Display panel and display panel control method

Abstract

The present application relates to a display panel and a control method for the display panel. The display panel includes a control module and N scan drive circuits, the control module is connected to the N scan drive circuits, the N scan drive circuits are respectively connected to N rows of pixels of the display panel, and the nth scan drive circuit is connected to the n+1th scan drive circuit; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and n is an integer less than or equal to N and greater than or equal to 1; the control module of the present application identifies the refresh area of ​​the display frame to be displayed, generates a control signal based on the refresh area, and controls the switching state of the switch unit in the scan drive circuit through the control signal, thereby controlling the scan signal to be input only to the refresh pixel row corresponding to the refresh area. Through the technical solution provided by the present application, the scan signal is only input to the refresh pixel row, thereby shortening the scanning time of a single frame image and further improving the refresh rate of the display panel.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] The refresh rate refers to the number of times a display panel refreshes its image per second. At the hardware level, it also refers to the scanning frequency of the display panel's pixels. Currently, when a display panel displays, the scanning driver circuit sequentially inserts display data into each row of pixels. This process is called scanning. Each row of pixels is charged in turn and displayed according to the display data, thus presenting the user with the image corresponding to the display data.

[0003] The charging time of each row of pixels directly affects the scanning frequency of the display template pixels, which directly affects the refresh rate. The shorter the pixel charging time, the higher the refresh rate of the display panel can be.

[0004] However, due to the limitations of existing hardware and architecture, the charging time of each row of pixels cannot be shortened indefinitely, which makes it difficult to further improve the refresh rate of the display panel. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a display panel and a control method for the display panel, so as to further improve the refresh rate of the display panel without changing the charging time of each row of pixels.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a display panel, comprising a control module and N scan drive circuits, the control module being connected to the N scan drive circuits, the N scan drive circuits being respectively connected to N rows of pixels of the display panel, and the nth scan drive circuit being connected to the (n+1)th scan drive circuit; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and n is an integer less than or equal to N and greater than or equal to 1;

[0007] The scan driving circuit includes a switch unit, the scan driving circuit is used to drive the scan signal to input the pixel row connected to the scan driving circuit, and the switch unit is used to control the working state of the scan driving circuit corresponding to itself according to its own switch state;

[0008] The control module is used to generate a control signal according to the refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed, and output the control signal to the switch unit to control the switch state of the switch unit, thereby controlling the working state of the scan drive circuit corresponding to the switch unit; wherein, the control signal output to the switch unit in the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switch unit in the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row to open, so that the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row scans the refresh pixel row; the refresh pixel row is a pixel row included in the refresh area, and the refresh area is the screen area that needs to be scanned when the frame to be displayed is displayed.

[0009] In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for controlling a display panel, the method being applied to a control module, the method comprising:

[0010] Acquire first display data and second display data respectively; wherein the first display data is display data of each row of pixels in the frame to be displayed, and the second display data is display data of each row of pixels in the current display frame;

[0011] comparing the first display data with the second display data, and determining a difference pixel row between the to-be-displayed frame and the current display frame according to a difference between the first display data and the second display data;

[0012] Determining the difference pixel rows as refresh pixel rows, and determining a set of all the difference pixel rows as a refresh area;

[0013] generating the control signal according to the refresh area;

[0014] The control signal is output to the switching unit; wherein the control signal output to the switching unit in the scanning drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switching unit in the scanning drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row to open, so that the scanning drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row drives the scanning signal to input the refresh pixel row to scan the refresh pixel row.

[0015] Through the technical solution provided by the present application, the control module identifies the refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed, generates a control signal according to the refresh area, and outputs the control signal to the switch unit of the scan drive circuit connected to each pixel row, controls the switch state of the switch unit, and thus controls the working state of the scan drive circuit. The control signal output to the switch unit of the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row will control the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row to drive the scan signal to input the refresh pixel row, thereby scanning the refresh pixel row. Compared with the display solution of the prior art that scans all pixel rows to display a frame of picture, the present application only scans the refresh pixel rows in the refresh area, and the number of scanned pixel rows per unit time is increased, which speeds up the scanning frequency of the display panel pixels, thereby achieving a further improvement in the refresh rate of the display panel without shortening the charging time of the pixel rows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0018] One or more embodiments are exemplarily illustrated by pictures in the corresponding drawings. These exemplifications do not constitute limitations on the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings are represented as similar elements. Unless otherwise stated, the figures in the drawings do not constitute proportional limitations.

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a structural schematic diagram of a scan drive circuit in a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Figure 3 A connection diagram of a scan drive circuit in an LCD display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a connection diagram of a scan drive circuit in an OLED display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0023] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a control module in a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] Figure 6 A flow chart of a method for controlling a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0025] Other notes:

[0026] 1. Control module; 2. Scan drive circuit; 21. Switch unit; 211. First switch unit; 212. Second switch unit; 22. Charging unit; 23. Scan unit; 24. Output cable; 25. Switch signal input cable; 251. First switch signal input cable; 252. Second switch signal input cable; 26. Scan signal input cable; 27. Control signal input cable; 271. First control signal input cable; 272. Second control signal input cable.

[0027] C1, charging capacitor; C2, reset capacitor; T1, first thin film transistor; T2, second thin film transistor; T3, third thin film transistor; T4, fourth thin film transistor; T5, fifth thin film transistor; T6, sixth thin film transistor; T7, seventh thin film transistor; T8, eighth thin film transistor; T9, ninth thin film transistor; T10, tenth thin film transistor; T11, eleventh thin film transistor; T12, twelfth thin film transistor; T13, thirteenth thin film transistor; T14, fourteenth thin film transistor; T15, fifteenth thin film transistor; T16, sixteenth thin film transistor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] To make the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application more clear, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0029] The disclosure below provides many different embodiments or examples for implementing different configurations of the present invention. To simplify the disclosure of the present invention, the components and configurations of specific examples are described below. Of course, these are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, the present invention may repeat reference numerals and / or letters in different examples. Such repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations discussed.

[0030] In order to further improve the refresh rate of the display panel, the present application provides a display panel and a control method for the display panel, which can further improve the refresh rate of the display panel without shortening the charging time of the pixel rows.

[0031] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application, referring to Figure 1 The present application provides a display panel including a control module 1 and N scan drive circuits 2. The control module 1 is connected to the N scan drive circuits 2. The N scan drive circuits 2 are respectively connected to N rows of pixels of the display panel, and the nth scan drive circuit 2 is connected to the (n+1)th scan drive circuit 2. Wherein, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and n is an integer less than or equal to N and greater than or equal to 1.

[0032] The scan driving circuit 2 includes a switch unit 21, which is used to drive the pixel row connected to the scan driving circuit 2 to which the scan signal is input. The switch unit 21 is used to control the working state of the scan driving circuit 2 corresponding to itself according to its own switch state;

[0033] The control module 1 is used to generate a control signal according to the refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed, and output the control signal to the switch unit 21 to control the switch state of the switch unit 21, thereby controlling the working state of the scan drive circuit 2 corresponding to the switch unit 21; wherein, the control signal output to the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row to open, so that the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row scans the refresh pixel row; the refresh pixel row is the pixel row included in the refresh area, and the refresh area is the screen area that needs to be scanned when the frame to be displayed is displayed.

[0034] Specifically, the display panel includes N rows of pixels, each row of pixels is connected to a corresponding scan drive circuit 2, each scan drive circuit 2 is connected to the control module 1, and at the same time, the nth scan drive circuit 2 is also connected to the (n+1)th scan drive circuit 2.

[0035] The scan driving circuit 2 is used to drive the pixel row connected to the scan signal input scan driving circuit 2. When the scan signal is input to the pixel row connected to the scan driving circuit 2, the pixels in the row start to scan, write display data, and display according to the display data.

[0036] For the display panel, the display panel scans pixels in the first row to the next row in sequence until the last row is scanned, and corresponding display data is written into each row of pixels in sequence, thereby displaying a frame of image.

[0037] The scan driving circuit 2 includes a switch unit 21. The switch state of the switch unit 21 can be switched between on and off. The switch unit 21 controls the operating state of the corresponding scan driving circuit 2 based on its own switch state. In some possible embodiments, when the switch unit 21 is on, the scan driving circuit 2 corresponding to the switch unit 21 drives the pixel row connected to the scan driving circuit 2 to which the scan signal is input; when the switch unit 21 is off, the scan driving circuit 2 corresponding to the switch unit 21 does not drive the pixel row connected to the scan driving circuit 2 to which the scan signal is input.

[0038] The control module 1 is used to control the display of the display panel. The control module 1 is specifically a logic operation device with the ability to receive, process, and send data. In the field of display technology, the control module 1 can specifically be a TCON (ThinFilm Transistor Liquid Crystal Display Controller) or a SOC (System on Chip), or an integrated device of TCON and SOC.

[0039] In the technical solution provided in this application, the control module 1 generates a control signal based on the refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed and sends the control signal to the switch unit 21, thereby controlling the switch state of the switch unit 21 and controlling the operating state of the scan drive circuit 2 corresponding to the switch unit 21. The frame to be displayed is the image frame that the display panel needs to display at the next moment. The refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed is the image area that needs to be scanned when it is displayed again. The refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed includes one or more rows of refresh pixels.

[0040] The refresh area of ​​the frame to be displayed can be manually set. For example, if the display panel contains 1000 rows of pixels, the user can set the display panel to scan only the pixels in rows 100-300, while the pixels in rows 1-99 and rows 301-1000 will remain at the previous display frame of the frame to be displayed and will not be scanned. In this example, the pixels in rows 100-300 are the refresh pixel rows, and the screen area they constitute is the refresh area.

[0041] The control signal input by the control module 1 to the refresh pixel row will control the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row to open, so that the scan drive circuit 2 can drive the scan signal to the refresh pixel row to realize the scanning of the refresh pixel row; and for other pixel rows in the display panel except the refresh pixel row, the control signal input by the control module 1 controls the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the other pixel rows to close, so that the scan drive circuit 2 cannot drive the scan signal to other pixel rows.

[0042] By scanning only some of the pixel rows in the display panel, the overall scanning time of the display panel is shortened. For example, for a display panel including 1080 rows of pixels, all 1080 rows of pixels originally need to be scanned. However, through the technical solution provided by this application, the 100th to 1000th rows of pixels are set as refresh pixel rows. Then, for a frame to be displayed, only the 100th to 1000th rows of pixels are scanned, while the 1st to 99th and 1001st to 1080th rows of pixels are not scanned. Only 83% of the original scanning time is required to complete the display of the frame to be displayed. More frames to be displayed can be displayed in a unit of time, further improving the refresh rate of the display panel.

[0043] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, the control module 1 includes an acquisition unit, a comparison unit, a determination unit, a generation unit, and an output unit;

[0044] The acquisition unit is used to respectively acquire first display data and second display data; wherein the first display data is display data of each row of pixels in the frame to be displayed, and the second display data is display data of each row of pixels in the current display frame;

[0045] The comparing unit is used to compare the first display data with the second display data, and determine the difference pixel rows between the to-be-displayed frame and the current display frame according to the difference between the first display data and the second display data;

[0046] The determining unit is used to determine the difference pixel row as the refresh pixel row, and to determine the set of all the difference pixel rows as the refresh area;

[0047] The generating unit is used to generate a control signal according to the refresh area;

[0048] The output unit is used to output a control signal to the switch unit 21; wherein the control signal output to the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row to open.

[0049] Specifically, the refresh area can also be determined based on the difference in pixel rows between the frame to be displayed and the currently displayed frame. Specifically, when there is a difference between the two display frames, it means that the image between the two frames is dynamic, and the dynamic area in the image is determined as the refresh area. It can be understood that by determining the dynamic area in the image as the refresh area, only the dynamic area in the image is scanned, and the static area in the image is not scanned, thereby achieving an increase in the refresh rate of the display panel without affecting the display effect.

[0050] The control module 1 determines a refresh area based on the first and second display data. Based on the difference between the first and second display data, it determines the difference pixel rows between the frame to be displayed and the current display frame. The first display data is the display data for each row of pixels in the frame to be displayed, and the second display data is the display data for each row of pixels in the current display frame. The display data can specifically be the grayscale value of each pixel in the pixel row, or other data used to describe the pixel display condition.

[0051] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, the scan driving circuit 2 includes a charging unit 22, a charging capacitor C1, a scanning unit 23, an output cable 24, a switch signal input cable 25, a scan signal input cable 26 and a control signal input cable 27;

[0052] A control signal input cable 27 is connected to one end of the switch unit 21, the other end of the switch unit 21 is connected to one end of the charging unit 22, the other end of the charging unit 22 is connected to the switch signal input cable 25, another end of the charging unit 22 is respectively connected to one end of the charging capacitor C1 and one end of the scanning unit 23, the other end of the scanning unit 23 is connected to the scanning signal input cable 26, and another end of the scanning unit 23 is respectively connected to the other end of the charging capacitor C1 and the output cable 24, and the output cable 24 is respectively connected to the pixel rows corresponding to the scan driving circuit 2 and the lower-level scan driving circuit 2;

[0053] The switch signal input cable 25 is used to input a switch signal to the charging unit 22 when the switch unit 21 is turned on;

[0054] The charging unit 22 is used to charge one end of the charging capacitor C1 when receiving a switching signal;

[0055] The charging capacitor C1 is used to discharge the scan signal to the scanning unit 23 , so that the scan signal input through the scan signal input cable 26 is output to the output cable 24 through the scanning unit 23 .

[0056] Specifically, refer to Figure 2 The scan drive circuit 2 is controlled by a control signal and a switch signal. The control signal is used to control the switching state of the switch unit 21, and the switch signal is used to control whether the charging unit 22 can charge the charging capacitor C1. When the control signal controls the switch unit 21 to be open, the switch signal can be input to the charging unit 22. When the charging unit 22 receives the switch signal, the charging unit 22 charges one end of the charging capacitor C1. After the charging capacitor C1 is charged, the charging end discharges to the scanning unit 23, so that the scanning signal is output to the output cable 24 through the scanning unit 23, thereby scanning the pixel row connected to the scan drive circuit 2.

[0057] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, the switch unit 21 includes a first switch unit 211 and a second switch unit 212. The first switch unit 211 includes a first thin-film transistor T1, and the second switch unit 212 includes a second thin-film transistor T2. The switch signal input cable 25 includes a first switch signal input cable 251 and a second switch signal input cable 252. The control signal input cable 27 includes a first control signal input cable 271 and a second control signal input cable 272.

[0058] The source of the first thin film transistor T1 is connected to the first switch signal input cable 251 , the drain of the first thin film transistor T1 is connected to one end of the charging unit 22 , and the gate of the first thin film transistor T1 is connected to the first control signal input cable 271 ;

[0059] The source of the second thin film transistor T2 is connected to the second switch signal input cable 252 , the drain of the second thin film transistor T2 is connected to one end of the charging unit 22 , and the gate of the second thin film transistor T2 is connected to the second control signal input cable 272 .

[0060] Specifically, the gate of the first thin film transistor T1 is connected to the first control signal input cable 271. When the first control signal is at a high level, the first thin film transistor T1 is turned on, and the first switching signal is input into the charging unit 22 through the first thin film transistor T1; the gate of the second thin film transistor T2 is connected to the second control signal input cable 272. When the second control signal is at a high level, the second thin film transistor T2 is turned on, and the second switching signal is input into the charging unit 22 through the second thin film transistor T2.

[0061] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, the charging unit 22 includes a third thin film transistor T3;

[0062] When the display panel is an LCD display panel, the source of the third thin film transistor T3 is connected to the gate, the source of the third thin film transistor T3 is connected to the drain of the first thin film transistor T1, the gate of the third thin film transistor T3 is connected to the drain of the second thin film transistor T2, and the drain of the third thin film transistor T3 is respectively connected to one end of the charging capacitor C1 and one end of the scanning unit 23.

[0063] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, when the display panel is an OLED display panel, the source of the third thin film transistor T3 is connected to the drain of the first thin film transistor T1 and the drain of the second thin film transistor T2 respectively.

[0064] For different types of display panels, the connection methods of the scan drive circuit 2 are different. Figure 3 , Figure 3FIG. 2 is a connection diagram of the scan drive circuit 2 in the LCD display panel.

[0065] like Figure 3 As shown, the gate of the third thin-film transistor T3 is connected to the source. When the first switching signal and / or the second switching signal is at a high level, the third thin-film transistor T3 is turned on, so that the first switching signal and / or the second switching signal can be output to one end of the charging capacitor C1 through the turned-on third thin-film transistor T3 to charge the charging capacitor C1.

[0066] The scan driving circuit 2 further includes a fourth thin film transistor T4, a fifth thin film transistor T5, a sixth thin film transistor T6, a seventh thin film transistor T7, an eighth thin film transistor T8, a ninth thin film transistor T9 and a tenth thin film transistor T10. The connection method of each thin film transistor is as follows: Figure 3 shown.

[0067] Among them, the fourth thin film transistor T4 serves as the scanning unit 23, the gate of the fourth thin film transistor T4 is connected to the scanning signal input cable 26, the source of the fourth thin film transistor T4 is respectively connected to the drain of the third thin film transistor T3 and one end of the charging capacitor C1, and the drain of the fourth thin film transistor T4 is respectively connected to the other end of the charging capacitor C1 and the output cable 24.

[0068] When one end of the charging capacitor C1 discharges to the gate of the fourth thin film transistor T4, the fourth thin film transistor T4 is turned on, so that the scanning signal input by the scanning signal input cable 26 is output to the output cable 24 and the second switching signal input cable 252 of the downstream scanning driving circuit 2 through the turned-on fourth thin film transistor T4.

[0069] The fifth thin-film transistor T5, the sixth thin-film transistor T6, the seventh thin-film transistor T7, the eighth thin-film transistor T8, the ninth thin-film transistor T9, and the tenth thin-film transistor T10 function as reset transistors in the scan driver circuit 2. These transistors are controlled by the first reset signal XCK and the second reset signal Reset. Taking the second reset signal Reset as an example, when the second reset signal Reset is high, the sixth thin-film transistor T6 and the tenth thin-film transistor T10 are turned on, causing the charge at both ends of the charging capacitor C1 to be released to the ground cable through the sixth thin-film transistor T6 and the tenth thin-film transistor T10, respectively, thereby resetting the scan driver circuit 2.

[0070] When the third thin-film transistor T3 receives any switching signal, it turns on, charging capacitor C1, and outputs the scanning signal to the connected pixel row. The control module 1 controls the switching state of the switching unit through the control signal, thereby controlling whether the switching signal can be input to the charging unit 22, thereby controlling whether the scanning signal can be input to the pixel row.

[0071] Reference Figure 4 The scan driving circuit 2 in the OLED display panel further includes an eleventh thin film transistor T11, a twelfth thin film transistor T12, a thirteenth thin film transistor T13, a fourteenth thin film transistor T14, a fifteenth thin film transistor T15, a sixteenth thin film transistor T16 and a reset capacitor C2.

[0072] In the scan driving circuit 2 of this embodiment, the first reset signal XCK controls the third thin film transistor T3 to remain turned on, and controls the switching states of the first switching unit 211 and the second switching unit 212 to control whether the first switching signal and the second switching signal can be input into the charging capacitor C1 through the turned-on third thin film transistor T3, thereby controlling whether the scan driving circuit 2 can output the scan signal to the connected pixel row.

[0073] The eleventh thin film transistor T11 , the twelfth thin film transistor T12 , the thirteenth thin film transistor T13 , the fourteenth thin film transistor T14 , the fifteenth thin film transistor T15 , the sixteenth thin film transistor T16 and the reset capacitor C2 are used for resetting the scan driving circuit 2 .

[0074] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, the generation unit of the control module 1 includes a first generation subunit and a second generation subunit, and the control signal includes a first control signal and a second control signal;

[0075] The first generating subunit is used to generate a first control signal; wherein the first control signal is generated according to the address information of the starting pixel row of the refresh area, and the first control signal is used to control the switching state of the first switch unit 211 in the scan driving circuit 2 connected to the starting pixel row;

[0076] The second generating subunit is used to generate a second control signal; wherein the second control signal is generated according to the address information of the end pixel row of the refresh area, and the second control signal is used to control the switching state of the second switching unit 212 in the scanning driving circuit 2 connected to the end pixel row.

[0077] Specifically, the first control signal is generated according to the address information of the starting pixel row of the refresh area, and the second control signal is generated according to the address information of the ending pixel row of the refresh area. When the control module 1 outputs the control signal to the switch unit 21, due to the characteristic that the control signal is generated according to the address information of the pixel row, the control signal can be output to the switch unit 21 in the scanning drive circuit 2 connected to the corresponding pixel row, that is, the first control signal can be output to the switch unit 21 in the scanning drive circuit 2 connected to the starting pixel row of the refresh area, and the second control signal can be output to the switch unit 21 in the scanning drive circuit 2 connected to the end pixel row of the refresh area.

[0078] In some preferred embodiments, the first control signal is input to the first switch unit 211 in each scan drive unit through the first control signal input cable 271, and the second control signal is input to the second switch unit 212 in each scan drive unit through the second control signal input cable 272. The first control signal input to the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the starting pixel row of the refresh area controls the first switch unit 211 corresponding to the starting pixel row to be turned on, while the first control signal input to the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the other pixel rows controls the first switch units 212 corresponding to the other pixel rows to be turned off; the second control signal input to the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the ending pixel row of the refresh area controls the second switch unit 212 corresponding to the ending pixel row to be turned off, while the second control signal input to the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the other pixel rows controls the second switch units 212 corresponding to the other pixel rows to be turned on.

[0079] Through the aforementioned control signals, the first control signal controls the first switch unit 211 of the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the starting pixel row to conduct, allowing the first switch signal to charge the charging capacitor C1 through the turned-on first switch unit 211, thereby turning on the scan unit 23 and inputting the scan signal to the starting pixel row, thereby starting to scan the starting pixel row. Because the scan drive circuits 2 at each level are interconnected, the scan signal output by the starting pixel row is ready to be input to the scan drive circuit 2 of the pixel row next to the starting pixel row via the second switch signal input cable 252 of the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the pixel row next to the starting pixel row. Under the premise that the second control signal controls the second switch unit 212 to conduct, the scan signal output by the starting pixel row is input into the scan drive circuit 2 of the pixel row next to the starting pixel row as the second switch signal of the pixel row next to the starting pixel row, thereby starting to scan the pixel row next to the starting pixel row. The above process is repeated. When scanning reaches the end pixel row of the refresh area, the second control signal controls the second switch unit 212 to close, so the second switch signal cannot be input to the end pixel row, and scanning stops at the end pixel row.

[0080] Continue to refer to Figure 2 ,by Figure 2 The circuit shown is used to describe the scanning process of the present application by way of example.

[0081] Figure 2 The provided circuit can be any scan drive circuit 2 in the display panel provided in this application. In this example, the display panel includes 1000 rows of pixels, and the refresh area currently determined by the control module 1 is from the 10th pixel row to the 100th pixel row. The first switching signal input to the scan drive circuit 2 corresponding to the nth pixel row is denoted as STn, the second switching signal input to the scan drive circuit 2 corresponding to the nth pixel row is denoted as Gn-1 (i.e., the scan drive signal output by the n-1th pixel row), the first control signal input to the nth pixel row is denoted as EN1_n, and the first control signal input to the nth pixel row is denoted as EN2_n.

[0082] To refresh the 10th to 100th pixel rows of the display panel and not refresh the 1st to 99th and 101st to 1000th pixel rows, control EN1_10 to be high and other first control signals to be low, control EN2_100 to be low and other second control signals to be high.

[0083] For the 1st to 9th pixel rows, since the first control signal is at a low level, the first switch unit 211 in the scanning drive circuit 2 connected to the 1st to 9th pixel rows is turned off, and ST1, ST2, ST3, ..., ST9 cannot be input to the scanning drive circuit 2 through the first switch unit 211. At the same time, since the upper-level scanning drive circuit 2 does not output the second switch signal, the 1st to 9th pixel rows cannot be scanned.

[0084] For the 10th pixel row, EN1_10 is at a high level, controlling the first switch unit 211 in the scan driving circuit 2 connected to the 10th pixel row to be turned on. ST10 can be input to the scan driving circuit 2 through the first switch unit 211, and the 10th pixel row begins to be scanned.

[0085] For the 11th to 100th pixel rows, although EN1_11 is at a low level, since a second switching signal is output from the output cable 24 of the scan drive circuit 2 step by step starting from the 10th pixel row, and EN2_11 is at a high level, the second switch unit 212 is turned on, G10 can be input to the 11th pixel row through the turned-on second switch unit 212, and the 11th pixel row starts to be scanned. Similarly, the 11th to 100th pixel rows are scanned step by step.

[0086] For the 100th pixel row, EN2_100 is at a low level, and EN1_100 is also at a low level, so ST100 and G99 cannot be input to the scan driving circuit 2 connected to the 100th pixel row, and scanning stops starting from the 100th pixel row.

[0087] For the 101st to 1000th pixel rows, since the first control signal is at a low level, the first switch unit 211 in the scanning drive circuit 2 connected to the 101st to 1000th pixel rows is turned off, and ST101, ST102, ST103, ..., ST1000 cannot be input to the scanning drive circuit 2 through the first switch unit 211. At the same time, since the upper-level scanning drive circuit 2 does not output the second switch signal, the 101st to 1000th pixel rows cannot be scanned.

[0088] In order to enable the control signal to accurately control the scanning of the starting pixel row of the refresh area and to stop scanning when the scanning reaches the end pixel row of the refresh area, the first control signal and the second control signal are generated based on the address information of the starting pixel row and the address information of the end pixel row respectively. Figure 5 The control module 1 may specifically be composed of an SOC unit, a TCON unit, a decoding unit, and a level conversion unit.

[0089] Specifically, the SOC unit is used to respectively obtain the first display data and the second display data of the frame to be displayed and the current display frame, and transmit the first display data and the second display data to the TCON unit; the TCON unit is used to process the first display data and the second display data, determine the refresh area, and record the address information of the starting pixel row and the ending pixel row of the refresh area, and at the same time transmit the address information of the starting pixel row and the ending pixel row of the refresh area to the decoding unit; the decoding unit can be a 12-bit decoder, and the decoding unit is used to convert the address information of the starting pixel row and the ending pixel row of the refresh area into binary code, and transmit the binary code to the level conversion unit; the level conversion unit is used to determine the levels of the first control signal and the second control signal in different pixel rows according to the binary code, thereby controlling whether the pixel rows are scanned by controlling the levels of the first control signal and the second control signal in different pixel rows.

[0090] Corresponding to the above embodiment of the display panel, the present application further provides a method for controlling a display panel in another aspect. Figure 6 A flow chart of a method for controlling a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application is provided. Figure 6 A display panel control method provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a control module 1, and the method includes the following steps:

[0091] S1: Acquire first display data and second display data respectively; wherein the first display data is display data of each row of pixels in a frame to be displayed, and the second display data is display data of each row of pixels in a current display frame;

[0092] S2: comparing the first display data and the second display data, and determining a difference pixel row between the frame to be displayed and the current display frame according to the difference between the first display data and the second display data;

[0093] S3: determining the difference pixel rows as refresh pixel rows, and determining a set of all the difference pixel rows as a refresh area;

[0094] S4: Generate a control signal according to the refresh area;

[0095] S5: Output the control signal to the switch unit 21; wherein, the control signal output to the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switch unit 21 in the scan drive circuit 2 connected to the refresh pixel row to open, so that the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row drives the scan signal to input the refresh pixel row to scan the refresh pixel row.

[0096] In a feasible embodiment of the present application, generating a control signal according to a refresh area includes:

[0097] Generate a first control signal according to the address information of the starting pixel row of the refresh area, the first control signal being input to the first switch unit 211;

[0098] A second control signal is generated according to the address information of the end pixel row of the refresh area, and the second control signal is input to the second switch unit 212 .

[0099] The display panel control method provided by the above-mentioned method embodiment is used to control the display panel provided in the present application, and the control module 1 identifies the difference pixel rows between the frame to be displayed and the current display frame of the display panel, thereby determining the refresh area of ​​the display panel; when the display panel is scanned to display the frame to be displayed, the control module 1 generates a control signal based on the refresh area, and only controls the refresh area of ​​the display panel to scan, while other pixel rows are not scanned, so that the number of scanned pixel rows per unit time is increased, and the scanning frequency of the display panel pixels is accelerated, thereby achieving a further improvement in the refresh rate of the display panel without shortening the charging time of the pixel rows; at the same time, the refresh area is the dynamic area between the two picture frames, and only the dynamic area is refreshed without refreshing the static area, which can achieve an improvement in the refresh rate of the display panel without affecting the user's viewing experience.

[0100] It should be understood that the terms used herein are for the purpose of describing specific example embodiments only and are not intended to be limiting. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "an" and "said" as used herein may also be meant to include plural forms. The terms "comprise", "include", "contain" and "have" are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, parts, and / or combinations thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring them to be performed in the specific order described or illustrated, unless the order of execution is clearly indicated. It should also be understood that additional or alternative steps may be used.

[0101] The foregoing description is intended only to provide specific embodiments of the present invention, which will enable those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is intended to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims

1. A display panel, characterized in that: The display panel includes a control module and N scan drive circuits, the control module is connected to the N scan drive circuits, the N scan drive circuits are respectively connected to N rows of pixels of the display panel, and the nth scan drive circuit is connected to the (n+1)th scan drive circuit; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and n is an integer less than or equal to N and greater than or equal to 1; The scan driving circuit includes a switch unit, the scan driving circuit is used to drive the scan signal to input the pixel row connected to the scan driving circuit, and the switch unit is used to control the working state of the scan driving circuit corresponding to itself according to its own switch state; The control module is configured to generate a control signal according to a refresh area of ​​a frame to be displayed, and output the control signal to the switch unit to control a switch state of the switch unit, thereby controlling a working state of the scan drive circuit corresponding to the switch unit; wherein the control signal output to the switch unit in the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switch unit in the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row to be turned on, so that the scan drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row scans the refresh pixel row; the refresh pixel row is a pixel row included in the refresh area, and the refresh area is a screen area that needs to be scanned when displaying the frame to be displayed; Wherein, the control module includes an acquisition unit, a comparison unit, a determination unit, a generation unit and a scanning unit; The acquisition unit is used to respectively acquire first display data and second display data; wherein the first display data is display data of each row of pixels in the frame to be displayed, and the second display data is display data of each row of pixels in the current display frame; The comparison unit is configured to compare the first display data with the second display data, and determine a difference pixel row between the to-be-displayed frame and the current display frame according to a difference between the first display data and the second display data; The determining unit is configured to determine the difference pixel row as the refresh pixel row, and to determine a set of all the difference pixel rows as the refresh area; The generating unit is configured to generate the control signal according to the refresh area; The scanning unit is configured to output the control signal to the switch unit; wherein the control signal output to the switch unit in the scanning driving circuit connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switch unit in the scanning driving circuit connected to the refresh pixel row to be turned on; Wherein, the scan driving circuit includes a charging unit, a charging capacitor, a scanning unit, an output cable, a switch signal input cable, a scan signal input cable and a control signal input cable; The control signal input cable is connected to one end of the switch unit, the other end of the switch unit is connected to the switch signal input cable, another end of the switch unit is connected to one end of the charging unit, the other end of the charging unit is respectively connected to one end of the charging capacitor and one end of the scanning unit, the other end of the scanning unit is connected to the scan signal input cable, another end of the scanning unit is respectively connected to the other end of the charging capacitor and the output cable, and the output cable is respectively connected to the pixel rows corresponding to the scan driving circuit and the lower-level scan driving circuit; The switch signal input cable is used to input a switch signal to the charging unit when the switch unit is turned on; The charging unit is configured to charge one end of the charging capacitor when receiving the switching signal; The charging capacitor is used to discharge the scan signal to the scanning unit, so that the scan signal input through the scan signal input cable is output to the output cable through the scan unit.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein: The switch unit includes a first switch unit and a second switch unit, the first switch unit includes a first thin film transistor, the second switch unit includes a second thin film transistor, the switch signal input cable includes a first switch signal input cable and a second switch signal input cable, and the control signal input cable includes a first control signal input cable and a second control signal input cable; The source of the first thin film transistor is connected to the first switch signal input cable, the drain of the first thin film transistor is connected to one end of the charging unit, and the gate of the first thin film transistor is connected to the first control signal input cable; The source of the second thin film transistor is connected to the second switch signal input cable, the drain of the second thin film transistor is connected to one end of the charging unit, and the gate of the second thin film transistor is connected to the second control signal input cable.

3. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein: The charging unit includes a third thin film transistor; When the display panel is an LCD display panel, the source of the third thin film transistor is connected to the gate, the source of the third thin film transistor is connected to the drain of the first thin film transistor, the gate of the third thin film transistor is connected to the drain of the second thin film transistor, and the drain of the third thin film transistor and one end of the charging capacitor are respectively connected to one end of the scanning unit.

4. The display panel according to claim 3, wherein: In the case that the display panel is an OLED display panel, the source of the third thin film transistor is connected to the drain of the first thin film transistor and the drain of the second thin film transistor respectively.

5. The display panel according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The scanning unit includes a fourth thin film transistor: The source of the fourth thin film transistor is connected to the scan signal input cable, the gate of the fourth thin film transistor is respectively connected to the drain of the third thin film transistor and one end of the charging capacitor, and the drain of the fourth thin film transistor is respectively connected to the other end of the charging capacitor and the output cable.

6. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein: The generating unit includes a first generating subunit and a second generating subunit, and the control signal includes a first control signal and a second control signal; The first generating subunit is used to generate the first control signal; wherein the first control signal is generated according to the address information of the starting pixel row of the refresh area, and the first control signal is used to control the switching state of the first switching unit in the scan driving circuit connected to the starting pixel row; The second generating subunit is used to generate the second control signal; wherein, the second control signal is generated according to the address information of the end pixel row of the refresh area, and the second control signal is used to control the switching state of the second switching unit in the scanning driving circuit connected to the end pixel row.

7. A method for controlling the display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method is applied to a control module and includes: Acquire first display data and second display data respectively; wherein the first display data is display data of each row of pixels in the frame to be displayed, and the second display data is display data of each row of pixels in the current display frame; comparing the first display data with the second display data, and determining a difference pixel row between the to-be-displayed frame and the current display frame according to a difference between the first display data and the second display data; Determining the difference pixel rows as refresh pixel rows, and determining a set of all the difference pixel rows as a refresh area; generating a control signal according to the refresh area; The control signal is output to the switching unit; wherein the control signal output to the switching unit in the scanning drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row controls the switching unit in the scanning drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row to open, so that the scanning drive circuit connected to the refresh pixel row drives the scanning signal to input the refresh pixel row to scan the refresh pixel row.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The switch unit includes a first switch unit and a second switch unit; generating the control signal according to the refresh area includes: generating a first control signal according to address information of a starting pixel row of the refresh area, wherein the first control signal is input to the first switch unit; A second control signal is generated according to address information of an end pixel row of the refresh area, and the second control signal is used to be input to the second switch unit.

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