LED display comprising LEDs emitting non-visible light

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of LED display systems. Contain LED array driven by LED driver. The LED array contains multiple LED configured to emit invisible light, and multiple color LED configured to emit visible light. Two kinds of LED can be packaged into hybrid LED unit. Exemplary hybrid LED unit can contain one or more red LED, green LED and blue LED and one or more infrared LED and ultraviolet LED The LED array can be configured to common cathode structure or common anode structure;The position of infrared LED in LED array can be accurately positioned by infrared coding reader.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of light-emitting diode (LED) displays, and more specifically, to LED displays comprising LEDs that emit invisible light. It includes both colored LEDs and LEDs that emit invisible light / radiation. Background Technology

[0002] Traditional LED displays typically consist of LED pixels containing one or more colored LEDs (i.e., red, green, or blue LEDs). These displays emit only visible light. Some applications (such as virtual reality simulations) require LED displays to emit invisible light, such as infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) light. This invisible light can be detected by photoelectric sensors. For example, an infrared code reader can detect infrared light emitted by infrared LEDs.

[0003] New application devices and methods have been developed based on LED displays that can emit both visible and invisible light simultaneously. Utility Model Content

[0004] According to one embodiment of the present invention, an LED display system includes an LED array and an LED driver for driving the array. The LED array includes a plurality of invisible LEDs configured to emit invisible light and a plurality of colored LEDs configured to emit visible light.

[0005] In another embodiment of this invention, the LED display system includes multiple LED arrays, multiple LED drivers, and one or more receivers. The receiver includes circuitry configured to decode received data packets and send instructions and data to the multiple LED drivers.

[0006] In a further embodiment, the LED display system includes multiple receivers connected in series via a Gigabit Ethernet physical layer (GPHY) link, and each receiver is further connected to one or more LED drivers.

[0007] The LED display system may also include a transmitter with a memory and a pixel mapping table. This mapping table is configured to receive data packets from a data source and assign a set of fields to the data packets, containing the unique address of a specific LED in the LED array to which the data packet points.

[0008] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the LED array may be composed of multiple hybrid LED units, each hybrid LED unit comprising one or more invisible light LEDs and one or more colored LEDs.

[0009] An exemplary hybrid LED unit includes a red LED, a green LED, a blue LED, and an infrared LED. Another exemplary hybrid LED unit further includes a red LED, a green LED, a blue LED, an infrared LED, and an ultraviolet LED.

[0010] In an additional embodiment, the LED array includes both hybrid LED units and colored LED units. Each colored LED unit contains one or more red, green, and blue LEDs.

[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, in an LED array, the ratio of the number of mixed LED units to the number of color LED units ranges from 1:20 to 20:1.

[0012] In another embodiment of the LED display system, the LED array includes a plurality of infrared LEDs that emit infrared light. The LED display system also includes an infrared code reader signal-connected to the LED array, configured to detect the infrared light emission of the plurality of infrared LEDs.

[0013] The position of infrared LEDs in an LED array can be accurately located by: making one or more infrared LEDs emit infrared light; detecting the infrared light using an infrared code reader; identifying the coordinates of one or more infrared LEDs emitting infrared light; transmitting the identified coordinates to an LED display; and lighting up one or more colored LEDs at the corresponding coordinates to display the position of the infrared LED emitting infrared light. Attached Figure Description

[0014] The advantages of the present invention will become clear in the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of an exemplary LED array composed of RGB+infrared LED units in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of another exemplary LED array that simultaneously includes RGB+infrared LED units and RGB LED units in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an LED array with a common cathode configuration and a scanning switch located on the driver chip, as described in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A variation of the illustrated embodiment, wherein the scan switch is not located on the driver chip.

[0019] Figure 5for Figure 3 and Figure 4 A further variation of the illustrated embodiment, wherein each RGB+infrared LED unit is equipped with a dedicated switch.

[0020] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of an LED display system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 7 for Figure 6 A variation of the illustrated embodiment, wherein the receiver is connected via a GPHY link.

[0022] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the internal operation process of the receiver in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 9 , 10 11 is an exemplary data packet structure transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver in an exemplary embodiment of this utility model.

[0024] Figure 12 An exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrates a position signal from an infrared encoder to an LED array, which includes a start bit and a stop bit defining a coordinate byte. Detailed Implementation

[0025] Various aspects of this utility model are disclosed in the following description of specific embodiments and related drawings. Alternative embodiments may be designed without departing from the spirit or scope of this utility model. Furthermore, to avoid obscuring the relevant details of this utility model, well-known elements in the exemplary embodiments will not be described in detail or will be omitted. For ease of understanding, several terms used herein will be explained below.

[0026] In this document, the term "exemplary" means "used as an example, instance, or illustration." The embodiments described are merely illustrative and not limiting. It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are not necessarily superior to or more advantageous than other embodiments. The terms "embodiment of the present invention," "embodiment," or "utility invention" do not require that all embodiments of the present invention include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0027] Furthermore, many embodiments are described based on sequences of actions performed, for example, by computing device elements. It should be understood that the operations described herein may be performed by special-purpose circuitry (such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. Moreover, these sequences of actions can be fully embodied in any form of computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause the associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Therefore, aspects of this invention can be embodied in various forms, all of which fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for the embodiments described herein, their corresponding forms may be described, for example, as "logic circuitry configured to perform the actions."

[0028] According to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an LED display includes colored LEDs that emit visible light and LEDs that emit invisible light (hereinafter referred to as "invisible light LEDs"). Each colored LED or invisible light LED may be an independent light-emitting unit, separate from other LEDs. Alternatively, the display may include a hybrid LED unit. As used herein, a hybrid LED unit refers to a light-emitting unit comprising one or more colored LEDs (i.e., red, green, and blue LEDs) and one or more invisible light LEDs (such as infrared or ultraviolet LEDs). Each hybrid LED unit may be packaged as a single light-emitting unit for mounting and is referred to as a pixel in the LED display.

[0029] The configuration of a hybrid LED unit can be customized as needed. For example, a hybrid LED unit can include all three RGB subpixels and an infrared LED as a subpixel, i.e., an RGB+infrared LED unit. Alternatively, a hybrid LED unit can include an R subpixel and a UV subpixel, i.e., a red+ultraviolet LED unit. Or, a hybrid LED unit can include R and G subpixels, an IR subpixel, and a UV subpixel, i.e., a red-green+infrared+ultraviolet LED unit.

[0030] The ratio of invisible LEDs to colored LEDs (reflecting the density of invisible LEDs) can be adjusted according to application requirements.

[0031] Figure 1 and Figure 2 Two LED array configurations representing two different LED displays are shown respectively. Figure 1The display shows a hybrid LED unit array, where each hybrid LED unit contains an infrared LED. Specifically, the entire array consists of hybrid LED units, each containing four sub-pixels—a red LED, a green LED, a blue LED, and an infrared LED, i.e., an RGB+infrared LED unit. The light emitted by the R, G, and B LEDs forms an image visible to the naked eye, while the infrared light emitted by the infrared LED can only be detected by a photoelectric sensor.

[0032] The density of invisible LEDs can be adjusted by combining colored LED units with hybrid LED units in an LED array. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the LED array contains an equal number of RGB LED units and RGB+infrared LED units. Therefore, half of the pixels in the LED array are RGB+infrared LED units, and the other half are RGB LED units. The density of infrared LEDs in the array can be increased by increasing the number of RGB+infrared LED units and decreasing the number of RGB LED units, and vice versa. For example, depending on the application requirements, the ratio of RGB+infrared LED units to RGB LED units can be any value, such as 1:20 to 20:1, 1:10 to 10:1, including but not limited to 6:1, 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, and 1:6, and any values ​​in between.

[0033] Figure 3-5 This demonstration showcases an m×n RGB+infrared LED array with a common cathode configuration. The cathodes of each RGB+infrared LED unit are connected to a driver chip via multiple scan switches (SW1 to SWm). This driver chip includes an analog driver connected to a digital controller; the digital controller receives and processes data signals and synchronization signals, and then sends control signals to the analog driver to drive the LED array.

[0034] exist Figures 3 to 5 In all the embodiments shown, the anode of each IR, R, G, B LED is electrically connected to an independent current source in the analog driver. Each current source provides driving current for the same type of LED in the n-column RGB+ infrared LED unit, that is: infrared LEDs correspond to the Ii[1:n] current source, blue LEDs correspond to the Ib[1:n] current source, green LEDs correspond to the Ig[1:n] current source, and red LEDs correspond to the Ir[1:n] current source.

[0035] Scan switches SW1 to SWm can be set on the driver chip (e.g.) Figure 3 As shown), it can also be placed outside the driver chip (e.g. Figure 4 and Figure 5 (As shown in the embodiments). Furthermore, in Figure 3 and Figure 4In the middle, each row of RGB+infrared LED units is controlled by a switch installed at the common cathode node. Figure 5 The embodiment shows that each RGB+infrared LED unit is connected to its dedicated switch, which in turn is connected to a common cathode node.

[0036] Figure 6 This demonstrates the workflow of an exemplary LED display of this invention. The system includes a computer (PC), a transmitter (SendBox), a receiver chip, and multiple LED drivers. Each LED driver is connected to an LED array containing invisible light LEDs (e.g.,...). Figure 1-2 (As shown). SendBox acts as a transmitter and can be configured with a memory and pixel map; this map receives data packets from a data source (such as a video source) and assigns a set of fields to the data packets, which contain the unique address of a particular LED pixel in the pixel array.

[0037] The PC has LED management and control software installed to control the SendBox and receiver chip. The SendBox converts video sources and commands from the PC into data packets (e.g., via network cable) and sends them to the receiver chip. The receiver chip has a built-in decoding circuit that decodes the received data packets and sends commands and data to multiple LED drivers. The LED drivers can be driver chips that include both digital controllers and analog drivers (such as...). Figure 3-5 (As shown). Each LED driver drives the LED array based on the data values ​​received from the receiver. The PC-based LED management software and SendBox can communicate via a wireless router or cable.

[0038] Figure 7 This invention demonstrates another embodiment of the LED display system of this utility model. It is related to... Figure 6 The difference in this embodiment is that multiple receivers are connected in series from the SendBox via a GPHY link. This configuration supports the expansion of more receivers via the GPHY link, thereby accommodating more LED drivers and LED arrays, significantly improving the scalability of the LED display.

[0039] Figure 8 Explain the internal operation of the receiver. The receiver receives 8 / 10 / 12-bit video data, performs gamma correction, and then converts the video data into 16-bit LED drive signals. Figure 8 The example is for driving an array composed of RGB + infrared LED units, requiring 16-bit drive signals for each of the red, green, blue, and infrared LEDs. The number of drive signals required may vary depending on the actual configuration of the LED array. For example, when driving an LED array containing RGB + infrared + ultraviolet LED units, additional drive signals are needed for the UV LEDs.

[0040] Figure 9-11 The example data packet structures transmitted from SendBox to the receiver are shown, with payloads of 32 bits, 40 bits, and 48 bits, respectively.

[0041] Invisible LEDs can be used as position markers, enabling positioning by displaying their positions on an LED display. According to one embodiment of this invention, an LED display system includes an LED display and an infrared code reader connected to it via a signal. Each infrared LED in the display can transmit its position on the display by emitting infrared light carrying position information (e.g., x and y coordinates). The code reader receives and decodes the infrared light, accurately locating the infrared LED accordingly, and then transmits the position information back to the LED display. Thus, the infrared LED becomes its position marker on the LED display.

[0042] For example, the infrared light emitted by an infrared LED may contain a calibration / start / end code (such as "XY,255,128"), indicating that the x-coordinate of the infrared LED is 255 and the y-coordinate is 128, thereby achieving precise positioning. Alternative solutions include... Figure 12 As shown, the position signal sent from the infrared code reader to the LED array includes the start bit and stop bit that define the position byte.

[0043] The infrared code reader is equipped with a photodiode and lens to receive infrared light. Its detection end can be equipped with a photodiode amplifier or a transimpedance amplifier to convert the current signal generated by the photodiode into a voltage signal. The voltage signal is digitized to form an XY position code, which is used to identify the position of the infrared LED emitting the signal. The positioning result can be visualized by illuminating the colored LEDs in the hybrid LED unit containing the infrared LED, or the LED pixel positions can be stored in memory for subsequent processing. The infrared code reader connects to an LED display via Bluetooth, USB, or any commercially available connection method.

[0044] There are numerous variations based on this utility model. For example... Figure 4-6 The LED array uses a common cathode configuration, meaning that the cathodes of LEDs in the same row are connected to the same scan line, while the anodes are connected to their respective current sources. In other embodiments, the LED array may use a common anode configuration, where the anodes of LEDs of the same color in the same row are operatively connected to the power supply via a switch, and the cathodes of LEDs of the same color in the same column are connected to the output of the current driver.

[0045] In another variant, the LED array contains only RGB + infrared LED units or red-green-blue + infrared + ultraviolet LED units. When the application requires only a single visible light color (R, G, or B), the LED driver is configured to illuminate the selected color LED and turn off the other colors.

[0046] Therefore, the above embodiments should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that those skilled in the art can make modifications to the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. An LED display system, characterized in that, Include: An LED array comprising multiple invisible LEDs configured to emit invisible light and multiple colored LEDs configured to emit visible light; and An LED driver connected to the LED array, configured to drive the LED array; The plurality of invisible light LEDs are multiple infrared LEDs. The display system includes an infrared code reader connected to the LED array and configured to detect infrared light emission from the plurality of infrared LEDs. The infrared code reader includes a photodiode and a lens, configured to receive infrared light. A transimpedance amplifier or photodiode amplifier disposed at the front end of the infrared code reader is used to convert the current signal of the photodiode into a voltage signal. The voltage signal is digitized to form an XY position code, which is used to locate the position of the infrared LED emitting the signal. The position is visualized by illuminating a color LED in a hybrid LED unit containing the infrared LED. The position of the LED pixel is stored in a memory for subsequent processing. The infrared code reader is connected to the LED display via Bluetooth or USB.

2. The LED display system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, It includes multiple LED arrays, multiple LED drivers, and a receiver, wherein the receiver includes circuitry configured to decode received data packets and send instructions and data to the multiple LED drivers.

3. The LED display system as described in claim 2, characterized in that, It includes multiple receivers connected in series via a GPHY link, each receiver being connected to one or more LED drivers.

4. The LED display system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The transmitter includes a memory and a pixel mapping table, wherein the pixel mapping table is configured to receive data packets from a data source and assign a set of field information to the data packets, the field information containing a unique address of a target LED in an LED array to which the data packet points.

5. The LED display system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The LED array therein comprises a plurality of hybrid LED units, each hybrid LED unit comprising one or more of the invisible light LEDs and one or more of the colored LEDs.

6. The LED display system as described in claim 5, characterized in that, Each hybrid LED unit contains red LEDs, green LEDs, blue LEDs, and infrared LEDs.

7. The LED display system as described in claim 5, characterized in that, Each hybrid LED unit contains red LEDs, green LEDs, blue LEDs, infrared LEDs, and ultraviolet LEDs.

8. The LED display system as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The LED array further includes multiple colored LED units, each containing one or more LEDs selected from red, green, and blue LEDs.

9. The LED display system as described in claim 8, characterized in that, In the LED array, the ratio of the number of mixed LED units to the number of color LED units ranges from 1:20 to 20:1.

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