KR20160003993A - Display Device With Narrow Bezel - Google Patents

Abstract

A display device with a narrow bezel comprises: a function element for non-displaying; and a display panel providing a scan area where the function element for non-displaying is scanned inside an effective display area for displaying an image.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device having a narrow bezel,

The present invention relates to a display device having a narrow bezel.

Flat panel displays (FPDs) are used in various types of electronic products including mobile phones, tablet PCs, and notebook computers.

Research on display devices can be divided into technical aspects and design aspects. Particularly, in recent years, the need for research and development in a design aspect that can appeal to consumers has been particularly emphasized. Accordingly, efforts to minimize (thin) the thickness of the display device have been steadily progressing. Further, researches on techniques for narrowly forming the edge portion of the display device have been actively conducted. That is, research on narrow bezel technology that provides a wider and larger image to the user by increasing the output portion of the image instead of minimizing the left and right edge portions of the display surface of the display device where no image is output Is actively proceeding.

On the other hand, an effective display area AA in which an image is displayed as shown in Fig. 1 and non-display areas BZ1 and BZ2 surrounding the effective display area AA exist on the display surface of the display device. When a display device is used in a cellular phone, a data driver for driving the data lines is usually mounted on the lower non-display area of the display surface, and various functional elements such as a receiver 1, various sensors 2, a front camera 3, and the like.

Since the specification and size of the data driver are determined according to the panel model, it is not easy to reduce the area where the data driver is mounted. However, the narrow bezel technique can be considered for the upper non-display area BZ2 in which the functional elements are arranged. However, in order to reduce the upper non-display area BZ2 of the display surface, the functional devices must be removed or the position of the functional devices must be changed to the side or back surface of the display device. For this reason, the conventional narrow bezel technique is difficult to apply directly to the upper non-display area BZ2 of the display device, which has a limitation in widening the effective display area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a non-display functional device which is capable of widening the area occupied by the effective display area in the display panel, And to provide a display device having a narrow bezel in which a normal image can be realized.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a non-display functional element; And a display panel provided with a viewing region in which the non-display functional element is viewed in an effective display region in which an image is displayed.

The non-display functional device includes a front camera and a proximity sensor.

The non-display functional element is disposed on the back surface of the display panel, and the polarizer attached to the front surface of the display panel is removed from the viewing area.

In the display panel, color filters, TFT patterns, and opaque signal wirings are formed in the remaining effective display areas except for the viewing area.

The opaque signal lines include gate lines; A plurality of odd GIP elements for driving the odd gate lines of the gate lines are formed in a first non-display area located at one side of the display panel, and a plurality of odd GIP elements A plurality of even GIP elements are formed in the second non-display area to drive the odd gate lines among the gate lines; The odd GIP elements and even GIP elements horizontally corresponding to the perspective region simultaneously drive two odd gate lines and an even gate line adjacent to each other.

The present invention provides a viewing area in which a non-display functional element is viewed in an effective display area in which an image is displayed to reduce the upper bezel, thereby widening the area occupied by the effective display area, Thereby minimizing the performance degradation of the non-display functional device. In the present invention, a normal image can be realized by simultaneously driving two gate lines in the left and right effective display regions adjacent to the non-display functional elements.

1 is a view showing a display screen of a conventional display device.
2 and 3 are views showing a display device capable of widening an effective display area according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 2 taken along line I-I '; Fig.
FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing driving strategies of a gate driver for normal image realization in left and right effective display areas neighboring the perspective area. FIG.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. FIG.

2 and 3 show a display device capable of widening an effective display area according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 shows a cut-away section taken along line I-I 'of Fig.

2 and 3, the display device of the present invention includes an effective display area AA in which an image is displayed and non-display areas BZ1 and BZ2 outside the effective display area AA.

The display device to which the present invention is applied includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic electroluminescence display (OLED), an electrophoretic display (EPD) Or an electrophoretic display).

In the embodiment of the present invention, the display device is implemented as a liquid crystal display device. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the liquid crystal display device, but can be applied to various flat panel display devices.

The display device of the present invention may include a display panel (PNL), a backlight unit (BLU), and a cover window (CW).

The display panel PNL includes two glass substrates and a liquid crystal layer LC formed therebetween. A plurality of data lines, a plurality of gate lines crossing the data lines, and a common voltage supply line to which a common voltage is applied are formed on the lower glass substrate of the display panel PNL. In the lower glass substrate of the display panel (PNL), thin film transistors (TFTs) are formed at intersections of the data lines and the gate lines, pixel electrodes for charging data voltages to the liquid crystal cells, and pixel electrodes A storage capacitor for maintaining a voltage, and the like are formed.

A color filter array is formed on the upper glass substrate of the display panel PNL. The color filter array includes a black matrix, a color filter, and the like. An upper polarizing film is attached to the upper glass substrate, a lower polarizing film is attached to the lower glass substrate, and an alignment film for forming a pretilt angle of the liquid crystal is formed on the inner surface in contact with the liquid crystal layer. A column spacer for maintaining a cell gap of the liquid crystal cell may be formed between the upper and lower glass substrates.

The common electrode is formed on the upper glass substrate in a vertical electric field driving method such as a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode and a VA (Vertical Alignment) mode, and a horizontal electric field such as IPS (In Plane Switching) mode and FFS (Fringe Field Switching) Can be formed on the lower glass substrate together with the pixel electrode 1 in the driving method.

Such a display panel PNL may be implemented in any liquid crystal mode as well as a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, VA (Vertical Alignment) mode, IPS (In Plane Switching) mode and FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode. The display device of the present invention can be implemented in any form such as a transmissive liquid crystal display device, a transflective liquid crystal display device, and a reflective liquid crystal display device. In a transmissive liquid crystal display device and a transflective liquid crystal display device, a backlight unit (BLU) is required. The backlight unit (BLU) may be implemented as a direct type or an edge type. The direct-type type has a structure in which a plurality of optical sheets and a diffusion plate are stacked under the display panel and a plurality of light sources are disposed under the diffusion plate. The edge type has a structure in which a light source is disposed so as to face the side face of the light guide plate and a plurality of optical sheets are disposed between the display panel and the light guide plate.

The cover window (CW) is attached to the display panel (PNL) to protect the display panel (PNL) from external environmental conditions. The cover window CW is made of a transparent material and transmits display light incident from the display panel PNL.

The display device of the present invention can arrange gate drivers on both the left and right sides of the display panel PNL in order to reduce the delay deviation of the gate signal for each position of the display panel PNL. The gate driver of the present invention is formed directly on the lower glass substrate of the display panel PNL through a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) process in a gate driver in panel (GIP) This contributes to reducing the right and left bezel. The gate driver may generate gate signals and supply them to the gate lines of the display panel PNL in a row-sequential manner to drive the gate lines. The data lines of the display panel PNL are driven by the data driver IC (DIC), and the data driver IC (DIC) can be mounted in a part of the lower display area of the display panel (PNL).

The display device of the present invention includes a plurality of functional elements that are not related to image display, namely, a non-display functional element 50. The non-display functional element 50 may include a front camera or a proximity sensor (light sensor) which must be exposed or viewed on the front surface of the display panel PNL but perform its function. The display device of the present invention is provided with the viewing area 70 in which the non-display functional element 50 of the display panel PNL is viewed in the effective display area AA, (I.e., the upper bezel) BZ2 can be easily reduced.

In the conventional display device, since the non-display functional elements are arranged in the upper non-display area BZ2, the width of the upper bezel has to be widened, and as a result, the effective display area AA has been limited to the upper side. In contrast, in the present invention, since the viewing area 70 is disposed in the effective display area AA, the width of the upper bezel is reduced, and the effective display area AA is increased by the decreasing width of the upper bezel. Of course, since the non-display functional element 50 is viewed through the perspective region 70, no image is displayed. However, since the amount of reduction of the effective display area AA due to the perspective area 70 is very small compared with the amount of the effective display area AA that is increased through the reduction of the upper bezel, the effective display area AA according to the present invention, The area of the surface of the substrate is significantly increased.

The display device of the present invention displays an image on a relatively wide effective display area AA excluding the right and left narrow bezels BZ1 and BZ2 and the perspective area 70. [ According to the present invention, it is easy to realize a full screen of a display device, so that it can appeal to consumers in terms of design.

The non-display functional element 50 is located on the rear surface of the display panel PNL as shown in Fig. 3 and is viewed through the viewing area 70 provided in the effective display area AA. The non-display functional element 50 is driven by the drive module 60 to perform a unique function irrespective of image display, such as an image pickup function, a sensing function, and the like.

The performance of the non-display functional element 50 is determined according to the viewing ratio of the viewing area 70, and the performance of the non-display functional element 50 is greatly degraded unless a constant over-viewing ratio is ensured. In the present invention, since the perspective area 70 is provided in the effective display area AA, additional measures for securing the perspective ratio must be considered. There has been no such a problem in the case where the non-display functional device is placed in the bezel area as in the prior art, and therefore, the method of securing the throughput rate of the present invention described below is not considered in the prior art at all.

As an example of securing the viewing ratio of the viewing area 70, the present invention can remove the polarizing plate POL attached to the front surface of the display panel PNL from the viewing area 70 as shown in FIG. That is, the polarizing plate POL of the present invention may have a hole corresponding to the viewing area 70.

As an example for securing the viewing ratio of the viewing region 70, the present invention is characterized in that in the display panel PNL, a color filter CF, TFT pattern, opaque signal lines (gate lines, data lines) It is not formed in the region 70 but can be formed only in the effective display region AA excluding the viewing region 70. [ The present invention minimizes the light transmission inhibiting structures included in the perspective region 70 to thereby secure the perspective ratio of the perspective region 70. A plurality of insulating films such as a buffer layer BUF, a gate insulating film GI, an interlayer insulating film INT, inorganic insulating films PAS1 and PAS2, an organic insulating film PAC ), A liquid crystal layer LC, and a planarizing film OC may be formed. A white resin may be formed instead of the color filter CF in the perspective region 70 of the present invention. In FIG. 4, 'GLS1' denotes a lower glass substrate, 'GLS2' denotes an upper glass substrate, 'LS' denotes a light blocking pattern, 'GATE' denotes a gate electrode of a TFT, 'S / / Drain electrode, 'ACT' denotes a TFT semiconductor layer, 'PXL' denotes a pixel electrode, and 'Vcom' denotes a common electrode.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the driving method of the gate driver for normal image realization in the left and right effective display areas adjacent to the perspective area 70. FIG.

5 and 6, the gate driver of the present invention includes an odd GIP circuit formed in one non-display region of the display panel PNL, a non-display region (opposite to the one side) of the display panel PNL Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > GIP < / RTI >

The odd GIP circuit includes odd GIP devices GIP # 1, # 3, # 5, and # 5 that drive odd gate lines G1, G3, G5, ..., # n- ..., # n-3, # n-1). The even GIP circuit includes even GIP devices GIP # 2, # 4, # 6, and # 7 for driving the even gate lines G2, G4, G6, ..., # n- ..., # n-2, # n).

The odd GIP elements GIP # 1, # 3, # 5, ..., # n-3, and # n-1. The even gate lines G2, G4, G6, ..., # n-2 and Gn are connected to the even GIP devices GIP # 2, # 4, # 6, n. However, as mentioned above, the opaque signal lines, that is, the data lines D and the gate lines G are not formed in the viewing region 70. Thus, some of the gate lines G1, G2, G3, and G4 near the viewing region 70 are disconnected from the GIP device due to the viewing region 70. [ In this case, some of the odd gate lines G1 and G3 on the right side of the perspective region 70 are not driven because they are disconnected from the odd GIP elements GIP # 1 and GIP # 3, Some of the even gate lines G2 and G4 on the left side can be inactivated because they are disconnected from the even GIP elements GIP # 2 and GIP # 4, respectively. When the gate line is not driven, image display is disabled, so that the non-driving display line can be viewed as a line dim.

Therefore, the present invention drives the GIP devices differently in the left and right effective display areas (AR1 in Figs. 5 and 6) adjacent to the perspective area 70 and the remaining effective display areas (AR2 in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6) Thereby overcoming the Rhin Dim problem.

5 and 6), the odd GIP elements (GIP # 5 to GIP # n-1) sequentially shift the odd gate lines (G5 to Gn-1) one by one And the even GIP elements GIP # 6 to GIP # n sequentially drive the even gate lines G6 to Gn one by one.

On the other hand, the odd GIP elements GIP # 1 and GIP # 3 and the even GIP elements GIP # 2 and GIP # 4 in the left and right effective display areas (AR1 in FIGS. 5 and 6) It is possible to eliminate the non-driven gate lines by simultaneously driving the odd gate lines and the even gate lines. By this driving, the same data voltage is applied to two vertically adjacent pixels in the right and left effective display areas (AR1 in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6), so that the vertical resolution in the corresponding area can be reduced to half. 5 and Fig. 6) is located on the upper side of the display panel PNL (normally, important information is not displayed on the upper side of the display screen but the user's perceived focusing is also displayed (Not aligned on the upper side of the screen), the resolution degradation in the left and right effective display areas (AR1 in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6) is not a big problem.

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a perspective region in which a non-display functional element is viewed through an effective display region in which an image is displayed to reduce an upper bezel, an area occupied by the effective display region is widened, The degradation factors are all deleted to minimize the performance degradation of the non-display functional device. In the present invention, a normal image can be realized by simultaneously driving two gate lines in the left and right effective display regions adjacent to the non-display functional elements.

 It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to the details described in the detailed description, but should be defined by the claims.

50: Non-display functional element 70:
AA: effective display area BZ1, BZ2: non-display area (bezel free area)
DIC: Data Driver IC PNL: Display Panel
Odd GIP, Even GIP: Gate driver

Claims (5)

Non-display functional elements; And
And a display panel provided with a viewing region in which the non-display functional elements are viewed in an effective display region in which an image is displayed. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the non-display functional device comprises a front camera and a proximity sensor. The method according to claim 1,
The non-display functional element is located on the rear surface of the display panel,
Wherein the polarizer attached to the front surface of the display panel is removed from the viewing area. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the color filter, the TFT pattern, and the opaque signal wirings are formed in the effective display area except for the viewing area in the display panel. The method according to claim 1,
The opaque signal lines include gate lines;
A plurality of odd GIP elements for driving the odd gate lines of the gate lines are formed in a first non-display area located at one side of the display panel, and a plurality of odd GIP elements A plurality of even GIP elements are formed in the second non-display area to drive the odd gate lines among the gate lines;
Wherein the odd GIP elements and even even GIP elements horizontally corresponding to the viewing region simultaneously drive two odd gate lines and two even gate lines adjacent to each other.

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