Drive system and driving method, display device

Abstract

This disclosure provides a driving system belonging to the field of display technology, which can solve the dimming delay problem of existing display devices. The driving system of this disclosure is applied to a display device, which includes a display panel and a backlight. The display panel is divided into P groups of pixel areas, each group of pixel areas including at least one pixel row; the backlight is divided into P rows of backlight areas, each row of backlight areas corresponding to a group of pixel areas; the driving system includes a control unit and a backlight driver; wherein the control unit is configured to receive image data of a frame to be displayed, and for each corresponding row of backlight areas and group of pixel areas, the control unit is configured to, in response to at least one group of pixel areas being scanned, acquire a brightness control signal for that row of backlight areas based at least on the image data of the frame to be displayed corresponding to that group of pixel areas; the backlight driver is configured to adjust the brightness of the backlight areas based on the brightness control signal. The driving system of this disclosure can effectively reduce dimming delay.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure belongs to the field of display technology, specifically relating to a driving system and driving method, and a display device. Background Technology

[0002] A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a display device widely used in electronic devices. It mainly includes a liquid crystal display substrate and its driving system, and a backlight and its driving system. The backlight provides incident light to the liquid crystal display substrate and includes multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The liquid crystal display substrate controls the characteristics of the light transmitted through it by the deflection characteristics of the liquid crystal material, thereby enabling the liquid crystal display to display specific images.

[0003] Local dimming is a technology used to improve LCD image quality by dynamically controlling the brightness of the backlight, thereby improving the contrast and energy efficiency of the LCD. Simply put, local dimming divides the entire backlight into several independently driveable blocks. It automatically adjusts the LED drive current of each block based on the grayscale of the displayed image, thus adjusting the backlight brightness of that block and improving the contrast and image quality of the displayed image.

[0004] However, due to limitations in image signal processing algorithms and hardware, traditional local dimming technology results in a slower backlight adjustment speed than the screen refresh rate. This leads to a mismatch between the displayed image and the backlight brightness, meaning that the backlight brightness is delayed or lagging behind the displayed image (for example, the actual backlight brightness corresponding to the current frame is the same as that of a previous frame, rather than the backlight brightness that the current frame should match). In this case, for rapidly changing images, this delay can easily cause image trailing or large differences in brightness between adjacent areas, severely affecting image quality. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. On one hand, it provides a driving system applied to a display device, the display device including a display panel and a backlight. The display panel is divided into P groups of pixel areas, each group of pixel areas including at least one pixel row; the backlight is divided into P rows of backlight areas, where P is an integer greater than 1, and each row of backlight areas corresponds to one group of pixel areas; the driving system includes a control unit and a backlight driver; wherein the control unit is configured to receive image data of a frame to be displayed, the image data of the frame to be displayed including multiple rows of image data, each row of image data corresponding to one pixel row; for each corresponding row of backlight areas and group of pixel areas, the control unit is configured to, in response to at least one group of pixel areas being scanned, acquire a brightness control signal for that row of backlight areas based at least on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed corresponding to that group of pixel areas; the backlight driver is configured to adjust the brightness of the backlight areas based on the brightness control signal.

[0006] In some examples, for a corresponding row of backlight areas and a group of pixel areas, the control unit is configured to, in response to the scanning of the group of pixel areas, obtain a brightness control signal for the row of backlight areas based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the group of pixel areas.

[0007] In some examples, for the corresponding set of the i-th row of the backlight area and the i-th group of the pixel area, the control unit is configured to, in response to the scanning of the i-th group of the pixel area to the (i+q)-th group of the pixel area, obtain the brightness control signal of the i-th row of the backlight area based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the i-th group of the pixel area to the (i+q)-th group of the pixel area; i = 1, 2, ..., P; q is an integer not less than 0.

[0008] In some examples, the control unit includes a backlight data extraction module;

[0009] The backlight data extraction module is configured to obtain the brightness control signal of the backlight area in a row based on the image data corresponding to a group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed.

[0010] In some examples, the control unit includes a backlight data extraction module and a filtering module;

[0011] The backlight data extraction module is configured to obtain the initial brightness control signal of the backlight area in rows i to i+q based on the image data corresponding to the pixel area in the i-th group to the i+q-th group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed;

[0012] The filtering module is configured to obtain the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row based on the initial brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row to the i+q-th row.

[0013] In some examples, the filtering module includes a low-pass filter.

[0014] In some examples, the control unit also includes a pixel compensation module;

[0015] The pixel compensation module is configured to receive the brightness control signals of each row of the backlight area corresponding to the previous frame image data, and to obtain pixel compensation data of the frame image data to be displayed corresponding to each pixel row based on the image data to be displayed and the brightness control signals of each row of the backlight area corresponding to the previous frame image data.

[0016] In some examples, a display driver is also included;

[0017] The display driver is configured to receive the image data of the frame to be displayed and the pixel compensation data of the image data of the frame to be displayed transmitted by the control unit, and scan each pixel row of the display panel line by line based on the image data of the frame to be displayed and the pixel compensation data.

[0018] In some examples, the control unit is an FPGA or an ASIC.

[0019] In some examples, the control unit also includes a blackout controller;

[0020] The black-insertion controller is configured as follows:

[0021] Within one frame display time, the brightness of at least two rows of the backlight area is controlled to be 0;

[0022] The two rows of backlight areas are the i-th row and the (i+1)-th row, respectively, wherein the pixel area corresponding to the i-th row is in the scanning state, and the pixel area corresponding to the (i+1)-th row is in the waiting-to-be-scanned state; i = 1, 2, ..., P-1;

[0023] Alternatively, the two rows of backlight areas are designated as row 1 and row P, where the pixel area corresponding to row P is in a scanning state and the pixel area corresponding to row 1 is in a waiting-to-be-scanned state.

[0024] In some examples, the backlight area in row P is divided into groups G, and a group of backlight areas includes multiple rows of backlight areas arranged adjacently.

[0025] The black-insertion controller is specifically configured as follows:

[0026] Within one frame of display time, the brightness of the two sets of backlight areas is controlled to be 0;

[0027] The two groups of backlight areas are group j and group j+1, at least some rows of the backlight areas in group j are in a scanning state, and each row of the backlight areas in group j+1 is in a waiting state; j = 1, 2, ..., G-1;

[0028] Alternatively, the two sets of backlight areas are Group 1 and Group G, wherein at least some rows of the backlight areas in Group G are in a scanning state, and the pixels corresponding to each row of the backlight areas in Group 1 are in a waiting-to-be-scanned state.

[0029] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a display device comprising the driving system described in any of the examples of the first aspect above.

[0030] Thirdly, the present invention provides a driving method applied to the driving system described in any one of the first aspects above, wherein...

[0031] The driving method includes:

[0032] The control unit receives frame image data to be displayed, which includes multiple lines of image data, with one line of image data corresponding to one pixel row.

[0033] For a corresponding row of backlight area and a group of pixel areas, the control unit, in response to at least the group of pixel areas being scanned, obtains the brightness control signal of the row of backlight area based at least on the image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed;

[0034] The brightness of the backlight area is adjusted based on the brightness control signal using a backlight driver.

[0035] In some examples, for a corresponding row of backlight areas and a group of pixel areas, the brightness control signal of the row of backlight areas is obtained using a control unit, including:

[0036] In response to the scanning of the group of pixel areas, based on the image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed, the brightness control signal of the backlight area of ​​the row is obtained.

[0037] In some examples, for the corresponding backlight area in the i-th row and the pixel area in the i-th group, the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row is obtained using the control unit, including:

[0038] Using the control unit, in response to the scanning of the pixel areas from the i-th group to the (i+q)-th group, the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row is obtained based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the pixel areas from the i-th group to the (i+q)-th group; i = 1, 2, ..., P; q is an integer not less than 0. Attached Figure Description

[0039] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a liquid crystal display device in related technologies.

[0040] Figure 2 This is a top view of the display panel and backlight.

[0041] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the module structure of the driving system in related technologies.

[0042] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating another way of dividing the display panel and backlight.

[0043] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the drive system module structure provided in this disclosure.

[0044] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working process of the brightness extraction module.

[0045] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working process of the brightness extraction module and the filtering module.

[0046] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working process of the pixel compensation module.

[0047] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of black insertion in related technologies.

[0048] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working process of a blackout controller provided in this disclosure.

[0049] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working process of another black-insertion controller provided in this disclosure.

[0050] The attached figures are labeled as follows:

[0051] 1. Display panel; 2. Backlight; 21. Backlight element; 22. Light source; 11. Grid line; 12. Data line; 13. Pixel row; 14. Backlight area; 15. Backlight controller; 16. Backlight driver; 17. Timing controller; 18. Display driver; 30. Pixel area; 20. Control unit; 41. Brightness extraction module; 42. Filtering module; 43. Pixel compensation module. Detailed Implementation

[0052] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0053] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this disclosure shall have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. The terms “first,” “second,” and similar terms used in this disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. Similarly, the terms “an,” “a,” or “the,” and similar terms do not indicate a quantity limitation, but rather indicate the presence of at least one. The terms “including,” “comprising,” or “containing,” and similar terms mean that the element or object preceding the word encompasses the elements or objects listed following the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. The terms “connected,” “linked,” or similar terms are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. The terms “upper,” “lower,” “left,” and “right,” etc., are used only to indicate relative positional relationships, and these relative positional relationships may change accordingly when the absolute position of the described objects changes.

[0054] As used herein, “parallel” and “perpendicular” include the described situation and situations that are similar to the described situation, within an acceptable range of deviation, which is determined by those skilled in the art taking into account the measurement under discussion and the error associated with the measurement of a particular quantity (i.e., the limitations of the measurement system). For example, “parallel” includes absolute parallelism and approximate parallelism, where an acceptable range of deviation for approximate parallelism may be, for example, within 5°; “perpendicular” includes absolute perpendicularity and approximate perpendicularity, where an acceptable range of deviation for approximate perpendicularity may also be, for example, within 5°.

[0055] It should be understood that when a layer or element is referred to as being on another layer or substrate, it can mean that the layer or element is directly on the other layer or substrate, or that there is an intermediate layer between the layer or element and the other layer or substrate.

[0056] In this article, "electrical connection" includes the situation where constituent elements are connected together by a component that has a certain electrical function. There are no particular restrictions on the "component that has a certain electrical function" as long as it enables the transmission and reception of electrical signals between the connected constituent elements. Examples of "components that have a certain electrical function" include not only electrodes and wiring, but also switching elements such as transistors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, and other components with various functions.

[0057] This document describes exemplary embodiments with reference to sectional views and / or plan views, which are idealized exemplary drawings. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions is enlarged for clarity. Therefore, variations in shape relative to the drawings are contemplated due to, for example, manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Therefore, exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limited to the shapes of the regions shown herein, but rather include shape deviations due to, for example, manufacturing processes. Thus, the regions shown in the drawings are schematic in nature, and their shapes are not intended to show the actual shapes of the regions of the device, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.

[0058] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a liquid crystal display device along the thickness direction in related technologies. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the core components of a liquid crystal display (LCD) device include: a display panel 1 and its driving system. Figure 1 (Not shown in the image) and a backlight 2 and its driving system. The display panel 1 refers to a liquid crystal display panel, which typically consists of two glass substrates and a liquid crystal layer filled between them. It controls the characteristics of light passing through the liquid crystal layer to display corresponding images. The backlight 2 is configured to provide uniform background light to the display panel 1, allowing light to be projected onto it. The backlight 2 and the display panel 1 work together to achieve image display. Figure 1 As shown, the backlight 2 generally includes a backlight element 21 and a light source 22. The light source 22, as the core component of the backlight 2, can be a light-emitting diode (LED). Currently, the widely used light source 22 on the market is Mini-LED. Mini-LED uses smaller LEDs as the light source. When applied to liquid crystal display devices, it can achieve more precise local dimming, thereby improving the contrast of the displayed image, making dark areas darker and bright areas brighter. On the other hand, it can achieve a more uniform light source distribution, reduce light leakage in the display device, and improve the consistency and stability of the display effect.

[0059] Local dimming is a technology used to improve the picture quality of display devices by dynamically controlling the brightness of the backlight 2, thereby improving the contrast and energy efficiency of the display screen. Figure 2 This is a top-view schematic diagram of the display panel and backlight in related technologies. For example... Figure 2As shown, the display panel 1 can be divided into a display area (Active Area, AA) and a peripheral area AB surrounding the display area AA; the display panel 1 includes multiple gate lines 11 and multiple data lines 12 intersecting the extension direction of the gate lines 11, and multiple pixel units. For clarity, this disclosure refers to the extension direction of the gate lines 11 as the x-direction or row direction, and the extension direction of the data lines 12 as the y-direction or column direction, wherein the multiple gate lines 11 are arranged side by side along the y-direction, and the multiple data lines 12 are arranged side by side along the x-direction. Figure 2 As can be seen, multiple grid lines 11 and multiple data lines 12 intersect to define multiple (M1*N1) pixel unit areas PA, with one pixel unit located in one pixel unit area PA. Similar to the display panel 1, the backlight 2 can also be divided into several (M2*N2) independently driveable and controllable blocks. Typically, M1 is greater than M2, and N1 is greater than N2. For consistency, this paper refers to a block as a sub-backlight area EA, referring to... Figure 2 The backlight 2 includes multiple sub-backlight areas EA arranged in rows and columns. Each sub-backlight area EA corresponds to at least one pixel unit area PA. Typically, the backlight 2 can include dozens to hundreds of independently controlled sub-backlight areas EA. Each sub-backlight area EA corresponds to several (e.g., dozens) pixel unit areas PA. With this configuration, the display effect of the pixel unit areas PA can be independently controlled by independently controlling the brightness of the sub-backlight areas EA, thereby improving contrast and energy efficiency of the display device. For ease of description, this document refers to pixel unit areas PA located in the same row as a pixel row 13, and sub-backlight areas EA located in the same row as a row backlight area 14.

[0060] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a liquid crystal display device driving system in related technologies. For example... Figure 3As shown, the driving system mainly includes a System-on-a-Chip (SOC), a backlight controller 15, a backlight driver 16, a timing controller 17, and a display driver 18. The SOC is connected to both the backlight controller 15 and the timing controller 17, providing the backlight controller 15 with localized backlight control signals for each zone of the backlight source 2, and providing the timing controller with image data of the frames to be displayed. The backlight controller 15 is connected to the backlight driver 16. The backlight controller 15 is configured to calculate the brightness control signal for each sub-backlight zone EA based on the localized backlight control signal and the brightness modulation signal PWM for each sub-backlight zone EA, and transmit this signal to the backlight driver 16. The backlight driver 16 is configured to provide corresponding driving voltages to the light sources 22 in each sub-backlight zone EA of the backlight source 2 under the control of the brightness control signals of each sub-backlight zone EA, thereby controlling the luminous brightness of each sub-backlight zone EA. The timing controller 17 is connected to the display driver 18. The timing controller 17 is configured to provide scan control signals and data control signals to the display driver 18. The display driver 18 typically includes a gate driver (Gate-IC) and a source driver (Source-IC). It is configured to scan the pixel rows 13 of the display panel 1 line by line under the control of the scan control signals and data control signals, and display the frame image to be displayed line by line.

[0061] The following section introduces the technical problems existing in the driving system and the resulting display problems.

[0062] In summary, Figure 3 In the driving system, the backlight adjustment section and the display control section are designed independently, and these two independently designed control sections are difficult to synchronize. Compared to the speed of change of the displayed image (i.e., refresh rate), the process of obtaining the brightness control signal of the backlight 2 usually takes a long time; that is, the speed of brightness adjustment of the backlight 2 is slower than the speed of change of the displayed image. At this time, there is a mismatch between the brightness of the backlight 2 and the displayed image on the display panel 1. For example, the brightness of the backlight 2 in the current frame is the brightness corresponding to the previous frame or even the previous two frames. This is the dimming delay phenomenon. For display effects, the dimming delay phenomenon can cause image projection or blurring in fast-moving scenes (such as sports events or game scenes), thus causing visual fatigue for viewers. Specifically, the sources of the dimming delay phenomenon include:

[0063] Factor 1: The backlight local control signal is calculated by the System-on-Chip (SOC) based on the image data of the frame to be displayed. Typically, after the SOC obtains the backlight local control signal for each sub-backlight area (EA) of the backlight source 2 based on the entire frame image data, it transmits the brightness control signal of each sub-backlight area (EA) to the backlight controller. During this process, the image on the display panel 1 may have already been refreshed to the image corresponding to the aforementioned frame image data. Therefore, in related technologies, the time required for the SOC to calculate the backlight local control signal based on the entire frame image data is relatively long, resulting in dimming delay. This is one factor contributing to dimming delay.

[0064] Factor 2: The backlight controller 15 often uses an MCU, which needs to parse, process, and calculate the backlight local control signals of each sub-backlight area EA to obtain the brightness control signals of each sub-backlight area EA. On the one hand, the MCU takes a long time to parse, process, and calculate the signals; on the other hand, since the control lines connected to the light sources 22 in each sub-backlight area EA do not have a fixed arrangement (for example, sub-backlight area EAs located in the same row are not connected to the same control line), after obtaining the brightness control signals of each sub-backlight area EA, it is necessary to map them according to the arrangement of the control lines corresponding to each sub-backlight area EA, which also takes time. Therefore, the signal processing process of the backlight controller 15 takes a long time, which is the second factor of dimming delay.

[0065] Factor 3: Typically, data transmission between the System-on-a-Chip (SOC) and the backlight controller 15 is achieved via the SPI (Spiral Peripheral Interface) communication protocol. The transmission of the backlight local control signal also takes a certain amount of time, which is the third factor in dimming delay.

[0066] The above three factors cause the dimming speed of the driving system in the relevant technology to be one or even two frames slower than the speed of image changes, so it is not suitable for display devices with a high refresh rate.

[0067] To address at least one of the aforementioned technical problems, in one respect, this disclosure provides a driving system applied to a display device, which can provide... Figure 1 and Figure 2 The liquid crystal display device (LCD) shown includes a display panel 1 and a backlight 2 along its thickness direction. The display area AA of the display panel 1 includes M1 pixel rows 13, and each pixel row 13 includes multiple sub-pixel areas PA. The backlight 2 includes multiple sub-backlight areas 14. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating another way of dividing the display panel and backlight, as shown below. Figure 4As shown, the display area of ​​the display panel 1 can be further divided into P groups of pixel areas 30, where each group of pixel areas 30 includes at least one pixel row 13, and typically a group of pixel areas 30 includes multiple pixel rows 13; the backlight 2 is divided into P rows of backlight areas 14, where each row of backlight areas 14 includes multiple sub-backlight areas EA; each row of backlight areas 14 and each group of pixel areas 30 are set accordingly, where P is an integer greater than 1.

[0068] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the drive system provided in the embodiments of this disclosure, such as... Figure 5 As shown, the driving system provided in this disclosure includes a control unit 20 and a backlight driver 16. The control unit 20 is configured to receive image data of a frame to be displayed, which includes multiple lines of image data, with each line of image data corresponding to a pixel row 13. For a corresponding row of backlight areas 14 and a group of pixel areas 30, the control unit 20 is configured to, in response to at least the group of pixel areas 30 being scanned, acquire a brightness control signal for the row of backlight areas 14 based at least on the image data of the frame to be displayed corresponding to the group of pixel areas 30, and transmit it to the backlight driver 16. The backlight driver 16 is configured to adjust the brightness of the row of backlight areas 14 based on the brightness control signal.

[0069] In the driving system provided in this embodiment, by setting a control unit 20, for a corresponding row of backlight areas 14 and a group of pixel areas 30, the control unit 20 can, after the group of pixel areas 30 has been scanned, obtain the brightness control signal of the row of backlight areas 14 based on the image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas 30 in the image data of the frame to be displayed; and control the backlight driver 16 to adjust the brightness of the row of backlight areas 14 under the control of the brightness control signal; the beneficial effects that can be produced are as follows: 1. The control unit 20 provided in this disclosure can directly receive and store the image data of the frame to be displayed, and calculate the brightness control signal based on this image data. At this point, there is no need to wait for the on-chip system-on-chip (SOC) to process the entire frame of image data to obtain the backlight local control signal. Therefore, the delay time caused by factor 1 mentioned above can be reduced firstly; secondly, since there is no need for the on-chip SOC to calculate the backlight local control signal, nor is it necessary to transmit the backlight local control signal to the control unit 20 via the SPI communication protocol, the delay time caused by factor 3 mentioned above can be reduced; thirdly, the control unit 20 of this disclosure can calculate the brightness control signal of the backlight area 14 corresponding to a portion of the pixel row 13 after the portion of the pixel row 13 has been scanned, thereby limiting the dimming delay time to within one frame, or even within several lines of scanning time. In summary, the driving system provided by this disclosure can effectively reduce the dimming delay time, effectively optimize the image trailing problem caused by the dimming delay, and thus improve the display effect of the display device.

[0070] The following provides two specific embodiments of the operation of the control unit disclosed herein.

[0071] Figure 6 This is a first example diagram illustrating the operation of the control unit. In this first embodiment, for a corresponding row of backlight areas 14 and a group of pixel areas 30, the control unit 20 is configured to, in response to the scanning of the group of pixel areas 30, acquire a brightness control signal for the row of backlight areas 14 based on image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas 30 in the image data of the frame to be displayed. Figure 6 As shown, the control unit 20 includes a brightness extraction module 41, which is configured to obtain the brightness control signal of the backlight area 14 of the row based on the image data corresponding to a set of pixel areas 30 in the image data of the frame to be displayed.

[0072] For example, a set of pixel areas 30 corresponding to a row of backlight areas 14 includes m pixel rows 13. In the first embodiment, after the control unit 20 completes scanning in response to the m pixel rows 13 in a set of pixel areas 30, it calculates the brightness control signal of the row of backlight areas 14 based on the m rows of image data corresponding to those m pixel rows. At this time, the dimming delay time is only the scanning time of a set of pixel areas 30, that is, the scanning time of m pixel rows. It should be noted that the more rows P of the divided backlight areas 14, that is, the more sets of pixel areas 30, the fewer the number of pixel rows 13 included in a pixel area 30, that is, the smaller m is, the shorter the dimming delay time is. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the dimming delay time can be controlled to the scanning time of a set of pixel areas 30, which greatly reduces the dimming delay time compared to the dimming delay time of one frame or even two frames in related technologies, thereby effectively improving the image trailing phenomenon and improving the display quality.

[0073] Figure 7 This is a second example diagram illustrating the operation of the control unit. In this second embodiment, for the correspondingly configured i-th row backlight area 14 and i-th group pixel area 30, the control unit 20 is configured to, in response to the scanning of the i-th group pixel area 30 to the (i+q)-th group pixel area 30, acquire the brightness control signal of the i-th row backlight area 14 based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the i-th group pixel area 30 to the (i+q)-th group pixel area 30; where i = 1, 2, ..., P; and q is an integer not less than 0. Figure 7As shown, the control unit 20 in this example includes a backlight data extraction module 41 and a filtering module 42. The backlight data extraction module 41 is configured to obtain initial brightness control signals for the backlight areas 14 in rows i to i+q based on the image data corresponding to the pixel areas 30 in the frame image data to be displayed. The filtering module 42 is configured to obtain the brightness control signal for the backlight area 14 in row i based on the initial brightness control signals for the backlight areas 14 in rows i to i+q.

[0074] For example, the filtering module 42 described above can be a low-pass filter, specifically a low-pass filter based on convolution operations, configured to remove high-frequency noise from the signal or smooth the signal. As an optional embodiment, the convolution kernel of the low-pass filter can be 3×3 with a sliding step size of 1. In this case, after inputting the initial brightness control signal of the three rows of backlight areas 14, the low-pass filter slides across the initial brightness control signal corresponding to the three rows of backlight areas 14 through the convolution kernel, extracting the low-frequency components and filtering high-frequency noise to achieve signal smoothing.

[0075] For example, a group of pixel areas 30 corresponding to a row of backlight area 14 includes m pixel rows 13, and q is set to 2. In the second embodiment, after the control unit 20 completes scanning in response to 3*m pixel rows 13 in the i-th to i+2-th pixel areas 30, it calculates the initial brightness control signals for the i-th, i+1-th, and i+2-th rows of backlight area 14 based on the 3*m rows of image data corresponding to these 3*m pixel rows, and transmits them to the filtering module 42. The filtering module 42 performs high-frequency filtering on the initial brightness control signals based on the i-th, i+1-th, and i+2-th rows of backlight area 14, thereby obtaining a smoothed brightness control signal for the i-th row of backlight area 14. It should be noted that when i is greater than P-2, to avoid boundary effects, the image data can be padded so that the obtained initial brightness control signal still consists of three rows. At this point, the dimming delay time is the scanning time of three groups of pixel areas 30, which is the scanning time of 3*m pixel rows. It should be noted that the more rows P of the divided backlight area 14, i.e., the more groups of pixel areas 30, and the fewer pixel rows 13 included in one pixel area 30 (i.e., the smaller m), the shorter the dimming delay time. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the dimming delay time can be controlled to the scanning time of multiple groups of pixel areas 30 (depending on the value of q). Compared to the dimming delay time of one or even two frames in related technologies, this significantly reduces the dimming delay time, effectively improving image trailing and enhancing display quality. Compared to the first embodiment, the second embodiment is less effective in improving the dimming delay time. However, due to filtering, the second embodiment, compared to the brightness control signal obtained in the first embodiment, avoids sudden changes in the brightness of adjacent sub-backlight areas EA, preventing halo effects or local over-brightness / under-darkness, resulting in a natural brightness transition and thus improving the display effect and the viewer's viewing experience.

[0076] In some examples, the control unit 20 also includes a pixel compensation module 43. Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working process of the pixel compensation module, as shown below. Figure 8 As shown, the pixel compensation module 43 is configured to receive the brightness control signals of each row of backlight areas 14 corresponding to the previous frame image data, and based on the image data of the frame to be displayed and the brightness control signals of each row of backlight areas 14 corresponding to the previous frame image data, obtain the pixel compensation data of the image data of the frame to be displayed corresponding to each pixel row 13. It should be noted here that the frame to be displayed and the previous frame are two adjacent frames. For example, the frame to be displayed refers to the z-th frame, and the previous frame refers to the z-1-th frame, which corresponds to the image currently displayed on the display panel.

[0077] As described above, a sub-backlight area EA corresponds to multiple pixel unit areas PA. However, adjusting a sub-backlight area EA cannot guarantee that all the pixel unit areas PA corresponding to it will receive appropriate brightness. For example, if the brightness of the sub-backlight area EA is relatively bright, the displayed image of some individual pixel unit areas PA may be relatively dark. In this case, it is necessary to compensate the image data of the pixel unit area PA individually and adjust its pixel value, which is called pixel compensation. It is understandable that for rapidly changing images, the difference in backlight brightness between adjacent frames is small. Therefore, in the above example, for the image data of the frame to be displayed, the pixel compensation module 43 calculates the pixel compensation data of the image data of the frame to be displayed based on the backlight brightness of the previous frame and the image data of the frame to be displayed. This can avoid flickering caused by sudden changes in the brightness of some pixel values ​​due to changes in backlight brightness, and can also avoid pixel value deviations caused by changes in backlight brightness, ensuring the stability, uniformity, and consistency of the displayed image.

[0078] In some examples, the drive system also includes, for example, Figure 5 The display driver 18 shown is configured to receive the image data of the frame to be displayed and the pixel compensation data of the image data of the frame to be displayed transmitted by the control unit 20, and scan each pixel row 13 of the display panel 1 line by line based on the image data of the frame to be displayed and the pixel compensation data, so that the display panel 1 displays the screen corresponding to the image data of the frame to be displayed line by line.

[0079] As an optional embodiment, the control unit 20 provided in this disclosure can be an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Compared with MCUs in related technologies, both FPGAs and ASICs have more efficient computing and processing capabilities, higher flexibility and reconfigurability, higher integration, and lower power consumption. The FPGA and ASIC provided in this disclosure have at least four transmission channels, each with a transmission rate of 3.2Gbps. Furthermore, they integrate circuitry for clock and data recovery and provide corresponding interface modules that can be connected to the timing controller 17 or the display driver 18. In addition, the FPGA or ASIC also has a backlight driver interface, through which the backlight driver 16 is connected to the control unit 20. The transmission protocol of this backlight driver interface is a single-wire protocol.

[0080] In related technologies, black frame insertion (BFI) algorithms are often used to avoid trailing in rapidly changing images. Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working principle of the black insertion algorithm, as shown below. Figure 9 As shown, the black frame insertion algorithm refers to inserting a completely black frame between every two adjacent image frames. In display, this manifests as displaying one image frame (frame0), followed by a completely black image frame (frame1), then the next image frame (frame2), and repeating this process to improve the trailing effect in rapidly changing images. However, while this black frame insertion algorithm effectively improves the trailing effect, it has drawbacks: it reduces the effective display time, resulting in significant brightness loss; the high frequency of black frame insertion may cause screen flicker, affecting the viewing experience; and it reduces the effective refresh rate perceived by the human eye, causing a decrease in image continuity.

[0081] To address the aforementioned technical issues, in other examples of this disclosure, the control unit 20 also includes a blackout controller. Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working principle of the blackout controller. Figure 10 As shown, the black pixel insertion controller is configured to control the brightness of at least two rows of backlight areas 14 to 0 within one frame of display time. Of these two rows of backlight areas 14, the pixel area 30 corresponding to one row is in a scanning state, and the pixel area 30 corresponding to the other row is in a waiting-to-scan state. The two rows of backlight areas 14 are the i-th row and the (i+1)-th row, where the pixel area 30 corresponding to the i-th row is in a scanning state, and the pixel area 30 corresponding to the (i+1)-th row is in a waiting-to-scan state; i = 1, 2, ..., P-1; or, the two rows of backlight areas 14 are the 1-th row and the P-th row, where the pixel area 30 corresponding to the P-th row is in a scanning state, and the pixel area 30 corresponding to the 1-th row is in a waiting-to-scan state. Figure 10 For example, within one frame display time, frame0 indicates that the first group of pixel areas 30 is in scanning state, while the adjacent second group of pixel areas 30 is in waiting-to-be-scanned state. At this time, the brightness of the first and second row backlight areas 14 is controlled to be 0. Frame1 indicates that the i-th group of pixel areas 30 is in scanning state, while the adjacent (i+1)-th group of pixel areas 30 is in waiting-to-be-scanned state. At this time, the brightness of the i-th and (i+1)-th row backlight areas 14 is controlled to be 0. Frame3 indicates that the P-th group of pixel areas 30 is in scanning state, while the 1-th group of pixel areas 30 is in waiting-to-be-scanned state (which can be understood as the first group of pixel areas 30 waiting to refresh the next frame). At this time, the brightness of the 1-th and P-th row backlight areas 14 is controlled to be 0.

[0082] In this example, by controlling the backlight brightness of the pixel area 30 in the scanning state to 0, and the backlight brightness of the pixel area 30 to be scanned to 0, it is equivalent to performing black insertion processing on the rows of pixels that are being displayed and those that are about to be displayed. At this time, it can be ensured that there is a certain lag between the currently displayed pixel row and the previous frame, thereby reducing the trailing phenomenon of the currently displayed pixel row. On the other hand, the brightness of the pixel rows that have not yet been scanned remains unchanged, which can effectively reduce brightness loss compared to the related techniques of black insertion of the entire frame.

[0083] However, the above example requires black insertion processing for each row of backlight areas, which places high demands on algorithm complexity and device performance. In order to optimize the system performance, this disclosure provides another black insertion controller. Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working principle of the black line insertion controller. In this example, the P-row backlight area 14 is divided into G groups, with each group comprising multiple adjacent rows of backlight areas 14. Specifically, the black line insertion controller is configured to: control the brightness of both groups of backlight areas to 0 within one frame of display time; these two groups of backlight areas are group j and group j+1, respectively. At least some of the row backlight areas 14 in group j are in a scanning state, while the pixel areas 30 corresponding to each row backlight area 14 in group j+1 are in a waiting-to-scan state; j = 1, 2, ..., G-1; or, the two groups of backlight areas are group 1 and group G, where at least some of the row backlight areas 14 in group G are in a scanning state, and the pixel areas 30 corresponding to each row backlight area in group 1 are in a waiting-to-scan state. Figure 11 For example, with G set to 4, in frame 0, the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the multiple rows of backlight areas 14 in the first group are in scanning state, and the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the rows of backlight areas 14 in the second group are in waiting-to-scan state. At this time, the brightness of the backlight areas in the first and second groups is controlled to be 0. In frame 1, the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the multiple rows of backlight areas 14 in the second group are in scanning state, and the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the rows of backlight areas 14 in the third group are in waiting-to-scan state. At this time, the brightness of the backlight areas in the second and third groups is controlled to be 0. In frame 2, the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the multiple rows of backlight areas 14 in the third group are in scanning state, and the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the rows of backlight areas 14 in the fourth group are in waiting-to-scan state. At this time, the brightness of the backlight areas in the third and fourth groups is controlled to be 0. In frame 3, the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the multiple rows of backlight areas 14 in the fourth group are in scanning state, and the pixel areas 30 corresponding to the rows of backlight areas 14 in the first group are in waiting-to-scan state. At this time, the brightness of the backlight areas in the first and fourth groups is controlled to be 0.

[0084] This example also ensures that the currently scanned (displayed) pixel row lags behind the previous frame time, thus improving the trailing phenomenon. The value of G is less than the value of P, which can simplify the black insertion algorithm and reduce the power consumption of the black insertion controller. However, compared with the previous example, the brightness loss is relatively increased.

[0085] Furthermore, to minimize brightness loss and effectively reduce motion blur, this disclosure proposes a method for adjusting the black frame insertion ratio based on the dynamic change speed of the scene. Simply put, by setting the black frame insertion time and adjusting the black frame duration, brightness loss and motion blur are balanced. The following section introduces the rationale behind setting the black frame insertion time.

[0086] Those skilled in the art will understand that, based on the model of the human visual system's response to light signals, light signals are considered to have a time response function. A low-pass filter is used, where R(t) represents the response intensity at time t, and τ is a time constant representing the duration of visual persistence. In traditional display technology, the human eye integrates the light from consecutive frames, leading to motion blur. The integration process can be expressed as:

[0087]

[0088] By inserting black frames, this integration process is interrupted, shortening the integration time to T-Tb (where T-Tb is the duration of the black frame). Therefore, after black frame insertion, the integral of light from consecutive frames by the human eye is reduced to: It is evident that the residual response of the previous frame is effectively reduced, significantly reducing motion blur.

[0089] However, for scenes with slow dynamic changes, the black frame insertion time will affect the effective refresh rate of the human eye, resulting in a reduction in the continuity of the image perceived by the human eye. Therefore, the black frame insertion technique provided in this disclosure dynamically adjusts Tb according to the scene dynamics v, that is, setting the black frame insertion duration Tb = f(v). This ensures that a longer Tb is used in high dynamic scenes to reduce blur, while a shorter Tb or no black frame is inserted in low dynamic scenes to maintain brightness. According to the brightness loss calculation formula: Setting the black indentation duration to be dynamically related to the scene can maintain a balance between reducing motion blur and preserving brightness.

[0090] In other words, the example above achieves the best balance between reducing motion blur and minimizing the impact on screen brightness by precisely calculating and adjusting the duration of the black frame insertion.

[0091] Based on the same inventive concept, in a second aspect, this disclosure provides a display device that includes the driving system provided in the first aspect.

[0092] Based on the same inventive concept, in a third aspect, this disclosure also provides a driving method applied to the driving system of the first aspect. The driving method includes:

[0093] The control unit 20 receives the frame image data to be displayed, which includes multiple lines of image data, with each line of image data corresponding to a pixel row 13.

[0094] For a corresponding row of backlight area 14 and a group of pixel areas 30, the control unit 20, in response to at least the group of pixel areas 30 being scanned, acquires the brightness control signal of the row of backlight area 14 based at least on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the group of pixel areas 30.

[0095] The brightness of the backlight area 14 is adjusted based on the brightness control signal using the backlight driver 15.

[0096] In some examples, for a corresponding row of backlight area 14 and a group of pixel areas 30, the control unit 20 obtains the brightness control signal of the row of backlight area 14, including:

[0097] In response to the scanning of the pixel area 30, the brightness control signal of the backlight area 14 of the row is obtained based on the image data corresponding to the pixel area 30 in the image data of the frame to be displayed.

[0098] In some examples, for the corresponding i-th row backlight area 14 and i-th group pixel area 30, the control unit 20 obtains the brightness control signal of the i-th row backlight area 14, including:

[0099] Using the control unit 20, in response to the scanning of the i-th to i+q-th pixel areas 30, the brightness control signal of the i-th row backlight area 14 is obtained based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the i-th to i+q-th pixel areas 30; i = 1, 2, ..., P; q is an integer not less than 0.

[0100] It is understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary implementations used to illustrate the principles of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A driving system applied to a display device, the display device including a display panel and a backlight, the display panel being divided into P groups of pixel areas, each group of pixel areas including at least one pixel row; the backlight being divided into P rows of backlight areas, where P is an integer greater than 1, and each row of backlight areas corresponding to a group of pixel areas; The drive system includes a control unit and a backlight driver; wherein... The control unit is configured to receive frame image data to be displayed, the frame image data to be displayed including multiple lines of image data, and one line of the image data corresponds to one pixel line; For a corresponding row of backlight area and a group of pixel areas, the control unit is configured to, in response to at least the group of pixel areas being scanned, acquire a brightness control signal for the row of backlight area based at least on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the group of pixel areas; The backlight driver is configured to adjust the brightness of the backlight area based on the brightness control signal.

2. The drive system according to claim 1, wherein, For a corresponding row of backlight areas and a group of pixel areas, the control unit is configured to, in response to the scanning of the group of pixel areas, obtain a brightness control signal for the row of backlight areas based on the image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed.

3. The drive system according to claim 1, wherein, For the corresponding backlight area in the i-th row and the pixel area in the i-th group, the control unit is configured to, in response to the scanning of the pixel areas in the i-th group to the (i+q)-th group, obtain the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the pixel areas in the i-th group to the (i+q)-th group; i = 1, 2, ..., P; q is an integer not less than 0.

4. The drive system according to claim 2, wherein, The control unit includes a backlight data extraction module; The backlight data extraction module is configured to obtain the brightness control signal of the backlight area in a row based on the image data corresponding to a group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed.

5. The drive system according to claim 3, wherein, The control unit includes a backlight data extraction module and a filtering module; The backlight data extraction module is configured to obtain the initial brightness control signal of the backlight area in rows i to i+q based on the image data corresponding to the pixel area in the i-th group to the i+q-th group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed; The filtering module is configured to obtain the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row based on the initial brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row to the i+q-th row.

6. The drive system according to claim 5, wherein, The filtering module includes a low-pass filter.

7. The drive system according to claim 1, wherein, The control unit also includes a pixel compensation module; The pixel compensation module is configured to receive the brightness control signals of each row of the backlight area corresponding to the previous frame image data, and to obtain pixel compensation data of the frame image data to be displayed corresponding to each pixel row based on the image data to be displayed and the brightness control signals of each row of the backlight area corresponding to the previous frame image data.

8. The drive system according to claim 7, wherein, It also includes the display driver; The display driver is configured to receive the image data of the frame to be displayed and the pixel compensation data of the image data of the frame to be displayed transmitted by the control unit, and scan each pixel row of the display panel line by line based on the image data of the frame to be displayed and the pixel compensation data.

9. The drive system according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The control unit uses an FPGA or an ASIC.

10. The drive system according to claim 1, wherein, The control unit also includes a blackout controller; The black-insertion controller is configured as follows: Within one frame display time, the brightness of at least two rows of the backlight area is controlled to be 0; The two rows of backlight areas are the i-th row and the (i+1)-th row, respectively, wherein the pixel area corresponding to the i-th row is in the scanning state, and the pixel area corresponding to the (i+1)-th row is in the waiting-to-be-scanned state; i = 1, 2, ..., P-1; Alternatively, the two rows of backlight areas are designated as row 1 and row P, where the pixel area corresponding to row P is in a scanning state and the pixel area corresponding to row 1 is in a waiting-to-be-scanned state.

11. The drive system according to claim 10, wherein, The backlight area in row P is divided into groups G, and each group of backlight areas includes multiple rows of backlight areas arranged adjacent to each other. The black-insertion controller is specifically configured as follows: Within one frame of display time, the brightness of the two sets of backlight areas is controlled to be 0; The two groups of backlight areas are group j and group j+1, at least some rows of the backlight areas in group j are in a scanning state, and each row of the backlight areas in group j+1 is in a waiting state; j = 1, 2, ..., G-1; Alternatively, the two sets of backlight areas are Group 1 and Group G, wherein at least some rows of the backlight areas in Group G are in a scanning state, and the pixels corresponding to each row of the backlight areas in Group 1 are in a waiting-to-be-scanned state.

12. A display device comprising the driving system according to any one of claims 1-11.

13. A driving method applied to the driving system according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein, The driving method includes: The control unit receives frame image data to be displayed, which includes multiple lines of image data, with one line of image data corresponding to one pixel row. For a corresponding row of backlight area and a group of pixel areas, the control unit, in response to at least the group of pixel areas being scanned, obtains the brightness control signal of the row of backlight area based at least on the image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed; The brightness of the backlight area is adjusted based on the brightness control signal using a backlight driver.

14. The driving method according to claim 13, wherein, For a corresponding row of backlight areas and a group of pixel areas, the brightness control signal of the backlight area in that row is obtained using the control unit, including: In response to the scanning of the group of pixel areas, the brightness control signal of the backlight area of ​​the row is obtained based on the image data corresponding to the group of pixel areas in the image data of the frame to be displayed.

15. The driving method according to claim 13, wherein, For the corresponding backlight area in the i-th row and the pixel area in the i-th group, the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row is obtained using the control unit, including: Using the control unit, in response to the scanning of the pixel areas from the i-th group to the (i+q)-th group, the brightness control signal of the backlight area in the i-th row is obtained based on the image data in the image data of the frame to be displayed that corresponds to the pixel areas from the i-th group to the (i+q)-th group; i = 1, 2, ..., P; q is an integer not less than 0.

Images