KR102346093B1 - Apparatus for displaying high-resolution image through pixel superposition - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a display device capable of outputting a high-resolution image using a low-resolution device. A display device according to the present specification includes: a display panel in which first to third sub-pixels displaying three different colors are arranged in m×n; a scan driving circuit for sequentially driving sub-pixels arranged in a row direction in the display panel; a data driving circuit for outputting a pixel data signal related to driving of each sub-pixel; and a control unit configured to output a control signal to the scan driving circuit and the data driving circuit to display an image of one frame in the first to fourth sub-frames.

Description

Display device capable of realizing high-resolution images through pixel superposition {APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGE THROUGH PIXEL SUPERPOSITION}

The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a display device capable of realizing a high-resolution image through pixel overlap.

AR (Augmented Reality) is a field of virtual reality (VR) and is a computer graphics technique that synthesizes virtual objects or information in an actual environment to make them appear as if they exist in the original environment. Recently, as a type of glasses worn by a user, a so-called see-through device has been developed that recognizes the real environment with the eyes but displays only a virtual image in front of the user's eyes. Such see-through devices are called AR glasses.

The idea of AR glasses has been made public and it is possible to display simple guidance, but it has not reached the commercialization stage of displaying high-resolution virtual information. In order to display a virtual image to the extent that the user does not feel a sense of alienation from the real environment, a higher-resolution image must be displayed, but the currently available resolution for AR glasses is 2K (1920 x 1080).

Therefore, there is a need for a method that can implement 4K (3840 x 2160) using a device that can implement 2K.

Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2020-0001233 (2020.01.06)

An object of the present specification is to provide a display device capable of outputting a high-resolution image using a low-resolution device.

The present specification is not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

A display device according to the present specification for solving the above problems includes: a display panel in which first to third sub-pixels displaying three different colors are arranged in an m x n array; a scan driving circuit for sequentially driving sub-pixels arranged in a row direction in the display panel; a data driving circuit for outputting a pixel data signal related to driving of each sub-pixel; and a control unit configured to output a control signal to the scan driving circuit and the data driving circuit to display an image of one frame in the first to fourth sub-frames.

According to an embodiment of the present specification, the control unit controls the scan driving circuit and the data driving circuit to output an image composed of virtual unit pixels composed of four sub-pixels, wherein the unit pixel comprises: It may include first to third sub-pixels and a fourth sub-pixel displaying the same color as any one of the first to third sub-pixels.

According to one embodiment of the present specification, in the display panel, the first to third sub-pixels are arranged in the same repeating pattern in the row direction, and the same sub-pixels are disposed at positions diagonal to each other between the rows. can

According to an embodiment of the present specification, the unit pixel may be composed of sub-pixels arranged in a 2x2 manner.

According to an embodiment of the present specification, the sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel for each of the first to fourth sub-frames may have different configurations.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present specification, the unit pixel configured for each sub-frame may include two sub-pixels among four sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel configured in the previous sub-frame.

According to an embodiment of the present specification, the scan driving circuit may simultaneously drive two rows in the display panel as a pair.

According to an embodiment of the present specification, the scan driving circuit drives the x-th row and the x+1-th row in the first and second sub-frames as a pair, and in the third and fourth sub-frames, x The +1th row and the x+2th row can be driven as a pair.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present specification, the control unit outputs a pixel data signal such that the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel separately output the grayscale of the color to be expressed by the first sub-pixel within each unit pixel. It can be provided to the driving circuit.

The display apparatus according to the present specification may be a component of a wearable device.

Other specific details of the invention are included in the detailed description and drawings.

According to one aspect of the present specification, a relatively high resolution image can be provided even with the same hardware as that of a conventional display device.

According to another aspect of the present specification, an image to be provided may be provided with a relatively small hardware device. Therefore, it is applicable to a wearable device in which weight reduction and miniaturization are important, particularly, a glass type device worn on the face.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a display device according to the present specification.
2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present specification.
3 to 6 are reference views for a unit pixel according to the present specification.
7 to 10 are reference views for a setting area of a unit pixel for each subframe according to the present specification.
11 is a reference diagram for a difference in resolution recognition.

Advantages and features of the invention disclosed herein, and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present specification is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only the present embodiments allow the disclosure of the present specification to be complete, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which this specification belongs. It is provided to fully inform those skilled in the art (hereinafter, 'those skilled in the art') the scope of the present specification, and the scope of the present specification is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope of the present specification. In this specification, the singular also includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, “comprises” and/or “comprising” does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components in addition to the stated components.

Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout, and "and/or" includes each and every combination of one or more of the recited elements. Although "first", "second", etc. are used to describe various elements, these elements are not limited by these terms, of course. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Accordingly, it goes without saying that the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the spirit of the present invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein will have the meaning commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which this specification belongs. In addition, terms defined in a commonly used dictionary are not to be interpreted ideally or excessively unless specifically defined explicitly.

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

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a display device according to the present specification.

2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present specification.

1 and 2 , the display device 10 according to the present specification may include a display panel 100 , a scan driving circuit 110 , a data driving circuit 120 , and a controller 130 .

In the display panel 100 , first to third sub-pixels 140 displaying three different colors may be arranged in m×n. The three different colors correspond to three primary colors for expressing an image in the technical field to which this specification belongs. For convenience of description, the three colors will be described as an example of red (R), green (G), and blue (B). However, the first to third terms do not indicate the order or color of the sub-pixels, but are names for distinguishing the sub-pixels 140 having different colors. The number of sub-pixels 140 may be arranged in a matrix such that the number of sub-pixels 140 is m in the row direction and n in the longitudinal direction.

The display panel 100 is a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, an active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display, an electrochromic display (ECD), a digital mirror device (DMD), It may be implemented as one of AMD (Actuated Mirror Device), Grating Light Valve (GLV), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), ELD (Electro Luminescent Display), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), and other types of flat panel displays or flexible displays It may be implemented as a display. In this specification, the LED display panel will be described as an example.

The scan driving circuit 110 may sequentially drive the sub-pixels 140 arranged in a row direction in the display panel 100 . The scan driving circuit 110 sequentially generates the sub-pixels 140 for an operation related to a gradation to be output by each sub-pixel during one sub-frame (eg, charging a gradation voltage or storing image data). can be driven by The scan driving circuit 110 is also referred to as a 'gate driver' by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the basic operation of the scan driving circuit 110 is well known to those skilled in the art, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The data driving circuit 120 may output a pixel data signal related to driving of each sub-pixel 140 . Each sub-pixel 140 may output a voltage or image data related to a gradation to be output during one sub-frame. The data driving circuit 120 is also referred to as a 'source driver' by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, since the basic operation of the data driving circuit 120 is well known to those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The control unit 130 may output a control signal to the scan driving circuit 110 and the data driving circuit 120 to display an image of one frame using first to fourth sub-frames.

The controller 130 may control the scan driving circuit 110 and the data driving circuit 120 to output an image composed of virtual unit pixels composed of four sub-pixels 140 .

In a display according to the prior art, three sub-pixels are gathered to form one pixel. On the other hand, in the display device 10 according to the present specification, four sub-pixels 140 may be gathered to form one unit pixel.

Meanwhile, in the prior art, when a sub-pixel constituting one pixel is determined, the sub-pixel is not included in other pixels. On the other hand, in the display device 10 according to the present specification, any one sub-pixel 140 is not exclusively included in a specific unit pixel. Accordingly, in the present specification, since one unit pixel is not physically determined, it may be referred to as a 'virtual' unit pixel.

Before describing the unit pixel, the arrangement of the sub-pixels 140 constituting the display panel according to the present specification will be described. According to the exemplary embodiment of the present specification, in the display panel 100, the first to third sub-pixels are arranged in the same repeating pattern in the row direction, and the same sub-pixels are positioned at a diagonal angle between the rows. can be placed in

Referring to FIG. 2 , in the first row, it can be seen that the “R-G-B” pattern is identically repeated. And it can be seen that "R", which appears first from the left in the second row, is disposed at a diagonal position with respect to the leftmost "R" in the first row. Through such pattern repetition and arrangement, it is possible to prevent sub-pixels expressing the same color from being horizontally or closest to each other.

3 to 6 are reference views for a unit pixel according to the present specification.

3 to 6 , a unit pixel according to an embodiment of the present specification may include sub-pixels arranged in a 2x2 configuration. Also, referring to FIGS. 3 to 6 , it can be seen that four sub-pixels are illustrated by solid lines, and the remaining sub-pixels are illustrated by dotted lines. What is shown by the solid line corresponds to a 'virtual unit pixel' according to the present specification. In this case, the unit pixel may include the first to third sub-pixels and a fourth sub-pixel displaying the same color as any one of the first to third sub-pixels. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3 , the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel display the same color in red (R). In the example shown in FIG. 4 , the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel display the same color as green (G). In the example shown in FIG. 5 , the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel display the same color in red (R). In the example illustrated in FIG. 6 , the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel display the same color as blue (B).

In addition, the display device according to the present specification expresses one image frame as four sub-frames. In this case, the configuration of the sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel in each of the four sub-frames, that is, the first to fourth sub-frames may be different from each other.

The coordinates of sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel shown in FIG. 3 will be defined as (x, y), (x, y+1), (x+1, y), (x+1, y+1). . Compared with the reference, the coordinates of the sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel shown in FIG. 4 are (x, y+1), (x, y+2), (x+1, y+1), (x+1) , y+2). Compared with the reference, the coordinates of the sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel shown in FIG. 5 are (x+1, y+1), (x+1, y+2), (x+2, y+1), (x+2, y+2). Compared with the reference, the coordinates of sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel shown in FIG. 6 are (x+1, y), (x+1, y+1), (x+2, y), (x+2) , y+1). That is, the unit pixel configured in each sub-frame may include two sub-pixels among the four sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel configured in the previous sub-frame.

In order to drive the unit pixel as described above, the scan driving circuit 110 may simultaneously drive two rows in the display panel 100 as a pair. For example, in the examples shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the x row and the x+1 row become a pair and are driven simultaneously. In addition, in the example shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the x+1 row and the x+2 row become a pair and are driven simultaneously. To this end, the scan driving circuit 110 drives the x-th row and the x+1-th row as a pair in the first and second sub-frames, and the x+1-th row in the third and fourth sub-frames. You can drive the row and the x+2th row as a pair.

Also, the controller 130 may control the data driving circuit 120 to output a pixel data signal according to the unit pixel. However, it is necessary to consider that the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel express the same color in each unit pixel. Accordingly, the controller 130 provides a pixel data signal to the data driving circuit so that the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel separately output the grayscale of the color to be expressed by the first sub-pixel in each unit pixel. can do. For example, when the grayscale value to be expressed by red (R) in the unit pixel of FIG. 3 is 100, the red grayscale value of the first sub-pixel (x, y) is 50, the fourth sub-pixel (x+1, The red gradation value of y+1) may be 50.

How to output a high-resolution image through the control of the above-described sub-pixels and unit pixels will be described.

7 to 10 are reference views for a setting area of a unit pixel for each subframe according to the present specification.

7 to 10 , an area indicated by a solid line corresponds to one unit pixel. The dot shown at the center in each unit pixel indicates the actual position of the pixel expressed by the unit pixel. Since one pixel in the image is recognized as one point in which the three primary colors are combined, it is the actual position of the unit pixel perceived by the viewer.

11 is a reference diagram for a difference in resolution recognition.

Referring to FIG. 11 , the position of the pixel recognized by the viewer in the conventional display device is shown in (a), and the position of the pixel recognized by the viewer in the display device according to the present specification is shown in (b). 11 , the viewer may recognize that more pixels exist in the display device 10 according to the present specification, which means that higher resolution expression is possible.

Accordingly, it is possible to output an image having a higher resolution than that of a conventional display device having the same number of sub-pixels. That is, in outputting an image having the same resolution, it is possible to provide a display device that is smaller and lighter than a conventional display device. Accordingly, the display apparatus according to the present specification can be applied to a wearable device, particularly a glass-type device to be worn on the face, in which weight reduction and miniaturization are important.

On the other hand, the scan driving circuit 110 , the data driving circuit 120 , and the control unit 130 include a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other It may include chipsets, logic circuits, registers, communication modems, data processing devices, and the like. In addition, when the above-described control logic is implemented in software, it may be implemented as a set of program modules. In this case, the program module may be stored in the memory device and executed by the processor.

The computer program is C/C++, C#, JAVA, Python that a processor (CPU) of the computer can read through a device interface of the computer in order for the computer to read the program and execute the methods implemented as a program , may include code coded in a computer language such as machine language. Such code may include functional code related to a function defining functions necessary for executing the methods, etc., and includes an execution procedure related control code necessary for the processor of the computer to execute the functions according to a predetermined procedure. can do. In addition, this code may further include additional information necessary for the processor of the computer to execute the functions or code related to memory reference for which location (address address) in the internal or external memory of the computer should be referenced. have. In addition, when the processor of the computer needs to communicate with any other computer or server located remotely in order to execute the functions, the code uses the communication module of the computer to determine how to communicate with any other computer or server remotely. It may further include a communication-related code for whether to communicate and what information or media to transmit and receive during communication.

On the other hand, as in the example shown in this specification, when the unit pixel is controlled to move in the clockwise direction, there may be a problem that one unit pixel is not completely expressed at the right end and the lower end of the display panel. . In preparation for this case, the controller may control the data driving circuit not to provide a pixel data signal to the sub-pixels that do not completely form one unit pixel at the right end and the lower end.

The storage medium is not a medium that stores data for a short moment, such as a register, a cache, a memory, etc., but a medium that stores data semi-permanently and can be read by a device. Specifically, examples of the storage medium include, but are not limited to, ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and an optical data storage device. That is, the program may be stored in various recording media on various servers accessible by the computer or in various recording media on the computer of the user. In addition, the medium may be distributed in a computer system connected to a network, and a computer-readable code may be stored in a distributed manner.

As mentioned above, although the embodiments of the present specification have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which this specification belongs can realize that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. you will be able to understand Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive.

10: display device
100: display panel
110: scan driving circuit
120: data driving circuit
130: control unit
140: sub-pixel

Claims (10)

a display panel in which first to third sub-pixels displaying three different colors have the same repeating pattern in a row direction, and the same sub-pixels are positioned to be diagonal to each other between the rows and arranged in mxn; a scan driving circuit for sequentially driving sub-pixels arranged in a row direction in the display panel; a data driving circuit for outputting a pixel data signal related to driving of each sub-pixel; and a control unit outputting a control signal to the scan driving circuit and the data driving circuit to display an image of one frame in first to fourth sub-frames,
The control unit is
Outputting an image including virtual unit pixels in which the first to third sub-pixels and a fourth sub-pixel displaying the same color as any one of the first to third sub-pixels are arranged in a 2x2 arrangement, to the fourth sub-frame, the sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel are different from each other, and the unit pixel configured in each sub-frame includes two sub-pixels among the four sub-pixels constituting the unit pixel configured in the previous sub-frame. controlling the scan driving circuit and the data driving circuit,
The scan driving circuit is a display device, characterized in that the two rows in the display panel are driven as a pair at the same time. delete delete delete delete delete delete The method according to claim 1,
The scan driving circuit is
driving the x-th row and the x+1-th row as a pair in the first and second subframes;
and driving the x+1-th row and the x+2-th row as a pair in the third and fourth sub-frames. 9. The method of claim 8,
The control unit determines the grayscale of the color to be expressed by the first sub-pixel within each unit pixel,
and providing a pixel data signal to the data driving circuit so that the first sub-pixel and the fourth sub-pixel are output separately. A wearable device comprising the display device according to any one of claims 1, 8 and 9.

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