Display Panel

By using the timing controller and level conversion module in the display panel to switch the potential of the control signal in the vertical blank interval, the problem of the potential switching interval of the control signal due to the increase in refresh frequency is solved, and the service life of the switching device and the power consumption efficiency of the display panel are improved.

CN114842787BActive Publication Date: 2025-04-25SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICON DISPLAY TECH CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202210450792.7
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2022-04-26
Publication Date
2025-04-25
Estimated Expiration
2042-04-26

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

In display products, as the refresh frequency increases, the display time of each frame is shortened, resulting in too small potential switching intervals of two control signals with opposite phases, increasing the workload of the switching device and thus reducing its service life.

Method used

The data enable signal output by the timing controller controls the level conversion module toggles the potentials of the first control signal and the second control signal in the vertical blank interval, ensuring that the potential switching interval does not change with the change of the refresh frequency and remains fixed.

Benefits of technology

This prevents the potential switching interval of the control signal from being too short, reduces the switching frequency of the switching device, improves the service life of the switching device in the display panel, and reduces the power consumption of the display panel.

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Abstract

The present application discloses a display panel, which includes a timing controller and a level conversion module. The level conversion module is controlled by a data enable signal output by the timing controller to switch the potential of a first control signal and the potential of a second control signal in a vertical blank interval. The potential switching interval of the two control signals does not change with the change of the refresh frequency, which can prevent the potential switching interval of the two control signals from being too short.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a display panel. Background Art

[0002] With the development of society, more and more display products are being used in high-end scenarios, and the requirements for refresh rate are constantly increasing, and the response time and smoothness of display are also increasing. However, as the refresh rate increases, the display time of each frame is shortened.

[0003] The above-mentioned display products usually include a timing controller (TCON) and a level shift module (Level Shift). The level shift module generates two control signals with opposite phases under the control of the timing controller, and the potential switching time of the two control signals with opposite phases is controlled by the timing of the timing controller. When the refresh frequency becomes smaller, the potential switching interval of the two control signals with opposite phases also becomes smaller.

[0004] However, the two control signals with opposite phases are used to drive corresponding switching devices in the display panel. If the potential switching interval of the two control signals with opposite phases is too small, the workload of the switching devices will be increased, thereby reducing the service life of the switching devices. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a display panel to alleviate the technical problem that the potential switching interval of two control signals with opposite phases is too small.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a display panel, comprising a timing controller and a level conversion module, wherein the timing controller is used to output a corresponding data enable signal according to the input video data; the level conversion module is connected to the timing controller, and is used to switch the potential of a first control signal and the potential of a second control signal in a vertical blank interval according to the data enable signal, and the phase of the first control signal is opposite to the phase of the second control signal.

[0007] In some of the embodiments, the level conversion module includes a vertical blank interval identification unit, a delay unit and a level switching unit. The vertical blank interval identification unit is connected to the timing controller and is used to identify the vertical blank interval according to the data enable signal; the delay unit is connected to the vertical blank interval identification unit and is used to output a switching instruction after a delay setting time; the level switching unit is connected to the delay unit and is used to switch the potential of the first control signal and the potential of the second control signal according to the switching instruction.

[0008] In some embodiments, the vertical blank interval identifying unit identifies the vertical blank interval according to a comparison result between a low potential duration of the data enable signal and a high potential duration of the data enable signal.

[0009] In some implementations, the vertical blank interval identification unit is used to determine the vertical blank interval according to a continuous low potential duration being greater than or equal to two high potential durations.

[0010] In some implementations, the delay unit is used to output the switching instruction in the next vertical blank interval, and the potential switching time of the first control signal and the potential switching time of the second control signal are both in the next vertical blank interval.

[0011] In some embodiments, the potential switching time of the first control signal is the same as the potential switching time of the second control signal.

[0012] In some implementation modes, the delay unit includes a register, and the register is used to store the set time.

[0013] In some embodiments, the level switching unit controls the first control signal and the second control signal to synchronously switch the potential according to the switching instruction; wherein, when the potential of the first control signal switches from a low potential to a high potential, the potential of the second control signal switches from a high potential to a low potential; when the potential of the first control signal jumps from a high potential to a low potential, the potential of the second control signal jumps from a low potential to a high potential.

[0014] In some of the embodiments, the display panel also includes a gate driving circuit, the gate driving circuit includes a plurality of cascaded gate driving units, each gate driving unit is used to output a corresponding scanning signal, and at least one gate driving unit is connected to the level conversion module to access the first control signal and the second control signal.

[0015] In some embodiments, the gate driving unit includes a first pull-down unit and a second pull-down unit, the first pull-down unit is connected to the level conversion module to control the scanning signal to be at a low potential according to the first control signal, and the second pull-down unit is connected to the level conversion module to control the scanning signal to be at a low potential according to the second control signal; wherein the working cycle of the first pull-down unit alternates with the working cycle of the second pull-down unit.

[0016] The display panel provided in the present application controls the level conversion module to switch the potential of the first control signal and the potential of the second control signal in the vertical blank interval through the data enable signal output by the timing controller. The potential switching interval of the two control signals does not change with the change of the refresh frequency, and the potential switching interval can be kept fixed, which can prevent the potential switching interval of the two control signals from being too short, thereby improving the service life of the corresponding switching devices in the display panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The technical solution and other beneficial effects of the present application will be made apparent by describing in detail the specific implementation methods of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a display panel in the related art.

[0019] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the first structure of a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 3 A second structural schematic diagram of a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Figure 4 A third structural schematic diagram of the display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0023] For the reason why the potential switching interval of the two control signals with opposite phases is too small, please refer to Figure 1 The display panel shown includes a timing controller 100, a level conversion module 200 and a gate driving circuit 300. The output end of the timing controller 100 is connected to the input end of the level conversion module 200, and the output end of the level conversion module 200 is connected to the input end of the gate driving circuit. The level conversion module 200 is used to control the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 to switch between high and low potentials according to the control signal LC_T. However, the time of the high and low potential switching changes with the change of the refresh frequency and cannot be fixed, which easily leads to a small interval between two adjacent high and low potential switches, thereby reducing the reliability of the gate driving circuit 300.

[0024] In view of the technical problem mentioned above that the potential switching interval of the two control signals with opposite phases is too small, this embodiment provides a display panel, see Figures 2 to 4 ,like Figure 2As shown, the display panel includes a timing controller 100 and a level conversion module 200. The timing controller 100 is used to output a corresponding data enable signal DE according to the connected video data DI; the level conversion module 200 is connected to the timing controller 100, and is used to switch the potential of the first control signal LC1 and the potential of the second control signal LC2 in the vertical blank interval (V-Blank) according to the data enable signal DE, and the phase of the first control signal LC1 is opposite to the phase of the second control signal LC2.

[0025] It can be understood that the display panel provided in this embodiment controls the level conversion module 200 to switch the potential of the first control signal LC1 and the potential of the second control signal LC2 in the vertical blank interval through the data enable signal DE output by the timing controller 100. The potential switching interval of the two control signals does not change with the change of the refresh frequency, and the potential switching interval is kept fixed, which can prevent the potential switching interval of the two control signals from being too short, thereby improving the service life of the corresponding switching devices in the display panel.

[0026] The above-mentioned potential switching interval is generally greater than or equal to 1.5 seconds.

[0027] It should be noted that the potential of the first control signal LC1 and the potential of the second control signal LC2 are switched only once in a vertical blank interval, and there is an effective display area between two adjacent vertical blank intervals. Therefore, the above-mentioned display panel can control the potential switching intervals of the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 and keep them relatively fixed.

[0028] At the same time, since the display panel can control the potential switching interval of the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 not to be too small, the switching frequency of the corresponding switching devices in the display panel is reduced, which is beneficial to reducing the power consumption of the display panel.

[0029] Among them, this embodiment uses a data enable signal DE to control the level conversion module 200 configured with a new function to switch the potential of the first control signal LC1 and the potential of the second control signal LC2 in the vertical blank interval, and outputs the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 after the potential switching, which can prevent the potential switching interval of the above two control signals from being too short.

[0030] It should be noted that the timing controller 100 can also be manufactured into a corresponding chip and applied to a display panel, which can reduce the space occupied by the display panel and is conducive to achieving a narrow frame of the display panel.

[0031] In one embodiment, the display panel further includes a flash memory, and the flash memory is connected to the timing controller 100 .

[0032] In one embodiment, if Figure 3 As shown, the level conversion module 200 includes a vertical blank interval identification unit 210, a delay unit 220 and a level switching unit 230. The vertical blank interval identification unit 210 is connected to the timing controller 100, and is used to identify the vertical blank interval according to the data enable signal DE; the delay unit 220 is connected to the vertical blank interval identification unit 210, and is used to output a switching instruction after a delay setting time; the level switching unit 230 is connected to the delay unit 220, and is used to switch the potential of the first control signal LC1 and the potential of the second control signal LC2 according to the switching instruction.

[0033] It should be noted that the level conversion module 200 can be manufactured into a corresponding chip and applied to a display panel, which can reduce the space occupied by the level conversion module 200 in the display panel and is conducive to achieving a narrow frame of the display panel.

[0034] Furthermore, the level conversion module 200 in the conventional technology usually only has a level conversion function, while the present embodiment reconstructs the architecture of the level conversion module 200 and gives it a new function or role, thereby preventing the potential switching interval of the above two control signals from being too short.

[0035] In one embodiment, the vertical blanking interval identifying unit 210 identifies the vertical blanking interval according to a comparison result between a low voltage duration of the data enable signal DE and a high voltage duration of the data enable signal DE.

[0036] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the vertical blank interval identification unit 210 can independently count and compare the number and duration of low voltages and the number and duration of high voltages in the data enable signal DE to obtain the above-mentioned comparison result, thereby identifying the time period in which the vertical blank interval is located.

[0037] In one embodiment, the vertical blank interval identification unit 210 is used to determine the vertical blank interval according to a continuous low voltage duration being greater than or equal to two high voltage durations.

[0038] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, when the vertical blank interval identification unit 210 detects a continuous low potential duration greater than or equal to two high potential durations, it determines that the continuous low potential duration is the time period corresponding to the vertical blank interval.

[0039] In one embodiment, the delay unit 220 is used to output the switching instruction in the next vertical blank interval, and the potential switching time of the first control signal LC1 and the potential switching time of the second control signal LC2 are both located in the next vertical blank interval.

[0040] It should be noted that when the vertical blank interval identification unit 210 identifies the current vertical blank interval, the current vertical blank interval may have passed for some time. At this time, after the above-mentioned set time, the potential switching of the first control signal LC1 and the potential switching of the second control signal LC2 are performed, then the potential switching time of the first control signal LC1 and the potential switching time of the second control signal LC2 may fall into the effective display area, which is a situation avoided by the technical solution of the present application.

[0041] In one embodiment, the potential switching time of the first control signal LC1 is the same as the potential switching time of the second control signal LC2.

[0042] In one embodiment, the delay unit 220 includes a register, and the register is used to store the set time.

[0043] In one embodiment, the level switching unit 230 controls the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 to switch potential synchronously according to the switching instruction; wherein, when the potential of the first control signal LC1 switches from a low potential to a high potential, the potential of the second control signal LC2 switches from a high potential to a low potential; when the potential of the first control signal LC1 jumps from a high potential to a low potential, the potential of the second control signal LC2 jumps from a low potential to a high potential.

[0044] In one embodiment, the display panel also includes a gate driving circuit 300, the gate driving circuit 300 includes a plurality of cascaded gate driving units 310, each gate driving unit 310 is used to output a corresponding scanning signal G(n), and at least one gate driving unit 310 is connected to the level conversion module 200 to access the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2.

[0045] It should be noted that the above-mentioned setting time can be determined according to the switching time of the first control signal LC1 and the switching time of the second control signal LC2 by the gate driving circuit 300. Since the potential switching interval of the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 does not change with the change of the refresh frequency, the potential switching interval can be kept fixed, which can prevent the potential switching interval of the two control signals from being too short, thereby improving the service life of the corresponding switching device in the display panel, and further improving the reliability of the gate driving circuit 300.

[0046] In one embodiment, if Figure 4As shown, the gate driving unit 310 includes a first pull-down unit 311 and a second pull-down unit 312, the first pull-down unit 311 is connected to the level conversion module 200 to control the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential according to the first control signal LC1, and the second pull-down unit 312 is connected to the level conversion module 200 to control the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential according to the second control signal LC2; wherein the working cycle of the first pull-down unit 311 alternates with the working cycle of the second pull-down unit 312.

[0047] In one embodiment, the gate driving unit 310 includes a first pull-down unit 311 and a second pull-down unit 312, the first pull-down unit 311 is connected to the level conversion module 200 to control the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential according to the second control signal LC2, and the second pull-down unit 312 is connected to the level conversion module 200 to control the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential according to the first control signal LC1; wherein the working cycle of the first pull-down unit 311 alternates with the working cycle of the second pull-down unit 312.

[0048] It should be noted that, in the working cycle of the first pull-down unit 311, the first pull-down unit 311 controls the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential; in the working cycle of the second pull-down unit 312, the second pull-down unit 312 controls the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential. Alternatively, the working cycle of the first pull-down unit 311 and the working cycle of the second pull-down unit 312 may overlap in a time period, that is, the first pull-down unit 311 and the second pull-down unit 312 may also simultaneously control the scanning signal G(n) to be at a low potential.

[0049] Among them, the first pull-down unit 311 may include a first transistor as a switching device, one of the source / drain of the first transistor is connected to the low potential line, the other of the source / drain of the first transistor is connected to the scan line, and the gate of the first transistor is connected to the first control line.

[0050] The second pull-down unit 312 may include a second transistor as a switching device, one of the source / drain of the second transistor is connected to the low potential line, the other of the source / drain of the second transistor is connected to the scan line, and the gate of the second transistor is connected to the second control line.

[0051] Among them, the low potential line is used to transmit a low potential signal. The scan line is used to transmit the above-mentioned scan signal G(n). The first control line is used to transmit the first control signal LC1. The second control line is used to transmit the second control signal LC2. The frequency of the first control signal LC1 can be the same as the frequency of the second control signal LC2. The first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 are both pulse signals, and the pulse of the first control signal LC1 and the pulse of the second control signal LC2 can be, but not limited to, a high potential or a low potential, which can be selected according to the channel type of the first transistor and the second transistor. For example, when the first transistor and the second transistor are N-channel thin film transistors, the pulse of the first control signal LC1 and the pulse of the second control signal LC2 are high potentials; when the first transistor and the second transistor are P-channel thin film transistors, the pulse of the first control signal LC1 and the pulse of the second control signal LC2 are low potentials.

[0052] It should be noted that since the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2 reduce the switching frequency of the first transistor and the second transistor, not only the power consumption of the display panel can be reduced, but also the service life of the gate driving circuit 300 can be increased.

[0053] In one embodiment, the display panel also includes a glass substrate, and the above-mentioned gate drive circuit 300 is manufactured on the glass substrate. The present application can prevent the first transistor, the second transistor or the circuit connected thereto in the gate drive circuit 300 from generating a large current through the first control signal LC1 and the second control signal LC2, causing the glass substrate to melt, resulting in large-area burning and loss of repair value. Even better, it can also prevent safety accidents such as fire.

[0054] Among them, the above-mentioned gate driving circuit 300 can also be a GOA (Gate Driver ON Array, array substrate row drive) circuit, which can use the original process of the display panel to manufacture the driving circuit of the horizontal scan line on the substrate around the display area, so that it can replace the external IC (Integrated Circuit, integrated circuit / chip) to complete the driving of the horizontal scan line.

[0055] In one of the embodiments, the present embodiment provides a display device, which includes the display panel in at least one of the above embodiments, wherein the data enable signal DE is obtained according to the decoded video data DI.

[0056] It can be understood that the display device provided in this embodiment controls the level conversion module 200 to switch the potential of the first control signal LC1 and the potential of the second control signal LC2 in the vertical blank interval through the data enable signal DE output by the timing controller 100. The potential switching interval of the two control signals does not change with the change of the refresh frequency, and the potential switching interval can be kept fixed, which can prevent the potential switching interval of the two control signals from being too short, thereby improving the service life of the corresponding switching devices in the display panel.

[0057] It should be noted that the above-mentioned display panel can be but is not limited to a liquid crystal display panel, and can also be a self-luminous display panel, for example, an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display panel, a Micro-LED (micro light-emitting diode) display panel, a Mini-LED (mini light-emitting diode) display panel or a QLED (quantum dot light-emitting diode) display panel, etc.

[0058] The above-mentioned display device, as a device for displaying video or still images, can be not only a fixed terminal such as a television, a desktop computer, a monitor, and a billboard, but also a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a mobile communication terminal, an electronic notepad, an e-book, a multimedia player, a navigator, and a laptop computer, and can also be a wearable electronic device such as a smart watch, smart glasses, a virtual reality device, and an augmented reality device.

[0059] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0060] The display panel and the display device provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced in detail above. Specific examples are used herein to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the technical solutions and core ideas of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A display panel, characterized in that: include: A timing controller, used for outputting a corresponding data enable signal according to the input video data; and A level conversion module, the level conversion module is connected to the timing controller, and is used to switch the potential of the first control signal and the potential of the second control signal in the vertical blank interval according to the data enable signal, and the phase of the first control signal is opposite to the phase of the second control signal; Wherein, the first control signal and the second control signal are both used to control the switching device in the gate drive circuit.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, characterized in that: The level conversion module comprises: a vertical blank interval identification unit, the vertical blank interval identification unit being connected to the timing controller and configured to identify the vertical blank interval according to the data enable signal; A delay unit, the delay unit is connected to the vertical blank interval identification unit and is used to output a switching instruction after a delay of a set time; and A level switching unit, the level switching unit is connected to the delay unit, and is used to switch the potential of the first control signal and the potential of the second control signal according to the switching instruction.

3. The display panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: The vertical blank interval identification unit identifies the vertical blank interval according to a comparison result between a low potential duration of the data enable signal and a high potential duration of the data enable signal.

4. The display panel according to claim 3, characterized in that: The vertical blank interval identification unit is used to determine the vertical blank interval according to whether a continuous low potential duration is greater than or equal to two high potential durations.

5. The display panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: The delay unit is used to output the switching instruction in the next vertical blank interval, and the potential switching time of the first control signal and the potential switching time of the second control signal are both located in the next vertical blank interval.

6. The display panel according to claim 5, characterized in that: The potential switching time of the first control signal is the same as the potential switching time of the second control signal.

7. The display panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: The delay unit includes a register, and the register is used to store the set time.

8. The display panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: The level switching unit controls the first control signal and the second control signal to switch potential synchronously according to the switching instruction; Among them, when the potential of the first control signal switches from a low potential to a high potential, the potential of the second control signal switches from a high potential to a low potential; when the potential of the first control signal jumps from a high potential to a low potential, the potential of the second control signal jumps from a low potential to a high potential.

9. The display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The display panel also includes a gate driving circuit, which includes a plurality of cascaded gate driving units, each of which is used to output a corresponding scanning signal, and at least one of the gate driving units is connected to the level conversion module to receive the first control signal and the second control signal.

10. The display panel according to claim 9, characterized in that: The gate driving unit includes a first pull-down unit and a second pull-down unit, the first pull-down unit is connected to the level conversion module to control the scanning signal to be at a low potential according to the first control signal, and the second pull-down unit is connected to the level conversion module to control the scanning signal to be at a low potential according to the second control signal; wherein a duty cycle of the first pull-down unit alternates with a duty cycle of the second pull-down unit.

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