Display device and display method

Abstract

The display device includes a liquid crystal display panel, a backlight module, a control circuit, a driving circuit, and a waveform generating circuit. The liquid crystal display panel includes a plurality of liquid crystal pixels. The backlight module generates the backlight required by the liquid crystal display panel, and the backlight module includes a plurality of backlight blocks. The control circuit determines the backlight brightness corresponding to each of the backlight blocks within a frame period based on the input display data, and generates a control signal based on the backlight brightness corresponding to the backlight blocks. The driving circuit generates a plurality of driving signals to the backlight module within a frame period based on the control signal. The waveform generating circuit generates a deblurring pulse signal to the backlight module within a frame period. The backlight blocks emit light based on the driving signals when the deblurring pulse signal is at a high level.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a display device, and more particularly to a display device capable of supporting local dimming and reducing motion blur. Background Art

[0002] Liquid crystal (LC) display panels are a common display panel today. They contain liquid crystal pixels arranged in an array. Because liquid crystals possess unique electro-optical properties, applying a voltage to the liquid crystal pixels can change their orientation, thereby controlling the light transmittance of the liquid crystal pixels. This means that the display device can adjust the light transmittance of the liquid crystal pixels and the brightness of the backlight module based on the display data, ensuring that each liquid crystal pixel displays the desired brightness.

[0003] When the human eye tracks the motion of an object in a picture, the human brain predicts the object's likely location based on its speed. However, the response time required to change the liquid crystal transmittance is long. Therefore, when an LCD panel presents dynamic images, motion blur often occurs because the human brain's expected position of the object differs from the object's actual position in the picture. To mitigate this motion blur, existing technologies often use black screen insertion to prevent the human eye from seeing the object's position in the picture that differs from the expected position. Furthermore, to save power, existing technologies also employ more sophisticated control over the backlight module's lighting method. In this case, to meet various system requirements, the LCD panel must issue multiple sets of instructions to the backlight module's driver circuit within each frame. Furthermore, to avoid image anomalies, the execution time of each set of instructions must be coordinated, resulting in a very complex operating sequence for the driver circuit and even causing system instability. Therefore, effectively controlling the driver circuit and backlight module has become an unresolved issue in the field. Summary of the Invention

[0004] One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a display device, which includes a liquid crystal display panel, a backlight module, a control circuit, a driving circuit and a waveform generating circuit. The liquid crystal display panel includes a plurality of liquid crystal pixels. The backlight module is used to generate the backlight required by the liquid crystal display panel, and the backlight module includes a plurality of backlight blocks. The control circuit is used to determine the backlight brightness corresponding to each of the plurality of backlight blocks within a frame period based on the input display data, and to generate a control signal based on the plurality of backlight brightnesses corresponding to the backlight blocks. The driving circuit is used to generate a plurality of driving signals to the backlight module within the frame period based on the control signal. The waveform generating circuit is used to generate a deblurring pulse signal to the backlight module within the frame period. The plurality of backlight blocks in the backlight module emit light based on the plurality of driving signals when the deblurring pulse signal is at a high voltage.

[0005] Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a display method, comprising determining, based on input display data, a backlight brightness corresponding to each of a plurality of backlight blocks of a backlight module within a frame period, generating a control signal based on a plurality of backlight brightnesses corresponding to the plurality of backlight blocks, utilizing a driving circuit to generate a plurality of driving signals to the backlight module within the frame period based on the control signal, utilizing a waveform generating circuit to generate a deblurring pulse signal to the backlight module within the frame period, the backlight module generating the backlight required for a liquid crystal display panel based on the plurality of driving signals when the deblurring pulse signal is at a high level, and utilizing the backlight generated by the backlight module to display an image through the liquid crystal display panel.

[0006] The display device and display method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure utilize a waveform generating circuit to generate a deblurring pulse signal, thereby simplifying the operation of the control circuit and the driving circuit, thereby reducing abnormal conditions such as the screen brightness being lower than expected and / or the screen flickering due to control signal delay. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 2 Yes Operation Figure 1 Flowchart of a method for displaying a device.

[0009] Figure 3 It is a timing diagram of the signals generated by the display device during the frame period.

[0010] Figure 4 It is another signal timing diagram generated by the display device during the frame period. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Figure 1FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The display device 100 includes a liquid crystal display panel 110 , a backlight module 120 , a control circuit 130 , a driving circuit 140 , and a waveform generating circuit 150 .

[0012] The liquid crystal display panel 110 includes a plurality of liquid crystal pixels, and the backlight module 120 can generate the backlight required by the liquid crystal display panel 110. In this embodiment, the backlight module 120 can include a plurality of backlight blocks 1221 to 122N, and each backlight block 1221 to 122N can be independently controlled to perform regional dimming. For example, when the image content in the upper left corner of the image to be presented has a higher brightness and the image content in the lower right corner has a lower brightness, the display device 100 can cause the backlight block 1221 located in the upper left corner to emit a backlight with a higher brightness and cause the backlight block 122N located in the lower right corner to emit a backlight with a lower brightness. In other words, the backlight module 120 can cause the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N to provide backlight light sources of corresponding brightness according to the image content to be presented, so as to improve the contrast of the image and / or reduce power consumption.

[0013] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method 200 for operating the display device 100. The method 200 may include steps S210 to S260.

[0014] S210: Determining the backlight brightness corresponding to each backlight block 1221 to 122N within the frame period FP1 according to the input display data DI;

[0015] S220: Generate a control signal SIG according to the backlight brightness corresponding to the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N C1 ;

[0016] S230: Using the driving circuit 140 and according to the control signal SIG C1 The driving signal SIG is generated during the frame period FP1. D1 To SIG DN To the backlight module 120;

[0017] S240: Generate a deblurring pulse signal SIG within the frame period FP1 using the waveform generating circuit 150 MBR To the backlight module 120;

[0018] S250: Defuzzifying the pulse signal SIG MBR When the voltage is high, the backlight module 120 drives the driving signal SIG D1 To SIG DN Producing backlight required by the liquid crystal display panel 110; and

[0019] S260 : Utilizing the backlight generated by the backlight module 120 to display an image through the liquid crystal display panel 110 .

[0020] The control circuit 130 may determine the backlight brightness corresponding to each backlight block 1221 to 122N in each frame period according to the input display data DI in step S210, and may generate a control signal SIG according to the backlight brightness corresponding to the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N in step S220. C1 In this embodiment, the control circuit 130 may include, for example, a scaler.

[0021] Then in step S230, the driving circuit 140 may control the control signal SIG C1 Multiple driving signals SIG are generated in each frame period D1 To SIG DN To the backlight module 120, thereby correspondingly driving the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N in the backlight module 120 to achieve the effect of local dimming.

[0022] In this embodiment, to reduce motion blur, the display device 100 causes the backlight module 120 to provide backlight in the form of strobe lights. That is, within each frame period, the backlight module 120 emits light only during specific periods and does not emit light outside of these periods. This prevents the human eye from continuously viewing the image displayed by the display device 100, thereby reducing motion blur caused by the difference between the position of objects perceived by the human eye and the position of objects expected by the human brain.

[0023] However, generally speaking, the control circuit 130 and the driving circuit 140 are connected via a serial peripheral interface (SPI), and the control signal SIG C1 This signal complies with the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) communication specification. In this case, if the control circuit 130 also transmits control signals to the driver circuit 140 via the SPI to drive backlight blocks 1221 through 122N only during specific periods within a frame cycle, the control circuit 130 must continuously issue multiple sets of commands via the SPI during each frame cycle. Furthermore, because the timing of the local dimming and flash drive signals for motion blur reduction must be coordinated, the timing operation must be extremely precise. Otherwise, the expected image may not be displayed, and may even cause abnormal image flickering.

[0024] To simplify the timing operation and reduce the occurrence of image abnormality, the display device 100 can use the waveform generation circuit 150 to generate a flash pulse wave for reducing motion blur. For example, the waveform generation circuit 150 can generate a deblurring pulse signal SIG in each frame period in step S240. MBR to the backlight module 120, and the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N in the backlight module 120 will generate the deblurred pulse signal SIG in step S250. MBR When it is at high potential, it will be driven by the driving signal SIG D1 To SIG DN This creates a shimmering effect and reduces the undesirable visual effect of motion blur.

[0025] Since the deblurred pulse signal SIG MBR The main purpose of the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N is to be driven only in a specific period within the frame period, thereby inserting a non-luminous period in each frame period, thereby deblurring the pulse signal SIG. MBR The waveform of the deblurred pulse signal SIG may be independent of the content of the input display data DI, and the waveform generating circuit 150 may be used to generate a pulse wave with a fixed length to implement the deblurred pulse signal SIG. MBR In this way, the control circuit 130 does not need to continuously issue multiple sets of serial peripheral interface instructions to the driving circuit 140 in each frame period, which can simplify the operations of the control circuit 130 and the driving circuit 140. In some embodiments, the waveform generation circuit 150 can be implemented by a timing controller (TCON) in the system.

[0026] Figure 3 is a timing diagram of the signals generated by the display device 100 within the frame period FP1. Figure 3 In the defuzzified pulse signal SIG MBR It may be a pulse wave with a single pulse, however in some other embodiments, the deblurred pulse signal SIG MBR It can also contain multiple pulse waves. Figure 3 In the embodiment, the driving circuit 140 can drive the backlight module 120 in an analog manner. In this case, the driving signal SIG D1 To SIG DN For example, it can be a current signal. That is, the driving circuit 140 will generate a current signal according to the control signal SIG. C1 The drive signal SIG with the corresponding current is provided. D1 To SIG DN To the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N, so that the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N can emit light of corresponding brightness. In this case, when the driving signal SIGD1 When the current is larger, the backlight block 1221 will also emit light with greater brightness. However, in some other embodiments, the driving circuit 140 can also drive the backlight module 120 in a digital manner. In this case, the driving signal SIG D1 To SIG DN It can be a pulse width modulation signal with a fixed current. That is, the driving circuit 140 can be based on the control signal SIG C1 The instruction generates a driving signal SIG with a specific frequency and a corresponding duty cycle. D1 To SIG DN To the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N, so that the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N can emit light of corresponding brightness. In this case, when the driving signal SIG D1 When the duty cycle is closer to 100%, the backlight block 1221 will correspondingly emit light with greater brightness.

[0027] Furthermore, in Figure 3 In the process, the driving circuit 140 can continuously output the driving signal SIG D1 To SIG DN However, the backlight module 120 can use a logic circuit, such as an AND gate, to control the driving signal SIG. D1 To SIG DN and the deblurred pulse signal SIG MBR Performing a logical AND operation, the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N only generate the deblurred pulse signal SIG MBR In the high potential light emitting period EP1, according to the driving signal SIG D1 To SIG DN Emit light of corresponding brightness.

[0028] In some embodiments, the method 200 may also dynamically adjust the refresh rate of the display device 100 when updating an image, for example, increasing the refresh rate of the image update (e.g., from 60 Hz to 120 Hz) to improve the quality of the presented image, or decreasing the refresh rate of the image update to reduce power consumption. In this case, when the refresh rate changes, the length of the frame period also changes accordingly, so the waveform generation circuit 150 may also adjust the deblurring pulse signal SIG according to the refresh rate of the display device 100. MBR The number of pulses contained therein and the duration of each pulse at the high potential.

[0029] In addition, when the refresh rate of the display device 100 is dynamically adjusted, if the waveform generating circuit 150 does not adjust the deblurring pulse signal SIG accordingly MBRIn this case, the waveform generating circuit 150 may also generate the deblurring pulse signal SIG within the frame period FP1. MBR Afterwards, a compensation pulse signal SIG is generated CS to the backlight module 120, and the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N can also compensate the pulse signal SIG CS When the voltage is high, the drive signal SIG D1 To SIG DN glowing.

[0030] Figure 4 is another signal timing diagram generated by the display device 100 within the frame period FP1. For example, when the refresh rate is reduced, the length of the frame period FP1 will increase. At this time, if the deblurring pulse signal SIG MBR If the period of high potential is not extended accordingly, the actual luminous time ratio of the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N will be reduced, resulting in a lower overall brightness of the display device 100. At this time, the waveform generating circuit 150 can generate the deblurring pulse signal SIG MBR Afterwards, the compensation pulse signal SIG is generated successively CS , in order to increase the luminous time of the backlight blocks 1221 to 122N in the frame period FP1, thereby achieving the effect of brightness compensation. Figure 4 In the compensation pulse signal SIG CS May include at least one pulse.

[0031] Since the display device 100 can use the waveform generating circuit 150 to generate the compensation pulse signal SIG CS Therefore, the control circuit 130 does not need to transmit other control signals to the driving circuit 140 through the serial peripheral interface, thereby simplifying the operation of the control circuit 130 and the driving circuit 140 and reducing abnormal conditions such as the screen brightness being lower than expected and / or the screen flickering due to control signal delay.

[0032] In addition, in some embodiments, the defuzzified pulse signal SIG generated by the waveform generating circuit 150 MBR The waveform generating circuit 150 only needs to adjust the compensation pulse signal SIG when the refresh rate changes. CS The number of pulses included can ensure that the backlight module 120 can provide the backlight with the required brightness in each frame period. In this way, there is no need to adjust the deblurring pulse signal SIG MBR waveform, and can simplify the operation of the waveform generating circuit 150.

[0033] In summary, the display device and display method provided by the present disclosure can utilize a waveform generating circuit to generate a deblurring pulse signal and a compensation pulse signal, thereby simplifying the operation of the control circuit and the driving circuit, thereby reducing abnormal conditions such as the screen brightness being lower than expected and / or the screen flickering due to control signal delay.

[0034]

Explanation of symbols

[0035] 100: Display device

[0036] 110: LCD panel

[0037] 120: Backlight module

[0038] 1221 to 122N: Backlight block

[0039] 130: Control circuit

[0040] 140: Drive circuit

[0041] 150: Waveform generation circuit

[0042] 200: Method

[0043] DI: Display Data

[0044] EP1: Luminous Period

[0045] FP1: Frame period

[0046] S210 to S260: Steps

[0047] SIG C1 : Control signal

[0048] SIG D1 To SIG DN : Driving signal

[0049] SIG MBR : Deblurring pulse signal

Claims

1. A display device comprising: a liquid crystal display panel comprising a plurality of liquid crystal pixels; A backlight module, used to generate backlight required by the liquid crystal display panel, the backlight module comprising a plurality of backlight blocks; a control circuit for determining, according to input display data, a backlight brightness corresponding to each of the plurality of backlight blocks within a frame period, and generating a control signal according to the plurality of backlight brightnesses corresponding to the plurality of backlight blocks; a driving circuit for generating a plurality of driving signals to the backlight module within the frame period according to the control signal; as well as A waveform generating circuit, configured to generate a deblurring pulse signal to the backlight module within the frame period; The plurality of backlight blocks in the backlight module emit light according to the plurality of driving signals when the deblurring pulse signal is at a high level, and The generation of the deblurring pulse signal is independent of the operation of the control circuit and the driving circuit. 2 . The display device according to claim 1 , wherein at least two backlight blocks among the plurality of backlight blocks correspond to different backlight brightnesses.

3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein when the refresh rate of the display device is dynamically adjusted, the waveform generating circuit is further used to generate a compensation pulse signal to the backlight module after generating the deblurring pulse signal within the frame period, wherein the multiple backlight blocks are further used to emit light according to the multiple driving signals when the compensation pulse signal is at the high voltage. The display apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the compensation pulse signal comprises at least one pulse. 5 . The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of driving signals are current signals, and the plurality of backlight blocks emit light of corresponding brightness according to the current strength of the plurality of driving signals when the deblurring pulse signal is at the high level.

6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of driving signals are pulse width modulation signals, and the plurality of backlight blocks emit light of corresponding brightness according to the duty cycle of the plurality of driving signals when the deblurring pulse signal is at the high level. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the waveform generating circuit is a timing controller. The display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit comprises a scaler.

9. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the waveform generating circuit is further configured to adjust the number of pulses included in the deblurring pulse signal and the duration of each pulse being at the high level according to a refresh rate of the display device.

10. A display method, comprising: Determining the backlight brightness corresponding to each of the plurality of backlight blocks of the backlight module within a frame period according to the input display data; generating a control signal according to a plurality of backlight brightnesses corresponding to the plurality of backlight blocks; generating a plurality of driving signals to the backlight module within the frame period using a driving circuit according to the control signal; generating a deblurring pulse signal to the backlight module within the frame period using a waveform generating circuit; When the deblurring pulse signal is at a high level, utilizing the backlight module to generate backlight required by the liquid crystal display panel according to the plurality of driving signals; as well as The backlight generated by the backlight module is used to display an image through the liquid crystal display panel. The generation of the deblurring pulse signal is independent of the control signal and the operation of the driving circuit.

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