Display device and driving method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides a display device and a driving method thereof. The display device comprises a display panel which comprises a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array; the control unit is electrically coupled with the display panel and is configured to determine a target parameter related to the charging rate of the nth row of pixel units; determining a driving gear corresponding to the nth row of pixel units according to the target parameter; and according to the driving gear, generating a driving signal corresponding to the nth row of pixel units so as to drive the nth row of pixel units.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of display technologies, and in particular, to a display device and a driving method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In the related art, a display area of a display device usually has a plurality of pixel units arranged in rows and columns, and these pixel units are generally driven by driving signals provided by scan lines arranged horizontally and data lines arranged vertically.

[0003] However, the inventors of the present disclosure have found that pixel units located at different positions in the display area may have different charging rates. For pixel units with the same display gray level, if the same data voltage is used to drive them without considering the charging rate, there may be problems of uneven charging or power loss. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display device and a driving method thereof to solve or partially solve the above problems.

[0005] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a display device, including:

[0006] A display panel including a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array;

[0007] A control unit electrically coupled to the display panel and configured to:

[0008] Determine a target parameter related to the charging rate of the pixel units in the nth row;

[0009] Determine a driving gear corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the target parameter;

[0010] Generate a driving signal corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the driving gear to drive the pixel units in the nth row.

[0011] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a driving method of a display device. The display device includes a display panel, and the display panel includes a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array. The method includes:

[0012] Determine a target parameter related to the charging rate of the pixel units in the nth row;

[0013] Determine a driving gear corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the target parameter;

[0014] Generate a driving signal corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the driving gear to drive the pixel units in the nth row.

[0015] The display device and its driving method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure dynamically adjust the driving gear corresponding to each row of pixel units according to the target parameter related to the charging rate of the pixel units in the nth row, reducing power consumption to a certain extent and improving device performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present disclosure or related technologies, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the embodiments or related technology descriptions. Obviously, the drawings in the following descriptions are only the embodiments of the present disclosure. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0017] Figure 1 FIG. shows a schematic structural diagram of an exemplary display device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 2A FIG. shows a schematic flowchart of an exemplary method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 2B FIG. shows a schematic flowchart of an exemplary method for determining the pressure difference according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 2C FIG. shows a schematic flowchart of another exemplary method for determining the pressure difference according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 2D FIG. shows a schematic flowchart of an exemplary method for determining the target parameter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 3A FIG. shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary pressure difference according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 3B FIG. shows a schematic diagram of another exemplary pressure difference according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 3C FIG. shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary row display control instruction packet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 3D FIG. shows a schematic diagram of the control instruction bits of an exemplary row display control instruction packet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0026] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure clearer and more understandable, the following will further elaborate on the present disclosure in detail with reference to specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

[0027] It should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure should have the ordinary meanings understood by those of ordinary skill in the field to which the present disclosure belongs. The "first", "second" and similar terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure do not denote any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Words such as "comprising" or "including" mean that the elements or objects appearing before this word cover the elements or objects listed after this word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Words such as "connected" or "coupled" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Upper", "lower", "left", "right", etc. are only used to represent relative position relationships, and when the absolute position of the object being described changes, the relative position relationship may also change accordingly.

[0028] Figure 1 FIG. shows a schematic structural diagram of an exemplary display device 100 provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] As Figure 1 shown, the display device 100 may include a display panel 102 and a control unit 110 for providing the signals required by the display panel 102. It can be understood that the control unit 110 can be any circuit, module or chip capable of providing the signals required by the display panel 102, and may not be limited to a specific hardware form.

[0030] Optionally, the display panel 102 can be any type of display panel, for example, a liquid crystal display panel (LCD), an organic light emitting diode display panel (OLED), and so on.

[0031] It can be understood that the display device 100 is a product with an image display function, such as: a monitor, a television, a billboard, a digital photo frame, a laser printer with a display function, a telephone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a digital camera, a portable video camera, a viewfinder, a navigator, a vehicle, a large area wall, a household appliance, an information query device (such as a business query device, a monitor, etc. in departments such as e-government, banks, hospitals, and power).

[0032] As Figure 1 shown, the display panel 102 may include a display area 104 and a non-display area surrounding the display area 104. The display area 104 may include a plurality of pixel units 1042 arranged in an array. By providing the gray-scale voltages corresponding to the required gray-scale values to each pixel unit 1042, the display of the display screen can be realized.

[0033] AsFigure 1 As shown, the display panel 102 may further include a plurality of scanning lines 1044 arranged horizontally and data lines 1046 arranged vertically. Optionally, the scanning lines 1044 and the data lines 1046 are electrically coupled to the pixel units 1042 through switching tubes (e.g., thin film transistors TFTs) respectively, so as to provide corresponding driving signals to the pixel units 1042.

[0034] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 shown, the control unit 110 may further include a system control unit 1106, a power circuit (Power IC), a timing control unit (TCON) 1104, a grayscale circuit, data driver units (Source Driver) 1102A-1102C, a scan driver unit (Gate Driver) 1048, etc. The system control unit 1106 may be electrically coupled to the timing control unit 1104, the power circuit ( Figure 1 not shown in the figure) and the grayscale circuit ( Figure 1 not shown in the figure) through a flexible circuit board or signal lines correspondingly. The timing control unit 1104, the power circuit and the grayscale circuit may be electrically coupled to the data driver units 1102A-1102C and the scan driver unit 1048 correspondingly. The data driver units 1102A-1102C may be electrically coupled to the corresponding pixel units 1042 through the data lines 1046 respectively, and the scan driver unit 1048 may be electrically coupled to the corresponding pixel units 1042 through the scanning lines 1044 respectively. As Figure 1 shown, when the number of data driver units is multiple, each row of pixel units 1042 may be divided into multiple pixel unit groups, and the multiple pixel unit groups are electrically coupled to the multiple data driver units in one-to-one correspondence. For example, as Figure 1 shown, the pixel unit groups 1042A and 1042B are both correspondingly connected to the data driver unit 1102A.

[0035] Optionally, the scan driver unit 1048 may be a gate driver on the array substrate (Gate Driver on Array, abbreviated as GOA). Thus, the scan driver unit 1048 can be directly fabricated in the non-display area of the display panel 102 through a manufacturing process to implement the scan function without using a scan driver chip. On the one hand, it can save costs. On the other hand, since there is no need to reserve a setting space for the scan driver chip in the non-display area, a narrow border can be achieved.

[0036] As Figure 1As shown, the non-display area further includes a fan-out area 106 and a bonding area 108. The data line 1046 contracts inward in the fan-out area 106 and is further correspondingly connected to the bonding electrode 1082 in the bonding area 108. The external circuit can provide a driving signal to the display panel 102 by bonding with the bonding electrode 1082 in the bonding area 108.

[0037] Optionally, as Figure 1 shown, the data driving units 1102A-1102C can be chip-on-flex (COF), that is, by fixing the data driving units 1102A-1102C on a flexible circuit board ( Figure 1 In order to clearly show the bonding electrode 1082, the flexible circuit board is drawn as semi-transparent), so that the non-display area of the display panel 102 does not need to be provided with the data driving units 1102A-1102C, thereby achieving a narrow border. By bonding the flexible circuit board with the bonding electrode 1082 in the bonding area 108, the data driving units 1102A-1102C can provide a driving signal to the pixel units 1042 of the display panel 102.

[0038] The system control unit 1106 can be used to provide signals from the system and can also be referred to as a system board or a main board. The system control unit 1106 can provide various display data and timing control signals to other control circuits of the display device 100 through a system interface. After a part of these data and signals are transmitted to the power supply circuit, a power supply voltage and a reference voltage Vcom required for the operation of other circuits are generated. After a part of these data and signals are transmitted to the timing control unit 1104, the operating timings of the data driving units 1102A-1102C and the scan driving unit 1048 and the overall timing of the display device 100 are generated.

[0039] Optionally, the signals input from the system control unit 1106, through the system interface, the power supply signals are input to the power supply circuit, and the digital signals are input to the timing control unit 1104. In addition to the display data (RGB data) and the data sampling clock DCLK in the digital signals input from the system, there can also be 3 control signals, namely, a data enable signal DE (Data Enable), a horizontal synchronization signal HS (Hsync), and a vertical synchronization signal VS (Vsync). After being processed by the timing control unit 1104, these signals are respectively transmitted to the data driving units 1102A-1102C to control the data driving units 1102A-1102C to input the gray-scale voltage corresponding to the required gray-scale value to each pixel unit 1042 of the display panel 102 at a certain time (or period).

[0040] Optionally, the data driving units 1102A - 1102C convert the signals related to the display data from the timing control unit 1104 into analog voltages and output them to the pixel electrodes of the pixel unit 1042 to form the grayscale voltages required for the pixel unit. The scan driving unit 1048 generates digital voltages of high / low levels, outputs them to the gates of the thin film transistor (TFT) switches, and controls the switching states of each row of pixel units 1042. The grayscale circuit generates the reference voltages required for the digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) parts of the data driving units 1102A - 1102C. This reference voltage is also called the Gamma reference voltage.

[0041] In the related art, the output signals of the data driving units 1102A - 1102C can usually be set with multiple driving gears to drive the pixel electrodes of different loads to preset potentials. If the output driving gears of the data driving units 1102A - 1102C are set too low, it may cause abnormal displays such as low brightness and flicker of the display panel 102; if the output driving gears of the data driving units 1102A - 1102C are set too high, it may cause the problem of excessive power consumption of the display device 100.

[0042] However, the inventors of the present disclosure found that in the related art, the output signals of the data driving units 1102A - 1102C are usually set with only one fixed driving gear.

[0043] However, in combination with Figure 1 It can be seen that the pixel units 1042 are distributed in an array in the display area 104, and the control unit 110 can only transmit the driving signals to the corresponding pixel units 1042 from one side of the display panel 102 using signal lines. This makes the pixel units located at different positions in the display area may have different charging rates.

[0044] For example, the pixel units 1042 far from the data driving units 1102A - 1102C, compared with the pixel units 1042 close to the data driving units 1102A - 1102C, due to the longer signal transmission distance, result in a higher load, and thus require a longer charging time (i.e., a relatively lower charging rate) under the same voltage.

[0045] It can be seen that for the pixel units 1042 at different positions, their distances from the data driving units 1102A to 1102C are different, resulting in different loadings. In the related art, in order to meet the loading requirements of the pixel units 1042 at all positions, a relatively high driving gear is usually set, which leads to a relatively high display power consumption. In particular, with the increase of the panel size and pixel density of the display device, the loading difference between the pixel units 1042 at the far end and the near end becomes larger and larger, resulting in an increasing difference in the driving capabilities of the data driving units required at different positions.

[0046] For another example, when the voltage difference between the pixel voltages of adjacent rows of pixel units 1042 is different, for the pixel units 1042 in the current row, the driving capabilities required by the corresponding data driving units are also different. Specifically, when the voltage difference between the pixel voltages of adjacent rows of pixel units 1042 is small, the pixel units 1042 in the current row can be charged to the required potential faster (that is, the charging rate is relatively high); on the contrary, the required charging time is longer (that is, the charging rate is relatively low).

[0047] In summary, for pixel units with the same display gray level, if the same data voltage is used for driving without considering the charging rate, there may be problems of uneven charging or power loss.

[0048] In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a driving method for a display device.

[0049] Figure 2A The flowchart of an exemplary method 200 provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0050] This method 200 can be executed by the display device 100 or its control unit 110. As Figure 2A shown, this method 200 may further include the following steps.

[0051] In step 202, the control unit 110 may first determine a target parameter related to the charging rate of the pixel units in the nth row.

[0052] As an optional embodiment, the timing control unit 1104 may determine the target parameter related to the charging rate of the pixel units in the nth row. Optionally, the timing control unit 1104 may further include a control module for executing step 202.

[0053] In some embodiments, the timing control unit 1104 may first determine the distance between the pixel units in the nth row and the data driving unit; then, according to the distance, determine the target parameter of the pixel units in the nth row. Wherein, the charging rate is negatively correlated with the distance.

[0054] As Figure 1 shown, the data lines 1046 connecting the pixel units 1042 are respectively and electrically coupled to the data driving units 1102A - 1102C from the lower end of the display panel 102, so as to transmit data voltages to the corresponding pixel units 1042. As described above, due to the different transmission distances from the data driving units 1102A - 1102C to each pixel unit 1042, different loads are caused, which in turn affects the charging rate. Therefore, in this embodiment, the target parameter of the n-th row of pixel units can be determined according to the distance between the n-th row of pixel units and the data driving unit. Optionally, the row number can be directly used as the target parameter to determine the driving gear.

[0055] Moreover, since the farther the distance, the greater the load, resulting in a relatively lower charging rate (i.e., a longer charging time is required), therefore, the charging rate and the distance are in a negative correlation relationship.

[0056] In some embodiments, the timing control unit 1104 can first determine the row number of the n-th row of pixel units, and then determine the distance according to the row number.

[0057] Referring Figure 1 to the figure shown, assuming that a row of pixel units including the pixel unit group 1042A is the (n - 1)-th row of pixel units, and a row of pixel units including the pixel unit group 1042B is the n-th row of pixel units, it can be seen that there is a correlation relationship between the row number of the pixel units and the distance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the distance can be determined according to the row number.

[0058] Taking Figure 1 as an example, the pixel units 1042 of each row can be sorted in the order from top to bottom, that is, in the order from top to bottom, the row numbers of the pixel units are 1 - N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1. It can be seen that the distance and the row number are in a negative correlation relationship, and correspondingly, the row number and the charging rate are in a positive correlation relationship. Therefore, in some embodiments, the target parameter can be directly determined according to the row number without going through the step of determining the distance. Optionally, the row number can be directly used as the target parameter to determine the driving gear.

[0059] Optionally, the timing control unit 1104 can obtain the horizontal synchronization signal HS and determine the row number according to the horizontal synchronization signal HS.

[0060] As described above, the signal input by the system control unit 1106 includes the horizontal synchronization signal HS. Correspondingly, the timing control unit 1104 can also determine the row number according to the row number information (line) in the horizontal synchronization signal HS.

[0061] As an alternative embodiment, the control module of the timing control unit 1104 may further include a counter for counting according to the horizontal sync signal HS, so as to determine the number of rows based on the counting result, which can quickly obtain the row number information and is beneficial to improving the processing efficiency.

[0062] As described above, in addition to the transmission distance affecting the charging rate, the voltage difference between rows also affects the charging rate. Therefore, in some embodiments, the control unit 110 may first determine the voltage difference between the data voltages of the nth row pixel unit and the (n - 1)th row pixel unit; then determine the target parameter of the nth row pixel unit according to the voltage difference. Wherein, the charging rate is negatively correlated with the voltage difference.

[0063] See Figure 1 As shown, in some embodiments, the pixel units 1042 in the same column are charged through the same data line 1046 at different times.

[0064] Specifically, when an enabling signal is transmitted on the scan line 1044 of the (n - 1)th row pixel unit 1042 (for an N-type TFT, the enabling signal is a high level), the data line 1046 of this row of pixel units 1042 provides the corresponding data voltage, while the pixel units 1042 in the scan lines 1044 of other rows cannot receive the data voltage in the data line 1046 because the transmitted signal is a disabling signal.

[0065] Similarly, when an enabling signal is transmitted on the scan line 1044 of the nth row pixel unit 1042 (for an N-type TFT, the enabling signal is a high level), the data line 1046 of this row of pixel units 1042 provides the corresponding data voltage, while the pixel units 1042 in the scan lines 1044 of other rows (for example, the (n - 1)th row) cannot receive the data voltage in the data line 1046 because the transmitted signal is a disabling signal.

[0066] It can be seen that for the pixel units 1042 in the same column, two adjacent row pixel units 1042 need to be charged successively using the same data line 1046. When the voltage difference between the data voltages of the previous row pixel unit and the next row pixel unit is large, when the next row pixel unit 1042 is charged using the same data line 1046, it is necessary to overcome such a voltage difference to charge this next row pixel unit 1042, resulting in a lower charging rate. As Figure 3A and Figure 3B shown, by comparing the two figures, it can be seen that when the voltage difference between adjacent rows of data voltages is large, a higher driving ability is required when driving the nth row.

[0067] Therefore, in this embodiment, the target parameter of the nth row of pixel units can be determined according to the pressure difference between adjacent row pixel units. Optionally, the pressure difference can be directly used as the target parameter to determine the driving gear.

[0068] As an alternative embodiment, as Figure 2B shown, step 202 may further include the following steps.

[0069] In step 2022, the control unit 110 may obtain the data voltages of the nth row of pixel units and the (n - 1)th row of pixel units.

[0070] As mentioned above, the digital signals input from the system control unit 1106 include display data (RGB data). Therefore, the control unit 110 can determine the data voltages of each row of pixel units according to the display data. Optionally, the control unit 110 can determine the data voltages of each row of pixel units according to the line data of each data driving unit 1102A - 1102C. It can be understood that for each pixel unit 1042, there is a corresponding data voltage. The so-called data voltage of each row of pixel units actually refers to the data voltage of each pixel unit in each row of pixel units.

[0071] In step 2024, the control unit 110 may determine the maximum voltage among the data voltages of multiple pixel units in the nth row of pixel units as the first voltage.

[0072] As mentioned above, it can be understood that each pixel unit in each row of pixel units has its corresponding data voltage. Depending on the different images to be displayed, the values of the data voltages of each pixel unit may also be different. Therefore, when determining the data voltage representing the pixel units of this row, it is necessary to consider how to determine it according to the data voltages corresponding to each pixel unit.

[0073] Refer to Figure 1 shown, each data driving unit drives a group of pixel units or a row of pixel units, and the driving ability of the data driving unit needs to be able to meet the requirements of each pixel unit in this group or row for the data voltage. If the driving ability is insufficient, it may cause the pixel units to be undercharged, resulting in problems such as flickering or uneven brightness. Therefore, when determining the data voltage representing the pixel units of this row, the maximum voltage among all the data voltages of the pixel units of this row can be selected as the data unit of the pixel units of this row. For the nth row of pixel units, this maximum voltage is the first voltage.

[0074] In step 2026, the control unit 110 may determine the maximum voltage among the data voltages of multiple pixel units in the (n - 1)th row of pixel units as the second voltage.

[0075] Using a method similar to that in step 2024, the second voltage can be determined, which will not be elaborated here.

[0076] In step 2028, the control unit 110 can determine the pressure difference based on the first voltage and the second voltage.

[0077] In this way, by selecting the maximum data voltage of each row of pixel units to represent the data voltage of that row of pixel units, it can better meet the driving requirements when determining the driving gear of the data voltage subsequently.

[0078] Continue to refer to Figure 1 , in some embodiments, the number of data driving units is multiple. It can be understood that with the development trend of the increasing pixel density / pixel number of the display panel, the number of columns of pixel units in the display panel may be relatively large, and one data driving unit may not be sufficient to provide data voltage for each pixel unit. Therefore, in some cases, the display device 100 may have multiple data driving units. Figure 1 Only three data driving units 1102A to 1102C are taken as examples for illustration.

[0079] As Figure 1 shown, each row of pixel units 1042 can be divided into multiple pixel unit groups, and each pixel unit group is correspondingly connected to a data driving unit and driven by the data voltage provided by this data driving unit.

[0080] As another optional embodiment, as Figure 2C shown, this step 202 may further include the following steps.

[0081] In step 2030, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the target data driving unit among the multiple data driving units.

[0082] Since each data driving unit drives a group of pixel unit groups separately, therefore, the charging rate of the pixel unit group can be determined according to the pressure difference between two pixel unit groups in adjacent rows driven by each data driving unit. For each data driving unit, the method provided in this embodiment can be executed. Exemplarily, in this step, a data driving unit can be first selected as the target data driving unit to determine the corresponding pressure difference.

[0083] In step 2032, the timing control unit 1104 can obtain the data voltages of the nth row target pixel unit group and the (n - 1)th row target pixel unit group corresponding to the target data driving unit.

[0084] As Figure 1As shown, assume that the target data driving unit is data driving unit 1102A. The corresponding target pixel unit group in the (n - 1)-th row can be pixel unit group 1042A, and the corresponding target pixel unit group in the n-th row can be pixel unit group 1042B. As described above, according to the display data, the timing control unit 1104 can obtain the data voltages of the target pixel unit group in the n-th row and the target pixel unit group in the (n - 1)-th row corresponding to the target data driving unit.

[0085] In step 2034, the timing control unit 1104 can determine that the maximum voltage among the data voltages of multiple pixel units in the target pixel unit group in the n-th row is the third voltage.

[0086] Using a method similar to step 2024, the third voltage can be determined among the data voltages of all pixel units in pixel unit group 1042B, which will not be elaborated here.

[0087] In step 2036, the timing control unit 1104 can determine that the maximum voltage among the data voltages of multiple pixel units in the target pixel unit group in the (n - 1)-th row is the fourth voltage.

[0088] Using a method similar to step 2024, the third voltage can be determined among the data voltages of all pixel units in pixel unit group 1042A, which will not be elaborated here.

[0089] In step 2038, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the pressure difference corresponding to the target pixel unit group in the n-th row according to the third voltage and the fourth voltage.

[0090] According to the foregoing method, the pressure difference corresponding to the pixel unit group corresponding to each data driving unit in the pixel units of the n-th row can be determined, so that the driving gear corresponding to the data driving unit can be determined based on this pressure difference subsequently.

[0091] In some embodiments, the charging rate can also be jointly determined by combining the distance and the pressure difference. As Figure 2D shown, step 202 can further include the following steps.

[0092] In step 210, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the distance between the pixel units in the n-th row and the data driving unit.

[0093] In step 212, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the pressure difference between the data voltages of the pixel units in the n-th row and the pixel units in the (n - 1)-th row.

[0094] In step 214, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the target parameter of the pixel units in the n-th row according to the distance and the pressure difference.

[0095] Among them, the charging rate is negatively correlated with the distance and the pressure difference respectively.

[0096] It can be understood that the methods for determining the distance and the pressure difference can be implemented by any of the foregoing embodiments or permutations and combinations of the embodiments, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0097] In this embodiment, the method for determining the target parameter according to the distance and the pressure difference can be various. For example, a lookup table can be designed, with the horizontal index being the distance, the vertical index being the pressure difference, and the corresponding charging rate filled in the middle cells. The target parameter corresponding to the distance and the pressure difference can be obtained through simulation or experiment and then used as the value of the corresponding cell in the lookup table. Subsequently, after calculating the distance and the pressure difference, the corresponding target parameter can be obtained by looking up the table. It can be understood that in order to simplify the lookup table, the horizontal index and the vertical index can be divided into multiple range intervals. Each range interval of the horizontal index corresponds to a column of cells, and each range interval of the vertical index corresponds to a row of cells. Optionally, the range intervals can be equally spaced or divided according to a specific rule, and the specific division method is not limited.

[0098] As an alternative embodiment, the timing control unit 1104 can determine a first coefficient according to the distance and can determine a second coefficient according to the pressure difference. The magnitudes of the first coefficient and the second coefficient are negatively correlated with the magnitude of the charging rate, so that the target parameter can be characterized by the values of the first coefficient and the second coefficient.

[0099] As another alternative embodiment, when the number of data driving units is multiple, the timing control unit 1104 can determine a first coefficient according to the distance; then, according to the multiple pressure differences between the data voltages of the multiple pixel unit groups in the nth row and the multiple pixel unit groups in the (n - 1)th row, and according to the multiple pressure differences, multiple second coefficients are determined, so that the values of the first coefficient and the multiple second coefficients can be used to determine the target parameters of the pixel unit groups in the nth row corresponding to the multiple data driving units respectively.

[0100] In step 204, the control unit 110 can determine the driving gear corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the target parameter.

[0101] As an alternative embodiment, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the driving gear corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the target parameter. Optionally, the timing control unit 1104 can further include a control module for performing step 204.

[0102] It can be understood that, as described above, the level of the driving gear is related to the charging rate. If the charging rate is slow, the driving gear can be set higher; conversely, if the charging rate is fast, the driving gear can be set lower.

[0103] Optionally, a comparison table of the target parameter and the driving gear can be designed based on the correlation between the target parameter related to the charging rate and the driving gear. After obtaining the target parameter, the driving gear can be determined according to the target parameter by looking up the table. The comparison table can be set with parameters according to the results of simulation or tests, and no specific limitation is made here.

[0104] As an alternative embodiment, the distance used to characterize the charging rate can be corresponded to the driving gear, so that after determining the distance, it can be directly corresponded to the corresponding driving gear. For example, taking Figure 3D the four driving gears shown as an example, all pixel units of the display panel 102 can be divided into four sets according to the distance from the data driving unit, and then the pixel units of each set are corresponded to a driving gear. When the pixel unit falls into a certain set, it can be directly corresponded to the corresponding driving gear, and then the control instruction bit in the row display control instruction packet can be set based on the driving gear.

[0105] As another alternative embodiment, the pressure difference used to characterize the charging rate can be corresponded to the driving gear, so that after determining the pressure difference, it can be directly corresponded to the corresponding driving gear. For example, taking Figure 3D the four driving gears shown as an example, the possible adjacent row pressure differences of the display panel 102 can be divided into four ranges according to the magnitude, and then each range is corresponded to a driving gear. When the pressure difference falls into a certain range, it can be directly corresponded to the corresponding driving gear, and then the control instruction bit in the row display control instruction packet can be set based on the driving gear.

[0106] As yet another alternative embodiment, as described above, the first coefficient can be determined according to the distance, and one or more second coefficients can be determined according to the pressure difference (the number of second coefficients is determined according to the number of data driving units). Therefore, the timing control unit 1104 can determine the driving gear corresponding to the target parameter according to the first coefficient and the second coefficient. That is, the driving gear is jointly determined by the first coefficient and the second coefficient.

[0107] For example, for all pixel units, an initial driving gear can be set, and then after determining the first coefficient according to the distance (or the number of rows) and determining the second coefficient according to the pressure difference, the initial driving gear is multiplied by the first coefficient and the second coefficient to obtain the final driving gear, which is the driving gear corresponding to the nth row pixel unit.

[0108] As another optional embodiment, when the number of data driving units is multiple, the timing control unit 1104 may determine a plurality of charging rates corresponding to the plurality of data driving units according to the first coefficient and the plurality of second coefficients, and further determine a plurality of driving gears corresponding to the plurality of data driving units.

[0109] For example, for all pixel units, an initial driving gear may be set. Then, after determining the first coefficient and the second coefficient, the initial driving gear is multiplied by the first coefficient and the second coefficient of the corresponding data driving unit to obtain the final driving gear, which is the driving gear of the nth row pixel unit group corresponding to the data driving unit.

[0110] Since the number of pixel unit rows of the display panel 102 is usually much larger than the number of driving gears of the data driving units, multiple rows of pixel units may correspond to the same first coefficient. Optionally, the first coefficient of each pixel unit may be selected according to the actual situation of loading or measured optical parameters.

[0111] In step 206, the control unit 110 may generate a driving signal corresponding to the nth row pixel unit according to the driving gear to drive the nth row pixel unit.

[0112] In some embodiments, a point-to-point (P2P) display interface protocol (for example, the chpi protocol) may be adopted between the timing control unit 1104 and the data driving units 1102A to 1102C for data transmission. Among them, before sending the display data of each row of pixel units, the timing control unit 1104 sends a line display control instruction packet (line package) during the line blanking period.

[0113] As Figure 3C shown, the line display control instruction packet CTRL_F may include a line display control instruction packet CTRL_L, line display data (for example, the first line display data Video data-Line1, the second line display data Video data-Line2,..., the last line display data Video data-Last line), and the IDLE during the idle period.

[0114] Among them, the line display control instruction packet CTRL_L may further include a control instruction bit for the driving gear of the data driving unit.

[0115] As Figure 3DAs shown, exemplarily, there are four control instruction bits that can be output by the row display control instruction packet CTRL_L. Among them, when the driving gear (Output buffer power) is high (High), the first control instruction bit PWRC1 is H, and the second control instruction bit PWRC2 is also H. After the data driving unit receives this instruction, the driving signal it outputs can have the highest driving ability. When the driving gear (Output buffer power) is normal (Normal), the first control instruction bit PWRC1 is H, and the second control instruction bit PWRC2 is L. After the data driving unit receives this instruction, the driving signal it outputs can have the second-highest driving ability. When the driving gear (Output buffer power) is low (Low), the first control instruction bit PWRC1 is L, and the second control instruction bit PWRC2 is H. After the data driving unit receives this instruction, the driving signal it outputs can have the second-lowest driving ability. When the driving gear (Output buffer power) is extremely low (UltraLow), the first control instruction bit PWRC1 is L, and the second control instruction bit PWRC2 is also L. After the data driving unit receives this instruction, the driving signal it outputs can have the lowest driving ability.

[0116] In the related art, the control instruction bit is usually set to a fixed value. That is, for pixel units with different rows and different data voltages, the driving gear is fixed and will not be changed during the driving process. Generally, in order to ensure that the driving ability meets the requirements of each pixel unit, the driving gear is usually set relatively high, which is obviously a waste of display power consumption for pixel units with small loading and small voltage difference.

[0117] Therefore, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the timing control unit 1104 can adjust the control instruction bits in the row display control instruction packet sent by the timing control unit according to the driving gear determined based on the target parameters before, so as to adjust the driving ability of the data driving unit, so that in different load and voltage difference situations, it can provide driving signals with different driving abilities to the corresponding pixel units according to different values of the control instruction bits in the row display control instruction packet, thereby saving power consumption and avoiding waste.

[0118] It can be seen from the above embodiments that the display device and its driving method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure solve, to a certain extent, the problem of power loss caused by the fixed driving gear of the data driving unit in the related art, resulting in a driving ability greater than the actual demand of the pixel in various situations.

[0119] The display device and its driving method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can dynamically adjust the driving ability of the data driver, and dynamically switch the driving gear of the data driver according to the loading size of the pixel and the pixel voltage difference between two rows, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing the power consumption of the display.

[0120] In some embodiments, the display device and its driving method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure use the control instruction bits in the row display control instruction packet to dynamically send the driving gear of the data driver of each row of pixel units, and select a suitable driving gear to reduce power consumption according to the position of each row of pixel units and the voltage difference between pixels. A control module for controlling the driving gear is added to the timing control unit to identify the position of each row of pixel units and the voltage difference between pixels.

[0121] Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: the discussion of any of the above embodiments is only exemplary, and is not intended to imply that the scope of the present disclosure (including the claims) is limited to these examples; under the idea of the present disclosure, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments can also be combined, the steps can be implemented in any order, and there are many other variations in different aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure as described above, and they are not provided in detail for the sake of brevity.

[0122] In addition, for simplicity of explanation and discussion, and in order not to make the embodiments of the present disclosure difficult to understand, the well-known power / ground connections to integrated circuit (IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown in the provided drawings. In addition, the device may be shown in block diagram form to avoid making the embodiments of the present disclosure difficult to understand, and this also takes into account the fact that the details of the implementation of these block diagram devices are highly dependent on the platform on which the embodiments of the present disclosure are to be implemented (i.e., these details should be completely within the understanding of those skilled in the art). In the case where specific details (such as circuits) are set forth to describe the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented without these specific details or with variations of these specific details. Therefore, these descriptions should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0123] Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with specific embodiments of the present disclosure, many alternatives, modifications, and variations of these embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art based on the foregoing description.

[0124] The embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to cover all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the broad scope of the appended claims. Therefore, any omission, modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the embodiments of the present disclosure shall be included within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising: A display panel including a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array; A control unit electrically coupled to the display panel and configured to: Determine a target parameter related to the charging rate of the pixel units in the nth row; Determine a driving gear corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the target parameter; Generate a driving signal corresponding to the pixel units in the nth row according to the driving gear to drive the pixel units in the nth row.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, The control unit includes a timing control unit and a data driving unit. The timing control unit is electrically coupled to the data driving unit. The data driving unit is electrically coupled to a plurality of the pixel units respectively and is configured to provide driving signals to the plurality of pixel units; The timing control unit is configured to: Determine the distance between the pixel units in the nth row and the data driving unit; Determine the target parameter of the pixel units in the nth row according to the distance; Wherein, the charging rate has a negative correlation with the distance.

3. The display device according to claim 2, wherein, The timing control unit is configured to: Determine the row number of the pixel units in the nth row; Determine the distance according to the row number.

4. The display device according to claim 3, wherein, The timing control unit is configured to: Obtain a line synchronization signal; Determine the row number according to the line synchronization signal.

5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, The control unit is configured to: Determine the voltage difference between the data voltages of the pixel units in the nth row and the pixel units in the (n - 1)th row; Determine the target parameter of the pixel units in the nth row according to the voltage difference; Wherein, the charging rate has a negative correlation with the voltage difference.

6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein, The control unit is configured to: Obtain the data voltages of the pixel units in the nth row and the pixel units in the (n - 1)th row; Determine the maximum voltage among the data voltages of the plurality of pixel units in the nth row as the first voltage; Determine the maximum voltage among the data voltages of the plurality of pixel units in the (n - 1)th row as the second voltage; Determine the voltage difference according to the first voltage and the second voltage.

7. The display device according to claim 5, wherein, The control unit includes a timing control unit and a plurality of data driving units. The timing control unit is electrically coupled to the plurality of data driving units. Each row of the pixel units is divided into a plurality of pixel unit groups. Each data driving unit is electrically coupled to a group of the pixel unit groups and is configured to provide driving signals to the pixel unit groups; The timing control unit is configured to: Determine a target data driving unit among the plurality of data driving units; Obtain the data voltages of the target pixel unit group in the nth row and the target pixel unit group in the (n - 1)th row corresponding to the target data driving unit; Determine the maximum voltage among the data voltages of the plurality of pixel units in the target pixel unit group in the nth row as the third voltage; Determine the maximum voltage among the data voltages of the plurality of pixel units in the target pixel unit group in the (n - 1)th row as the fourth voltage; Determine the voltage difference corresponding to the target pixel unit group in the nth row according to the third voltage and the fourth voltage.

8. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, The control unit includes a timing control unit and a plurality of data driving units. The timing control unit is electrically coupled to the plurality of data driving units. Each row of the pixel units is divided into a plurality of pixel unit groups, and each data driving unit is correspondingly electrically coupled to a group of the pixel unit groups and is configured to provide a driving signal to the pixel unit group; The timing control unit is configured to: Determine the distance between the nth row of pixel units and the data driving unit; Determine the voltage difference between the data voltages of the nth row of pixel units and the (n - 1)th row of pixel units; Determine the target parameter of the nth row of pixel units according to the distance and the voltage difference; Wherein, the charging rate is negatively correlated with the distance and the voltage difference respectively.

9. The display device according to claim 8, wherein, The target parameter includes a first coefficient and a second coefficient. The timing control unit is configured to: Determine the first coefficient according to the distance; Determine the second coefficient according to the voltage difference; Determine the driving gear according to the first coefficient and the second coefficient.

10. The display device according to claim 8, wherein, The target parameter includes a first coefficient and a second coefficient. The timing control unit is configured to: Determine the first coefficient according to the distance; Determine the multiple voltage differences between the data voltages of the multiple pixel unit groups in the nth row and the multiple pixel unit groups in the (n - 1)th row; Determine multiple second coefficients according to the multiple voltage differences; Determine multiple driving gears according to the first coefficient and the multiple second coefficients.

11. The display device according to claim 8, wherein, The timing control unit is configured to: Adjust the control instruction bits in the row display control instruction packet sent by the timing control unit according to the driving gear.

12. A driving method for a display device, the display device includes a display panel, and the display panel includes a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array. The method includes: Determine the target parameter related to the charging rate of the nth row of pixel units; Determine the driving gear corresponding to the nth row of pixel units according to the target parameter; Generate a driving signal corresponding to the nth row of pixel units according to the driving gear to drive the nth row of pixel units.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The display device further includes a data driving unit; determining the target parameter related to the charging rate of the nth row of pixel units includes: Determine the distance between the nth row of pixel units and the data driving unit; Determine the charging rate of the nth row of pixel units according to the distance; Wherein, the charging rate is negatively correlated with the distance.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, Determining the distance between the nth row of pixel units and the data driving unit includes: Determine the row number of the nth row of pixel units; Determine the distance according to the row number.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein, Determining the target parameter related to the charging rate of the nth row of pixel units includes: Determine the voltage difference between the data voltages of the nth row of pixel units and the (n - 1)th row of pixel units; Determine the target parameter of the nth row of pixel units according to the voltage difference; Wherein, the charging rate is negatively correlated with the voltage difference.

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