Electronic circuit and gate driver circuit

Abstract

The present invention provides an electronic circuit and a gate driver circuit, which are applicable to controlling the operation of the gate driver circuit. The electronic circuit includes a gate control circuit. The gate control circuit outputs a control signal to the gate driver circuit via the same output node during a display period and a fingerprint sensing period. The control signal includes a start pulse signal and a switch control signal. The switch control signal controls the gate driver circuit to operate during the display period or the fingerprint sensing period. The gate driver circuit includes a plurality of shift register groups and a switch circuit. The shift register groups output scan signals according to the start pulse signal. The switch circuit receives the scan signals during the display period according to the switch control signal and outputs the scan signals to display scan lines, and outputs the scan signals to fingerprint scan lines during the fingerprint sensing period.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic circuit and a gate driver circuit, and more particularly, to an electronic circuit suitable for controlling the operation of a gate driver circuit and a gate driver circuit suitable for driving a display panel. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the demand for fingerprint sensing has gradually increased. To reduce the volume of an electronic device, a fingerprint sensing area may overlap with a display area of the electronic device. For example, under-display fingerprint recognition technology embeds a fingerprint sensor in a display panel, and the fingerprint sensor can sense or obtain a fingerprint image through the display panel. When a touch event such as fingerprint recognition occurs, the touch event can be reported to an application processor of the electronic device via a specified interface. Next, the application processor further controls a display driving circuit to drive the display panel to display an image for fingerprint sensing. On the other hand, the application processor further controls a fingerprint sensing circuit to perform a fingerprint sensing operation. The fingerprint sensing circuit transmits sensing information to the application processor for fingerprint recognition after the fingerprint sensing operation, and then the application processor completes fingerprint recognition based on the sensing information.

[0003] However, for an electronic circuit capable of driving a display panel to perform a display operation and a fingerprint sensing operation, multiple pins and complex wiring may be required between the electronic circuit and the display panel for signal transmission. The multiple pins and complex wiring will increase the width of a frame area of the display panel. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention relates to an electronic circuit and a gate driver circuit, where the electronic circuit is suitable for controlling the operation of the gate driver circuit, and the gate driver circuit is suitable for driving a display panel, and the width of a frame area of the display panel is small.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic circuit suitable for controlling the operation of a gate driver circuit. The gate driver circuit is disposed on a display panel. The electronic circuit includes a gate control circuit. The gate control circuit is configured to output a plurality of control signals to the gate driver circuit via a plurality of output nodes of the electronic circuit during display. The gate control circuit is configured to output a control signal to the gate driver circuit via the same output node of the electronic circuit during fingerprint sensing. The control signal includes a clock signal, at least one start pulse signal, and at least one switch control signal. The switch control signal is configured to control the gate driver circuit to operate during display or during fingerprint sensing.

[0006] In an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel is divided into a plurality of fingerprint sensing regions in the column direction of the display panel. When the gate control circuit outputs a control signal to the gate driver circuit during fingerprint sensing, the gate driver circuit drives at least one of the fingerprint sensing regions in the fingerprint sensing region to perform a fingerprint sensing operation.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present invention, a finger touches only one of the fingerprint sensing regions in the fingerprint sensing region during fingerprint sensing. The gate control circuit outputs a start pulse signal to the gate driver circuit, and thus the gate driver circuit drives only one fingerprint sensing region according to a start pulse signal to sense the fingerprint of the finger.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present invention, a finger touches at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions in the fingerprint sensing region during fingerprint sensing. The gate control circuit outputs at least two start pulse signals to the gate driver circuit, and thus the gate driver circuit drives at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions according to at least two start pulse signals to sense the fingerprint of the finger.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present invention, the gate control circuit outputs a start pulse signal to the gate driver circuit during display, and thus the gate driver circuit drives the display panel to perform a display operation according to a start pulse signal.

[0010] In an embodiment of the present invention, the gate control circuit outputs a plurality of start pulse signals to the gate driver circuit during display, and thus the gate driver circuit drives different regions of the display panel to perform a display operation according to corresponding start pulse signals.

[0011] An embodiment of the present invention provides a gate driver circuit disposed on a display panel. The display panel includes a plurality of display scan lines and a plurality of fingerprint scan lines. The gate driver circuit includes a plurality of shift register groups and a first switch circuit. The plurality of shift register groups are configured to output a plurality of scan signals according to at least one start pulse signal. The first switch circuit is coupled to the shift register group and is configured to receive the scan signal. According to at least one switch control signal, the first switch circuit outputs the scan signal to the display scan line during display and outputs the scan signal to the fingerprint scan line during fingerprint sensing.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, the gate driver circuit further includes a second switch circuit. The second switch circuit is coupled to the shift register group. The second switch circuit is configured to connect two adjacent shift register groups in the shift register group. Two adjacent shift register groups in the shift register group include a first shift register group and a second shift register group adjacent to the first shift register group. The second switch circuit is turned on during display according to a start pulse control signal to transmit at least one start pulse signal from the first shift register group to the second shift register group.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel is divided into a plurality of fingerprint sensing regions in the column direction of the display panel. The second switch circuit is not turned on according to the start pulse control signal during fingerprint sensing. The shift register group outputs a scan signal to the fingerprint scan line to drive a corresponding fingerprint sensing region to perform a fingerprint sensing operation according to a corresponding start pulse signal.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present invention, a finger only touches one fingerprint sensing region in the fingerprint sensing regions. The corresponding shift register group outputs a scan signal to the fingerprint scan line to drive the touched fingerprint sensing region to perform a fingerprint sensing operation according to a start pulse signal during fingerprint sensing.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present invention, a finger touches at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions in the fingerprint sensing regions. At least two corresponding shift register groups output a scan signal to the fingerprint scan line to drive the at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions touched to perform a fingerprint sensing operation according to corresponding start pulse signals during fingerprint sensing.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the shift register groups includes a plurality of shift registers. When the second switch circuit is turned on during display, the scan signal output from the last shift register in the first shift register group is transmitted to the first shift register in the second shift register group via the second switch circuit as a start pulse signal.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present invention, each shift register group further includes a plurality of virtual shift registers. When transmitting the start pulse signal via the second switch circuit, the start pulse signal is not transmitted through the virtual shift registers.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present invention, the gate driver circuit further includes a decoder. The decoder is coupled to the shift register group and is configured to decode at least one encoded start pulse signal to generate at least one start pulse signal.

[0019] To make the foregoing content easier to understand, several embodiments with accompanying drawings are described in detail below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and the drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, are used to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing Figure 1 of the display panel.

[0023] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing Figure 1 of the electronic circuit.

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device operating during fingerprint sensing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device operating during display Figure 6 of.

[0028] Figure 8 is a waveform diagram of a control signal for controlling the operation of an electronic device Figure 6 of.

[0029] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 12 is a waveform diagram of a control signal for controlling the operation of a gate driver circuit Figure 11 of.

[0033] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit and a decoder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 14is a waveform diagram of a control signal for controlling the operation of a Figure 13 gate driver circuit and a decoder.

[0035] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of a display panel operating during fingerprint sensing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of a Figure 15 display panel operating during display.

[0037] Figure 17 is a waveform diagram of a control signal for controlling the operation of a Figure 15 display panel.

[0038] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Description of Reference Numerals in the Drawings

[0041] 100, 200, 300: Electronic devices;

[0042] 110: Electronic circuit;

[0043] 112: Driving circuit;

[0044] 116: Fingerprint sensing circuit;

[0045] 120: Display panel;

[0046] 121: Timing controller;

[0047] 122: Display pixel;

[0048] 123: Controller or processor;

[0049] 126: Fingerprint sensor;

[0050] 130: Control circuit;

[0051] 140: Signal transmission interface;

[0052] 161: Digital circuit;

[0053] 241, 242, 243, 244: Switching unit;

[0054] 410: Gate control circuit;

[0055] 420, 520, 620: Gate driver circuit;

[0056] 422: First array upper gate circuit;

[0057] 424: Second array upper gate circuit;

[0058] 430: Output node;

[0059] 522, 522_1, 522_2, 522_3, 522_4, 622_1, 622_2: Shift register group;

[0060] 524, 624: First switch circuit;

[0061] 526: GOA circuit;

[0062] 530: Decoder;

[0063] 626: Second switch circuit;

[0064] AA: Active area;

[0065] CK1, CK2, CK3: Clock signals;

[0066] DP_1, DP_2, DP_3, DP_Y, DP_Y+1, DP_Y+2, DP_Y+3, DP_Y+Y, FPR_1, FPR_2, FPR_3, FPR_Y: Scan signals;

[0067] DSR-1, DSR-2, DSR-N, DSR-N+1, DSR-N+2, DSR-N+M: Virtual shift registers;

[0068] FSL: Fingerprint sensing line;

[0069] GDL: Display scan line;

[0070] GSL: Fingerprint scan line;

[0071] S1, S2: Switch control signals;

[0072] S3: Synchronization signal;

[0073] S4: Start pulse control signal;

[0074] S4B: Inverted signal;

[0075] SDL: Display data line;

[0076] SR_1, SR_2, SR_3, SR_Y, SR_10Y: Shift registers;

[0077] STV1, STV2, STV3, STV4, STV1', STV15': Startup pulse signals;

[0078] SW1: The first switching element;

[0079] SW2: The second switching element;

[0080] SZ1, SZ2, SZ3, SZ4: Fingerprint sensing areas;

[0081] T1: Display period;

[0082] T2: Fingerprint sensing period;

[0083] W1, W2: Widths;

[0084] Y: Column direction. Detailed implementation manners

[0085] The following embodiments are provided to describe the present disclosure in detail. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the provided embodiments, and the provided embodiments can be appropriately combined. The term "coupling / coupled" or "connecting / connected" used in the specification (including the claims) of this application can refer to any direct or indirect connection manner. For example, "the first device is coupled to the second device" should be interpreted as "the first device is directly connected to the second device" or "the first device is indirectly connected to the second device through other devices or connection components". In addition, the term "signal" can refer to current, voltage, charge, temperature, data, electromagnetic wave, or any one or more signals.

[0086] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Refer to Figure 1 , the electronic device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an electronic circuit 110 and a display panel 120. The display panel 120 includes a fingerprint sensor. The electronic circuit 110 can be configured to be coupled to the display panel 120. The electronic circuit 110 is suitable for driving the display panel 120.

[0087] In this embodiment, the electronic device 100 may be an electronic device having a display function and a fingerprint sensing function. In one embodiment, the electronic device 100 may be, but is not limited to, a smart phone, a non-smart phone, a wearable electronic device, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a notebook computer, and other portable electronic devices that can operate independently and have a display function and a fingerprint sensing function. In one embodiment, the electronic device 100 may be, but is not limited to, a portable or non-portable electronic device in a vehicle intelligent system. In one embodiment, the electronic device 100 may be, but is not limited to, smart household appliances such as a television, a computer, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a telephone, an induction cooker, a table lamp, etc.

[0088] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing Figure 1 the display panel. Referring to Figure 2 , the display panel 120 of the embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of display pixels 122 and a plurality of fingerprint sensors 126. The electronic circuit 110 drives and controls the display panel 120 to perform a display operation and a fingerprint sensing operation. Specifically, the electronic circuit 110 drives and controls the display pixels 122 to display an image via the display scan line GDL and the display data line SDL. The electronic circuit 110 also drives and controls the fingerprint sensor 126 to sense a fingerprint image on the display panel 120 via the fingerprint scan line GSL and the fingerprint sensing line FSL.

[0089] In one embodiment, the display panel 120 may be an in-cell fingerprint and display panel embedded with a fingerprint sensor, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the electronic circuit 110 can drive and control the electronic device 100 to perform an under-screen fingerprint recognition operation, that is, a fingerprint identification operation. In one embodiment, the fingerprint sensor 126 may be an optical fingerprint sensor.

[0090] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram showing Figure 1 the electronic circuit. Referring to Figure 2 and Figure 3, the electronic circuit 110 may include a display driving circuit 112 and a fingerprint sensing circuit 116. The display driving circuit 112 is configured to drive and control display pixels 122 to display an image via display scan lines GDL and display data lines SDL. The display driving circuit 112 generates a display driving signal for driving the display data lines SDL of the display panel 120. The display driving circuit 112 may include a timing controller 121, a display driver, and other functional circuits for display operations. The display driving circuit 112 may further include other controllers or processors 123 for other control activities of display operations. The fingerprint sensing circuit 116 is configured to drive and control a fingerprint sensor 126 to sense a fingerprint on the display panel 120 via fingerprint scan lines GSL and fingerprint sensing lines FSL. The fingerprint sensing circuit 116 receives a fingerprint sensing signal corresponding to a fingerprint image from the fingerprint sensor 126 and may also process the fingerprint sensing signal to obtain a fingerprint image. The fingerprint sensing circuit 116 may include a digital circuit 161, an AFE circuit, an ADC circuit, and other functional circuits for fingerprint sensing operations.

[0091] The electronic circuit 110 can be implemented with a single semiconductor chip, or the electronic circuit 110 can be implemented with two different semiconductor chips respectively including the display driving circuit 112 and the fingerprint sensing circuit 116. When the electronic circuit 110 is implemented with a single semiconductor chip that can drive and control the display panel 120 to perform display operations and fingerprint sensing operations, the electronic circuit 110 may include a control circuit 130, and the control circuit 130 can be a circuit based on a micro-controller-based core to perform all control activities of display operations and fingerprint sensing operations. The control circuit 130 may include at least one of the timing controller 121, the digital circuit 161, and other controllers or processors 123 of the display driving circuit 112.

[0092] The display driving circuit 112 and the fingerprint sensing circuit 116 communicate with each other via a signal transmission interface such as a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI), an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) interface, a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), and / or other similar or suitable interfaces.

[0093] Regarding Figure 3In the hardware structure of the components in the embodiment, the timing controller 121 and the digital circuit 161 may be processors with computing capabilities. Alternatively, the timing controller 121 and the digital circuit 161 can be designed through a hardware description language (HDL) or any other design method for digital circuits familiar to those skilled in the art, and can be hardware circuits implemented through a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Additionally, sufficient teachings, suggestions, and implementation descriptions for the hardware structures of the display driving circuit 112 and the fingerprint sensing circuit 116 can be obtained by referring to the common general knowledge in the technical field, which will not be repeated hereinafter.

[0094] In an embodiment, the display panel 120 may further include a plurality of touch sensors. The electronic device 100 may be an electronic device having a display function, a touch sensing function, and a fingerprint sensing function. The electronic circuit 110 further drives and controls the display panel 120 to perform a touch sensing operation. Specifically, the electronic circuit 110 also drives and controls the touch sensors to sense touch events of the display panel 120 via touch scan lines and touch sensing lines. The touch sensors may be touch sensing electrodes during the touch sensing period, and the touch sensors may be common electrodes during the display period. For an in-cell touch sensor, the display panel 120 does not have touch scan lines. For other types of touch sensors, the display panel 120 may have touch scan lines for transmitting touch driving signals. In an embodiment, the display panel 120 may be an in-cell fingerprint, touch, and display panel integrating a fingerprint sensor and a touch sensor, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0095] In an embodiment, the electronic circuit 110 may further include a touch sensing circuit. The touch sensing circuit is configured to drive and control the touch sensors to sense touch events of the display panel 120 via touch sensing lines. The touch sensing circuit may include a touch controller, an analog front end (AFE) circuit, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit, and other functional circuits for touch sensing operations.

[0096] In one embodiment, when the electronic circuit 110 is implemented with a single semiconductor chip that can drive and control the display panel 120 to perform display operations, touch sensing operations, and fingerprint sensing operations, the control circuit 130 can execute all control activities for the display operations, touch sensing operations, and fingerprint sensing operations. The control circuit 130 may include at least one of a timing controller 121, a touch controller, a digital circuit 161, and other controllers or processors 123 of the display driver circuit 112.

[0097] Figure 4 FIG. is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figure 4 , at least one gate driver circuit 420 is disposed on the display panel 120, and the electronic circuit 110 is adapted to control the operation of at least one gate driver circuit 420. The electronic circuit 110 includes at least one gate control circuit 410. In the present embodiment, two gate driver circuits 420 and two gate control circuits 410 are shown as examples. The following description will focus on the gate control circuit 410 and the gate driver circuit 420 on one side of the electronic device 100, and the gate control circuit 410 and the gate driver circuit 420 on the other side can operate in the same manner.

[0098] The gate control circuit 410 is configured to output a plurality of control signals to the gate driver circuit 420 via a plurality of output nodes 430 of the electronic circuit 110 during display. In addition, the gate control circuit 410 is also configured to output a control signal to the gate driver circuit 420 via the same output node 430 of the electronic circuit 110 during fingerprint sensing. In one embodiment, the output node 430 may be a pin of the semiconductor chip. Since the output node 430 is shared for signal transmission during different operations, the width W1 of the border area at the bottom of the display panel 120 is smaller.

[0099] Specifically, the gate driver circuit 420 is disposed on the display panel 120 and includes a first gate on array (GOA) circuit 422 and a second gate on array (GOA) circuit 424. The first GOA circuit 422 is coupled to a plurality of display scan lines GDL. The display scan lines GDL are coupled to a plurality of display pixels (not shown). For clarity, only one display scan line GDL is shown in Figure 4 , but the present invention is not limited thereto. The first GOA circuit 422 outputs a scan signal via the display scan line GDL to drive the display pixels to display an image during display. The second GOA circuit 424 is coupled to a plurality of fingerprint scan lines GSL. The fingerprint scan lines GSL are coupled to a plurality of fingerprint sensors (not shown). For clarity, in Figure 4Only one fingerprint scan line GSL is shown, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The second GOA circuit 424 outputs a scan signal via the fingerprint scan line GSL to drive the fingerprint sensor to sense a fingerprint during fingerprint sensing.

[0100] The gate control circuit 410 outputs at least one switch control signal S1 to the gate driver circuit 420 via the output node 430. The switch control signal S1 is configured to control the gate driver circuit 420 to operate during display or during fingerprint sensing. The switch control signal S1 is output from the electronic circuit 110 via a designated output node of the output node 430 during display and fingerprint sensing.

[0101] For example, the gate control circuit 410 may output a switch control signal S1 having a high signal level to control the gate driver circuit 420 to perform a display scan operation during display, and thus the display panel 120 performs a display operation. On the other hand, the gate control circuit 410 may output a switch control signal S1 having a low signal level to control the gate driver circuit 420 to perform a sensing scan operation during fingerprint sensing, and thus the display panel 120 performs a fingerprint sensing operation.

[0102] In the present embodiment, the electronic circuit 110 and the display panel 120 are connected via the signal transmission interface 140. The signal transmission interface 140 may include a flexible print circuit (FPC) having wirings. Since the output node 430 is shared for signal transmission during different operations, the wirings of the signal transmission interface 140 are simpler. Alternatively, in an embodiment where the electronic circuit 110 is attached to the display panel 120 by chip on glass (COG) or other similar technologies, the signal transmission interface 140 may include a wiring circuit on the display panel 120.

[0103] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram showing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The electronic device 200 of the embodiment of the present invention is similar to Figure 4 The electronic device 100, and the main difference between the electronic devices is, for example, that the gate driver circuit 520 includes a single GOA circuit 526. The two separate GOA circuits 422 and GOA circuit 424 may be integrated into a single GOA circuit 526 to perform scan operations during display and fingerprint sensing.

[0104] The GOA circuit 526 is coupled to a plurality of display scan lines GDL and a plurality of fingerprint scan lines GSL. The GOA circuit 526 outputs scan signals via the display scan lines GDL to drive display pixels to display an image during display, and outputs scan signals via the fingerprint scan lines GSL to drive a fingerprint sensor to sense a fingerprint during fingerprint sensing. The gate control circuit 410 outputs at least one switch control signal S1 to the gate driver circuit 520 via the output node 430 to control the gate driver circuit 520 to operate during display or fingerprint sensing.

[0105] Taking the gate driver circuit 520 on the right side of the display panel 120 as an example, since two separate GOA circuits 422 and GOA circuit 424 are integrated into a single GOA circuit 526, the width W2 of the border area on the right side of the display panel 120 is smaller. Similarly, since two separate GOA circuits 422 and GOA circuit 424 on the left side of the display panel 120 are integrated into a single GOA circuit 526, the width of the border area on the left side of the display panel 120 is smaller.

[0106] Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device operating during fingerprint sensing according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of an Figure 6 electronic device operating during display. Figure 8 is for controlling Figure 6 the operation of an electronic device, and is a waveform diagram of a control signal.

[0107] Referring to Figures 6 to 8 , the electronic device 300 may have a display function and a fingerprint sensing function. The electronic device 300 includes an electronic circuit 110 and a display panel 120, and the electronic circuit 110 and the display panel 120 are connected via a signal transmission interface 140. The electronic circuit 110 outputs a plurality of control signals to control the display panel 120 to perform Figure 7 a display operation or Figure 6 a fingerprint sensing operation. As shown in Figure 8 , the control signals include a clock signal CK1, a clock signal CK2, and a clock signal CK3; a start pulse signal STV1, a start pulse signal STV2, a start pulse signal STV3, and a start pulse signal STV4; a switch control signal S1, and a synchronization signal S3.

[0108] The gate driver circuit 520 is disposed on the display panel 120. Taking one of the gate driver circuits 520 as an example, the electronic circuit 110 outputs a switch control signal S1 to the gate driver circuit 520 to control the gate driver circuit 520 to operate during a display period T1 or a fingerprint sensing period T2. For example, the electronic circuit 110 outputs a switch control signal S1 having a high signal level to control the gate driver circuit 520 to perform a display scanning operation during the display period T1, and thus the display panel 120 performs Figure 7 the display operation. On the other hand, the electronic circuit 110 outputs a switch control signal S1 having a low signal level to control the gate driver circuit 520 to perform a sensing scanning operation during the fingerprint sensing period T2, and thus the display panel 120 performs Figure 6 the fingerprint sensing operation. Similar to Figure 5 , the electronic circuit 110 of the embodiment of the present invention may include at least one gate control circuit to perform the above-mentioned switch control operation.

[0109] Each of the gate driver circuits 520 includes a plurality of shift register groups 522_1, shift register group 522_2, shift register group 522_3, and shift register group 522_4. Taking one of the gate driver circuits 520 as an example, the shift register groups 522_1, shift register group 522_2, shift register group 522_3, and shift register group 522_4 are configured to output a plurality of scan signals according to a control signal. For the fingerprint sensing operation, the display panel 120 is divided into a plurality of fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and fingerprint sensing region SZ4 in the column direction Y of the display panel 120. When the electronic circuit 110 outputs a control signal to the gate driver circuit 520 during the fingerprint sensing period T2, the gate driver circuit 520 drives at least one of the fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and fingerprint sensing region SZ4 to perform a fingerprint sensing operation.

[0110] For example, during fingerprint sensing at time T2, a finger touches at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3, and the electronic circuit 110 outputs at least two start pulse signals STV2 and start pulse signal STV3 to the gate driver circuit 520, that is, the shift register group 522_2 and the shift register group 522_3. Thus, the gate driver circuit 520 drives the fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3 to sense the fingerprint of the finger according to the start pulse signal STV2 and the start pulse signal STV3. That is, the shift register group 522_2 and the shift register group 522_3 output scan signals to the fingerprint scan line GSL to drive the corresponding fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3 to perform fingerprint sensing operations according to the corresponding start pulse signal STV2 and the start pulse signal STV3. In addition, the electronic circuit 110 may further output a synchronization signal S3 with a high signal level to the gate driver circuit 520 to synchronize the fingerprint sensing operations of two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3.

[0111] In one embodiment, during fingerprint sensing at time T2, a finger may touch only one fingerprint sensing region, such as fingerprint sensing region SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, or fingerprint sensing region SZ4, and the electronic circuit 110 may output a corresponding start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, or start pulse signal STV4 to a corresponding shift register group of the gate driver circuit 520, that is, one of the shift register group 522_1, the shift register group 522_2, the shift register group 522_3, and the shift register group 522_4. Thus, the gate driver circuit 520 drives only one fingerprint sensing region SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, or fingerprint sensing region SZ4 to sense the fingerprint of the finger according to the corresponding start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, or start pulse signal STV4.

[0112] In this embodiment, the number of gate driver circuits 520, the number of the shift register group 522_1, the shift register group 522_2, the shift register group 522_3, and the shift register group 522_4, the number of fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, or fingerprint sensing region SZ4, and the number of control signals are only for illustrative purposes and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0113] For a display operation, the entire active area AA of the display panel 120 is driven to display an image. When the electronic circuit 110 outputs a control signal to the gate driver circuit 520 during a display period T1, the gate driver circuit 520 drives the active area AA to perform a display operation. In this embodiment, the electronic circuit 110 outputs a start pulse signal STV1, a start pulse signal STV2, a start pulse signal STV3, and a start pulse signal STV4 to the gate driver circuit 520 during the display period T1, and thus the gate driver circuit 520 drives different regions of the display panel 120 to perform a display operation in sequence according to the corresponding start pulse signal.

[0114] For example, Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. Refer to Figure 9 , the gate driver circuit 520 includes a plurality of shift register groups 522_1, a shift register group 522_2, a shift register group 522_3, and a shift register group 522_4 and a first switch circuit 524. The shift register groups 522_1, 522_2, 522_3, and 522_4 output scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to the scan signal DP_Y and output scan signals FPR_1, FPR_2, and FPR_3 to the scan signal FPR_Y during a fingerprint sensing period T2 according to at least one start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, or start pulse signal STV4 during a display period T1.

[0115] The first switch circuit 524 is coupled to the shift register groups 522_1, 522_2, 522_3, and 522_4. The first switch circuit 524 is configured to receive the scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to the scan signal DP_Y and the scan signals FPR_1, FPR_2, and FPR_3 to the scan signal FPR_Y. According to a switch control signal S1, the first switch circuit 524 outputs the scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to the scan signal DP_Y to the display scan line GDL during the display period T1 and outputs the scan signals FPR_1, FPR_2, and FPR_3 to the scan signal FPR_Y to the fingerprint scan line GSL during the fingerprint sensing period T2.

[0116] Specifically, during the display period T1, the shift register group 522_1 outputs scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to DP_Y to drive corresponding regions of the active area AA according to the start pulse signal STV1. The shift register group 522_2 outputs scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to DP_Y during the display period T1 to drive corresponding regions of the active area AA according to the start pulse signal STV2. Similarly, the shift register group 522_3 and the shift register group 522_4 output scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to DP_Y during the display period T1 to drive corresponding regions of the active area AA according to the corresponding start pulse signals STV3 and STV4.

[0117] On the other hand, when a finger touches the fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3, the shift register groups 522_2 and 522_3 output scan signals FPR_1, FPR_2, and FPR_3 to FPR_Y to the fingerprint scan line GSL to drive the touched fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3 to perform fingerprint sensing operations according to the corresponding start pulse signals STV2 and STV3 during the fingerprint sensing period T2.

[0118] In one embodiment, when a finger touches only one fingerprint sensing region, the corresponding shift register group outputs scan signals FPR_1, FPR_2, and FPR_3 to FPR_Y to the fingerprint scan line GSL to drive the touched fingerprint sensing region to perform fingerprint sensing operations according to the start pulse signal during the fingerprint sensing period T2.

[0119] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 10 the circuit structure of the first switch circuit 524 is further disclosed. Referring to Figure 10 , the first switch circuit 524 receives the scan signals DP_1 and DP_2 from the shift register group 522 during the display period T1, and receives the scan signals FPR_1 and FRP_2 from the shift register group 522 during the fingerprint sensing period T2. According to the switch control signal S1, the first switch circuit 524 outputs the scan signals DP_1 and DP_2 to the display scan line GDL during the display period T1 and outputs the scan signals FPR_1 and FRP_2 to the fingerprint scan line GSL during the fingerprint sensing period T2.

[0120] Specifically, the shift register group 522 includes a plurality of shift registers SR-1 and shift registers SR-2, and the first switch circuit 524 includes a plurality of switch units 241 and switch units 242 controlled by a switch control signal S1. During the display period T1, the switch units 241 and 242 receive the scan signals DP_1 and scan signal DP_2 from the shift register SR-1 and the shift register SR-2, respectively. During the fingerprint sensing period T2, the switch units 241 and 242 receive the scan signals FPR_1 and scan signal FPR_2 from the shift register SR-1 and the shift register SR-2, respectively.

[0121] Each of the switch units 241 and 242 can be implemented by complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. When the switch control signal S1 with a high signal level is input to the switch units 241 and 242 during the display period T1, the switch units 241 and 242 switch to output the scan signals DP_1 and scan signal DP_2 to the display scan line GDL. When the switch control signal S1 with a low signal level is input to the switch units 241 and 242 during the fingerprint sensing period T2, the switch units 241 and 242 switch to output the scan signals FPR_1 and scan signal FPR_2 to the fingerprint scan line GSL. Therefore, the gate driver circuit 520 can operate in a time-division manner so as to output different scan signals during different operations.

[0122] In this embodiment, the number of the shift register group 522, the number of the shift registers SR-1 and the shift registers SR-2, the number of the scan signals DP_1, scan signal DP_2, scan signal FPR_1, and scan signal FPR_2, and the number of the switch units 241 and 242 are only for illustrative purposes and not for limiting the present invention.

[0123] In this embodiment, the first switch circuit 524 is controlled by the switch control signal S1, and thus the switch control signal S1 can provide different power domains for the switch units 241 and 242. The operating voltages of the switch units 241 and 242 can be the same as or different from the operating voltages of the shift registers SR-1 and the shift registers SR-2.

[0124] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 12 is for controlling Figure 11 the operation of the gate driver circuit. DuringFigure 11 further discloses the circuit structure of the first switch circuit 624. Refer to Figures 11 to 12 , during the display period T1, the first switch circuit 624 receives the scan signals DP_1 and DP_2 from the shift register group 522, and during the fingerprint sensing period T2, it receives the scan signals FPR_1 and FPR_2 from the shift register group 522. According to the switch control signals S1 and S2, the first switch circuit 624 outputs the scan signals DP_1 and DP_2 to the display scan line GDL during the display period T1, and outputs the scan signals FPR_1 and FPR_2 to the fingerprint scan line GSL during the fingerprint sensing period T2.

[0125] Specifically, the shift register group 522 includes a plurality of shift registers SR-1 and SR-2, and the first switch circuit 624 includes a plurality of switch units 243 and 244 controlled by the switch control signals S1 and S2. During the display period T1, the switch units 243 and 244 receive the scan signals DP_1 and DP_2 from the shift registers SR-1 and SR-2 respectively. During the fingerprint sensing period T2, the switch units 243 and 244 receive the scan signals FPR_1 and FPR_2 from the shift registers SR-1 and SR-2 respectively.

[0126] Each of the switch units 243 and 244 can be implemented by an n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistor. When the switch control signal S1 with a low signal level and the switch control signal S2 with a high signal level are input to the switch units 243 and 244 during the display period T1, the switch units 243 and 244 switch to output the scan signals DP_1 and DP_2 to the display scan line GDL. When the switch control signal S1 with a high signal level and the switch control signal S2 with a low signal level are input to the switch units 243 and 244 during the fingerprint sensing period T2, the switch units 243 and 244 switch to output the scan signals FPR_1 and FPR_2 to the fingerprint scan line GSL. Therefore, the gate driver circuit 520 can operate in a time-division manner to output different scan signals during different operations.

[0127] In this embodiment, the numbers of the shift register groups 522, the shift registers SR-1 and SR-2, the scan signals DP_1, DP_2, FPR_1 and FPR_2, the switch control signals S1 and S2, and the switch units 243 and 244 are only for illustrative purposes and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0128] In this embodiment, the first switch circuit 624 is controlled by the switch control signals S1 and S2, and thus the switch control signals S1 and S2 can provide different power domains for the switch units 243 and 244. The operating voltages of the switch units 243 and 244 can be the same as or different from the operating voltages of the shift registers SR-1 and SR-2.

[0129] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit and a decoder according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 14 is for controlling Figure 13 the operation of the gate driver circuit and the decoder. Refer to Figure 13 and Figure 14 . The decoder 530 is disposed on the display panel 120. The decoder 530 can be disposed inside or outside the gate driver circuit 520. The decoder 530 is coupled to the shift register groups 522_1 to 522_4. The start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4 can be encoded by the electronic circuit 110 using a predetermined encoding method such as a binary coding scheme, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The decoder 530 is configured to receive the encoded start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4 from the gate control circuit 410 of the electronic circuit 110 and decode the encoded start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4.

[0130] The gate control circuit 410 can obtain information about the selected fingerprint sensing area of the display panel 120. In the embodiment described in Figure 6 , the selected fingerprint sensing area can include the fingerprint sensing areas SZ2 and SZ3 covering the touch area. That is, the gate control circuit 410 can select the corresponding fingerprint sensing areas (e.g., the fingerprint sensing areas SZ2 and SZ3) from the fingerprint sensing areas SZ1 to SZ4 according to the touch area.

[0131] The gate control circuit 410 can provide the encoded start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 to the decoder 530 to control the display panel 120 to perform fingerprint sensing. That is, the gate control circuit 410 can generate the corresponding start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 according to the information about the selected fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3. Each of the start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 has a corresponding logical state, and the set of logical states of the start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 has a mapping relationship with the fingerprint sensing regions as shown in Table 1. Table 1 shows the mapping relationship between the start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 and the fingerprint sensing regions.

[0132] Startup pulse signal STV4 STV3 STV2 STV1 NF Fingerprint-free area 0 0 0 0 0 SZ1 0 0 0 1 1 SZ2 0 0 1 0 2 SZ3 0 0 1 1 3 SZ4 0 1 0 0 4 SZ5 0 1 0 1 5 SZ6 0 1 1 0 6 SZ7 0 1 1 1 7 SZ8 1 0 0 0 8 SZ9 1 0 0 1 9 SZ10 1 0 1 0 10 SZ11 1 0 1 1 11 SZ12 1 1 0 0 12 SZ13 1 1 0 1 13 SZ14 1 1 1 0 14 SZ15 1 1 1 1 15

[0133] Table 1

[0134] For example (but not limited to), the corresponding logical state of each of the start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 can have multiple logical values. The selected fingerprint sensing region is indicated according to the mathematical formula of the logical values of the logical states of the start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4.

[0135] The logical values and the mathematical formula can be determined based on design requirements. For example, in some embodiments, the logical values include 0 and 1, and the mathematical formula is NF is the index number of the selected fingerprint sensing region (that is, when the fingerprint region SZi is selected, NF = i), STV(i + 1) also represents the logical value of the (i + 1)-th start pulse signal STV(i + 1), i is an integer from 0 to N 2 - 1, and N 2 indicates the number of the encoded start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4. In Figure 6 the embodiment, since the display panel 120 is divided into four fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and fingerprint sensing region SZ4 in the column direction Y, the maximum number of NF is 4.

[0136] In this embodiment, NF is represented as a power of two. In other embodiments, NF may be represented as any other power, or there may be any functional relationship (or mapping relationship) between NF and the logical value of the start pulse signal. As long as the total number of start pulse signals (and related signal lines) provided by the IC to the panel can be reduced, the start pulse signal can be used according to design or application requirements.

[0137] For example, assume that the number of total fingerprint sensing regions is 15 and the number of encoded start pulse signals is 4. The set of logical states of start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, and start pulse signal STV4 has a mapping relationship with the selected fingerprint sensing regions among the total fingerprint sensing regions (represented by index number NF) as defined by Table 1 based on the formula When the set of logical states of start pulse signal STV4, start pulse signal STV3, start pulse signal STV2, and start pulse signal STV1 is "0000", each of start pulse signal STV4, start pulse signal STV3, start pulse signal STV2, and start pulse signal STV1 is 0, and thus NF = 0, which means that there is no fingerprint sensing region to be scanned. When the set of logical states of start pulse signal STV4, start pulse signal STV3, start pulse signal STV2, and start pulse signal STV1 is "0001", start pulse signal STV4, start pulse signal STV3, start pulse signal STV2, and start pulse signal STV1 are 0, 0, 0, and 1 respectively, and thus NF = 1, which means that the first fingerprint region SZ1 needs to be scanned. The other sets of logical states of start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, and start pulse signal STV4 and the selected fingerprint sensing regions can be deduced in the same way.

[0138] The mapping relationship between the input and output of decoder 530 may be the mapping relationship defined by Table 2 below. Table 2 shows the mapping relationship between start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, and start pulse signal STV4 and start pulse signals STV1' to STV15'.

[0139]

[0140] Table 2

[0141] In Figure 6In the embodiment, since the display panel 120 is divided into four fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and fingerprint sensing region SZ4 in the column direction Y, only four decoded start pulse signals STV1' to start pulse signal STV4' are required to drive the four fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and fingerprint sensing region SZ4.

[0142] When the logical state set of the start pulse signal STV4, start pulse signal STV3, start pulse signal STV2, and start pulse signal STV1 (inputs of the decoder 530) is "0000", all of the start pulse signal STV1', start pulse signal STV2', start pulse signal STV3', and start pulse signal STV4' (outputs of the decoder 530) are 0. When the logical state set of the start pulse signal STV4, start pulse signal STV3, start pulse signal STV2, and start pulse signal STV1 is "0001", the start pulse signal STV1' is 1 and the remaining start pulse signals STV2', start pulse signal STV3', and start pulse signal STV4' are 0. The other logical state sets of the start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, and start pulse signal STV4 and the start pulse signal STV1', start pulse signal STV2', start pulse signal STV3', and start pulse signal STV4' can be deduced by analogy.

[0143] More specifically, when the logical state set of the start pulse signal STV1', start pulse signal STV2', start pulse signal STV3', and start pulse signal STV4' is "1000", the first fingerprint sensing region SZ1 needs to be scanned. When the logical state set of the start pulse signal STV1', start pulse signal STV2', start pulse signal STV3', and start pulse signal STV4' is "0100", the second fingerprint sensing region SZ2 needs to be scanned. The other logical state sets of the start pulse signal STV1', start pulse signal STV2', start pulse signal STV3', and start pulse signal STV4' and the selected fingerprint sensing region can be deduced by analogy.

[0144] In this embodiment, only four wires are provided between the electronic circuit 110 and the display panel 120. Therefore, the start pulse signal STV1, start pulse signal STV2, start pulse signal STV3, and start pulse signal STV4 can be transmitted to the display panel 120. Since the total number of wires connected between the electronic circuit 110 and the display panel 120 is reduced to 4, the Figure 6 border region of the display panel 120 can be reduced.

[0145] Accordingly, the decoder 530 decodes the start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4 to obtain information about which one of the fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, fingerprint sensing region SZ2, fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and fingerprint sensing region SZ4 will be scanned during the fingerprint sensing period T2. For example, the decoder 530 can obtain information about the selected fingerprint sensing regions (e.g., fingerprint sensing region SZ2 and fingerprint sensing region SZ3) based on the logic values of the start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4. Accordingly, the start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4 can jointly indicate the selected fingerprint sensing regions SZ2 and SZ3. For example, taking Table 1 as an example, when the start pulse signals STV4, STV3, STV2, and STV1 are "0010", the fingerprint sensing region SZ2 is the selected fingerprint sensing region, and accordingly, the decoder 530 applies a pulse to the start pulse signal STV2' and does not apply a pulse to the other start pulse signals STV1', STV3', and STV4'. When the start pulse signals STV4, STV3, STV2, and STV1 are "0011", the fingerprint sensing region SZ3 is the selected fingerprint sensing region, and accordingly, the decoder 530 applies a pulse to the start pulse signal STV3' and does not apply a pulse to the other start pulse signals STV1', STV2', and STV4'.

[0146] On the other hand, the decoder 530 decodes the encoded start pulse signals STV1, STV2, STV3, and STV4 to obtain information on which of the display areas is to be scanned during the display period T1. For example, when the logical values of the start pulse signals STV4, STV3, STV2, and STV1 are "0001", this indicates that the display area corresponding to the shift register group 522_1 should be scanned, and thus the decoder 530 outputs the start pulse signal STV1' with a high signal level to the shift register group 522_1. The shift register group 522_1 outputs a scan signal to drive the corresponding display area to display an image according to the start pulse signal STV1' and the clock signals CK1 to CK3. Similarly, when the logical values of the start pulse signals STV4, STV3, STV2, and STV1 are "0010", this indicates that the display area corresponding to the shift register group 522_2 should be scanned, and thus the decoder 530 outputs the start pulse signal STV2' with a high signal level to the shift register group 522_2. The shift register group 522_2 outputs a scan signal to drive the corresponding display area to display an image according to the start pulse signal STV2' and the clock signals CK1 to CK3. The logical values "0011" and "0100" of the start pulse signals STV4, STV3, STV2, and STV1 indicate that the display areas corresponding to the shift register groups 522_3 and 522_4 should be scanned, respectively, and the shift register groups 522_3 and 522_4 output scan signals to drive the corresponding display areas to display images.

[0147] In addition, the decoder 530 also decodes the start pulse signal STV1, the start pulse signal STV2, the start pulse signal STV3, and the start pulse signal STV4 to obtain information about which one of the fingerprint sensing regions SZ1, the fingerprint sensing region SZ2, the fingerprint sensing region SZ3, and the fingerprint sensing region SZ4 will be scanned during the fingerprint sensing period T2. For example, when the logical values of the start pulse signal STV4, the start pulse signal STV3, the start pulse signal STV2, and the start pulse signal STV1 are "0010", this indicates that the fingerprint sensing region SZ2 corresponding to the shift register bank 522_2 should be scanned, and thus the decoder 530 outputs the start pulse signal STV2' with a high signal level to the shift register bank 522_2. The shift register bank 522_2 outputs a scan signal to drive the fingerprint sensing region SZ2 to sense fingerprints according to the start pulse signal STV2' and the clock signals CK1 to CK3. Similarly, when the logical values of the start pulse signal STV4, the start pulse signal STV3, the start pulse signal STV2, and the start pulse signal STV1 are "0011", this indicates that the fingerprint sensing region SZ3 corresponding to the shift register bank 522_3 should be scanned, and thus the decoder 530 outputs the start pulse signal STV3' with a high signal level to the shift register bank 522_3. The shift register bank 522_3 outputs a scan signal to drive the fingerprint sensing region SZ3 to sense fingerprints according to the start pulse signal STV3' and the clock signals CK1 to CK3.

[0148] The relationship between the logical value of the start pulse signal and the display region to be scanned and the relationship between the logical value of the start pulse signal and the fingerprint sensing region to be scanned are only for illustrative purposes and not for limiting the present invention. Therefore, even if the number of the display regions or the fingerprint sensing regions of the display panel increases, the start pulse signal and the pins of the display panel for receiving the start pulse signal can be maintained at a lower number through a decoding scheme, and thus the width of the border region on the side of the display panel is smaller.

[0149] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of a display panel operating during fingerprint sensing according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of a Figure 15 display panel operating during display. Figure 17 is for controlling Figure 15 the waveform diagram of the control signal for operating the display panel.

[0150] Refer to Figures 15 to 17, the display panel 120 may have a display function and a fingerprint sensing function. Each of the gate driver circuits 520 also includes a plurality of shift register groups. For fingerprint sensing operations, the display panel 120 is divided into more than four fingerprint sensing regions in the column direction Y of the display panel 120, for example, ten fingerprint sensing regions in this embodiment. The number of fingerprint sensing regions is not intended to limit the present invention. When a finger touches the fingerprint sensing region SZ2 and the fingerprint sensing region SZ3 during fingerprint sensing T2, the shift register group 522_2 and the shift register group 522_3 scan the fingerprint sensing region SZ2 and the fingerprint sensing region SZ3 respectively according to the start pulse signal STV2 and the start pulse signal STV3 to sense the fingerprint of the finger. For other details, reference may be made to Figure 6 of the embodiment.

[0151] For display operations, the entire active area AA of the display panel 120 is driven to display an image. The gate control circuit of the electronic circuit may output a start pulse signal STV1 to the gate driver circuit 520 during display T1, and thus the gate driver circuit 520 drives the display panel 520 to perform a display operation according to a start pulse signal STV1. In this embodiment, the gate driver circuit 520 includes a plurality of shift registers SR-1, SR-2, and SR-3 to SR-10Y, and since the shift registers SR-1, SR-2, and SR-3 to SR-10Y perform a display scanning operation according to a start pulse signal STV1, the shift registers SR-1, SR-2, and SR-3 to SR-10Y can be regarded as a shift register group.

[0152] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. Refer to Figure 18, the gate driver circuit 520 includes a plurality of shift register groups 522_1 and 522_2, a first switch circuit 524, and a second switch circuit 526. The shift register groups 522_1 and 522_2 output a plurality of scan signals DP_1, DP_2, DP_3 to DP_Y, DP_Y + 1, DP_Y + 2, and DP_Y + 3 to DP_Y + Y according to the start pulse signal STV1. The first switch circuit 524 receives the scan signals DP_1, DP_2, DP_3 to DP_Y, DP_Y + 1, DP_Y + 2, and DP_Y + 3 to DP_Y + Y and outputs the scan signals DP_1, DP_2, DP_3 to DP_Y, DP_Y + 1, DP_Y + 2, and DP_Y + 3 to DP_Y + Y to the display scan line GDL according to the switch control signal S1 during the display period T1.

[0153] The second switch circuit 526 is coupled to the shift register groups 522_1 and 522_2. The second switch circuit 526 is configured to connect two adjacent shift register groups 522_1 and 522_2. The second switch circuit 526 is turned on according to the start pulse control signal S4 during the display period T1 to transmit the start pulse signal from the first shift register group 522_1 to the second shift register group 522_2 adjacent to the first shift register group 522_1. On the other hand, the second switch circuit 526 is not turned on according to the start pulse control signal S4 during the fingerprint sensing period T2.

[0154] Specifically, each of the shift register groups 522_1 and 522_2 includes a plurality of shift registers SR-1 to SR-Y. The shift register group 522_1 outputs the scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to DP_Y via the first switch circuit 524 according to the start pulse signal STV1 during the display period T1. When the second switch circuit 526 is turned on during the display period T1, the scan signal DP_Y output from the last shift register SR-Y in the shift register group 522_1 is transmitted to the first shift register SR-1 in the shift register group 522_2 via the second switch circuit 526 as the start pulse signal. The shift register group 522_2 outputs the scan signals DP_Y + 1, DP_Y + 2, and DP_Y + 3 to DP_Y + Y via the first switch circuit 524 according to the scan signal DP_Y output from the last shift register SR-Y in the shift register group 522_1 during the display period T1.

[0155] In this embodiment, the second switch circuit 526 includes a switching element SW1 for connecting the last shift register SR-Y in the shift register bank 522_1 and the first shift register SR-1 in the shift register bank 522_2. The on-state of the switching element SW1 is controlled by a start pulse control signal S4. The switching element SW1 is turned on by the start pulse control signal S4 during the display period T1 to transmit a scan signal DP_Y. The switching element SW1 is not turned on by the start pulse control signal S4 during the fingerprint sensing period T2. When a finger touches the fingerprint sensing area SZ1 and / or the fingerprint sensing area SZ2 during the fingerprint sensing period T2, the shift register bank 522_1 and / or the shift register bank 522_2 scan the fingerprint sensing area SZ1 and / or the fingerprint sensing area SZ2 respectively according to the start pulse signal STV1 and / or the start pulse signal STV2 to sense the fingerprint of the finger.

[0156] In this embodiment, Figure 18 only one switching element SW1 is shown, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The second switch circuit 526 may include a plurality of switching elements, and each of the switching elements connects two adjacent shift register banks. In addition, the shift register banks are only used for illustrative purposes, and their number is not used to limit the present invention.

[0157] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram showing a gate driver circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figure 18 and Figure 19 the gate driver circuit 620 of the embodiment of the present invention is similar to Figure 18 the gate driver circuit 520, and the main difference of the gate driver circuit is, for example, that each of the shift register banks 622_1 and the shift register bank 622_2 further includes a plurality of dummy shift registers DSR-1, dummy shift register DSR-2, dummy shift register DSR-N, dummy shift register DSR-N+1, dummy shift register DSR-N+2, and dummy shift register DSR-N+M, and the dummy shift register DSR-1, dummy shift register DSR-2, dummy shift register DSR-N, dummy shift register DSR-N+1, dummy shift register DSR-N+2, and dummy shift register DSR-N+M are skipped when transmitting the start pulse signal STV1 via the second switch circuit 626, that is, the start pulse signal STV1 is not transmitted through the dummy shift register DSR-1, dummy shift register DSR-2, dummy shift register DSR-N, dummy shift register DSR-N+1, dummy shift register DSR-N+2, and dummy shift register DSR-N+M.

[0158] Specifically, the second switch circuit 626 includes a first switch element SW1 and a second switch element SW2. The first switch element SW1 is controlled by a start pulse control signal S4. The second switch element SW2 is controlled by an inverted signal S4B obtained by inverting the start pulse control signal S4. When the first switch element SW1 is turned on, the second switch element SW2 is not turned on. When the first switch element SW1 is not turned on, the second switch element SW2 is turned on.

[0159] For a display operation, the first switch element SW1 is turned on, and the second switch element SW2 is not turned on. The shift registers SR-1 to SR-Y in the shift register group 622_1 output scan signals DP_1, DP_2, and DP_3 to DP_Y to the scan signals DP_Y during a display period T1 according to a start pulse signal STV1 via the first switch circuit 524. The scan signal DP_Y output from the last shift register SR-Y in the shift register group 622_1 is transmitted to the first shift register SR-1 in the shift register group 622_2 as a start pulse signal via the switch element SW1. In other words, when transmitting the start pulse signal STV1 from one shift register group to the next shift register group via the second switch circuit 626, the virtual shift registers DSR-1, DSR-2, DSR-N, DSR-N+1, DSR-N+2, and DSR-N+M are skipped, that is, the start pulse signal STV1 is not transmitted through the virtual shift registers DSR-1, DSR-2, DSR-N, DSR-N+1, DSR-N+2, and DSR-N+M. Next, the shift register group 622_2 outputs scan signals DP_Y+1, DP_Y+2, and DP_Y+3 to DP_Y+Y during the display period T1 according to the scan signal DP_Y output from the last shift register SR-Y in the shift register group 622_1 via the first switch circuit 524.

[0160] For a fingerprint sensing operation, the first switch element SW1 is not turned on, and the second switch element SW2 is turned on. The shift register group 622_1 scans a fingerprint sensing area SZ1 according to a start pulse signal STV1 to sense the fingerprint of a finger. The shift register group 622_2 scans a fingerprint sensing area SZ2 according to a start pulse signal STV2 to sense the fingerprint of a finger. Since the second switch element SW2 is turned on, the signal output from the virtual shift register DSR-N in the shift register group 622_2 is transmitted to the first shift register SR-1 in the shift register group 622_2 as a start pulse signal via the second switch element SW2.

[0161] In summary, in the embodiments of the present invention, during the display period and the fingerprint sensing period, the gate control circuit outputs a control signal to the gate driver circuit via the same output node of the electronic circuit. Since the same output node is used for signal transmission during different operations, the width of the border area at the bottom or side of the display panel is small. In the embodiments of the present invention, the electronic circuit can drive the display panel in a regionally continuous control manner according to a single start pulse signal, or the electronic circuit can drive the display panel in a regionally separate control manner according to a plurality of start pulse signals. In addition, by means of decoding, even if the number of display areas or fingerprint sensing areas of the display panel increases, the number of start pulse signals and the number of pins of the display panel for receiving the start pulse signals can be maintained unchanged or kept at a small number, and thus the width of the border area at the bottom or side of the display panel is small. In the embodiments of the present invention, the gate driver circuit can operate in a time-division manner so as to output different scan signals during different operations.

[0162] For those skilled in the art, various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An electronic circuit adapted to control the operation of a gate driver circuit, wherein the gate driver circuit is disposed on a display panel, and the electronic circuit comprises: a gate control circuit configured to output a plurality of control signals to the gate driver circuit via a plurality of output nodes of the electronic circuit during display and output the control signals to the gate driver circuit via the same output nodes of the electronic circuit during fingerprint sensing, wherein the control signals include a clock signal, a plurality of start pulse signals, and at least one switch control signal, and the at least one switch control signal is configured to control the gate driver circuit to operate during the display or during the fingerprint sensing, wherein the electronic circuit divides the display panel into a plurality of fingerprint sensing regions in the column direction of the display panel, and the gate driver circuit determines which one of the plurality of fingerprint sensing regions will be scanned during fingerprint sensing according to a combination of the respective logical values of the plurality of start pulse signals.

2. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein a finger touches only one of the fingerprint sensing regions during the fingerprint sensing, and the gate control circuit outputs one start pulse signal to the gate driver circuit, and thus the gate driver circuit drives only the one fingerprint sensing region to sense the fingerprint of the finger according to the one start pulse signal.

3. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein a finger touches at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions during the fingerprint sensing, and the gate control circuit outputs at least two start pulse signals to the gate driver circuit, and thus the gate driver circuit drives the at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions to sense the fingerprint of the finger according to the at least two start pulse signals.

4. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein the gate control circuit outputs one start pulse signal to the gate driver circuit during the display, and thus the gate driver circuit drives the display panel to perform a display operation according to the one start pulse signal.

5. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein the gate control circuit outputs the plurality of start pulse signals to the gate driver circuit during the display, and thus the gate driver circuit drives different regions of the display panel to perform display operations according to the corresponding start pulse signals.

6. A gate driver circuit, wherein the gate driver circuit is disposed on a display panel, and the display panel includes a plurality of display scan lines and a plurality of fingerprint scan lines, and the gate driver circuit comprises: a plurality of shift register groups configured to output a plurality of scan signals according to a plurality of start pulse signals; and a first switch circuit coupled to the shift register groups and configured to receive the scan signals, wherein according to at least one switch control signal, the first switch circuit outputs the scan signals to the display scan lines during display and outputs the scan signals to the fingerprint scan lines during fingerprint sensing, In the column direction of the display panel, the display panel is divided into a plurality of fingerprint sensing regions, and the gate driver circuit determines which one of the plurality of fingerprint sensing regions will be scanned during fingerprint sensing according to the combination of the logic values of the respective start pulse signals.

7. The gate driver circuit according to claim 6, further comprising: A second switch circuit, coupled to the shift register group and configured to connect two adjacent shift register groups in the shift register group, wherein the two adjacent shift register groups in the shift register group include a first shift register group and a second shift register group adjacent to the first shift register group, and the second switch circuit is turned on according to a start pulse control signal during the display period to transmit the plurality of start pulse signals from the first shift register group to the second shift register group.

8. The gate driver circuit according to claim 7, the second switch circuit is not turned on according to the start pulse control signal during the fingerprint sensing period, and wherein the shift register group outputs the scan signal to the fingerprint scan line to drive a corresponding fingerprint sensing region to perform a fingerprint sensing operation according to a corresponding start pulse signal.

9. The gate driver circuit according to claim 8, wherein a finger only touches one of the fingerprint sensing regions, and the corresponding shift register group outputs the scan signal to the fingerprint scan line to drive the touched fingerprint sensing region to perform the fingerprint sensing operation according to the corresponding start pulse signal during the fingerprint sensing period.

10. The gate driver circuit according to claim 8, wherein a finger touches at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions, and the at least two corresponding shift register groups output the scan signal to the fingerprint scan line to drive the at least two adjacent fingerprint sensing regions touched to perform the fingerprint sensing operation according to the corresponding start pulse signal during the fingerprint sensing period.

11. The gate driver circuit according to claim 7, wherein each of the shift register groups includes a plurality of shift registers, and when the second switch circuit is turned on during the display period, the scan signal output from the last shift register in the first shift register group is transmitted to the first shift register in the second shift register group via the second switch circuit as the plurality of start pulse signals.

12. The gate driver circuit according to claim 11, wherein each of the shift register groups further includes a plurality of virtual shift registers, and when transmitting the plurality of start pulse signals via the second switch circuit, the plurality of start pulse signals are not transmitted through the plurality of virtual shift registers.

13. The gate driver circuit according to claim 6, further comprising: A decoder, coupled to the shift register group and configured to decode a plurality of encoded start pulse signals to generate the plurality of start pulse signals.

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