KR100859469B1 - Liquid crystal display device and method for operating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and a driving method which can reduce manufacturing cost and power consumption by minimizing the number of parts of a driver IC. A plurality of data lines transferring data signals to unit pixels of a liquid crystal panel from left to right And a plurality of gate lines transferring a scan signal from above to the data lines in a downward direction, a data driver for applying data signals to the plurality of data lines, and sequentially applying scan signals to the plurality of gate lines. It characterized in that it comprises a gate driver.

Description

Liquid Crystal Display and Driving Method {LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME}

1 is a layout view illustrating a conventional liquid crystal display device.

2 is a layout view for explaining a liquid crystal display device of the present invention.

3 is a plan view for explaining a method of driving a liquid crystal display of the present invention;

4 is a block diagram illustrating the liquid crystal display of the present invention.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a signal alignment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

20: liquid crystal panel 30: data line

32: data driver 34: data driver chip

40: gate line 42: gate driver

44: gate driving chip 70: color filter

80: drive system 81: system interface unit

82: timing controller 83: power unit

85: gamma power supply 87: DC / DC converter

100: transmission unit 110: first memory unit                 

120: second memory unit 130: control unit

140: graphics card unit 200: signal alignment unit

300: liquid crystal module

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and a driving method, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display and a driving method that can reduce the manufacturing cost and power consumption by minimizing the number of parts of the driver IC.

LCDs have a darker screen and somewhat slower operating speeds than cathode ray tubes. However, LCDs can be manufactured in thin thicknesses because each pixel can be operated according to a signal scanned on a plane without an electron gun. It can be used as a very thin display device such as a wall-mounted TV. In addition, since the liquid crystal display device is light in weight and consumes considerably less power than the cathode ray tube, it is recognized that the liquid crystal display device is most suitable as a portable display device such as being used as a display of a battery operated notebook computer.

As described above, a liquid crystal display that is in the spotlight as a next generation display device is briefly shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal panel 10, a gate driver 15 capable of driving the liquid crystal panel 10, and a data driver 14. Here, the liquid crystal panel 10 includes a plurality of unit pixel regions in which a plurality of gate lines 12 and a plurality of data lines 11 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to each other to define a pixel region in a matrix form on a first substrate. And pixel electrodes are arranged in each of the unit pixel regions, and thin film transistors (TFTs) 13 are formed at intersections of the gate lines 12 and the data lines 11. The data signal from each data line 11 is applied to each pixel electrode according to the scan signal of each gate line 12.

The gate driver 15 sequentially applies a scan signal for turning on the thin film transistor 13 to the gate line 12, and the data driver 14 receives the scan signal. The data signal is applied to the data line 11 to transmit the data signal to the pixel through the driven thin film transistor 13.

In the liquid crystal display as described above, the thin film transistor 13 connected to the gate line 12 is turned on by a scan signal sequentially applied to the gate line 12 of the liquid crystal panel 10 by the gate driver 15. When on, the data signal applied to the data line 11 of the liquid crystal panel 10 is transmitted to the pixel electrode through the source and the drain of the turned-on thin film transistor 13.

On the second substrate facing the first substrate, a pixel representing one color is formed by combining three basic colors of red, green, and blue corresponding to the unit pixel, respectively.

In a display device for a computer to which a liquid crystal display device having the above-described configuration is applied, in a display device of the XGA standard that performs pixel display of 1024 (length) x 768 (horizontal), the number of pixels serving as a display unit is 1024 (length X 768 (the horizontal) = 786432 pixels.

In this case, since the pixel is represented by a combination of three unit pixels representing red, green, and blue, the data line 11 transmitting a data voltage corresponding to each of the unit pixels, respectively. ) Is 1024 x 3 = 3072. Therefore, the total unit pixel number of the display device of the XGA standard is composed of 1024 (type) × 3 × 768 (width) = 2359296 unit pixels.

In order to input the signals corresponding to the gate line 12 and the data line 11 to drive each unit pixel, a plurality of gate driving chips constituting the gate driver 15 and the data driver 14 ( Drive IC) 17 and Data Drive Chip 18 are provided.

The gate driver chip 17 constituting the gate driver 15 is a chip IC having 256 pins, and three chips are required to output 768 signals. The constituent data driving chip 18 is a chip (IC) having 384 pins, and 8 chips were required to output 3072 signals.

However, the conventional liquid crystal display has the following problems.

As shown in FIG. 1 to correspond to 3072 data signal lines and 768 gate signal lines used to drive a conventional liquid crystal display, 8 data driving chips having 384 pins and a gate driving chip having 256 pins 3 Dog needed.

Here, the data driving chip is more expensive than the gate driving chip, the data driving chip uses about 100mW of power consumption, and the gate driving chip uses about 20mW of power consumption. There is a problem in manufacturing cost and power consumption by the chip.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display and a driving method which can reduce manufacturing cost and power consumption.

The liquid crystal display and the driving method of the present invention for achieving the above object, a plurality of data lines for transmitting the data signal to the unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel from left to right direction, and the scanning signal from the top to the bottom to cross the data line And a gate driver for sequentially applying a scan signal to the gate line, and a plurality of gate lines for transmitting a plurality of gate lines, a data driver for applying a data signal to the data line.

In addition, according to the present invention, a plurality of data lines for transmitting a data signal to the unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel from left to right, a plurality of gate lines for transmitting a scan signal from the top to the bottom and cross the data line; A data driver for applying a data signal to each data line, a gate driver for sequentially applying a scan signal to each gate line, and a data signal corresponding to each data line to control the vertical scan of the liquid crystal panel And a signal alignment unit.

In addition, according to the present invention, a plurality of data lines for transmitting a data signal to the unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel from left to right, a plurality of gate lines for transmitting a scan signal from the top to the bottom cross each data line; A data driver for applying a data signal to each data line, a gate driver for sequentially applying a gate signal to each gate line, a timing controller for outputting signals required for the data driver and the gate driver, and the liquid crystal panel And a system interface unit configured to store a frame data signal for vertical scanning, output the data signal for each frame, and interface the output data signal to the timing controller.

In addition, according to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of data lines for transmitting the data signal to the unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel from left to right direction, and a plurality of gates for transmitting the scan signal from the top to the bottom to cross the data line A method of driving a liquid crystal display device having lines, the method comprising: storing frame data signals in units of frames, rearranging the frame data signals to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel, and driving pulses of the gate lines; And applying the rearranged data signal to each data line in synchronization with.

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

2 is a plan view of a liquid crystal panel for explaining a liquid crystal display of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining a driving method of the liquid crystal display of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a liquid crystal display of the present invention. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a signal alignment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a plurality of gate lines 40 spaced apart at regular intervals in the vertical direction are formed on the first substrate, and the plurality of data lines 30 intersect the gate lines 40 in left and right directions. This is formed to define a plurality of unit pixel regions 25 in the form of a matrix. Thin film transistors (not shown) for switching a data signal are formed at portions where the gate lines 40 and the data lines 30 cross each other, and the unit pixel regions 25 may include the thin film transistors. Pixel electrodes receiving data signals by the thin film transistors are formed.

In addition, the second substrate bonded to the first substrate to form a liquid crystal panel includes a black matrix, which serves as light blocking, and three primary colors of red, green, and blue. A color filter 70 for realizing a color of ITO, an ITO film for a common electrode, and the like are formed. The color filter 70 is arranged in a stripe structure or a delta structure in which a plurality of primary color combinations are repeated along each data line 30 direction, that is, in a left and right direction. The stripe structure is shown on the figure.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a region constituting the liquid crystal panel.

The liquid crystal display according to the present invention having such a structure includes a liquid crystal display having a resolution of the XGA standard, but has 786432 pixels as in the prior art, but a plurality of spaced apart at regular intervals in the vertical direction of the present invention. The number of gate lines 40 is 1024, and the number of data lines 30 is 768. In this case, since the pixel is represented by a combination of three unit pixels representing red, green, and blue, the number of data lines 30 is 768 × 3 = 2304. Therefore, the total number of unit pixels is composed of 768 (horizontal) x 3 x 1024 (length) = 2359296 unit pixels.

Each of the gate lines 40 and the data lines 30 includes a gate including a plurality of gate driver chips 44 and data driver chips 34 to input signals corresponding thereto. The driver 42 and the data driver 32 are disposed.

The gate driver chip 44 constituting the gate driver 42 is a chip IC having 256 pins, and four chips are required to output 1024 signals. In the data driving chip 42, six ICs having 384 pins are required to output 2304 data signals.

As described above, this is a problem in a liquid crystal display having a resolution of a conventional XGA standard requiring 8 data driving chips having 384 pins and 3 gate driving chips having 256 pins, that is, a relatively larger number than the gate driving chips. Many data driving chips can relatively reduce the problem of increased manufacturing costs.

In addition, in terms of power consumption, the data driving chip consumes about 100mW of power and the gate driving chip consumes about 20mW of power, so that the number of data driving chips is relatively low. Power consumption can be reduced than before.

As shown in FIG. 3, the driving method of the liquid crystal display device configured as described above includes a horizontal scan method (a scanning data sequentially applied from left to right), and is synchronized with the data. In contrast to scanning a screen in a manner in which a signal is applied to each unit pixel in a downward direction to form a frame), embodiment (b) of the present invention provides a data signal from left to right of the liquid crystal panel 20. And a data driver 32 to apply the gate driver and a gate driver 42 to sequentially apply the gate signal downward on the liquid crystal panel 20 to scan the screen in a vertical scan method.

Hereinafter, a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention for realizing the above driving method will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal display device transmits R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) signals, which are display data signals input from the driving system 80, that is, a PC or a notebook computer, to the liquid crystal module. A timing controller 82 which receives various image signals, that is, data signals, from the system interface unit 81 and the system interface unit 81 and generates various control signals and data so that the liquid crystal panel 20 can be stably driven. And a data driver 32 for converting a data signal from the timing controller 82 into an analog signal and applying a voltage to each data line 30 formed in the left to right direction of the liquid crystal panel 20, and the timing. A gate driver 42 for inputting a display control signal received from the controller 82 to apply a scan signal to each gate line 40 formed downward on the liquid crystal panel 20; The power unit 83 receives power from the system 80 and supplies power required for each unit, and the power branched from the power unit 83 receives power required to perform digital / analog conversion of the data driver 32. By using the gamma power supply unit 85 to generate a reference voltage and the voltage Vin received from the power unit 83, various voltages used in the liquid crystal module, for example, V _CC , V _DD , V _GH , V _GL A DC / DC converter 87 generates a voltage.

Here, the data driver 32 applies a data signal in the left and right directions of the liquid crystal panel 20, and the gate driver 42 applies a gate signal in the vertical direction of the liquid crystal panel 20 to scan in the vertical direction. Display the screen.

A liquid crystal display and a driving method for implementing such a vertical scan method are as follows.

4 and 5, before the data signal is transferred from the timing controller 82 to the data driver 32, the data driver 32 converts a data signal input by a horizontal scan method into a vertical scan method. Further comprising a signal alignment unit 200 applied to form a liquid crystal display device.

The signal aligning unit 200 sequentially transmits the data signal of each frame from the transmission unit 100 and the transmission unit 100 which transmits a horizontal scan type data signal from the timing controller 82. The data driving unit receives data signals from the first memory unit 110 and the second memory unit 120 and the first memory unit 110 or the second memory unit 120 and stores the data signals in a vertical scan signal. And a control unit 130 for outputting to 32.

Looking at the specific driving method for this is as follows.                     

The n th frame data signal of the horizontal scanning method is received from the timing controller 82 and stored in the first memory unit 110. The first memory unit 110 has a total of 786432 data having addresses of 0, 1, ..., 1023, 1024, 1025, ..., 2047, ..., 785408, 785409, ..., 786431. The signals are stored in turn at each address.

Next, while storing and inputting the graphic data signal of the n + 1 th frame applied from the timing controller 82 to the second memory unit 120 from the transmission unit 100, the horizontal direction stored in the first memory unit 110 is stored. The data signal of the scan method is rearranged by the controller 130 in the vertical scan method and output to the data driver 32. That is, when the control unit 130 sequentially applies scan signals to the 1024 gate lines 40 from the gate driver 42 through a predetermined algorithm, the controller 130 synchronizes with the driving pulses of 0, 1024, 2048, and so on. .., 768 data signals stored at the address 785408 are transmitted to the data driver 32 to be applied to the unit pixel connected to the first gate line 40, and to the next gate line of 1, 1025, 2049, ..., 785409 768 data signals stored at the address are transmitted to the data driver 32 to be applied to the unit pixel connected to each of the gate lines 40. In this manner, the data signals stored at the addresses of 1023, 2047, ... 786431 are stored at the last gate line. 768 data signals are transmitted to the data driver 32 to be applied to the unit pixel connected to the gate line 40 to form one frame.

Then, as described above, the signal stored in the second memory unit 120 is aligned with the data signal so that the control unit 130 scans the screen in a vertical scanning manner, and outputs the data signal to the data driver 32, where n + 2 th The data signal of the horizontal scan method of the frame is stored in the first memory unit 110. By repeating such an operation, a liquid crystal display device employing a vertical scan method can be realized. Such a liquid crystal display device may drive the liquid crystal display using the signal alignment unit 200 without changing the existing frame frequency (60 Hz).

Here, the signal alignment unit 200 including the transmission unit 100, the first and second memory units 110 and 120, and the controller 130 may be embedded in the timing controller 82. Is preferred.

In the above-described embodiment, a liquid crystal display device having a resolution of the XGA standard has been described as an example, but it is applicable to a liquid crystal display device having a resolution of another standard.

In addition, look at another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 6, by transmitting a data signal of the vertical scan method directly to the liquid crystal module 300 from a PC or laptop (not shown) having a graphics card unit 140 for transmitting a display data signal, The liquid crystal panel 20 described in FIG. 4 may be driven.

 That is, if the VESA proposes and standardizes the driving method of the liquid crystal display device applying the vertical scanning method described in the embodiment of the present invention, the data driver 32 receives the data signal of the vertical scanning method input to the timing controller 82. In this case, the first and second memory units 110 and 120 described in FIG. 5 are not required.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention, and this is in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. It will be apparent to those of ordinary knowledge.

According to the liquid crystal display and the driving method of the present invention described above has the following advantages.

In general, the liquid crystal display according to the present invention arranges the data driver and the gate driver to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel through the signal alignment unit to input data signals, thereby driving data that is relatively expensive and consumes more power than the gate driver chip. By reducing the number of chips, manufacturing costs can be reduced and power consumption can be reduced.

That is, eight data driving chips constituting the conventional data driver and three gate driving chips constituting the gate driver are used in the embodiment of the present invention, using six data driving chips and four gate driving chips. By reducing the number of data driving chips that are relatively expensive and consume high power, manufacturing cost and power consumption can be reduced.

In addition, a PC or notebook computer having a graphic card unit for transmitting a display data signal transmits a data signal using a vertical scan method directly to the liquid crystal module, and drives the liquid crystal panel without the need for the signal alignment unit, thereby providing a relative relative to the gate driving chip. As a result, the number of data driving chips with high cost and high power consumption can be reduced to reduce manufacturing cost and power consumption.

Claims (15)

A plurality of data lines for transferring a data signal from the left to the right to a unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel; A plurality of gate lines transferring scan signals from above to the data lines in a downward direction; A color filter provided in the liquid crystal panel and repeating a plurality of primary color combinations along the plurality of data lines; A data driver for applying a data signal to the data line; And a gate driver which sequentially applies a scan signal to the gate line. The method of claim 1, And a signal alignment unit for rearranging the input frame data signal to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel and supplying the data data to the data driver. The method of claim 2, The signal alignment unit First and second memory units which alternately store each frame data signal by one frame, and And a controller for rearranging the data signals stored in the first and second memory units to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel and transmitting the data signals to the data driver. delete The method of claim 1, And the color filter has a stripe structure or a delta structure. A plurality of data lines for transferring a data signal from the left to the right to a unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel; A plurality of gate lines transferring scan signals from above to the data lines in a downward direction; A data driver for applying a data signal to each of the data lines; A gate driver sequentially applying scan signals to the gate lines; And a signal alignment unit for supplying a data signal corresponding to the data driver to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel. The method of claim 6, The signal alignment unit First and second memory units which alternately store each frame data signal by one frame, and And a controller for rearranging the data signals stored in the first and second memory units to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel and supplying the data signals to the data driver. The method of claim 6, And the liquid crystal panel includes a color filter in which a plurality of primary color combinations are repeated along a direction of the data line. The method of claim 8, And the color filter has a stripe structure or a delta structure. A plurality of data lines for transferring a data signal from the left to the right to a unit pixel of the liquid crystal panel; A plurality of gate lines transferring scan signals from above to the data lines in a downward direction; A data driver for applying a data signal to each of the data lines; A gate driver sequentially applying a gate signal to the gate line; A timing controller configured to output signals necessary for the data driver and the gate driver; An external memory unit for storing a frame data signal for vertically scanning the liquid crystal panel and outputting the data signal for each frame; and And a system interface unit for interfacing the data signal from the external memory unit to the timing controller. The method of claim 10, And the liquid crystal panel further includes a color filter in which a plurality of primary color combinations are repeated along the direction of the data line. The method of claim 11, And the color filter has a stripe structure or a delta structure. A method of driving a liquid crystal display device comprising: a plurality of data lines for transmitting a data signal to a unit pixel of a liquid crystal panel from left to right; To Storing the frame data signal in units of frames; Rearranging the frame data signal to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel; And applying the rearranged data signal to each data line in synchronization with the driving pulses of the gate lines. The method of claim 13, The storing of the frame data signal in one frame unit is a step of repeatedly storing and storing data signals in each frame unit by using a first memory unit and a second memory unit. . The method of claim 14, Realigning the frame data signal to vertically scan the liquid crystal panel may include realigning a data signal of a current frame stored in the first memory unit while storing a data signal of a next frame in the second memory unit. Method of driving a liquid crystal display device, characterized in that.

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