Display driving circuit and image and instruction synchronization method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a display driver circuit and an image and instruction synchronization method, which are applied to the display driver circuit and include the following steps: (a) pre-defining the area range of the instruction set in the image; (b) determining whether the instruction is enabled and its type; (c) if the determination result of step (b) is yes, the display driver circuit identifies the instruction; and (d) before the display driver circuit transmits the next frame of image, executing the instruction to switch the state of the display driver circuit and transmit the image.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a display driving circuit, and in particular to a display driving circuit and an image and instruction synchronization method applied to the display driving circuit. Background Art

[0002] In the process of dynamic image output by various display systems in combination with display driver ICs and fluorescent screens, as the functions of display driver ICs become increasingly diversified, in certain application scenarios (such as smartphones), the system side needs to send commands to the display driver IC to put the display driver IC into a certain specific display state. At the same time, the system side also needs to send a processed specific image corresponding to this specific display state at a precise moment, so that the processed specific image and the specific display state of the display driver IC can be synchronized and output to the fluorescent screen for display / presentation, thereby achieving the desired display effect.

[0003] However, if the commands sent by the system are out of sync with the image data, for example, if the commands and the image are staggered by N frames (N>3), the resulting display effect on the screen will not meet expectations, resulting in screen flickering or delays. This can be roughly divided into the following two situations:

[0004] (1) Figure 1 As shown, the image data DAT sent by the system-side AP is faster than the state switching command CMD, causing the memory RAM to switch from state A to state B first, but the display driver circuit IC has not yet switched states and remains in state A. The possible reason is that the image data DAT output by the system-side AP cannot be accurately controlled to start refreshing at the time corresponding to the effectiveness of the state switching command CMD, resulting in the two not taking effect synchronously and failing to achieve the expected display effect.

[0005] (2) Figure 2 As shown, the state switching command CMD sent by the system-side AP is faster than the image data DAT, causing the display driver circuit IC to switch from state A to state B first, but the memory RAM has not yet switched and remains in state A. This may be because the image processing unit of the system-side AP is too busy, resulting in a delay in the time it outputs the image data DAT. As a result, the two cannot take effect synchronously and the expected display effect cannot be achieved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention proposes a display driving circuit and an image and instruction synchronization method applied to the display driving circuit, which can ensure that the display driving circuit receives the state switching instruction and image data at the same time (within the same frame), thereby achieving a synchronous response of image refresh and switching state, so as to effectively avoid the unexpected display effects caused by the lack of synchronization between the displayed image content and the display driving circuit state switching in the prior art.

[0007] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is a method for synchronizing an image and a command for a display driver circuit. In this embodiment, the method includes the following steps: (a) pre-defining a region within an image where a command set resides; (b) determining whether the command is enabled and its type; (c) if the determination result in step (b) is yes, the display driver circuit identifying the command; and (d) executing the command to switch the state of the display driver circuit and transmit the image before the display driver circuit transmits the next frame.

[0008] In one embodiment, if the determination result of step (b) is negative, the state of the display driving circuit remains unchanged and the image is transmitted according to the normal process.

[0009] In one embodiment, the command is a state switching command, and the system encrypts the command in a specific area of ​​the image and then synchronously transmits the command to the display driving circuit.

[0010] In one embodiment, when the display driving circuit receives an image, the display driving circuit decodes instructions from a specific area of ​​the image to control subsequent switching timing.

[0011] In one embodiment, the display driving circuit is coupled to the display unit. In step (d), when the display driving circuit switches from the first state to the second state and simultaneously transmits an image to the display unit, the display unit displays the image in the second state.

[0012] In one embodiment, the specific area of ​​the image corresponds to a non-active display area of ​​the display unit.

[0013] In one embodiment, the non-active display area is selected from at least one of a notch area, a rounded corner area, a blind hole area, and an under-screen fingerprint recognition area.

[0014] In one embodiment, the specific area of ​​the image corresponds to an effective display area of ​​the display unit.

[0015] In one embodiment, the effective display area is at least one data area of ​​the status bar.

[0016] In one embodiment, step (a) further includes: using a pre-defined area range as the start / end position of the instruction set, and the start area of ​​the instruction set adopts a specific data format, which sequentially includes a header, a first instruction, a second instruction, ..., a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[0017] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is a display driver circuit for synchronizing an image with a command. In this embodiment, the display driver circuit includes a definition unit, a judgment unit, and a control unit. The definition unit is used to predefine the area of ​​the command set within the image. The judgment unit is coupled to the definition unit and is used to determine whether the command is enabled and its type. The control unit is coupled to the judgment unit. If the judgment unit determines that the command is enabled, the control unit recognizes the command and executes the command to switch the state of the display driver circuit and transmit the image before the display driver circuit transmits the next frame.

[0018] In one embodiment, if the determination result of the determination unit is negative, the control unit maintains the state of the display driving circuit unchanged and transmits the image according to a normal process.

[0019] In one embodiment, the display driving circuit is coupled to the system end, and the command is a state switching command. The system end encrypts the command in a specific area of ​​an image and then synchronously transmits the command to the display driving circuit.

[0020] In one embodiment, when the display driving circuit receives an image, the display driving circuit decodes instructions from a specific area of ​​the image to control subsequent switching timing.

[0021] In one embodiment, the display driving circuit is coupled to the display unit. When the display driving circuit switches from a first state to a second state and simultaneously transmits an image to the display unit, the display unit displays the image in the second state.

[0022] In one embodiment, the specific area of ​​the image corresponds to a non-active display area of ​​the display unit.

[0023] In one embodiment, the non-active display area is selected from at least one of a notch area, a rounded corner area, a blind hole area, and an under-screen fingerprint recognition area.

[0024] In one embodiment, the specific area of ​​the image corresponds to an effective display area of ​​the display unit.

[0025] In one embodiment, the effective display area is at least one data area of ​​the status bar.

[0026] In one embodiment, the definition unit further uses a predefined area range as the start / end position of the instruction set, and the start area of ​​the instruction set adopts a specific data format, which sequentially includes a header, a first instruction, a second instruction, ..., and a cyclic redundancy check.

[0027] Compared with the prior art, the display driving circuit and image and instruction synchronization method proposed in the present invention can encrypt the state switching instruction in a specific area of ​​the image data through the system end and synchronously transmit it to the display driving circuit, and then the display driving circuit decodes the state switching instruction from the image data to ensure that the display driving circuit can receive the instruction and image data at the same time (within the same frame), thereby achieving a synchronous response of refreshing the image and switching the state, avoiding unexpected display effects caused by the lack of synchronization between the displayed image content and the display driving circuit state during the process of switching the display driving circuit state, and thus can effectively solve the problems encountered in the prior art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the prior art in which images cannot be synchronized because the instructions are faster than the instructions.

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the prior art in which instructions cannot be taken into effect synchronously because the instructions are faster than the images.

[0030] Figure 3 Flowchart of a method for synchronizing images and commands in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating that the system encrypts a state switching instruction in a specific area of ​​image data.

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing a display driving circuit decoding a state switching instruction from a specific region of image data.

[0033] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram showing that a specific area of ​​image data corresponds to a non-effective display area of ​​a display unit.

[0034] Figure 7 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing that a specific area of ​​image data corresponds to an effective display area of ​​a display unit.

[0035] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram showing that the state switching instruction is encrypted in a specific area in the image data and corresponds to the notch and rounded corner area of ​​the display unit.

[0036] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the present invention implementing the synchronous effectiveness of image data and state switching instructions.

[0037] Figure 10 A diagram illustrating a specific data format used for the start area of ​​an instruction set.

[0038] Figure 11 FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a display driving circuit in another embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Description of main component symbols:

[0040] S10~S18…steps

[0041] AP…System side

[0042] CMD…State switching command

[0043] DAT…Image Data

[0044] RAM…memory

[0045] IC…Display driver circuit

[0046] K…Specific area

[0047] HDR… header

[0048] CMD1…First command

[0049] CMD2…Second command

[0050] CRC…Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0051] 1…Display driver circuit

[0052] 10…Definition Unit

[0053] 12…Judgment unit

[0054] 14…Control unit DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method for synchronizing images and commands. In this embodiment, the method can be applied to a display driver circuit of an electronic device with a display function (e.g., a smartphone). The display driver circuit can be coupled between a system (e.g., an application operating system) and a display unit (e.g., a display panel), but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0056] like Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a flowchart of the image and instruction synchronization method in this embodiment. Figure 3 As shown, the image and instruction synchronization method may include the following steps:

[0057] Step S10: predefine the area range of the instruction set in the image;

[0058] Step S12: Determine whether the command is enabled and its type;

[0059] Step S14: If the determination result of step S12 is yes, a drive circuit identification instruction is displayed;

[0060] Step S16: before the display driving circuit transmits the next frame, executing the instruction to switch the state of the display driving circuit and transmit the image; and

[0061] Step S18: If the determination result of step S12 is no, the state of the display driving circuit remains unchanged and the image is transmitted according to the normal process.

[0062] In practical applications, such as Figure 4 As shown, the above instruction can be a state switching instruction CMD that switches the display driver circuit IC from state A to state B, and the system end AP encrypts the state switching instruction CMD in a specific area K of the image data DAT in state B and then synchronously transmits it to the display driver circuit IC. Figure 5 As shown, when the display driver circuit IC receives image data DAT in state B, it decodes the state switching command CMD from a specific region K in the image data DAT to control the subsequent switching timing. Because the display driver circuit IC fully controls the response timing of the state switching command CMD and the image data DAT, the image data DAT and the state switching command CMD can be synchronously executed and output to the display unit for display / presentation, thereby achieving the desired display effect.

[0063] It should be noted that the specific area K of the image data DAT may correspond to an effective display area or a non-effective display area of ​​a display unit (eg, a display panel).

[0064] like Figure 6 As shown, if the specific area of ​​the image corresponds to the non-effective display area of ​​the display unit, it may correspond to at least one of the notch area, rounded corner area, blind hole area, and under-screen fingerprint recognition area of ​​the display unit. Figure 7 As shown, if a specific area of ​​the image corresponds to the effective display area of ​​the display unit, it may correspond to at least one data area (1st to Nth) of the status bar of the display unit. By designing a command set similar to the color / grayscale data of the status bar, it can avoid obvious display differences while being able to clearly read / recognize the command. For example, if Figure 8 As shown, the state switching command CMD may be encrypted in a specific area of ​​the image data corresponding to the notch area and the rounded corner area of ​​the display unit, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0065] like Figure 9Compared to the prior art, which is prone to the problem of instructions and images being out of sync, the system-side AP of the present invention encodes the state switching instruction CMD that causes the display driver circuit IC to switch from state A to state B and adds it to the specific area K of the image data DAT in state B, and then synchronously transmits the image data DAT and the state switching instruction CMD to the display driver circuit IC. When the display driver circuit IC receives the image data DAT, the display driver circuit IC decodes the state switching instruction CMD from the specific area K of the image data DAT. Because the display driver circuit IC can fully grasp the response timing of the state switching instruction CMD and the image data DAT, the state switching instruction CMD can be synchronized with the state switching instruction CMD and output to the display unit (e.g., a display panel) for display / presentation, thereby achieving the desired display effect.

[0066] In practical applications, step S10 further includes: using the pre-defined area range as the start / end position of the instruction set, and Figure 10 As shown, the starting area of ​​the instruction set adopts a specific data format, for example, it may sequentially include a header (Header) HDR, a first instruction CMD1, a second instruction CMD2, ..., a cyclic redundancy check (Cyclic Redundancy Check) CRC, but is not limited thereto.

[0067] It should be noted that the key design points for the system-side AP of the present invention when encrypting the state switching instruction CMD may include but are not limited to the following:

[0068] (1) If the state switching command CMD is added to the non-effective display area, the R / G / B data of a single pixel can be represented by 00 to FF, but is not limited to this;

[0069] (2) If the status switching command CMD is added to the active display area (e.g., the status bar), a command table may be customized according to needs. For example, if the status bar is dark (lower grayscale), the grayscale values ​​L0 to L16 in the R / G / B data of a single pixel may correspond to the 0 to F commands; if the status bar is bright (higher grayscale), the grayscale values ​​L240 to L255 in the R / G / B data of a single pixel may correspond to the 0 to F commands, but the present invention is not limited thereto; and

[0070] (3) When the system-side AP encrypts the state switching command CMD, it is necessary to further consider the risk of preventing Vesa transmission compression. Therefore, the system-side AP may, for example, encode the grayscale value L0 of the R / G / B data of a single pixel as binary 0 and encode the grayscale value L255 as binary 1, but is not limited to this.

[0071] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is a display driving circuit. In this embodiment, the display driving circuit is used to synchronize images and commands.

[0072] like Figure 11 As shown, the display driver circuit 1 can be coupled between a system AP and a display unit (e.g., a display panel) PL. The system AP can encrypt a command (e.g., a state switching command) within a specific region of image data and synchronously transmit it to the display driver circuit 1, thereby ensuring that the display driver circuit 1 receives the command and image data simultaneously (within the same frame).

[0073] The display driver circuit 1 may include a definition unit 10, a judgment unit 12, and a control unit 14. The definition unit 10 is used to predefine the area range of the instruction set in the image. The judgment unit 12 is coupled to the definition unit 10 and is used to determine whether the instruction can be executed and its type. The control unit 14 is coupled to the judgment unit 12. If the judgment result of the judgment unit 12 is yes, the control unit 14 recognizes the instruction and executes the instruction to switch the state of the display driver circuit 1 and transmit the image before the display driver circuit 1 transmits the next frame. If the judgment result of the judgment unit 12 is no, the control unit 14 maintains the state of the display driver circuit 1 unchanged and transmits the image according to the normal process.

[0074] In practical applications, the control unit 14 of the display driver circuit 1 decodes the state switching instruction from a specific region of the image data to control the subsequent switching timing. Because the display driver circuit 1 fully understands the response timing of the state switching instruction and the image data, the state switching instruction can be synchronized and output to the display unit (e.g., display panel) PL for display / presentation, thereby achieving the desired display effect.

[0075] It should be noted that the specific area of ​​the image data added to the status switching instruction may correspond to the non-valid display area of ​​the display unit PL, such as at least one of the notch area, the rounded corner area, the blind hole area, and the under-screen fingerprint recognition area, but is not limited to this; this specific area may also correspond to the valid display area of ​​the display unit, such as at least one data area (1st to Nth) of the status bar, which can avoid obvious display differences while being able to clearly read / recognize the instructions by designing an instruction set similar to the color / grayscale data of the status bar, but is not limited to this.

[0076] Compared with the prior art, the display driving circuit and image and instruction synchronization method proposed in the present invention can encrypt the state switching instruction in a specific area of ​​the image data through the system end and synchronously transmit it to the display driving circuit, and then the display driving circuit decodes the state switching instruction from the image data to ensure that the display driving circuit can receive the instruction and image data at the same time (within the same frame), thereby achieving a synchronous response of refreshing the image and switching the state, avoiding unexpected display effects caused by the lack of synchronization between the displayed image content and the display driving circuit state during the process of switching the display driving circuit state, and thus can effectively solve the problems encountered in the prior art.

Claims

1. A method for synchronizing an image and an instruction, applied to a display driving circuit, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: (a) defining the area range of the instruction set in the image in advance; (b) determining whether the instruction is enabled and its type; (c) If the determination result of step (b) is yes, the display driving circuit recognizes the instruction; and (d) before the display driving circuit transmits the next frame, executing the instruction to switch the state of the display driving circuit and transmit the image; Among them, the instruction is a state switching instruction and is encrypted by the system side in a specific area of ​​the image and then synchronously transmitted to the display driving circuit. The specific area of ​​the image corresponds to the non-valid display area of ​​the display unit, and the non-valid display area is selected from at least one of the notch area, rounded corner area, blind hole area, and under-screen fingerprint recognition area.

2. The image and instruction synchronization method according to claim 1, wherein: If the determination result of step (b) is no, the state of the display driving circuit remains unchanged and the image is transmitted according to the normal process.

3. The image and instruction synchronization method according to claim 1, wherein: When the display driving circuit receives the image, the display driving circuit decodes the instruction from the specific area of ​​the image to control subsequent switching timing.

4. The image and instruction synchronization method according to claim 1, wherein: The display driving circuit is coupled to the display unit. In step (d), when the display driving circuit switches from the first state to the second state and simultaneously transmits the image to the display unit, the display unit displays the image in the second state.

5. The image and instruction synchronization method according to claim 1, wherein: The specific area of ​​the image corresponds to an effective display area of ​​the display unit.

6. The image and instruction synchronization method according to claim 1, wherein: The effective display area is at least one data area of ​​the status bar.

7. The image and instruction synchronization method according to claim 1, wherein: Step (a) further comprises: The area range defined in advance is used as the start / end position of the instruction set, and the start area of ​​the instruction set adopts a specific data format, which includes a header, a first instruction, a second instruction, and a cyclic redundancy check.

8. A display driving circuit for realizing synchronization of image and instruction, characterized in that: The display driving circuit includes: A definition unit, used to define in advance the area range of the instruction set in the image; a determination unit, coupled to the definition unit, for determining whether the instruction is executable and its type; and a control unit coupled to the determination unit, and if the determination result of the determination unit is yes, the control unit identifies the instruction and executes the instruction to switch the state of the display driving circuit and transmit the image before the display driving circuit transmits the next frame; In which, the display driving circuit is coupled to the system end, the instruction is a state switching instruction and is encrypted by the system end in a specific area of ​​the image and then synchronously transmitted to the display driving circuit. The specific area of ​​the image corresponds to the non-valid display area of ​​the display unit, and the non-valid display area is selected from at least one of the notch area, rounded corner area, blind hole area, and under-screen fingerprint recognition area.

9. The display driving circuit according to claim 8, wherein: If the determination result of the determination unit is negative, the control unit maintains the state of the display driving circuit unchanged and transmits the image according to a normal process.

10. The display driving circuit according to claim 8, wherein: When the display driving circuit receives the image, the display driving circuit decodes the instruction from the specific area of ​​the image to control subsequent switching timing.

11. The display driving circuit according to claim 8, wherein: The display driving circuit is coupled to the display unit. When the display driving circuit switches from a first state to a second state and transmits the image to the display unit at the same time, the display unit displays the image in the second state.

12. The display driving circuit according to claim 8, wherein: The specific area of ​​the image corresponds to an effective display area of ​​the display unit.

13. The display driving circuit according to claim 8, wherein: The effective display area is at least one data area of ​​the status bar.

14. The display driving circuit according to claim 8, wherein: The definition unit also uses the predefined area range as the start / end position of the instruction set, and the start area of ​​the instruction set adopts a specific data format, which includes a header, a first instruction, a second instruction, and a cyclic redundancy check.

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