TWI591610B - Driving device for electrophoretic display and driving method - Google Patents

Description

Driving device for electrophoretic display and driving method thereof

The present invention relates to a driving device for a display and a driving method thereof, and more particularly to a driving device for an electrophoretic display and a driving method thereof.

The general electro-optical display (EPD) technology is controlled by charged pigments to achieve a paper-like reading experience, and has a bistable characteristic, only when updating the screen. Only need to consume power, the screen can be maintained in the original state without updating, and it is a reflective display, which is not easy to make eyes tired and easy to read under strong light, and is suitable for use in book reading, product labeling and the like. That is to say, the driving principle of the electrophoretic display technology is to give different driving voltage waveforms for different screen colors (gray scale/black/white/color) to be displayed, for example, including black (Black), white (White). , Red (Red) and Common Drive Electrode (VCOM), all need to give different drive waveforms.

In general, the driving mode of the electrophoretic display technology is to store the displayed image in a memory (RAM) or a register (Register), and use the multiplexer to calculate the phase corresponding to the three color data waveforms. The Source Driver/Segment Driver should output a voltage to charge the pixel capacitor/electrode. When the voltage change of the entire picture is output and wait for the required time interval, a frame is completed. (Frame), then continue to re-complete the next frame until the entire screen display update is completed. However, electrophoresis The display technology picture update power consumption accounts for the largest proportion of the overall power consumption. In each update picture, the voltage is supplied through the linear regulator for a specific period of time according to different driving requirements, but the linear regulator is always turned on. State, continuous supply of voltage but excess power consumption.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide an improved driving device for an electrophoretic display and a driving method thereof to solve the problems of the conventional technology.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a driving device for an electrophoretic display, which analyzes a driving voltage signal, thereby determining whether to turn on or off a corresponding linear regulator, and minimizing the opening time, thereby reducing the display screen. Energy consumption.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a driving device for an electrophoretic display, comprising a data storage unit, a timing controller, a phase generator, a driving voltage signal storage device, a controller, and at least one linear voltage regulator. And a data storage unit for storing a picture data; the timing controller is electrically connected to the data storage unit; the phase generator is electrically connected to the timing controller, and is configured to output a plurality of phase signals; The driving voltage signal storage device is electrically connected to the phase generator for storing at least one driving voltage signal and transmitting the signal to the phase generator, so that the phase generator analyzes the plurality of signal segments of the driving voltage signal; the controller is electrically Connecting the phase generator to sequentially receive the plurality of signal segments of the driving voltage signal; the linear regulator is electrically connected to the controller and configured to generate a driving voltage; the driver is electrically connected to the linear stability And the timing controller; wherein the timing controller reads the image data stored by the data storage unit and the phase generator After the calculation of these phase signals, to obtain a voltage selection signal transmitted to the drive, coupled with the controller analyzes the output of the phase generator The phase signals are derived, and thus it is determined that the linear regulator is turned on or off to output the driving voltage to the driver, so that the driver charges a pixel capacitor.

In an embodiment of the invention, the at least one linear regulator comprises a first linear regulator, a second linear regulator and a third linear regulator, wherein the first linear regulator The second linear regulator is configured to output a second driving voltage, and the third linear regulator is configured to output a third driving voltage.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first, second, and third drive voltages are between +20 volts and -20 volts.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first drive voltage is +15 volts, the second drive voltage is -15 volts, and the third drive voltage is +8 volts.

In an embodiment of the invention, the driver is a source driver.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a driving method for an electrophoretic display, comprising an analyzing step and a first determining step; the analyzing step is to analyze at least one driving voltage signal into a plurality of signal segments, and sequentially transmit To a controller; the first determining step is when the linear regulator is in a closed state, the controller receives the next signal segment and determines whether it is a linear voltage of a linear regulator, if The linear regulator is turned on, if otherwise the linear regulator is turned off.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the driving method for the electrophoretic display further includes a second determining step after the first determining step, when the linear regulator is in an on state, the controller determines the remaining Whether the driving voltage signal that has not been output contains the driving voltage of the linear regulator, and if so, maintains the linear regulator, if otherwise, turns off the linear regulator.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the driving method for the electrophoretic display further includes a coupling step after the second determining step, and each driving voltage signal passes the analyzing step, the first determining step, and the second determining After the step, multiple control signals are obtained, such as an on/off signal of a first linear regulator, an on/off signal of a second linear regulator, and an on/off signal of a third linear regulator. And combining the on/off signals of the first linear regulator obtained by the three sets of driving voltage signals to obtain a first final control signal of the first linear regulator, and the second The control signal of the third linear regulator is combined as described above to obtain a second final control signal of the second linear regulator and a third final control signal of the third linear regulator.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in the analyzing step, a first driving voltage signal, a second driving voltage signal, and a third driving voltage signal are simultaneously analyzed into a plurality of first signal segments and a plurality of The second signal segment and the plurality of third signal segments are sequentially transmitted to the controller.

As described above, the drive voltage signal is analyzed by the controller, and thus the linear regulator is turned on or off. Since the linear regulator that does not need to supply a voltage can be turned off, the turn-on time of the linear regulator can be reduced, thereby reducing the power consumption of the display screen.

100‧‧‧Driver for electrophoretic display

2‧‧‧Data storage unit

3‧‧‧Sequence controller

4‧‧‧Phase generator

5‧‧‧Drive voltage signal storage

6‧‧‧ Controller

71‧‧‧First linear regulator

72‧‧‧Second linear regulator

73‧‧‧ Third Linear Regulator

8‧‧‧ drive

D ₁ ‧‧‧First drive voltage signal

D ₂ ‧‧‧Second drive voltage signal

D ₃ ‧‧‧third drive voltage signal

D ₁ -C ₁ ‧‧‧First linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by first driving voltage signal analysis

D ₁ -C ₂ ‧‧‧Second linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by first driving voltage signal analysis

D ₁ -C ₃ ‧‧‧The third linear regulator control signal obtained by the first driving voltage signal analysis

D ₂ -C ₁ ‧‧‧First linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by second drive voltage signal analysis

D ₂ -C ₂ ‧‧‧Second linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by second drive voltage signal analysis

D ₂ -C ₃ ‧‧‧ Third linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by second drive voltage signal analysis

D ₃ -C ₁ ‧‧‧First linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by third drive voltage signal analysis

D ₃ -C ₂ ‧‧‧Second linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by third drive voltage signal analysis

D ₃ -C ₃ ‧‧‧ Third linear voltage regulator control signal obtained by third drive voltage signal analysis

S201‧‧‧ Analysis steps

S202‧‧‧First judgment step

S203‧‧‧Second judgment step

S204‧‧‧ joint steps

1 is a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of a driving device for an electrophoretic display of the present invention; 2 to 4 are schematic diagrams showing control signals obtained by the first, second and third linear regulators of the driving device for an electrophoretic display according to a preferred embodiment of the driving device after the three sets of driving voltage signals are analyzed; 5 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a driving method for an electrophoretic display of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of the driving method for an electrophoretic display of the present invention in a joining step A schematic diagram of a first final control signal is obtained after the union operation.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more <RTIgt; Furthermore, the directional terms mentioned in the present invention, such as upper, lower, top, bottom, front, rear, left, right, inner, outer, side, surrounding, central, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, longitudinal, axial, Radial, uppermost or lowermost, etc., only refer to the direction of the additional schema. Therefore, the directional terminology used is for the purpose of illustration and understanding of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a preferred embodiment of the present invention is mainly applied to an electronic paper to drive an electrophoretic display (not shown). The driving device 100 for an electrophoretic display includes a data storage unit 2 . a timing controller 3, a phase generator 4, a driving voltage signal storage device 5, a controller 6, a first linear regulator 71, a second linear regulator 72, and a third linear stability The pressure device 73 and a driver 8. The detailed construction, assembly relationship, and operation principle of each element will be described in detail below.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the data storage unit 2 is configured to store a picture data. In the embodiment, the data storage unit 2 is a display RAM for storing the display to be displayed on the electrophoretic display. Picture material.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the timing controller 3 is electrically connected to the data storage unit 2 , the phase generator 4 , and the driver 8 , and performs operations on the screen data of the data storage unit 2 by receiving a plurality of phase signals. A voltage selection signal is generated and transmitted to the driver 8.

The phase generator 4 is electrically connected to the timing controller 3 and the controller 6, and the phase generator 4 is configured to output the phase signals (not shown). In this embodiment, the phase generator 4 can output four kinds of phase signals corresponding to four voltages, for example, +15 volts, -15 volts, +8 volts, and 0 volts.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the driving voltage signal storage device 5 is electrically connected to the phase generator 4 for storing at least three driving voltage signals and a driving voltage signal (not shown) for driving the common driving electrodes. a first driving voltage signal D ₁ as shown in FIG. 2, a second driving voltage signal D ₂ as shown in FIG. 3, and a third driving voltage signal D ₃ as shown in FIG. 4; The first, second, and third driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ are used to drive display of different colors (for example, Black/White/Red) of the electrophoretic display to be displayed, and the driving voltage is The signal storage device 5 transmits the first, second and third driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ to the phase generator 4, so that the phase generator 4 analyzes the first, second and third Driving a plurality of first signal segments of the voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ (such as the dotted line difference signal segments shown in FIG. 2 ) and a plurality of second signal segments (such as the dotted line difference signal segments shown in FIG. 3 ) ), and a plurality of third signal segments (such as the dotted line difference signal segment shown in Figure 4).

Referring to FIG. 1 , the controller 6 is electrically connected to the phase generator 4 for sequentially receiving a plurality of signal segments of the driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ , for example, the controller. after 6 to receive such a drive voltage signal D _1, D _2, D ₃ of the first signal section, and then receiving the same driving voltage signals D _1, D _2, D ₃ of the second signal segment.

The first linear regulator 71, the second linear regulator 72, and the third linear regulator 73 are electrically connected to the controller 6, respectively, and the first linear regulator is shown in FIG. The controller 71 is configured to output a first driving voltage, the second linear regulator 72 is configured to output a second driving voltage, and the third linear regulator 73 is configured to output a third driving voltage, where the The first, second and third drive voltages are between +20 volts and -20 volts. In this embodiment, the first driving voltage is +15 volts, the second driving voltage is -15 volts, and the third driving voltage is +8 volts.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the driver 8 is electrically connected to the first linear regulator 71, the second linear regulator 72 and the third linear regulator 73, and the timing controller 3; In the example, the driver 8 is a source driver, and charges a pixel capacitor by receiving the first driving voltage, the second driving voltage, the third driving voltage, and the voltage selection signal of the timing controller 3. .

According to the above structure, the phase generator 4 analyzes the first, second, and third driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ into a plurality of first signal segments, a plurality of second signal segments, and a plurality of The third signal segment is sequentially transmitted to the controller 6; then, if the first linear regulator 71 is in a closed state, the next plurality of signal segments received by the controller 6 determine whether there is Using the driving voltage of the first linear regulator 71 (for example: +15 volts), if so, turning on the first linear regulator 71, if otherwise maintaining the first linear regulator 71; If the first linear regulator 71 is in an on state, the controller 6 determines whether the remaining driving voltage signal has a driving voltage applied to the first linear regulator 71 (for example, +15 volts). And if so, the first linear regulator 71 is turned on, if otherwise the first linear regulator 71 is turned off. The operations of the second and third linear regulators 72 and 73 are determined in the same manner as the first linear regulator 71, and are not described herein again. Therefore, as shown in the second, third, and fourth figures, the first, second, and third driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ are respectively obtained by the above-mentioned judging methods to obtain three sets of first linear regulators. The on/off signal, the on/off signal of the second linear regulator, and the on/off signal of the third linear regulator, such as the first driving voltage signal D _{1 ,} can obtain D ₁ -C ₁ , D ₁ -C ₂ D ₁ - C ₃ , the second driving voltage signal D ₂ can obtain D ₂ - C ₁ , D ₂ - C ₂ , D ₂ - C ₃ , and the third driving voltage signal D ₃ can obtain D ₃ - C ₁ , D ₃ - C ₂ , D ₃ - C ₃ .

The action of combining D ₁ -C ₁ , D ₂ -C ₁ , and D ₃ -C ₁ determines the first final control signal, and the second and third final control signals are combined as described above.

As described above, the driving device 100 of the present invention analyzes the driving voltage signals through the controller 6, whether the first, second, or third linear regulators 71, 72, 73 are respectively output first and second. And the third driving voltage, thus determining to turn the first, second or third linear regulators 71, 72, 73 on or off. Since the first, second or third linear regulators 71, 72, 73 that do not need to supply a voltage can be turned off, the turn-on time of the first, second or third linear regulators 71, 72, 73 can be reduced, In turn, the energy consumption of the display screen is reduced.

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 1 , a preferred embodiment of the driving method for an electrophoretic display of the present invention is to display and drive an electrophoretic display by using the driving device 100 for an electrophoretic display. The driving method for the electrophoretic display includes an analyzing step S201, a first determining step S202, a second determining step S203, and a joining step S204. The operation of each step will be described in detail below.

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 1 together, in the analyzing step S201, a first driving voltage signal D ₁ (as shown in FIG. 2 ) and a second driving voltage signal D ₂ (such as as shown in FIG. 3), and a third driving voltage signal D ₃ (as shown in FIG. 4), respectively, a first plurality of signal analysis section, a second plurality of signals a third signal section and a plurality of sections, and sequentially transmitted To the controller 6.

With reference to FIG. 5 and in conjunction with FIG. 1, in the first determining step S202, the first linear regulator 71 is taken as an example when the first linear regulator 71 is in a closed state. The controller 6 receives the next signal segment and determines whether it is a driving voltage of the first linear regulator 71 (for example, +15 volts), and if so, turns on the first linear regulator 71. If the first linear regulator 71 is otherwise turned off, the second and third linear regulators 72, 73 are judged as described above.

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 1 together, in the second determining step S203, the first linear regulator 71 is taken as an example, when the first linear regulator 71 is in an on state. The controller 6 determines whether the remaining un-outputted driving voltage signal further has a driving voltage of the first linear regulator 71 (for example, +15 volts), and if so, maintains the first linear regulator 71. If the first linear regulator 71 is otherwise turned off, the second and third linear regulators 72, 73 are judged as described above.

With reference to FIG. 5 and in conjunction with FIGS. 1 to 4, in the association step S204, the first, second, and third driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , and D _{3 are} passed through the analyzing step S201. After the first determining step S202 and the second determining step S203, the obtained plurality of control signals, such as an on/off signal of a first linear regulator, and an on/off signal of a second linear regulator And a third linear regulator open/close signal.

Further, the first driving voltage signal D ₁ is analyzed to obtain a first linear regulator control signal D ₁ -C ₁ , a second linear regulator control signal D ₁ -C ₂ and a third line. The voltage regulator control signal D ₁ -C ₃ ; the second driving voltage signal D ₂ is analyzed to obtain a first linear regulator control signal D ₂ -C ₁ and a second linear regulator control signal D ₂ - C ₂ and a third linear regulator control signal D ₂ - C ₃ ; analyzing the third driving voltage signal D ₃ to obtain a first linear regulator control signal D ₃ - C ₁ , a first The two linear regulator controls the signal D ₃ -C ₂ and a third linear regulator control signal D ₃ -C ₃ . The first operation of the first linear regulator 71 can be obtained by performing a union operation on the D ₁ -C ₁ , D ₂ -C ₁ , and D ₃ -C ₁ of the first linear regulator 72. a control signal (as shown in FIG. 6), and the control signals of the second and third linear regulators 72 and 73 can also be combined and operated as described above, thereby obtaining the second linear regulator 72. a second final control signal and a third final control signal of the third linear regulator 73.

As described above, the first, second, and third driving voltage signals D ₁ , D ₂ , and D _{3 are} analyzed by the controller 6 to obtain a first final control signal of the first linear regulator 71. a second final control signal of the second linear regulator 72 and a third final control signal of the third linear regulator 73, thereby determining to turn the first, second or third linear regulator 71 on or off, 72, 73. Since the first, second or third linear regulators 71, 72, 73 that do not need to supply a voltage can be turned off, the turn-on time of the first, second or third linear regulators 71, 72, 73 can be reduced, In turn, the energy consumption of the display screen is reduced.

Although the invention has been disclosed in its preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and the present invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached.

100‧‧‧Driver for electrophoretic display

2‧‧‧Data storage unit

3‧‧‧Sequence controller

4‧‧‧Phase generator

5‧‧‧Drive voltage signal storage

6‧‧‧ Controller

71‧‧‧First linear regulator

72‧‧‧Second linear regulator

73‧‧‧ Third Linear Regulator

8‧‧‧ drive

Claims (9)

A driving device for an electrophoretic display, comprising: a data storage unit for storing a picture data; a timing controller electrically connected to the data storage unit; a phase generator electrically connected to the timing controller, and For outputting a plurality of phase signals, a driving voltage signal storage device is electrically connected to the phase generator for storing at least one driving voltage signal and transmitting the signal to the phase generator, so that the phase generator analyzes the driving voltage signal into a plurality of signal segments; a controller electrically connected to the phase generator for sequentially receiving the plurality of signal segments of the driving voltage signal; at least one linear regulator electrically connected to the controller and configured to generate a driving voltage; and a driver electrically connected to the linear regulator and the timing controller; wherein the timing controller reads the picture data stored by the data storage unit and the phase output by the phase generator After the signal operation, a voltage selection signal is sent to the driver, and the controller is used to analyze the phase signals output by the phase generator. The decision to open or close the linear regulator outputs the driving voltage to the driver so that the driver charges the capacitor to a pixel. The driving device for an electrophoretic display according to claim 1, wherein the at least one linear regulator comprises: a first linear regulator for outputting a first driving voltage; a second linear regulator for outputting a second driving voltage; and a third linear regulator for outputting a third driving voltage. The driving device for an electrophoretic display according to claim 2, wherein the first, second and third driving voltages are between +20 volts and -20 volts. The driving device for an electrophoretic display according to claim 3, wherein the first driving voltage is +15 volts, the second driving voltage is -15 volts, and the third driving voltage is +8 volts. The driving device for an electrophoretic display according to claim 1, wherein the driver is a source driver. A driving method for an electrophoretic display, comprising: an analyzing step of analyzing at least one driving voltage signal into a plurality of signal segments and sequentially transmitting to a controller; and a first determining step, when a linear regulator In a closed state, the controller receives the next signal segment and determines whether it is a linear voltage of a linear regulator, and if so, turns on the linear regulator, if otherwise, maintains the linear regulator . The driving method for an electrophoretic display according to claim 6, further comprising a second determining step after the first determining step, when the linear regulator is in an on state, the controller determines the Whether the remaining un-outputted driving voltage signal includes the driving voltage of the linear regulator, and if so, the linear regulator is maintained, if otherwise, the linear regulator is turned off. The driving method for an electrophoretic display according to claim 7, wherein after the second determining step, a further combining step is performed, and each driving voltage signal is subjected to the analyzing step, the first determining step, and the The plurality of control signals obtained by the second determining step perform a joint operation to obtain a final control signal. The driving method for an electrophoretic display according to claim 6, wherein in the analyzing step, a first driving voltage signal, a second driving voltage signal and a third driving voltage signal are simultaneously analyzed as The plurality of first signal segments, the plurality of second signal segments, and the plurality of third signal segments are sequentially transmitted to the controller.