KR20110133730A - Apparatus and method for three- dimension liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A 3D(Dimensional) LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) and driving method thereof are provided to improve the display quality of a 3D by improving flickering in the implementation of 3D image. CONSTITUTION: A memory(210) separates the inputted image data to left and right eye image data. A counter(240) counts an image data frame which is separated from the left and right eye image data and generates frame count information. The counter generates line count information and counts the frame line of the image. An image selecting unit(220) selects the left and right eye image data in order to display the left and right eye image data based on frame count information. A shutter glass controller(230) controls the operation of the left and right eye image data.

Description

3D liquid crystal display and driving method {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THREE- DIMENSION LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly, to a 3D liquid crystal display and a driving method capable of improving display quality of a 3D image by improving crosstalk and flicker when implementing a 3D image using a shutter glass. It is about.

The display device has been developed in accordance with the demand for larger size and thinner, and the demand for a flat display device having advantages of large size, thin film, light weight, and low power consumption is increasing.

Flat display devices include liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), field emission display (FED), and light emitting diode (LED) Development of Diode Display Device) is ongoing.

Among such flat panel display devices, the liquid crystal display device has been expanded in application fields due to mass production technology, ease of driving means, high quality, and large screen.

The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal panel in which liquid crystal cells are arranged in a matrix, a backlight unit for supplying light to the liquid crystal panel, and a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal panel.

The liquid crystal cells of the liquid crystal panel are defined by the intersection of a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines, and a pixel electrode and a common electrode for applying an electric field are formed in each liquid crystal cell. Each of the liquid crystal cells is switched through a thin film transistor (TFT).

The driving circuit may include a gate driver (G-IC) for supplying scan signals to gate lines; A data driver (D-IC) for supplying data voltages corresponding to image signals to the data lines; A timing controller (T-con) which supplies a control signal to the gate driver and the data driver, and supplies image data to the data driver; And a backlight driver for driving a light source (backlight) of the backlight unit for supplying light to the liquid crystal panel.

In such a liquid crystal display, the arrangement state of the liquid crystals is changed according to the voltage formed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode for each liquid crystal cell, and the image is displayed by adjusting the transmittance of light supplied from the backlight unit through the arrangement of the liquid crystals.

Recently, users' demand for realistic images has increased, and liquid crystal displays capable of realizing not only 2D (2D) images but also 3D (3D) images have been developed.

A liquid crystal display for displaying a 3D image generally implements a 3D image by using a binocular parallax display of a user, and includes a shutter glass method and a lenticular lens method using three-dimensional special glasses. , A patterned retarder method using polarized glasses has been proposed.

1 and 2 are views showing a 3D image implementation method of a liquid crystal display using a shutter glass method according to the prior art.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a 3D image using the shutter glass 20 according to the related art uses a binocular parallax of a user, and different two-dimensional left and right eyes of the user through the left and right eyes of the user. After the image is recognized, two two-dimensional images (left eye image, right eye image) are fused to be recognized by the viewer as a three-dimensional image.

To this end, the liquid crystal panel 10 displays 2D images of the left and right eyes with a parallax. At this time, while the left eye 2D image is displayed through the shutter glass 20, recognition of the right eye 2D image is blocked, and the 2D image is recognized by the left eye. In the period in which the right eye 2D image is displayed, recognition of the left eye 2D image is blocked, and the 2D image is recognized in the right eye.

Through this, different 2D images are recognized with parallax in the left eye and the right eye, and then the 2D images of the left and right eyes are fused to allow the user to recognize the 3D image.

The liquid crystal display according to the related art described above alternately displays 2D images of the left and right eyes for a predetermined time (frame) and implements the 3D image through on-off of the shutter glass 20.

However, due to the slow response speed and hold type characteristics of the liquid crystal formed in the liquid crystal panel 10, the rising and falling of the liquid crystal does not end completely for a predetermined time (frame).

The shutter glass is also switched through the liquid crystal. Even though the response speed of the liquid crystal is slow, the shutter glass is not completely closed even when the shutter glass is turned off at the end of the vertical period. For this reason, a difference occurs in the response speed of the liquid crystal between the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the liquid crystal panel 10, and there is a problem in that luminance unevenness occurs.

In particular, the liquid crystal display device needs a certain time to stably display a new frame on the screen due to the response speed of the liquid crystal. Therefore, the image of the left eye and the image of the right eye are not completely separated, that is, overlapping, that is, crosstalk is generated, resulting in poor display quality of the 3D image, and dizziness in viewers when viewing a 3D image for a long time. There is a problem that may appear.

In addition, the light around the viewer (for example, fluorescent light in the living room) may interfere with the shutter glass, causing a flicker phenomenon in which the screen to be watched flickers, thereby lowering the display quality of the 3D image. There is this.

An object of the present invention is to provide a 3D liquid crystal display and a driving method capable of improving the display quality of a 3D image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display and a driving method capable of improving the display quality of a 3D image by improving crosstalk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display and a driving method capable of improving the display quality of a 3D image by improving flicker.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 3D liquid crystal display device comprising: a memory for realizing a 3D image using a shutter glass, the memory comprising: separating input image data into left eye image data and right eye image data; A counter for counting image data frames divided into a left eye image and a right eye image to generate frame count information of the image data, and counting frame lines of the displayed image to generate line count information; An image selecting unit which selects left eye image data and right eye image data from the memory such that the left eye image and the right eye image are continuously displayed in a predetermined number of frame units based on the frame count information of the image data; A shutter glass control unit controlling the operation of the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter based on the selection of the left eye image and the right eye image data in the image selection unit; And a liquid crystal panel configured to display the left eye image and the right eye image in units of a predetermined number of frames according to the selection of the left eye image data and the right eye image data of the image selection unit.

A driving method of a 3D liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a driving method of a 3D liquid crystal display which realizes a 3D image using a shutter glass, wherein the input image data is divided into left eye image data and right eye image data. step; Counting frames and lines of image data separated into a left eye image and a right eye image; Selecting and displaying a left eye image and a right eye image in units of a predetermined number of frames based on the frame and line count results of the image data; And controlling the operations of the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter so as to correspond to the left eye image and the right eye image displayed in a predetermined number of frames.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the display quality of a 3D image implemented in a 3D liquid crystal display may be improved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the display quality of the 3D image may be improved by improving crosstalk according to the implementation of the 3D image.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, it is possible to improve the display quality of the 3D image by improving the flicker (flicker) when implementing the 3D image.

1 and 2 are views showing a 3D image implementation method of a liquid crystal display using a shutter glass method according to the prior art.
3 is a schematic view of a 3D liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating an image controller of a 3D liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating a 3D image realization method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating a 3D image implementing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a 3D liquid crystal display and a driving method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a 3D liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an image controller of a 3D liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4, the 3D liquid crystal display 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel 110; Gate driver 120; Data driver 130; Backlight unit 140; A backlight driver 150; Timing controller 160; The image controller 200 is included. The image controller 200 may be implemented in the timing controller 160.

The liquid crystal panel 110 includes a plurality of gate lines G1 to Gn and a plurality of data lines D1 to Dm, and the liquid crystal cell Clc is formed for each region defined by the intersection of the gate lines and the data lines. , Pixel areas).

The liquid crystal cells include a thin film transistor (TFT) and a storage capacitor (Cst) formed at the intersection of the gate lines and the data lines.

The thin film transistor TFT supplies an analog data signal (data voltage) supplied through the data lines to the liquid crystal cells in response to a scan signal supplied through the gate lines.

The gate driver 120 generates a scan signal (gate driving signal) for driving the thin film transistor TFT formed in each liquid crystal cell based on the gate control signal (GCS: Gate Control Signal) from the timing controller 160. The generated scan signal is sequentially supplied to the gate lines G1 to Gn of the liquid crystal panel 110 to drive (switch) the thin film transistor TFT.

The data driver 130 converts the digital image data R, G, and B supplied from the timing controller 160 into analog data signals (data voltages). The converted analog data signal is supplied to each of the data lines in response to a data control signal (DCS: Data Control Signal) from the timing controller 160. That is, an analog data signal is supplied to each of the liquid crystal cells turned on by the scan signal.

Here, the digital image data (R, G, B) supplied to the data driver 130 includes left eye image data and right eye image data arranged by the image control unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention described later. .

The timing controller 160 controls the gate control signal GCS and the data driver 130 to control the gate driver 120 using the vertical / horizontal synchronization signal Vsync / Hsync and the clock signal CLK. To generate a data control signal DCS. The generated gate control signal GCS is supplied to the gate driver 120, and the data control signal DCS is supplied to the data driver 130.

The data control signal DCS may include a source start pulse (SSP), a source sampling clock (SSC), a source output enable (SOE), and a polarity control signal (POL). Polarity) and the like.

The gate control signal GCS may include a gate start pulse (GSP), a gate shift clock (GSC), a gate output enable (GOE), and the like.

In addition, the timing controller 160 aligns the image signals from the outside into digital image data R, G, and B in units of frames, and supplies the digital image data aligned in units of frames to the data driver 130. . Here, the digital image data R, G, and B include left eye image data and right eye image data arranged by the image controller 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The liquid crystal panel 110 does not generate self-emission, and thus displays an image (image) using light supplied from the backlight unit 140.

The backlight unit 140 may be classified into an edge type in which the backlight is disposed in the lateral direction of the liquid crystal panel 110 and a direct type in which the backlight is disposed in the rear direction of the liquid crystal panel 110 according to the arrangement type of the light source that is the backlight. .

The backlight unit 140 is for irradiating light to the liquid crystal panel 110 and includes a plurality of backlights (CCFL: Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp, EEFL: External Electrode Fluorescent Lamp, LED: Light Emitting Diode) The light guide may include an optical member (a light guide plate, a diffusion plate, or an optical sheet) for guiding the light generated from the backlight toward the liquid crystal panel 110 and improving the efficiency of the light.

The backlight driver 150 drives the light source according to a backlight control signal (BCS) input from the image controller 200. Here, the backlight driver 150 may control the on-off and driving frequency of the backlight according to the backlight control signal BCS. In addition, the brightness of the backlight may be controlled so that the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 110 can be clearly expressed.

When the 3D image is implemented, the image controller 200 is input to the timing controller 160 to be aligned in units of frames to improve crosstalk and flicker caused by delay characteristics of liquid crystals formed in the liquid crystal panel 110 and the shutter glass. Control digital image data.

For example, when the 3D image is implemented, the left eye image is displayed for three or four frames on the liquid crystal panel 110, and then the image data is controlled to display the right eye image for three or four frames. do.

Also, in order to obtain a response margin of the liquid crystal, the left eye image and the right eye image are displayed in successive three or four frame units, and in the continuous three or four frame periods, the backlight is turned on and off. (Off) is controlled and the backlight is driven so that the time when the backlight is on, that is, the duty is different from each other.

As an example, the left eye image and the right eye image may be displayed in units of four frames (N frame to N + 3 frame displays a left eye image, and N + 4 frame to N + 7 frames display a right eye image). At this time, the backlight is turned off in the first and third frames, and the backlight is turned on in the second and fourth frames. In addition, it is possible to improve the occurrence of the flicker phenomenon by varying the period during which the backlight is on.

To this end, the image controller 200 includes a memory 210, an image selector 220, a shutter glass controller 230, and a counter 240, as shown in FIG. 4.

The memory 210 may be implemented as a nonvolatile memory such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The memory 210 separates image data in a frame unit including a left eye image and a right eye image into a left eye image and a right eye image. The image data divided into the left eye and the right eye is provided to the image selector 220.

Herein, the memory 210 may have a different capacity and shape according to the format of the image data. When the image data is in the top-down format, the memory in the form of a frame is applied. Line-type memory can be applied.

The image selector 220 supplies the left eye image data and the right eye image data to the data driver 130 in units of a predetermined number of consecutive frames based on the image data frame count information from the counter 240 to be described later. Through this, the left eye image and the right eye image are displayed during the predetermined number of consecutive frames in the liquid crystal panel 110.

As an example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the image selector 220 may display a left eye image for four frames, and then display a right eye image for four frames.

As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the image selector 220 may display a left eye image for three frames, and then display a right eye image for three frames.

The counter 240 separates the left eye and the right eye from the memory 210 to count the image data frames supplied to the image selector 220, and counts frame count information of the image data. 220).

As shown in FIG. 5, when a left eye image of four consecutive frames (N frames to N + 3 frames) and a right eye image of four consecutive frames (N + 4 frames to N + 7 frames) are to be displayed. , Frame of video data in total of 8 frames, 4 frames each for left, right and right eyes (000-> 001-> 010-> 011-> 100-> 101-> 110-> 111-> 000, ‥‥ And the count information is provided to the image selector 220.

In addition, the counter 240 counts a frame line of an image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 110. Based on the frame counter information and the line count information of the image data, a backlight control signal BCS is generated for the on-off control of the backlight and the generated backlight control signal is supplied to the backlight driver 150. do.

In addition, the counter 240 generates the backlight control signal to turn the backlight on and off according to the vertical synchronization (V-sync) and the response speed of the liquid crystal.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 5, a left eye image of four consecutive frames (N frames to N + 3 frames) and a right eye image of four consecutive frames (N + 4 frames to N + 7 frames) are displayed. If desired, it can be driven as follows.

When the frame count is N + 1 frame or N + 3 frame, that is, when the second frame image of the left eye or the fourth frame image of the left eye is supplied, the backlight control signal is determined based on the line count and the response speed of the liquid crystal. Create

Specifically, a backlight control signal is generated such that the backlight is turned on when the line count is greater than the time T1 at which the left eye image or the right eye image is stabilized.

Here, when the count of the frame is supplied with N + 1 frames, N + 3 frames, that is, the second frame image of the left eye and the fourth frame image of the left eye, the time for which the backlight is turned on is different from each other. The backlight may be turned on for N + 3 frames longer than for frames.

As another example, as shown in FIG. 6, the counter 240 includes a left eye image of three consecutive frames (N frames to N + 2 frames) and three consecutive frames (N + 3 frames to N + 5 frames). If you want to display the right eye image of) may be driven as follows.

 Frames of video data are counted in total of 6 frames of 3 frames each for left and right eyes (000-> 001-> 010-> 011-> 100-> 101-> 000, ...), and the count information is recorded. The selector 220 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 6, when a left eye image of three consecutive frames (N frames to N + 2 frames) and a right eye image of three consecutive frames (N + 3 frames to N + 5 frames) are to be displayed. When the frame count is N + 1 frame or N + 2 frame, that is, when the second frame image of the left eye or the third frame image of the left eye is supplied, the backlight control signal based on the line count and the response speed of the liquid crystal Create

Specifically, a backlight control signal is generated such that the backlight is turned on when the line count is larger than the time T2 when the black image of the left eye or the black image of the right eye is stabilized.

In this case, when the frame count is supplied to the N + 1 frame, the N + 2 frame, that is, the second frame image of the left eye and the third frame image of the left eye, the time for which the backlight is turned on is different from each other. The backlight may be turned on for N + 2 frames longer than for frames.

The shutter glass controller 230 controls the shutter glass to control the shutter glass so that the user can recognize the 3D image when the image to be displayed on the liquid crystal panel 110 is a 3D image based on the 2D mode / 3D mode input. A signal SSC is generated, and the generated shutter glass control signal SCS is provided to the shutter glass.

To this end, the shutter glass control unit 230 includes means (module) for generating and transmitting a shutter glass control signal (SCS), and the shutter glass control signal (SCS) is connected to the shutter glass through a wired or wireless medium. Can be provided. In this case, the shutter glass control signal SCS may be generated and transmitted using the vertical / horizontal synchronization signal Vsync / Hsync.

When the left eye image is displayed based on the selection of the left eye image and the right eye image by the image selection unit 220, the shutter glass controller 230 may open the left shutter and display the right eye image. The shutter glass control signal is generated so that a right shutter is opened. In this case, the shutter glass control signal may be generated such that the shutter glass is driven at 30 Hz, 60 Hz or 40 Hz, 80 Hz.

The shutter glass is driven according to the shutter glass control signal SCS (right and left eye glasses on-off) so that the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 110 is recognized as a 3D image by the user.

As an example, the shutter glass may be driven in synchronization with an implementation frequency of an image, and may be driven at 30 Hz or 60 Hz according to the shutter glass control signal. In this case, the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter are differently open or closed. That is, the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter are not opened or closed together.

As another example, the shutter glass may be driven at 40 Hz and 80 Hz according to the shutter glass control signal, in which the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter are not opened or closed together.

The 3D liquid crystal display and the driving method according to the embodiment of the present invention including the above-described configuration can improve the display quality of the 3D image by improving crosstalk and flicker.

In the above description, the image controller 200 is described as being implemented in the timing controller 160. However, the image controller 200 is illustrated as an example. In another embodiment of the present invention, the image controller 200 is separated from the liquid crystal display 100. FIG. It can be implemented in the configuration of.

In addition, in the above description of the driving method of the 3D liquid crystal display according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the left eye image and the right eye image are displayed through three consecutive frames or four consecutive frames. Some of the embodiments will be described. Therefore, the number of consecutive frames, the timing of the on-off of the backlight and the duty of the on-off, and the driving frequency of the shutter glass can be freely changed within the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

100: liquid crystal display 110: liquid crystal panel
120: gate driver 130: data driver
140: backlight unit 150: backlight driver
160: timing controller 200: image control unit
210: memory 220: video selection unit
230: shutter glass control unit 240: counter

Claims (10)

A liquid crystal display for implementing a 3D image using a shutter glass,
A memory for separating the input image data into left eye image data and right eye image data;
A counter for counting image data frames divided into a left eye image and a right eye image to generate frame count information of the image data, and counting frame lines of the displayed image to generate line count information;
An image selecting unit which selects left eye image data and right eye image data from the memory such that the left eye image and the right eye image are continuously displayed in a predetermined number of frame units based on the frame count information of the image data;
A shutter glass control unit controlling the operation of the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter based on the selection of the left eye image and the right eye image data in the image selection unit;
And a liquid crystal panel configured to display the left eye image and the right eye image in a predetermined number of frames according to the selection of the left eye image data and the right eye image data of the image selection unit. The method of claim 1, wherein the image selector
And selecting left eye image data and right eye image data from the memory such that a left eye image or a right eye image is continuously displayed for at least three frames. The method of claim 1, wherein the counter
3D liquid crystal display, characterized in that to control the backlight on-off based on the vertical synchronization (V-sync) and the response speed of the liquid crystal. The method of claim 3, wherein the counter
And controlling driving of the backlight such that the backlight is turned on when the line count is greater than a time at which the left eye image or the right eye image is stabilized. The method of claim 3, wherein the counter
And controlling the driving of the backlight so that the backlight is turned on when the line count is larger than a time when the left eye black image or the right eye black image is stabilized. The method according to claim 4 or 5,
3. The 3D liquid crystal display of claim 1, wherein the driving of the backlight is controlled so that a time point and a period when the backlight is on are different in a frame of a continuous left eye image or a right eye image. In the driving method of the 3D liquid crystal display device to implement a 3D image using a shutter glass,
Separating the input image data into left eye image data and right eye image data;
Counting frames and lines of image data separated into a left eye image and a right eye image;
Selecting and displaying a left eye image and a right eye image in units of a predetermined number of frames based on the frame and line count results of the image data;
And controlling the operations of the left eye shutter and the right eye shutter so as to correspond to the left eye image and the right eye image displayed in a predetermined number of frames. The method of claim 7, wherein
When displaying the left eye image or the right eye image for four consecutive frames,
And a backlight is turned on in the second frame image or the fourth frame when the line count is larger than the time when the left eye image or the right eye image is stabilized. The method of claim 7, wherein
When displaying left eye image or right eye image for three consecutive frames,
And a backlight is turned on in the second frame image or the third frame when the line count is larger than the time when the left eye black image or the right eye black image is stabilized. The method of claim 7, wherein
And driving the left and right shutters of the shutter glass at 30 Hz, 40 Hz, 60 Hz, and 80 Hz so as to correspond to the left eye image or the right eye image continuously displayed for at least three frames.

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