KR20120074946A - Timing controller and organic light emitting diode display using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A timing controller and organic light emitting diode display using the same is provided to uniformly form the screen brightness within a panel by imposing weighting to an image signal in a dark area in the whole are of panel. CONSTITUTION: A panel(102) comprises OLED. A data driver controls a data line formed on a panel according to a control of a timing controller(114). A gamma reference voltage generator(110) provides gamma reference voltage to the data driver. A gate driver(104) controls a gate line formed on a panel according to control of the timing controller. The timing controller provides a data control signal to a data driver IC(130) through a data circuit film(170).

Description

TIMING CONTROLLER AND ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DIODE DISPLAY USING THE SAME}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a timing controller capable of controlling the luminance of a panel, and more particularly, to a timing controller applied to an organic light emitting diode display.

Recently, various flat panel displays (FPDs) that can reduce weight and volume, which are disadvantages of cathode ray tubes, have been developed. Such flat panel displays include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an electroluminescence device.

Here, the electroluminescent device is classified into an inorganic light emitting diode display device and an organic light emitting diode display device according to the material of the light emitting layer. In particular, the organic light emitting diode display device uses a self-emitting light emitting device that emits light, resulting in fast light emission efficiency and luminance. And the viewing angle has a big advantage.

In such an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device, a current driving method of controlling the amount of current to control the brightness of the organic light emitting diode is generally used.

However, as the amount of current increases or the panel becomes larger, an IR drop is generated due to the resistance of the wiring formed in the panel, which causes a non-uniformity of brightness in the panel.

This phenomenon is called uniformity, and it is an undesired phenomenon that uniformity deteriorates and can be regarded as one item of image quality deterioration.

That is, in the conventional organic light emitting diode display device, even when data having the same luminance is output to all panels, the IR Drop is generated to compare the luminance at a position far from the data drive IC with the luminance at a portion close to the data drive IC. As a result, there is a problem that the luminance of the distant position is displayed relatively low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a timing controller and an organic light emitting diode display device using the same, which is configured to provide a luminance weight with respect to an image signal of a dark area of an entire area of a panel. Shall be.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a timing controller includes a receiver configured to receive a timing signal and an image signal from a system; A video signal alignment unit for outputting by giving a luminance weight to the video signal; And a control signal generator configured to generate a control signal to be transmitted to the data driver and the gate driver by using the timing signal.

An organic light emitting diode display using a timing controller according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the timing controller; A panel formed of an organic light emitting diode; A data driver for controlling a data line formed in the panel according to the control of the timing controller; A gamma reference voltage generator for supplying a gamma reference voltage to the data driver; And a gate driver for controlling the gate line formed in the panel according to the control of the timing controller.

According to the above solution, the present invention provides the following effects.

That is, the present invention provides an effect of uniformly securing the screen brightness in the panel in the trend of increasing the size of the organic light emitting diode display device by outputting by giving the luminance weight to the image signal of the dark area of the entire area of the panel. do.

1 is a configuration diagram of an organic light emitting diode display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a timing controller according to the present invention.
3 is an exemplary view showing an arrangement position of each component in a liquid crystal display using a timing controller according to the present invention.

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

1 is a configuration diagram of an organic light emitting diode display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the organic light emitting diode display according to the present invention outputs a gate control signal GCS and a data control signal DCS for controlling the driving of the gate driver 104 and the data driver 106. In addition, the timing controller 114 sampling and then rearranging the digital video data RGB (hereinafter, referred to as an image signal) and outputting each gate line of the panel 102 in response to the gate control signal The gate driver 104 for supplying scan pulses to the GL1? GLn, the data driver 106 for supplying pixel signals to the respective data lines DL1? DLm of the panel in response to the data control signal, and the scan pulse and the pixel signal. The pixels are driven in a matrix form and include a panel 102 for displaying an image and a gamma reference voltage generator 110 for supplying a gamma reference voltage to a data driver. In addition, the organic light emitting diode display includes a power supply unit (not shown) for supplying power to the components.

First, the timing controller 114 uses a gate control signal and a data driver for controlling the gate driver 104 using the vertical / horizontal synchronization signals Vsync and Hsync and the clock signal CLK supplied from the system 112. 106 outputs a data control signal for controlling. In addition, the timing controller rearranges the image signal RGB input from the system to match the resolution of the panel 102 and supplies it to the data driver 106.

On the other hand, the timing controller divides the video signal input from the system for each area of the panel, and assigns a luminance weight to the video signal of the area determined to be low in brightness, so that the luminance of the predetermined value is increased in the panel where the image is finally output. Perform a function that can be generated.

Next, the gate driver 104 sequentially supplies scan pulses (gate pulses or gate on signals) to the gate lines GL1 to GLn in response to the gate control signal input from the timing controller, whereby the panel 102 The thin film transistors (TFTs) of the corresponding horizontal line on the phase are turned on.

Next, the data driver 106 converts the image signal RGB into an analog pixel signal (data signal or data voltage) corresponding to the gray scale value in response to the data control signal input from the timing controller. The pixel signal is supplied to the data lines DL1 to DLm on the panel 102.

Next, in the panel 102, a plurality of pixels are formed at the intersection of the plurality of gate lines GL and the data lines DL. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each pixel includes a high potential line and a low potential supply voltage VSS for supplying one gate line GL, one data line DL, and a high potential supply voltage VDD. Low potential lines for feeding may be arranged. In addition, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) is connected to each pixel between the high potential line and the low potential line.

That is, each pixel of the panel may include a switching transistor T1 electrically connected between the gate line GL, the data line DL, and the first node. In addition, the pixel may include a driving transistor T2 electrically connected between the first node, the high potential supply voltage line, and the second node. A storage capacitor Cst may be formed between the first node and the high potential supply voltage line VDD.

Finally, the gamma reference voltage generator 110 includes a plurality of resistance strings connected between the high potential gamma power source (MVDD) and the base power source separately configured for each of R, G, and B, and between the high potential voltage and the base voltage. A plurality of gamma reference voltages GMA (R / G / B) are generated for each of R, G, and B divided. Here, the magnitudes of the gamma reference voltages GMA (R / G / B) for each of R, G, and B correspond to the output level of the high potential gamma power supply (MVDD (R / G / B)) for each of R, G, and B. Depends.

Here, the gamma reference voltage generator generates, for example, voltages corresponding to 0 to 1043 grayscale values for each of R, G, and B, assuming that the image signal is 10 bits. However, in the present invention, of the 10-bit video signal, 8 bits are used to generate a video signal in a normal state, and the remaining 2 bits are used to weight the video signal.

For example, the video signal received from the system is called a video signal in a normal state, and the video signal in a normal state may be configured with 8 bits. Therefore, the maximum luminance value of the video signal in the normal state will be 255.

However, the present invention is to artificially increase the luminance by assigning a weight to each area of the panel. When the luminance weight is to be assigned to a video signal in a normal state, the normal video signal is changed to 10 bits and the rest is changed. Two bits are used for the luminance weighting as described above.

That is, even when the video signal having the same gray level value of 200 is displayed darker than the case where it is displayed on the lower part of the panel than when it is displayed on the upper part of the panel, the timing controller is configured to respond to the video signal in the normal state. In addition, a total of 10 bits of video signals are generated by adding 2 bits, and at this time, a gray value of 260 can be generated by weighting the video signal using the added 2 bits, and for 200 or more gray values, too. The luminance may be increased by assigning a predetermined luminance weight.

Therefore, when the video signal having the same gray scale value of 200 is displayed at different luminance at the upper end and the lower end of the panel, according to the present invention, by giving a luminance weight to the video signal displayed at the lower end of the panel, In this case, the same luminance may be displayed on the top and bottom of the panel.

On the other hand, in the organic light emitting diode display having the above-described configuration, the timing controller 114 is connected to the synchronization signal (Vsync, Hsync) and the clock signal (CLK) from the external system 112 through an interface (not shown). ) And a data enable signal DE and a video signal Data.

Here, the video signal input from the system may be supplied to the timing controller using a Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) scheme.

Specific configurations and functions of the timing controller as described above and the details of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a timing controller according to the present invention. 3 is an exemplary view showing an arrangement position of each component in a liquid crystal display using a timing controller according to the present invention.

The timing controller 114 according to the present invention is a gate control signal and data for controlling the gate driver 104 using the vertical / horizontal synchronization signals (Vsync, Hsync) and the clock signal (CLK) supplied from the system 112 A data control signal for controlling the driver 106 is output. In addition, the timing controller rearranges the video signal RGB inputted from the system to the data driver 106 according to the resolution of the panel 102, and supplies the video signal of the normal state inputted from the system to each area of the panel. By classifying the image signal, the luminance weight is assigned to the image signal of the region determined to have low luminance, thereby finally generating a luminance higher than or equal to a predetermined value in the panel on which the image is output. To this end, as shown in FIG. 2, the timing controller includes a receiver 118, an image signal aligner 128, and a control signal generator 138.

The receiver 118 receives a vertical synchronization signal Vsync, a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync, a clock signal CLK, a data enable signal DE, and an image signal RGB from the system 112. .

The control signal generator 138 receives timing signals such as vertical / horizontal synchronization signals (Vsync, Hsync), data enable, clock signal (CLK), and the like, and the data driver 106 and the gate driver 104. The data control signal DCS and the gate control signals GCS are controlled to control the operation timing of the signal.

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

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

The video signal aligning unit 128 is to realign the video signal RGB in a normal state input from the system to the data driver 106 by realigning the image signal RGB in accordance with the resolution of the panel 102. A function of generating a video signal by giving a luminance weight.

To this end, the image signal alignment unit 128 may include a determination unit 128a, a weighting unit 128b, and an image signal generation unit 128c.

The determination unit 128 performs a function of determining whether to give a luminance weight to the image signal input through the reception unit. That is, the present invention may have two methods for assigning the luminance weight to the video signal.

First, if the test results of the panel in the panel manufacturing step is not judged to be poor, but if the luminance of each region of the panel is determined to be uneven, the determination unit directly assigns a constant luminance weight to each region of the panel. How to save. In this case, the producer may divide the panel into a plurality of areas, and set a weight for a specific area according to the state of the panel and store the weight in the determination unit 128a. Therefore, in this case, the determination unit may control the weighting unit to weight the image signals.

Second, when a control signal requesting to compensate for the luminance of each region is input from a user using the organic light emitting diode display according to the present invention, a luminance weight is assigned to the image signal of each region according to the control signal. It is a way. That is, the characteristics of the panel may be changed according to the use state of the organic light emitting diode display, and thus, luminance of each region may be uneven.

On the other hand, if such a luminance imbalance can be detected by the eye, the user may have difficulty in viewing the display device. In this case, the user may request to give a luminance weight to a specific area of the panel by a menu provided by the display device. have. Accordingly, the determination unit may determine whether there is a request for such a control signal, and, when there is such a request, may assign a luminance weight to the corresponding area.

The weight assigning unit 128b performs a function of assigning a luminance weight to an image signal in a normal state of the requested area when a signal requesting to assign the luminance weight is input from the determination unit. Here, the weighting unit and the determination unit may be implemented in one configuration.

The image signal generator 128c performs a function of aligning the image signals generated in a weighted state by the weighting unit and transmitting them to the data driver.

As described above, the present invention introduces a software compensation method to improve uniformity of luminance, and proposes a method of compensating image quality. In this case, the present invention basically divides the entire area of the panel into a plurality of areas, and may assign different luminance weights to the image signal for each area.

That is, the present invention can divide the screen to an appropriate level in order to compensate for the inhomogeneity in the screen that can be seen in the normal driving in a simple manner. In this case, the screen division is for determining whether or not to put the specific gravity of the luminance weight by dividing the uniformity for each region. In addition, the degree of division of the panel region may be further subdivided in the development stage according to the condition of the panel.

For example, assuming that a panel having a resolution of 1366 x 768 is divided into nine to improve the vertical luminance deviation, in FIG. 3, the upper parts 7, 8 and 9 close to the data driver IC 130 constituting the data driver are shown. The higher the luminance is displayed, the lower (1, 2, 3 areas) may appear dark phenomenon, as shown in FIG. 3, the panel is divided into a plurality of areas, different for each area The luminance weight can be given. That is, in this case, the present invention assigns the luminance weight to the lower (1, 2, 3) regions so that the display is brighter than the original luminance, so that the same luminance is displayed for the video signal of the same normal state as a whole. can do.

As described above, the present invention has only a data value between 0 and 255 when using Gamma Data as normal 8 bits. However, the present invention has the feature that by adding the number of bits, the added bits can be used for the purpose of improving luminance uniformity.

That is, according to the present invention, when a separate luminance weighting is not required for the video signal in the normal state composed of 8 bits, the video signal is displayed by 8 bits to display 0 to 255 luminance, and the luminance is displayed. When weights are assigned, 0 to 1043 luminance can be displayed by converting an 8-bit normal video signal into a 10-bit video signal and giving a luminance weight.

In detail, in the case where it is determined in FIG. 3 that the areas 1 to 3 are dark, when the determination unit determines that the luminance weight is to be assigned, the weighting unit of the 8-bit normal state video signal input through the receiver, The video signal corresponding to the areas 1 to 3 can be converted into 10 bits and given with a predetermined brightness weight. The data driver receiving the video signal to which the brightness weight is applied has a brightness weight value from the gamma reference voltage generator. The gamma voltage corresponding to the gray level of the given image signal may be supplied and output to the corresponding region through the corresponding data line.

On the other hand, the timing controller is based on the central pixel value of each region so that no distinction occurs at the boundary of each region, and performs interpolation on the pixels therebetween, so that the entire panel is linear. Luminance value can be expressed.

That is, the present invention as described above has a feature that the luminance is uniformly expressed in the entire panel by assigning the luminance weight to each region of the image signals to be output to the panel.

3 is an exemplary view illustrating an arrangement position of each component in an organic light emitting diode display using a timing controller according to the present invention. The organic light emitting diode display using the timing controller according to the present invention includes a timing controller 114. ), A control board 200 on which a shifter (not shown) and a gamma reference voltage generator 110 are mounted, and data constituting the data driver 106 for driving the data lines DL1 to DLm of the panel 102. The driver IC 130 includes a data circuit film 170 on which the drive IC 130 is mounted and a panel 102 in which the gate driver 104 is incorporated.

In the above configuration, the timing controller 114 supplies the data control signal DCS for controlling the data driver 106 to the data driver IC 130 via the data circuit film 170. In addition, the timing controller 114 supplies a gate control signal GCS for controlling the gate driver 104 to the gate driver 104 via the data circuit film 170.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, the panel may be divided into nine regions, and the luminance may be compensated by assigning different luminance weights to each region. In this case, the area of the panel may be divided into more subdivided or larger areas according to the characteristics of the panel as described above.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

114: timing controller 110: gamma reference voltage generator
104: gate driver 106: data driver
102: panel

Claims (9)

A receiver which receives a timing signal and an image signal from a system;
A video signal alignment unit for outputting by giving a luminance weight to the video signal; And
And a control signal generator configured to generate a control signal to be transmitted to a data driver and a gate driver by using the timing signal. The method of claim 1,
The video signal alignment unit,
A weighting unit for assigning a luminance weight to the video signal; And
And a video signal generator for sorting the weighted video signals by the weighting unit and outputting the video signals to the data driver. The method of claim 1,
The luminance weight is,
And a different setting for each of the regions of the panel with respect to the image signal. The method of claim 3, wherein
The luminance weight is,
And a greater weight is given to an image signal displayed in an area formed far from said data driver of said panel. The method of claim 2,
The weighting unit,
And generating the weighted video signal by using more bits than the number of bits used by the video signal in a normal state. The method of claim 1,
The weight controller is set and stored in the manufacturing step of the panel. The method of claim 1,
The weighting unit,
And a weight set for each region to all image signals input through the receiving unit. The method of claim 1,
The weighting unit,
And a weighted value of the video signal of the corresponding area with respect to the video signal when a control signal for requesting a weighting for each area of the panel is input. The timing controller according to any one of claims 1 to 8;
A panel formed of an organic light emitting diode;
A data driver for controlling a data line formed in the panel according to the control of the timing controller;
A gamma reference voltage generator for supplying a gamma reference voltage to the data driver; And
And a gate driver for controlling a gate line formed in the panel according to the control of the timing controller.

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