Organic light emitting display device performing sensing operation and degradation sensing method thereof

Abstract

Disclosed are an organic light-emitting display device that performs a sensing operation and a degradation sensing method thereof. The organic light-emitting display device includes: a display panel including a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels being grouped into a plurality of pixel blocks; a non-volatile memory that stores previous accumulated block degradation information up to a previous driving interval; a controller that calculates current block degradation information in a current driving interval, calculates current accumulated block degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block degradation information in response to a power control signal indicating power off, and determines whether to perform a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block degradation information with a sensing reference degradation amount; and a sensing circuit that selectively performs a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display device that performs a sensing operation and a degradation sensing method for the organic light emitting display device. Background Art

[0002] As the driving time of an organic light-emitting display device increases, the driving transistors and / or organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) of the multiple pixels included in the organic light-emitting display device may degrade. To compensate for this degradation of the driving transistors and / or the OLEDs, the organic light-emitting display device may perform a sensing operation to sense the characteristics of the driving transistors and / or the OLEDs of the multiple pixels. However, because conventional organic light-emitting display devices perform this sensing operation for all pixels included in the organic light-emitting display device, there is a problem that performing this sensing operation consumes a long sensing time. Summary of the Invention

[0003] An object of the present invention is to provide an organic light emitting display device capable of shortening sensing time.

[0004] Another object of the present invention is to provide a degradation sensing method for an organic light emitting display device that can shorten the sensing time.

[0005] However, the problems that the present invention intends to solve are not limited to the above problems, and can be expanded in various ways within the scope not departing from the idea and technical scope of the present invention.

[0006] To achieve an object of the present invention, an organic light-emitting display device according to the present invention includes: a display panel including a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels being grouped into a plurality of pixel blocks; a nonvolatile memory storing previous cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks up to a previous driving interval; a controller calculating current block degradation information indicating block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks in a current driving interval, calculating current cumulative block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous cumulative block degradation information in response to a power control signal indicating power off, the current cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks up to the current driving interval, and determining whether to perform a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block degradation information with a sensing reference degradation amount; and a sensing circuit selectively performing the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks.

[0007] In one embodiment, the controller may divide the input image data into a plurality of block image data for the plurality of pixel blocks, and accumulate the plurality of block image data in each of a plurality of frame intervals to calculate the current block degradation information in the current driving interval.

[0008] In one embodiment, the controller may calculate the current accumulated block degradation information in the current driving interval by applying, to the plurality of block image data, block position weights determined according to the positions of the plurality of pixel blocks, driving frequency weights determined according to the driving frequencies of the plurality of pixel blocks, luminous duty cycle weights determined according to the luminous duty cycles of the plurality of pixel blocks, and at least one of a global current modulation correction value for the display panel.

[0009] In one embodiment, the controller may read the previous accumulated block degradation information from the nonvolatile memory in response to the power control signal indicating power-on.

[0010] In one embodiment, the controller may write the current accumulated block degradation information in the nonvolatile memory in response to the power control signal indicating the power off, so as to use the current accumulated block degradation information in the current driving interval as the previous accumulated block degradation information in the next driving interval.

[0011] In one embodiment, the controller may determine not to perform the sensing operation on the pixel blocks corresponding to the respective pieces of current cumulative block degradation information among the multiple pixel blocks when each piece of current cumulative block degradation information in the current cumulative block degradation information is less than the sensing reference degradation amount; and the controller may determine to perform the sensing operation on the pixel blocks corresponding to the respective pieces of current cumulative block degradation information when each piece of current cumulative block degradation information is greater than the sensing reference degradation amount.

[0012] In one embodiment, the controller may reset the respective current accumulated block degradation information for the pixel blocks determined to perform the sensing operation to an initial degradation amount, so that in a next driving interval, the previous accumulated block degradation information for the pixel blocks on which the sensing operation has been performed in the previous accumulated block degradation information indicates the initial degradation amount.

[0013] In one embodiment, the nonvolatile memory may further store previous final cumulative block degradation information, the previous final cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts of the plurality of pixel blocks from an initial driving interval to the previous driving interval, and the controller may calculate current final cumulative block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final cumulative block degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power-off, the current final cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks from the initial driving interval to the current driving interval.

[0014] In one embodiment, the controller may include a lifespan manager, which determines whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks, wherein the lifespan manager may include: a previous degradation storage block, which stores the previous accumulated block degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; a previous final degradation storage block, which stores the previous final accumulated block degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; a current degradation calculation block, which calculates the current block degradation information in the current driving interval; a degradation addition block, which calculates the current accumulated block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block degradation information; and a final degradation addition block, which calculates the current accumulated block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block degradation information. a current degradation storage block storing the current cumulative block degradation information; a current final degradation storage block storing the current final cumulative block degradation information; a sensing reference storage block storing the sensing reference degradation amount; and a degradation sensing comparator determining whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block degradation information with the sensing reference degradation amount, and resetting the current cumulative block degradation information equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount in the current cumulative block degradation information stored in the current degradation storage block.

[0015] In one embodiment, the sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks may include at least one of a transistor sensing operation and a diode sensing operation, wherein the transistor sensing operation is an operation of a driving transistor of the multiple pixels included in each of the multiple pixel blocks, and the diode sensing operation is an operation of an organic light emitting diode of the multiple pixels included in each of the multiple pixel blocks.

[0016] In one embodiment, the previous cumulative block degradation information may include previous cumulative block transistor degradation information and previous cumulative block diode degradation information, the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information indicating the cumulative block transistor degradation amount of the driving transistors of the multiple pixels included in the multiple pixel blocks up to the previous driving interval, and the previous cumulative block diode degradation information indicating the cumulative block diode degradation amount of the organic light emitting diodes of the multiple pixels included in the multiple pixel blocks up to the previous driving interval.

[0017] In one embodiment, the controller may calculate current accumulated block transistor degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power off, and calculate current accumulated block diode degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block diode degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power off.

[0018] In one embodiment, the sensing reference degradation amount may include a transistor sensing reference degradation amount and a diode sensing reference degradation amount, the sensing operation may include a transistor sensing operation and a diode sensing operation, and the controller may determine whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block transistor degradation information with the transistor sensing reference degradation amount, and may determine whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block diode degradation information with the diode sensing reference degradation amount.

[0019] In one embodiment, the controller may include a life manager, which determines whether to perform the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks. The life manager may include: a previous transistor degradation storage block, which stores the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; a previous diode degradation storage block, which stores the previous accumulated block diode degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; a previous final degradation storage block, which stores the previous final accumulated block degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; and a current degradation storage block. a transistor degradation adding block, which calculates the current block degradation information in the current driving interval; a transistor degradation adding block, which calculates the current accumulated block transistor degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information; a diode degradation adding block, which calculates the current accumulated block diode degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block diode degradation information; a final degradation adding block, which calculates the current final accumulated block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final accumulated block degradation information; a current transistor degradation storage block, which stores storing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information; a current diode degradation storage block storing the current cumulative block diode degradation information; a current final degradation storage block storing the current final cumulative block degradation information; a transistor sensing reference storage block storing the transistor sensing reference degradation amount; a diode sensing reference storage block storing the diode sensing reference degradation amount; a transistor degradation sensing comparator comparing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information with the transistor sensing reference degradation amount to determine whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks and resetting the current cumulative block transistor degradation information equal to or greater than the transistor sensing reference degradation amount stored in the current cumulative block transistor degradation information of the current transistor degradation storage block; and a diode degradation sensing comparator comparing the current cumulative block diode degradation information with the diode sensing reference degradation amount to determine whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks and resetting the current cumulative block diode degradation information equal to or greater than the diode sensing reference degradation amount stored in the current cumulative block diode degradation information of the current diode degradation storage block.

[0020] To achieve an object of the present invention, an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a display panel including a plurality of pixels, wherein the plurality of pixels are grouped into a plurality of pixel blocks; a non-volatile memory storing previous accumulated block transistor degradation information, previous accumulated block diode degradation information, and previous final accumulated block degradation information, wherein the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information represents an accumulated block transistor degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks up to a previous driving interval, the previous accumulated block diode degradation information represents an accumulated block diode degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks up to the previous driving interval, and the previous final accumulated block degradation information represents an accumulated block degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks from an initial driving interval to the previous driving interval; and a controller calculating current block degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks in a current driving interval and, in response to a power control signal indicating power-off, calculating a current block degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information. the pixel blocks, calculating the current cumulative block degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous cumulative block diode degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power off, and calculating the current final cumulative block degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final cumulative block degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power off, determining whether to perform a transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information with a transistor sensing reference degradation amount, and determining whether to perform a diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block diode degradation information with a diode sensing reference degradation amount; and a sensing circuit selectively performing the transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks, and selectively performing the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks.

[0021] In one embodiment, the controller may include a life manager, which determines whether to perform the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks. The life manager may include: a previous transistor degradation storage block, which stores the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; a previous diode degradation storage block, which stores the previous accumulated block diode degradation information read from the non-volatile memory; and a previous final degradation storage block, which stores the previous final accumulated block degradation information read from the non-volatile memory. a previous degradation calculation block, which calculates the current block degradation information in the current driving interval; a transistor degradation addition block, which calculates the current accumulated block transistor degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information; a diode degradation addition block, which calculates the current accumulated block diode degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block diode degradation information; a final degradation addition block, which calculates the current final accumulated block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final accumulated block degradation information; a current transistor degradation storage block, which stores storing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information; a current diode degradation storage block storing the current cumulative block diode degradation information; a current final degradation storage block storing the current final cumulative block degradation information; a transistor sensing reference storage block storing the transistor sensing reference degradation amount; a diode sensing reference storage block storing the diode sensing reference degradation amount; a transistor degradation sensing comparator comparing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information with the transistor sensing reference degradation amount to determine whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks and resetting the current cumulative block transistor degradation information equal to or greater than the transistor sensing reference degradation amount stored in the current cumulative block transistor degradation information of the current transistor degradation storage block; and a diode degradation sensing comparator comparing the current cumulative block diode degradation information with the diode sensing reference degradation amount to determine whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks and resetting the current cumulative block diode degradation information equal to or greater than the diode sensing reference degradation amount stored in the current cumulative block diode degradation information of the current diode degradation storage block.

[0022] To achieve another object of the present invention, in a degradation sensing method for an organic light-emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, previous cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for a plurality of pixel blocks up to a previous driving interval is read from a non-volatile memory included in the organic light-emitting display device, current block degradation information indicating block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks in a current driving interval is calculated, and current cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks up to the current driving interval is calculated by adding the current block degradation information to the previous cumulative block degradation information in response to a power control signal indicating power off, determining whether to perform a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block degradation information with a sensing reference degradation amount, and selectively performing the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks.

[0023] In one embodiment, in order to determine whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks, if each current accumulated block degradation information in the current accumulated block degradation information is less than the sensing reference degradation amount, it is determined not to perform the sensing operation for the pixel block corresponding to the respective current accumulated block degradation information among the multiple pixel blocks, and if the respective current accumulated block degradation information is equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount, it is determined to perform the sensing operation for the pixel block corresponding to the respective current accumulated block degradation information. The respective current accumulated block degradation information for the pixel block determined to perform the sensing operation may be reset to an initial degradation amount.

[0024] In one embodiment, previous final cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks from an initial driving interval to the previous driving interval may be read from the nonvolatile memory, and current final cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts from the initial driving interval to the current driving interval may be calculated for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final cumulative block degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power-off.

[0025] In one embodiment, the previous cumulative degradation information may be read from the nonvolatile memory in the following manner: reading previous cumulative block transistor degradation information from the nonvolatile memory, the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information indicating cumulative block transistor degradation amounts of drive transistors of the plurality of pixels included in the plurality of pixel blocks up to the previous driving interval, and reading previous cumulative block diode degradation information from the nonvolatile memory, the previous cumulative block diode degradation information indicating cumulative block diode degradation amounts of organic light emitting diodes of the plurality of pixels included in the plurality of pixel blocks up to the previous driving interval. To calculate the current cumulative block degradation information, the current block degradation information may be added to the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information to calculate the current cumulative block transistor degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks, and the current cumulative block diode degradation information may be added to the previous cumulative block diode degradation information to calculate the current cumulative block diode degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks. In order to determine whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks, the current accumulated block transistor degradation information can be compared with a transistor sensing reference degradation amount to determine whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks, and the current accumulated block diode degradation information can be compared with a diode sensing reference degradation amount to determine whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks.

[0026] In an organic light-emitting display device and a degradation sensing method for an organic light-emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, current accumulated block degradation information for a plurality of pixel blocks can be calculated by adding current block degradation information to previously accumulated block degradation information. Furthermore, whether to perform a sensing operation can be determined for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block degradation information with a sensing reference degradation amount. Therefore, by selectively performing the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks, a sensing time for performing the sensing operation can be shortened.

[0027] Furthermore, in an organic light-emitting display device and a degradation sensing method for an organic light-emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, current accumulated block transistor degradation information for a plurality of pixel blocks can be calculated by adding current block degradation information to previously accumulated block transistor degradation information, current accumulated block diode degradation information for the plurality of pixel blocks can be calculated by adding the current block degradation information to previously accumulated block diode degradation information, whether to perform a transistor sensing operation can be determined for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block transistor degradation information with a transistor sensing reference degradation amount, and whether to perform a diode sensing operation can be determined for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block diode degradation information with a diode sensing reference degradation amount. Therefore, by selectively performing the transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks and selectively performing the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks, the sensing time for performing the transistor sensing operation and / or the diode sensing operation can be shortened.

[0028] However, the effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and can be variously expanded within the scope not departing from the idea and scope of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of pixels included in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 3 1 is a diagram showing an example of grouping a plurality of pixels of a display panel into a plurality of pixel blocks.

[0032] Figure 4 is a timing diagram for illustrating an example in which a controller performs a read operation and a write operation on a nonvolatile memory device in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a lifespan manager included in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a degradation sensing method of an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 7 1 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel displaying a solid black pattern in the current driving interval.

[0036] Figure 8 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel displaying a solid white pattern in the current driving interval.

[0037] Figure 9 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel that displays a partial white pattern in the current driving interval.

[0038] Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a lifespan manager included in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 12 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a pixel that performs a transistor sensing operation.

[0041] Figure 13 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a pixel that performs a diode sensing operation.

[0042] Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a degradation sensing method of an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device including an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0044] [Description of Reference Numerals]

[0045] 100, 400: organic light-emitting display device 110, 410: display panel

[0046] 120, 420: Data driver 130, 430: Sensing circuit

[0047] 140, 440: Gate driver 150, 450: Power management circuit

[0048] 160, 460: Non-volatile memory 170, 470: Controller

[0049] 200, 500: Lifespan manager 210: Previously degraded storage blocks

[0050] 215: Degraded addition block 230, 530: Previous final degradation storage block

[0051] 235, 535: Final degradation addition block 240, 540: Current degradation calculation block

[0052] 250: Current degraded memory block 255: Sensing reference memory block

[0053] 260: Degradation sensing comparator 290, 590: Current final degraded memory block

[0054] 510: Previous transistor degradation storage block 515: Transistor degradation addition block

[0055] 520: Previous transistor degradation storage block 525: Diode degradation addition block

[0056] 550: Current transistor degradation storage block 555: Transistor sensing reference storage block

[0057] 560: Transistor degradation sensing comparator 570: Current diode degradation storage block

[0058] 575: diode sensing reference storage block 580: diode degradation sensing comparator DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals are used for the same components in the drawings, and repeated description of the same components will be omitted.

[0060] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a pixel included in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of grouping a plurality of pixels of a display panel into a plurality of pixel blocks. Figure 4 is a timing diagram for illustrating an example in which a controller performs a read operation and a write operation on a nonvolatile memory device in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a lifespan manager included in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0061] Reference Figure 1 The organic light emitting display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a display panel 110 , a data driver 120 , a sensing circuit 130 , a gate driver 140 , a power management circuit 150 , a nonvolatile memory 160 , and a controller 170 .

[0062] The display panel 110 may include: a plurality of data lines DL; a plurality of sensing lines SL; and a plurality of pixels PX connected to the plurality of data lines DL and the plurality of sensing lines SL. In one embodiment, the number of the plurality of sensing lines SL may be the same as the number of the plurality of data lines DL. In another embodiment, the number of the plurality of sensing lines SL may be different from the number of the plurality of data lines DL. For example, the display panel 110 may include one sensing line SL for every three data lines DL. In one embodiment, the display panel 110 may further include: a plurality of scan signal lines for transmitting scan signals SC to the plurality of pixels PX; and a plurality of sensing signal lines for transmitting sensing signals SS to the plurality of pixels PX. In one embodiment, each pixel PX may include an organic light emitting diode (OLED), and the display panel 110 may be an OLED display panel.

[0063] For example, Figure 2 As shown, each pixel PX may include a driving transistor TDR, a first switching transistor TSW1, a second switching transistor TSW2, a storage capacitor CST, and an organic light emitting diode EL.

[0064] The storage capacitor CST may store the data signal DS transmitted through the data line DL. In one embodiment, the storage capacitor CST may have a first electrode connected to the gate of the driving transistor TDR and a second electrode connected to the source of the driving transistor TDR.

[0065] The first switching transistor TSW1 can connect the data line DL to the first electrode of the storage capacitor CST in response to a scan signal SC. That is, the first switching transistor TSW1 can transmit the data signal DS of the data line DL to the first electrode of the storage capacitor CST in response to the scan signal SC. In one embodiment, the first switching transistor TSW1 can have a gate that receives the scan signal SC; a drain that is connected to the data line DL; and a source that is connected to the first electrode of the storage capacitor CST and the gate of the drive transistor TDR.

[0066] The second switching transistor TSW2 can connect the sensing line SL to the second electrode of the storage capacitor CST and the source of the driving transistor TDR in response to the sensing signal SS. In one embodiment, the second switching transistor TSW2 can have a gate that receives the sensing signal SS, a drain that is connected to the source of the driving transistor TDR, and a source that is connected to the sensing line SL.

[0067] The driving transistor TDR can generate a driving current based on the data signal DS stored in the storage capacitor CST. In one embodiment, the driving transistor TDR can have a gate connected to the first electrode of the storage capacitor CST; a drain receiving a first power supply voltage ELVDD (e.g., a high power supply voltage); and a source connected to the second electrode of the storage capacitor CST and the drain of the second switching transistor TSW2.

[0068] The organic light emitting diode EL may emit light in response to the driving current generated by the driving transistor TDR. In one embodiment, the organic light emitting diode EL may have: an anode connected to the source of the driving transistor TDR; and a cathode receiving a second power supply voltage ELVSS (e.g., a low power supply voltage).

[0069] In one embodiment, if Figure 2 As shown, although the driving transistor TDR, the first switching transistor TSW1 and the second switching transistor TSW2 can be implemented as NMOS transistors, they are not limited thereto. Moreover, the pixel PX according to the embodiment of the present invention may not be limited to the following. Figure 2 Furthermore, in another embodiment, the display panel 110 may be an inorganic light emitting diode (ILD) display panel, a quantum dot ILD display panel, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, or any other suitable display panel.

[0070] In one embodiment, the plurality of pixels PX of the display panel 110 may be grouped into a plurality of pixel blocks, and the sensing operation (e.g., transistor sensing operation and / or diode sensing operation) of the organic light emitting display device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be selectively performed for each pixel block. Figure 3 As shown, the display panel 110 may be divided into M*N (M and N are integers greater than 2) pixel blocks PB each including a plurality of pixels PX. The pixel blocks PB are logical groups for determining whether to perform the sensing operation, and the pixel blocks PB may not be physically distinguished from each other.

[0071] The data driver 120 can generate a data signal DS based on the output image data ODAT and the data control signal DCTRL received from the controller 170, and provide the data signal DS to the plurality of pixels PX via a plurality of data lines DL. In one embodiment, the data control signal DCTRL may include, but is not limited to, an output data enable signal, a horizontal start signal, and a load signal. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the controller 170 may correct the input image data IDAT based on the drive characteristics of the drive transistor TDR and / or the voltage-current characteristics of the organic light-emitting diode EL sensed through the transistor sensing operation and / or the diode sensing operation. The data driver 120 may receive the corrected input image data IDAT from the controller 170 as the output image data ODAT. In one embodiment, the data driver 120 and the sensing circuit 130 may be implemented as one or more identical integrated circuits. Such an integrated circuit including the data driver 120 and the sensing circuit 130 may be referred to as a readout-source driver integrated circuit (RSIC). In another embodiment, the data driver 120 and the controller 170 may be implemented as a single integrated circuit, which may be referred to as a timing controller embedded data driver (TED) IC. In yet another embodiment, the data driver 120, the sensing circuit 130, and the controller 170 may be implemented as separate integrated circuits.

[0072] The sensing circuit 130 may be connected to a plurality of sensing lines SL of the display panel 110, and may perform the sensing operation for a plurality of pixels PX through the plurality of sensing lines SL. In the organic light-emitting display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing circuit 130 may selectively perform the sensing operation for each pixel block PB. In one embodiment, the sensing operation for each pixel block PB performed by the sensing circuit 130 may include: transistor sensing operation, such as Figure 12 The driving characteristics (eg, threshold voltage VTH and / or mobility) of the driving transistors TDR of the plurality of pixels PX included in the pixel block PB are sensed as shown; and / or a diode sensing operation, such as a diode sensing operation. Figure 13 As shown, characteristics (eg, voltage VREF-current IEL characteristics) of the organic light emitting diodes EL of the plurality of pixels PX included in the pixel block PB are sensed.

[0073] The gate driver 140 may receive a gate control signal GCTRL from the controller 170, and a high gate voltage VGH and a low gate voltage VGL from the power management circuit 150. Based on the gate control signal GCTRL, the high gate voltage VGH, and the low gate voltage VGL, the gate driver 140 may provide a scan signal SC and / or a sense signal SS to the plurality of pixels PX. In one embodiment, the gate control signal GCTRL may include a scan start signal and a scan clock signal, but is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the gate driver 140 may be integrated or formed in a peripheral portion of the display panel 110. In another embodiment, the gate driver 140 may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits.

[0074] The power management circuit 150 can generate voltages VIN, VGH, VGL, ELVDD, and ELVSS for driving the organic light-emitting display device 100. In one embodiment, the power management circuit 150 can generate the power supply voltage VIN for the controller 170, the high gate voltage VGH and the low gate voltage VGL for the gate driver 140, and the high power supply voltage ELVDD and the low power supply voltage ELVSS for the display panel 110, but is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the power management circuit 150 can be implemented as at least one integrated circuit, which can be referred to as a power management integrated circuit (PMIC). In another embodiment, the power management circuit 150 can be included in the controller 170.

[0075] The non-volatile memory 160 may store previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI, which indicates the cumulative block degradation amount for a plurality of pixel blocks PB up to a previous drive interval. For example, the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI may indicate the cumulative block degradation amount for a plurality of pixel blocks PB from the drive interval immediately following the sensing operation to the drive interval immediately preceding the current drive interval. That is, the cumulative block degradation amount for each corresponding pixel block PB indicated by each piece of previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI may be calculated by accumulating or adding the block degradation amounts for the corresponding pixel blocks PB from the drive interval immediately following the sensing operation to the drive interval immediately preceding the current drive interval. In one embodiment, the non-volatile memory 160 may further store previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI, which indicates cumulative block degradation amounts for a plurality of pixel blocks PB from an initial drive interval to the previous drive interval, where the initial drive interval is the first drive interval after manufacturing the organic light-emitting display device 100. For example, the cumulative block degradation amounts for the corresponding pixel blocks PB indicated by each previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI may be calculated by accumulating or adding the cumulative degradation amounts for the corresponding pixel blocks PB from the initial drive interval to the immediately preceding drive interval of the current drive interval. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the non-volatile memory 160 may further store the characteristics (or degradation amounts of the characteristics) of each pixel PX sensed by the sensing operation. For example, the sensing circuit 130 may perform the transistor sensing operation of the driving transistor TDR of the plurality of pixels PX included in the pixel block PB and / or the diode sensing operation of the organic light emitting diode EL of the plurality of pixels PX included in the pixel block PB, and the non-volatile memory 160 may further store the characteristics (or the amount of degradation of the characteristics) of the driving transistor TDR sensed by the transistor sensing operation and / or the characteristics (or the amount of degradation of the characteristics) of the organic light emitting diode EL sensed by the diode sensing operation.

[0076] The controller 170 (e.g., a timing controller (TCON)) may receive input image data IDAT and a control signal CTRL from an external host processor (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU) or a graphics card). In one embodiment, the input image data IDAT may be RGB image data including red image data, green image data, and blue image data. In one embodiment, the control signal CTRL may include a power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power on or power off of the organic light-emitting display device 100. For example, a high-level power control signal PWR_CTRL may indicate power on of the organic light-emitting display device 100, and a low-level power control signal PWR_CTRL may indicate power off of the organic light-emitting display device 100. In addition, in one embodiment, the control signal CTRL may also include a vertical synchronization signal, a horizontal synchronization signal, an input data enable signal, a main clock signal, etc., but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the controller 170 may correct the input image data IDAT based on the characteristics (or degradation of the characteristics) of the drive transistor TDR and / or the characteristics (or degradation of the characteristics) of the organic light emitting diode EL stored in the non-volatile memory 160, thereby generating output image data ODAT. The data signal DS generated based on the output image data ODAT may compensate for degradation of the drive transistor TDR and / or degradation of the organic light emitting diode EL. The controller 170 may control the operation of the gate driver 140 by providing the gate control signal GCTRL to the gate driver 140, and may control the operation of the data driver 120 by providing the output image data ODAT and the data control signal DCTRL to the data driver 120. Furthermore, the controller 170 may generate a block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN in the sensing circuit 130 indicating whether the sensing operation is to be performed for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB. In response to the block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN, the sensing circuit 130 may selectively perform the sensing operation for each pixel block PB.

[0077] In the organic light-emitting display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 170 may include a lifespan manager 200, which determines whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB. The lifespan manager 200 may read the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI from the non-volatile memory 160, the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI indicating the cumulative block degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks PB up to the previous driving interval, and calculate the current block degradation information indicating the block degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks PB in the current driving interval. The current cumulative block degradation information is calculated by adding the current block degradation information to the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI at the end of the current driving interval. The current cumulative block degradation information indicates the cumulative block degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks PB up to the current driving interval, and the current cumulative block degradation information may be written into the non-volatile memory 160 to be used as the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI in the next driving interval. For example, as Figure 4 As shown, if the organic light-emitting display device 100 receives the power control signal PWR_CTRL having the high level indicating that the organic light-emitting display device 100 is powered on, the power management circuit 150 may generate the power voltage VIN for the controller 170, and the life manager 200 may read the previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI from the nonvolatile memory 160 during the read interval RP. Furthermore, the current driving interval CDP in which the organic light-emitting display device 100 is driven may begin in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating that the organic light-emitting display device 100 is powered on. At the end time point of the current driving interval CDP (i.e., when the organic light emitting display device 100 receives the power control signal PWR_CTRL having the low level indicating power off of the organic light emitting display device 100), the life manager 200 may calculate the current cumulative block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off, and write the current accumulated block degradation information into the nonvolatile memory 160 in the writing interval WP so as to be used as the previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI in the next driving interval. In addition, although Figure 4 The example in which the read interval RP corresponds to the initial interval of the current driving interval CDP is shown, but the read interval RP is not limited to Figure 4 For example, the read interval RP may be any interval within the current driving interval CDP. For example, the read interval RP may start at the end time point of the current driving interval CDP, and the write interval WP may start after the read interval RP.

[0078] Furthermore, the life manager 200 may determine whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB by comparing the current accumulated block degradation information with the sensing reference degradation amount. In one embodiment, in order to determine whether to perform the sensing operation for each pixel block, the life manager 200 may perform the following steps: Figure 5 As shown, it includes a previous degradation storage block 210, a previous final degradation storage block 230, a current degradation calculation block 240, a degradation addition block 215, a final degradation addition block 235, a current degradation storage block 250, a current final degradation storage block 290, a sensing reference storage block 255 and a degradation sensing comparator 260.

[0079] The lifespan manager 200 can read the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI and the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI from the nonvolatile memory 160. The previous degradation memory block 210 can store the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI read from the nonvolatile memory 160, and the previous final degradation memory block 230 can store the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI read from the nonvolatile memory 160. In one embodiment, the lifespan manager 200 can read the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI and the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI from the nonvolatile memory 160 in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power-on. Therefore, the lifespan manager 200 can perform a read operation on the nonvolatile memory 160 during the read interval RP corresponding to the initial interval of the current driving interval CDP.

[0080] The current degradation calculation block 240 may calculate the current block degradation information CBDI, which indicates the block degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks PB in the current drive interval CDP. In one embodiment, the current degradation calculation block 240 may divide the input image data IDAT for the display panel 110 into a plurality of block image data for the plurality of pixel blocks PB. To calculate the current block degradation information CBDI for each pixel block PB, the current degradation calculation block 240 may accumulate or add up the representative grayscale levels (e.g., average grayscale level, maximum grayscale level, total grayscale level, etc.) of the plurality of block image data for each of the plurality of frame intervals in the current drive interval CDP. Therefore, the block degradation amount of the pixel block PB driven based on the block image data representing a high grayscale in the current driving interval CDP, that is, the current block degradation information CBDI, may be greater than the block degradation amount of the pixel block PB driven based on the block image data representing a low grayscale in the current driving interval CDP (that is, the current block degradation information CBDI).

[0081] In one embodiment, the current degradation calculation block 240 may calculate the current accumulated block degradation information CBDI for the current driving interval CDP by applying at least one of a block position weight W_P determined based on the positions of the plurality of pixel blocks PB, a driving frequency weight W_F determined based on the driving frequency of the plurality of pixel blocks PB, a light emission duty cycle weight W_D determined based on the light emission duty cycle of the plurality of pixel blocks PB, and a global current modulation correction value W_GCM for the display panel 110 to the plurality of block image data. For example, the plurality of pixel blocks PB may have different block position weights W_P based on their positions, and the block position weights W_P may be determined based on the characteristics of the display panel 110 during the manufacture of the organic light-emitting display device 100. Furthermore, for example, the driving frequency weight W_F may increase as the driving frequency of the plurality of pixel blocks PB increases, and the current accumulated block degradation information may decrease as the driving frequency weight W_F decreases. Depending on the embodiment, the plurality of pixel blocks PB may be driven at the same driving frequency or at different driving frequencies at a given point in time. In the case where multiple pixel blocks PB are driven at the same driving frequency, the driving frequency weights W_F for the multiple pixel blocks PB may have the same value. And, for example, the luminous duty cycle weight W_D may increase as the luminous duty cycles of the multiple pixel blocks PB increase, and the current accumulated block degradation information may decrease as the luminous duty cycle weight W_D decreases. According to an embodiment, the multiple pixel blocks PB may be driven at the same luminous duty cycle at a time point, or driven at luminous duty cycles different from each other. In the case where the multiple pixel blocks PB are driven at the same luminous duty cycle, the luminous duty cycle weights W_D for the multiple pixel blocks PB may have the same value. And, in the case where the panel current of the display panel 110 is above a predetermined reference current, global current modulation (GCM: Global Current Modulation) may be performed to reduce the panel current, and the global current modulation correction value W_GCM may be determined based on the level of the global current modulation or the amount of reduction in the panel current. For example, the global current modulation correction value W_GCM may decrease as the amount of panel current reduction increases, and the current accumulated block degradation information may decrease as the global current modulation correction value W_GCM decreases. Furthermore, while the same global current modulation correction value W_GCM may be applied to multiple pixel blocks PB, this is not limiting.

[0082] The degradation addition block 215 may calculate current accumulated block degradation information CABDI by adding current block degradation information CBDI to previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI, the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI representing the accumulated block degradation amount for a plurality of pixel blocks PB from the driving interval immediately after the sensing operation is performed to the current driving interval. The current degradation storage block 250 may store the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI calculated by the degradation addition block 215. Furthermore, the final degradation addition block 235 may calculate current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI by adding current block degradation information CBDI to previous final accumulated block degradation information PFABDI, the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI representing the accumulated block degradation amount for a plurality of pixel blocks PB from the initial driving interval to the current driving interval. The current final degradation storage block 290 may store the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI calculated by the final degradation addition block 235. In one embodiment, the calculation of the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI by the degradation addition block 215 and the calculation of the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI by the final degradation addition block 235 may be performed in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off. Furthermore, from the time the organic light-emitting display device 100 is manufactured to the time the sensing operation is performed for each pixel block PB, the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI for the pixel block PB may be the same as the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI for the pixel block PB. However, if the sensing operation is performed for the pixel block PB, the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI for the pixel block PB is reset and may become different from the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI for the pixel block PB.

[0083] The sensing reference storage block 255 may store the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, and the degradation sensing comparator 260 may determine whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB by comparing the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI with the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA stored in the sensing reference storage block 255. In one embodiment, the degradation sensing comparator 260 may perform the operation of comparing the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI with the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off. For example, the degradation sensing comparator 260 may determine not to perform the sensing operation on the pixel block PB when the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI (or the cumulative block degradation amount indicated by the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI) for each pixel block PB is less than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, and may determine to perform the sensing operation on the pixel block PB when the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI (or the cumulative block degradation amount indicated by the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI) for each pixel block PB is equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the degradation sensing comparator 260 may generate a block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN indicating whether the sensing operation is to be performed on each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB. The sensing circuit 130 may selectively perform the sensing operation on each pixel block PB in response to the block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN.

[0084] Furthermore, the degradation sensing comparator 260 may reset the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI greater than or equal to the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA in the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI stored in the current degraded memory block 250. For example, the degradation sensing comparator 260 may generate a block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN indicating whether each pixel block PB performs the sensing operation, and the block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN may be provided to the current degraded memory block 250 as a block reset signal BLK_RESET. In response to the block reset signal BLK_RESET, the current degraded memory block 250 may reset the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI for the pixel block PB determined to perform the sensing operation to an initial degradation amount (e.g., a value of 0).

[0085] In response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off, the lifetime manager 200 can write the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI and the current final cumulative block degradation information CFABDI to the nonvolatile memory 160, so that the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI and the current final cumulative block degradation information CFABDI in the current driving interval CDP are used as the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI and the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI in the next driving interval. Therefore, the lifetime manager 200 can perform a write operation on the nonvolatile memory 160 in the write interval WP after the current driving interval CDP. Furthermore, since the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI for the pixel block PB determined to perform the sensing operation is reset to the initial degradation amount or the value of zero, the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI for the pixel block PB in the next driving interval can be the initial degradation amount or the value of zero.

[0086] As described above, in the organic light-emitting display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, current cumulative block degradation information CABDI for a plurality of pixel blocks PB can be calculated by adding current block degradation information CBDI to previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI. Furthermore, whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB can be determined by comparing the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI with the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA. Therefore, by selectively performing the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB, the sensing time required to perform the sensing operation can be shortened compared to a case where the sensing operation is performed for all pixels PX of the display panel 110.

[0087] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a degradation sensing method of an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel displaying a solid black pattern in the current driving interval. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel displaying a solid white pattern in the current driving interval. Figure 9 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel that displays a partial white pattern in the current driving interval.

[0088] Reference Figure 1 、 Figure 5 as well as Figure 6In the degradation sensing method of the organic light-emitting display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the lifespan manager 200 may read previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI from the non-volatile memory 160. The previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI indicates accumulated block degradation amounts for a plurality of pixel blocks up to a previous driving interval (S310). In one embodiment, the lifespan manager 200 may further read previous final accumulated block degradation information PFABDI from the non-volatile memory 160. The previous final accumulated block degradation information PFABDI indicates accumulated block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks from an initial driving interval to the previous driving interval.

[0089] The lifespan manager 200 may calculate current block degradation information CBDI indicating block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks in the current driving interval (S330), and in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off, add the current block degradation information CBDI to the previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI to calculate current accumulated block degradation information CABDI indicating accumulated block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks up to the current driving interval (S340). In one embodiment, the lifespan manager 200 may further calculate current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previous final accumulated block degradation information PFABDI in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off, wherein the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI indicates accumulated block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks from the initial driving interval to the current driving interval.

[0090] The lifespan manager 200 may determine whether to perform a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI with the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA (S360). In one embodiment, if each current accumulated block degradation information CABDI is less than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, the lifespan manager 200 may determine not to perform the sensing operation for the pixel block corresponding to the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI. If each current accumulated block degradation information CABDI is equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, the lifespan manager 200 may determine to perform the sensing operation for the pixel block corresponding to the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI. Furthermore, the lifespan manager 200 may reset the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI for the pixel block for which the sensing operation is determined to be performed to an initial degradation amount.

[0091] The sensing circuit 130 may receive a block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN indicating whether the sensing operation is to be performed for each pixel block from the lifespan manager 200, and may selectively perform the sensing operation for each pixel block PB in response to the block sensing enable signal BLK_SEN_EN (S380). Depending on the embodiment, the sensing circuit 130 may perform a transistor sensing operation on the driving transistors of the plurality of pixels PX included in the pixel block determined to perform the sensing operation and / or a diode sensing operation on the organic light emitting diodes of the plurality of pixels PX included in the pixel block.

[0092] For example, Figure 7 As shown, when the display panel 110a displays a full black pattern during the current driving interval, the block degradation amount indicated by the current block degradation information CBDI of all pixel blocks of the display panel 110a may be 0, and the cumulative block degradation amount indicated by the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI of all pixel blocks may not increase from the cumulative block degradation amount indicated by the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI of all pixel blocks. Therefore, the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI of all pixel blocks may be less than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, the lifespan manager 200 may determine not to perform the sensing operation for all pixel blocks, and the sensing circuit 130 may not perform the sensing operation for all pixels PX.

[0093] In another example, Figure 8 As shown, when the display panel 110b displays a full white pattern during the current driving interval, the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI of all pixel blocks of the display panel 110b may be increased from the previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI of all pixel blocks. Furthermore, when the current accumulated block degradation information CABDI of all pixel blocks is equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, the life manager 200 may determine to perform the sensing operation for all pixel blocks, and the sensing circuit 130 may perform the sensing operation for all pixels PX.

[0094] In another example, Figure 9As shown, when display panel 110c displays a local white pattern including a black image for pixel block PBa and a white image for pixel block PBb, the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI for pixel block PBa may not be incremented from the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI for pixel block PBa, while the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI for pixel block PBb may be incremented from the previous cumulative block degradation information PABDI for pixel block PBb. In this case, the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI for pixel block PBa may be less than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA, while the current cumulative block degradation information CABDI for pixel block PBb may be equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount SRDA. Therefore, lifespan manager 200 can determine that only pixel block PBb is performing the sensing operation, and sensing circuit 130 can perform the sensing operation only for the pixels PX included in pixel block PBb. Consequently, the sensing time required to perform the sensing operation can be shortened compared to a case where the sensing operation is performed for all pixels PX of display panel 110.

[0095] Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a lifespan manager included in an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 12 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a pixel that performs a transistor sensing operation, Figure 13 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a pixel that performs a diode sensing operation.

[0096] Reference Figure 10 , the organic light emitting display device 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a display panel 410, a data driver 420, a sensing circuit 430, a gate driver 440, a power management circuit 450, a non-volatile memory 460, and a controller 470. Figure 10 In the organic light-emitting display device 400, the nonvolatile memory 460 stores the previous accumulated block transistor degradation information PABTDI and the previous accumulated block diode degradation information PABDDI instead of the previous accumulated block degradation information PABDI, the life manager 500 of the controller 470 independently determines whether each pixel block performs a transistor sensing operation and whether each pixel block performs a diode sensing operation, and the sensing circuit 430 independently performs the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation for each pixel block. In addition to these, Figure 10 The organic light emitting display device 400 may have Figure 1 The organic light emitting display device 100 has a similar structure and operation.

[0097] The non-volatile memory 460 may store previous accumulated block transistor degradation information PABTDI, which indicates accumulated block transistor degradation amounts of drive transistors of a plurality of pixels PX included in a plurality of pixel blocks up to a previous driving interval, and previous accumulated block diode degradation information PABDDI, which indicates accumulated block diode degradation amounts of organic light emitting diodes of a plurality of pixels PX included in the plurality of pixel blocks up to the previous driving interval. For example, the accumulated block transistor degradation amounts of the corresponding pixel blocks PB indicated by each piece of previous accumulated block transistor degradation information PABTDI may be calculated by accumulating or adding the block degradation amounts of the corresponding pixel blocks PB in the driving interval from the driving interval immediately after the transistor sensing operation is performed on the corresponding pixel blocks PB to the driving interval immediately before the current driving interval. Furthermore, for example, the cumulative block diode degradation amount of the corresponding pixel block PB represented by each previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI can be calculated by accumulating or adding the block degradation amounts of the corresponding pixel block PB in the driving interval from the driving interval immediately after the diode sensing operation is performed on the corresponding pixel block PB to the driving interval immediately before the current driving interval. In one embodiment, the non-volatile memory 460 may further store previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI, which represents the cumulative block degradation amount for the plurality of pixel blocks PB from the initial driving interval to the previous driving interval. Furthermore, from the time after the organic light-emitting display device 400 is manufactured to the time before the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation are performed on each pixel block PB, the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI, the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI, and the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI may be identical. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the non-volatile memory 460 may further store the characteristics (or the degradation amount of the characteristics) of the driving transistor of each pixel PX sensed by the transistor sensing operation and the characteristics (or the degradation amount of the characteristics) of the organic light emitting diode of each pixel PX sensed by the diode sensing operation.

[0098] The controller 470 may include a lifetime manager 500, which determines whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB, and determines whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB. In one embodiment, in order to determine whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each pixel block, and determine whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each pixel block, the lifetime manager 500 may be configured as follows: Figure 11As shown, it includes a previous transistor degradation storage block 510, a previous diode degradation storage block 520, a previous final degradation storage block 530, a current degradation calculation block 540, a transistor degradation addition block 515, a diode degradation addition block 525, a final degradation addition block 535, a current transistor degradation storage block 550, a current diode degradation storage block 570, a current final degradation storage block 590, a transistor sensing reference storage block 555, a diode sensing reference storage block 575, a transistor degradation sensing comparator 560 and a diode degradation sensing comparator 580.

[0099] The life manager 500 can read the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI, the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI, and the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI from the nonvolatile memory 460 in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating that the organic light-emitting display device 400 is powered on. The previous transistor degradation storage block 510 can store the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI read from the nonvolatile memory 460, the previous diode degradation storage block 520 stores the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI read from the nonvolatile memory 460, and the previous final degradation storage block 530 stores the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI read from the nonvolatile memory 460.

[0100] The current degradation calculation block 540 may calculate current block degradation information CBD1 for the current driving interval. The transistor degradation addition block 515 may calculate current accumulated block transistor degradation information CABTDI for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previously accumulated block transistor degradation information PABTDI in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power-off of the organic light-emitting display device 400. The current transistor degradation storage block 550 may store the current accumulated block transistor degradation information CABTDI calculated by the transistor degradation addition block 515. The diode degradation addition block 525 may calculate current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previously accumulated block diode degradation information PABDDI in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power-off. The current diode degradation storage block 570 may store the current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI calculated by the diode degradation addition block 525. Furthermore, the final degradation addition block 535 may calculate current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previous final accumulated block degradation information PFABDI, and the current final degradation storage block 590 may store the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI calculated by the final degradation addition block 535. Furthermore, from after the organic light-emitting display device 400 is manufactured to before the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation are performed for each pixel block PB, the current accumulated block transistor degradation information CAB TDI for the pixel block PB, the current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI for the pixel block PB, and the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI for the pixel block PB may be identical to each other. However, if the transistor sensing operation is performed on the pixel block PB, the current accumulated block transistor degradation information CABTDI for the pixel block PB is reset, and the current accumulated block transistor degradation information CABTDI for the pixel block PB may become different from the current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI for the pixel block PB and the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI for the pixel block PB. Furthermore, if the diode sensing operation is performed on the pixel block PB, the current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI for the pixel block PB is reset, and the current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI for the pixel block PB may become different from the current accumulated block transistor degradation information CABTDI for the pixel block PB and the current final accumulated block degradation information CFABDI for the pixel block PB.

[0101] The transistor sensing reference storage block 555 may store a transistor sensing reference degradation amount TSRDA. The transistor degradation sensing comparator 560 may compare the current accumulated block transistor degradation information CABTDI with the transistor sensing reference degradation amount TSRDA stored in the transistor sensing reference storage block 555 in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off, thereby determining whether to perform the transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB. Furthermore, the diode sensing reference storage block 575 may store a diode sensing reference degradation amount DSRDA. The diode degradation sensing comparator 580 may compare the current accumulated block diode degradation information CABDDI with the diode sensing reference degradation amount DSRDA stored in the diode sensing reference storage block 575 in response to the power control signal PWR_CTRL indicating power off, thereby determining whether to perform the diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB. In one embodiment, the transistor sensing reference degradation amount TSRDA and the diode sensing reference degradation amount DSRDA may be different from each other. Therefore, the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation for each pixel block may not always be performed in the same driving interval, but may be performed in different driving intervals.

[0102] In one embodiment, the transistor degradation sensing comparator 560 may generate a block transistor sensing enable signal BLK_TR_SEN_EN indicating whether each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB performs the transistor sensing operation, and the sensing circuit 430 may selectively perform the transistor sensing operation for each pixel block PB in response to the block transistor sensing enable signal BLK_TR_SEN_EN. Figure 12 As shown, a sensing data voltage VSD can be applied via a data line DL to each pixel PX included in a pixel block determined to perform the transistor sensing operation, and a scan signal SC can be applied to the pixel PX. In this case, the driving transistor TDR can be turned on based on the sensing data voltage VSD, and the source voltage of the driving transistor TDR can be saturated to a voltage VSD-VTH obtained by subtracting the threshold voltage VTH of the driving transistor TDR from the sensing data voltage VSD. The threshold voltage VTH of the driving transistor TDR can be sensed by applying a sensing signal SS to the pixel PX and causing the sensing circuit 430 to measure the saturated source voltage VSD-VTH of the driving transistor TDR via the sensing line SL. The threshold voltage VTH (or the amount of degradation of the threshold voltage VTH) of the driving transistor TDR of each pixel PX sensed by this transistor sensing operation can be stored in the non-volatile memory 460.

[0103] Furthermore, in one embodiment, the diode degradation sensing comparator 580 may generate a block diode sensing enable signal BLK_D_SEN_EN indicating whether each of the plurality of pixel blocks PB performs the diode sensing operation, and the sensing circuit 430 may selectively perform the diode sensing operation for each pixel block PB in response to the block diode sensing enable signal BLK_D_SEN_EN. Figure 13 As shown, a cutoff voltage VOFF can be applied to each pixel PX included in the pixel block determined to perform the diode sensing operation via a data line DL, and a scan signal SC can be applied to the pixel PX. In this case, the drive transistor TDR can be turned off based on the cutoff voltage VOFF. A sensing signal SS can be applied to the pixel PX, and the sensing circuit 430 applies a reference voltage VREF to the anode of the organic light emitting diode EL via a sensing line SL. Furthermore, the sensing circuit 430 can sense the voltage VREF-current IEL characteristic of the organic light emitting diode EL by measuring the current IEL of the organic light emitting diode EL generated based on the reference voltage VREF. The voltage VREF-current IEL characteristic (or the amount of degradation of the voltage VREF-current IEL characteristic) of the organic light emitting diode EL of each pixel PX sensed by this diode sensing operation can be stored in the non-volatile memory 460.

[0104] The transistor degradation sensing comparator 560 can reset the current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI stored in the current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI of the current transistor degradation storage block 550, which is equal to or greater than the transistor sensing reference degradation amount TSRDA. The diode degradation sensing comparator 580 can reset the current cumulative block diode degradation information CABDDI stored in the current cumulative block diode degradation information CABDDI of the current diode degradation storage block 570, which is equal to or greater than the diode sensing reference degradation amount DSRDA. The current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI, the current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI, and the current final cumulative block degradation information CFABDI in the current driving interval can be written into the nonvolatile memory 460 to be used as the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI, the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI, and the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI in the next driving interval.

[0105] As described above, in the organic light-emitting display device 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI for the multiple pixel blocks can be calculated by adding the current block degradation information CBDI and the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI, the current cumulative block diode degradation information CABDDI for the multiple pixel blocks can be calculated by adding the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI and the current block degradation information CBDI, and whether the transistor sensing operation is to be performed for each of the multiple pixel blocks can be determined by comparing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI with the transistor sensing reference degradation amount TSRDA, and whether the diode sensing operation is to be performed for each of the multiple pixel blocks can be determined by comparing the current cumulative block diode degradation information CABDDI with the diode sensing reference degradation amount DSRDA. Therefore, the transistor sensing operation is selectively performed on each of the multiple pixel blocks, and the diode sensing operation is selectively performed on each of the multiple pixel blocks independently of the transistor sensing operation, so that the sensing time of performing the transistor sensing operation and / or the diode sensing operation can be shortened compared to the case where the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation are performed on all pixels PX of the display panel 410.

[0106] Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a degradation sensing method of an organic light emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0107] Reference Figure 10 、 Figure 11 as well as Figure 14 In the degradation sensing method for the organic light-emitting display device 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the lifetime manager 500 may read previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI from the nonvolatile memory 460 (S610), wherein the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI indicates the cumulative block transistor degradation amount of the driving transistors of the plurality of pixels PX included in the plurality of pixel blocks until the previous driving interval. Furthermore, the lifetime manager 500 may read previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI from the nonvolatile memory 460 (S620), wherein the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI indicates the cumulative block diode degradation amount of the organic light-emitting diodes of the plurality of pixels PX included in the plurality of pixel blocks until the previous driving interval. In one embodiment, the lifetime manager 500 may further read previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI from the nonvolatile memory 460.

[0108] The lifetime manager 500 may calculate current block degradation information CBDI in the current driving interval (S630), and may calculate current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previous cumulative block transistor degradation information PABTDI (S640), and may calculate current cumulative block diode degradation information CABDDI for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previous cumulative block diode degradation information PABDDI (S650). In one embodiment, the lifetime manager 500 may further calculate current final cumulative block degradation information CFABDI for the plurality of pixel blocks by adding the current block degradation information CBDI to the previous final cumulative block degradation information PFABDI.

[0109] The lifetime manager 500 may determine whether to perform a transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block transistor degradation information CABTDI with the transistor sensing reference degradation amount TSRDA (S660), and may determine whether to perform a diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block diode degradation information CABDDI with the diode sensing reference degradation amount DSRDA (S670).

[0110] The sensing circuit 430 may receive a block transistor sensing enable signal BLK_TR_SEN_EN from the lifetime manager 500 indicating whether the transistor sensing operation is to be performed for each pixel block, and selectively perform the transistor sensing operation for each pixel block PB in response to the block transistor sensing enable signal BLK_TR_SEN_EN (S680). Furthermore, the sensing circuit 430 may receive a block diode sensing enable signal BLK_D_SEN_EN from the lifetime manager 500 indicating whether the diode sensing operation is to be performed for each pixel block, and selectively perform the diode sensing operation for each pixel block PB in response to the block diode sensing enable signal BLK_D_SEN_EN (S690). Therefore, compared to a case where the transistor sensing operation and the diode sensing operation are performed for all pixels PX of the display panel 410, the sensing time for performing the transistor sensing operation and / or the diode sensing operation may be shortened.

[0111] Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device including an organic light-emitting display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0112] Reference Figure 15The electronic device 1100 may include a processor 1110, a memory device 1120, a storage device 1130, an input / output device 1140, a power supply 1150, and an organic light-emitting display device 1160. The electronic device 1100 may also include a plurality of ports capable of communicating with a graphics card, a sound card, a memory card, a USB device, or other systems.

[0113] Processor 1110 can perform specific calculations or tasks. In one embodiment, processor 1110 can be a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), or the like. Processor 1110 can be connected to other components via an address bus, a control bus, and a data bus. In one embodiment, processor 1110 can also be connected to an expansion bus such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

[0114] The memory device 1120 may store data required for the operation of the electronic device 1100 . For example, the memory device 1120 may include non-volatile memory devices such as erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, phase change random access memory (PRAM), resistance random access memory (RRAM), nano floating gate memory (NFGM), polymer random access memory (PoRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), and / or volatile memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), mobile DRAM devices, and the like.

[0115] The storage device 1130 may include a solid-state drive (SSD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a CD-ROM, etc. The input / output device 1140 may include input units such as a keyboard, a keypad, a touch panel, a touch screen, a mouse, etc., and output units such as a speaker, a printer, etc. The power supply 1150 may supply the power required for the operation of the electronic device 1100. The organic light-emitting display device 1160 may be connected to other components via the bus or other communication links.

[0116] In the organic light-emitting display device 1160, current cumulative block degradation information for a plurality of pixel blocks can be calculated by adding current block degradation information to previously accumulated block degradation information. Furthermore, whether to perform a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks can be determined by comparing the current cumulative block degradation information with a sensing reference degradation amount. Therefore, by selectively performing the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks, the sensing time required to perform the sensing operation can be shortened. In one embodiment, whether to perform a transistor sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks and whether to perform a diode sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks can be determined independently of each other, thereby further shortening the sensing time required to perform the transistor sensing operation and / or the diode sensing operation.

[0117] In one embodiment, the electronic device 1100 can be any electronic device including an organic light-emitting display device 1160, such as a digital television, a 3D television, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a virtual reality device, a personal computer (PC), a home electronic device, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), a digital camera, a music player, a portable game console, a navigation system, etc.

[0118] Industrial Application Possibilities

[0119] The present invention can be applied to any organic light-emitting display device and electronic devices including the same. For example, the present invention can be applied to digital televisions, 3D televisions, mobile phones, smartphones, tablet computers, virtual reality devices, personal computers, home electronic devices, notebook computers, personal information terminals, portable multi-function players, digital cameras, music players, portable game consoles, and navigation systems.

[0120] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and technical scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Claims

1. An organic light-emitting display device, comprising: A display panel including a plurality of pixels, wherein the plurality of pixels are grouped into a plurality of pixel blocks; a nonvolatile memory storing previous cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks up to a previous driving interval; a controller that calculates current block degradation information, the current block degradation information indicating block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks in a current driving interval, calculates current cumulative block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous cumulative block degradation information in response to a power control signal indicating power-off, the current cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks up to the current driving interval, and determines whether to perform a sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current cumulative block degradation information with a sensing reference degradation amount; as well as a sensing circuit that selectively performs the sensing operation on each of the plurality of pixel blocks, The controller determines to perform the sensing operation on the pixel block corresponding to each piece of current accumulated block degradation information when the piece of current accumulated block degradation information is greater than the sensing reference degradation amount. The controller resets the respective current accumulated block degradation information for the pixel blocks determined to perform the sensing operation to initial degradation amounts, so that in a next driving interval, previous accumulated block degradation information for the pixel blocks for which the sensing operation has been performed in the previous accumulated block degradation information indicates the initial degradation amounts.

2. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The controller divides input image data into a plurality of block image data for the plurality of pixel blocks, and accumulates the plurality of block image data in each of a plurality of frame intervals to calculate the current block degradation information in the current driving interval.

3. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 2, wherein: The controller calculates the current accumulated block degradation information in the current driving interval by applying, to the plurality of block image data, at least one of block position weights determined according to positions of the plurality of pixel blocks, driving frequency weights determined according to driving frequencies of the plurality of pixel blocks, emission duty cycle weights determined according to emission duty cycles of the plurality of pixel blocks, and a global current modulation correction value for the display panel.

4. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The controller reads the previous accumulated block degradation information from the nonvolatile memory in response to the power control signal indicating power-on.

5. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The controller writes the current cumulative block degradation information in the nonvolatile memory in response to the power control signal indicating the power off to use the current cumulative block degradation information in the current driving interval as the previous cumulative block degradation information in a next driving interval.

6. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The controller determines not to perform the sensing operation on pixel blocks corresponding to the respective pieces of current accumulated block degradation information among the plurality of pixel blocks if the respective pieces of current accumulated block degradation information are smaller than the sensing reference degradation amount.

7. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 6, wherein: When the display panel displays a full black pattern during the current driving interval, the controller determines not to perform the sensing operation for all pixel blocks, and the sensing circuit does not perform the sensing operation for all pixels. When the display panel displays a full white pattern during the current driving interval, the determining step includes performing the sensing operation on all pixel blocks, and the sensing circuit performs the sensing operation on all pixels.

8. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The nonvolatile memory further stores previous final cumulative block degradation information, the previous final cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts of the plurality of pixel blocks from an initial driving interval to the previous driving interval. The controller calculates current final cumulative block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final cumulative block degradation information in response to the power control signal indicating the power-off, the current final cumulative block degradation information indicating cumulative block degradation amounts for the plurality of pixel blocks from the initial driving interval to the current driving interval.

9. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The controller includes a lifetime manager that determines whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks. Wherein, the life manager includes: a previous degradation storage block storing the previous accumulated block degradation information read from the nonvolatile memory; a previous final degradation storage block storing previous final accumulated block degradation information read from the nonvolatile memory; a current degradation calculation block for calculating degradation information of the current block in the current driving interval; a degradation adding block for calculating the current accumulated block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous accumulated block degradation information; a final degradation adding block for calculating current final accumulated block degradation information by adding the current block degradation information to the previous final accumulated block degradation information; A current degradation storage block, storing the current accumulated block degradation information; A current final degradation storage block, storing the current final accumulated block degradation information; a sensing reference storage block storing the sensing reference degradation amount; and a degradation sensing comparator that determines whether to perform the sensing operation for each of the plurality of pixel blocks by comparing the current accumulated block degradation information with the sensing reference degradation amount, and resets the current accumulated block degradation information that is equal to or greater than the sensing reference degradation amount among the current accumulated block degradation information stored in the current degradation storage block.

10. The organic light emitting display device according to claim 1, wherein: The sensing operation for each of the multiple pixel blocks includes at least one of a transistor sensing operation and a diode sensing operation, wherein the transistor sensing operation is an operation of a driving transistor of the multiple pixels included in each of the multiple pixel blocks, and the diode sensing operation is an operation of an organic light emitting diode of the multiple pixels included in each of the multiple pixel blocks.

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