the CPU 2106 involve not only displaying a selected one of a plurality of pieces of image information but also enlarging, reducing,
It is also possible to perform image processing such as rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, and image editing such as synthesis, erasure, connection, replacement, and fitting. is there. Although not particularly described in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-described image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the present display device is a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device that handles still and moving images, a computer terminal device, an office terminal device such as a word processor,
It can be equipped with the functions of a game machine etc. by one unit, and has a very wide application range for industrial or consumer use.

FIG. 18 shows only an example of the configuration of a display device using a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this. No. For example, among the components in FIG. 18, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the intended use may be omitted. Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the present display device is applied as a video phone, it is preferable to add a transmission / reception circuit including a television camera, an audio microphone, an illuminator, and a modem to the components.

In the present display device, in particular, a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source can be easily thinned, so that the depth of the entire display device can be reduced. In addition, since the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, this display device is capable of displaying images full of immersion and full of powerful images with good visibility. It is possible to display.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, etc.) Device).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
Or MPU) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The case where the CPU of the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix are provided.
In an image display device that displays an image using a display panel including a plurality of phosphors that emit light by electrons emitted from these electron-emitting devices, a signal corresponding to an input video signal is applied to column wiring of the display panel. In synchronization with an input video signal, an image can be displayed by sequentially selecting and driving the row wiring of the display panel, and at that time, a control signal is generated independently of the video signal, and according to the control signal, By changing the voltage level of the selected row wiring or changing the voltage value or current value applied to the column wiring, the amount of light emitted from each electron-emitting device is controlled to Can be controlled.

Further, since the control signal can be set or changed arbitrarily by the user, the display luminance with respect to the input video signal level can be changed according to the characteristics of the display device.

[0151]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that a video signal can be easily converted into a signal having desired characteristics, and a display based on the video signal can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, an image can be displayed by changing the voltage value applied to the elements arranged in a matrix and controlling the output signal corresponding to the video signal to a desired value.

Further, according to the present invention, an image display can be performed by changing the value of the current applied to the elements arranged in a matrix and controlling the output signal corresponding to the video signal to a desired value.

[0154]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining each signal in the image display device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the relationship between luminance and pulse width in Embodiment 1 depends on the voltage value of a scanning signal.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining each signal in the image display device of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating γ correction characteristics.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a display panel of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of the display panel of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) of the planar surface-conduction emission type electron-emitting device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of manufacturing the flat surface-conduction emission type electron-emitting device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an applied voltage waveform during energization forming processing.

FIG. 12 shows an applied voltage waveform (a) during energization activation processing,
It is a figure showing change (b) of discharge current Ie.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing typical characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a substrate of the multi-electron source used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along line A-A ′ of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a multi-function image display device using the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a conventionally known surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a conventionally known FE.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a conventionally known MIM type.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a wiring method of an electron-emitting device in which a problem that the inventors have attempted has occurred.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 Synchronization signal separation unit 5 Timing generation unit 6, 6a Arbitrary waveform generation unit 7 Waveform control input unit 9, 9a Row wiring drive unit 10 Horizontal shift register 11 1 line memory 12, 12a Column wiring drive unit 13 Display panel

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An image display device comprising a display panel in which a plurality of elements having electron emission characteristics that monotonously change with respect to a driving voltage or a driving current are arranged, wherein each of the display panels is arranged in accordance with an input video signal. Drive signal generation means for generating a drive signal for the element; control signal generation means for generating a control signal for changing the drive signal of each element in synchronization with a video signal, independently of the video signal; An image display device comprising: drive signal changing means for changing a drive signal of each of the elements according to a control signal. 2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein in the display panel, the plurality of elements are connected in a matrix by a plurality of row wirings and column wirings. 3. The drive signal generating means includes: a one-line storage means for storing at least one line of the input video signal; and a signal having a pulse width corresponding to each video signal value stored in the one-line storage means. A pulse width modulation means to generate; a voltage application means for applying a voltage to the column direction wiring for a time corresponding to a pulse width of a signal output from the pulse width modulation means; 3. The image display device according to claim 2, further comprising: a horizontal scanning unit that sequentially selects the video signal in synchronization with a horizontal scanning signal and applies a voltage signal according to the control signal. 4. The drive signal generating means includes: one-line storage means for storing at least one line of an input video signal; and a signal having a pulse width corresponding to each video signal value stored in the one-line storage means. A pulse width modulation unit that is generated; a current application unit that applies a current signal according to the control signal to the column direction wiring for a time corresponding to a pulse width of a signal output from the pulse width modulation unit; and the display panel. 3. The image display device according to claim 2, further comprising: horizontal scanning means for sequentially selecting the row direction wirings in synchronization with a horizontal scanning signal of the video signal and applying a predetermined voltage. 5. The control signal generating means according to claim 1, wherein said control signal generating means generates a control signal for linearly changing between two voltage values V1 and V2 for a predetermined time. An image display device according to claim 1. 6. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the display panel has a phosphor that emits light by electrons emitted from the plurality of elements. 7. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of elements are FE-type emission elements. 8. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of devices are MIM type emission devices. 9. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of elements are surface conduction type emission elements. 10. An image display method for displaying an image on a display panel in which a plurality of elements having electron emission characteristics that monotonously change with respect to a drive voltage or a drive current, wherein the display is performed according to an input video signal. A drive signal generating step of generating a drive signal for each element of the panel; and a control signal generating step of generating a control signal for changing the drive signal of each element in synchronization with a video signal, independently of the video signal. And a driving signal changing step of changing a driving signal of each element according to the control signal. 11. The image display method according to claim 10, wherein in the display panel, the plurality of elements are connected in a matrix by a plurality of row wirings and column wirings. 12. In the driving signal generating step, the input video signal is stored for at least one line, a signal having a pulse width corresponding to the stored video signal value is generated, and the driving signal is generated according to the pulse width of the signal. Time, applying a voltage to the column direction wiring, sequentially selecting the row direction wiring of the display panel in synchronization with a horizontal scanning signal of the video signal, and applying a voltage signal according to the control signal. 12. The image display method according to claim 11, wherein: 13. In the driving signal generating step, an input video signal is stored for at least one line, a signal having a pulse width corresponding to the stored video signal value is generated, and a pulse of the output signal is generated. Applying a current signal according to the control signal to the column direction wiring for a time according to the width, sequentially selecting the row direction wiring of the display panel in synchronization with a horizontal scanning signal of the video signal, and setting a predetermined voltage. The image display method according to claim 11, wherein the voltage is applied. 14. The control signal generating step according to claim 10, wherein a control signal for linearly changing between two voltage values V1 and V2 for a predetermined time is generated.
The image display method according to any one of the above items.