Indication device

Abstract

We provide a transparent display device that is inexpensive yet offers high resolution. [Solution] The display device 1 comprises two transparent display units 3A and 3B, and a drawing unit 2 that sends video signals to each of the transparent display units 3A and 3B. Each of the transparent display units 3A and 3B has a transparent film 4, a plurality of light-emitting elements 5 arranged in a grid pattern on the transparent film 4, and a wiring section 6. The transparent film 4 is rectangular, and the wiring section 6 is attached to the edge forming one side of the transparent film 4. The two transparent display units 3A and 3B are constructed by overlapping the transparent films 4 so that the wiring sections 6 do not overlap. In such a display device 1, the plurality of light-emitting elements 5 are arranged in a staggered pattern. The drawing unit 2 divides the video signal to be displayed into two to create video signals A and B, sends video signal A to the transparent display unit 3A, and inverts video signal B by 180 degrees and sends it to the other transparent display unit 3B.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, various new display technologies using transparent display devices have been proposed. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a technique of attaching a transparent display device to a glass of an automobile and displaying vehicle driving information and the like on the transparent display device.

[0003] One example of a transparent display device, an OLED (organic EL display), has a drawback that although it has high resolution, its price is high. Therefore, the inventor of the present application has studied a display structure using an inexpensive transparent display device and found the display structure shown in FIG. 4.

[0004] The display structure shown in FIG. 4 is a structure in which a transparent display unit 3 is attached to a glass 200. The transparent display unit 3 is an inexpensive one in which a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) 5 are arranged in a lattice pattern on a transparent film 4 and a wiring portion 6 is attached to the edge of the transparent film 4. Further, in the case of an OLED, due to the characteristics of the structure, it is not easy to change the dimensions, but in the case of the transparent display unit 3, it is excellent in that it can be easily cut.

[0005] However, although the transparent display unit 3 in FIG. 4 has the above-described advantages, it has a drawback that when it is attached to a windshield of an automobile, characters and the like cannot be clearly seen when viewed from a driver's seat at a short distance, and there is room for improvement.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a transparent display device that is inexpensive yet has high resolution. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention is a display device comprising a plurality of transparent display units and a drawing unit that sends video signals to each transparent display unit, wherein each transparent display unit has a transparent film, a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged on the transparent film, and a wiring section attached to the edge of the transparent film, the transparent films of the plurality of transparent display units are overlapped such that one wiring section does not overlap with another wiring section, and the drawing unit creates a video signal to be assigned to each transparent display unit based on a video signal to be displayed, and sends the video signal to each transparent display unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a transparent display device that is inexpensive yet has high resolution. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This diagram illustrates the assembly method of the display device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing an example display structure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] A "display device" according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

[0012] The display device 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises multiple transparent display units 3A and 3B, and a drawing unit 2 that sends video signals to each of the transparent display units 3A and 3B. In this example, two transparent display units 3A and 3B are used. These transparent display units 3A and 3B have the same configuration and size as each other.

[0013] Each transparent display unit 3A, 3B includes a transparent film 4, a plurality of light-emitting elements 5 arranged on the transparent film 4, and a wiring section 6 attached to the edge of the transparent film 4.

[0014] The transparent film 4 is made of an insulating resin, and a pattern is formed in which each light-emitting element 5 and the wiring section 6 are connected by a transparent conductive material. The transparent film 4 is rectangular, and the wiring section 6 is attached to the edge that forms one side of the transparent film 4.

[0015] The wiring section 6 includes a drive circuit for multiple light-emitting elements 5 and a connector for connecting wires to the drive circuit. The wiring section 6 does not necessarily have to include a drive circuit; the drive circuit may be located separately from the wiring section 6.

[0016] Each transparent display section 3A and 3B has multiple light-emitting elements 5 arranged in a grid pattern. In this example, a full-color LED with three LED elements (R, G, and B) mounted in one package is used as the light-emitting element 5, but two-color LEDs or single-color LEDs may also be used.

[0017] In Figures 1 and 2, the light-emitting element 5 in the transparent display unit 3A is represented by a triangle, and the light-emitting element 5 in the transparent display unit 3B is represented by a rectangle. The difference in representation is to distinguish which of the transparent display units 3A and 3B the light-emitting element 5 is located in; in reality, the light-emitting element 5 in the transparent display unit 3A and the light-emitting element 5 in the transparent display unit 3B have the same configuration.

[0018] The two transparent display units 3A and 3B are formed by overlapping transparent films 4 so that one wiring part 6 does not overlap with the other wiring part 6, thereby constituting the display device 1. In this example, the two transparent display units 3A and 3B are formed by overlapping the transparent films 4 such that the wiring parts 6 face each other in the vertical direction of the paper surface, and the transparent films 4 are shifted in the diagonal direction. Due to such an overlapping manner of the transparent display units 3A and 3B, the respective light-emitting elements 5 are offset, and thus the display device 1 has a plurality of light-emitting elements 5 arranged in a staggered pattern.

[0019] The drawing unit 2 creates video signals A and B to be assigned to the respective transparent display units 3A and 3B based on the video signal of the display target, and sends the video signals A and B to the respective transparent display units 3A and 3B. In the case of this example, the drawing unit 2 divides the video signal of the display target into two to create the video signals A and B, sends the video signal A to the transparent display unit 3A, and sends the video signal B, which is inverted by 180 degrees, to one of the transparent display units 3B. Thus, the drawing unit 2 has a video processing conversion function corresponding to the directions of the transparent display units 3A and 3B.

[0020] Also, when the drawing unit 2 creates the video signals A and B by reducing the resolution from the original video signal, it may perform spatial filtering processing. In this case, not only the corresponding pixel values of the input image but also the pixel values within the region including the surrounding pixels can be averaged for each of the R, G, and B components to obtain the corresponding pixel values of the output image.

[0021] The display device 1 having the above configuration uses transparent display units 3A and 3B with low resolution individually, but by overlapping them, the number of pixels per unit area increases, resulting in a high resolution. Also, since the transparent display units 3A and 3B are inexpensive, the cost can be suppressed compared to the case of using OLEDs. Furthermore, since the transparent films 4 are overlapped so that the wiring parts 6 do not overlap with each other, it is possible to avoid the bulkiness of the wiring parts 6 and the wires.

[0022] Furthermore, the display device 1 is suitable for displaying vehicle driving information, etc., by attaching the transparent display units 3A and 3B to the windshield of a car. In this case, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) such as a meter or navigation unit performs the function of the drawing unit 2.

[0023] A "display device" according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figure 3. In Figure 3, the same reference numerals are used for components identical to those in the first embodiment described above, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0024] The display device 101 shown in Figure 3 comprises two transparent display units 103A and 103B, and a drawing unit 2 that sends video signals to each of the transparent display units 103A and 103B.

[0025] Each transparent display section 103A, 103B has a shape obtained by cutting the transparent film 4 of the transparent display sections 3A, 3B of the first embodiment diagonally. The right-angled isosceles triangular transparent film 104 of these transparent display sections 103A, 103B has a stepped shape in the part corresponding to the hypotenuse to avoid the light-emitting element 5. Each transparent display section 103A, 103B has multiple light-emitting elements 5 arranged in a grid pattern.

[0026] The two transparent display units 103A and 103B are constructed by overlapping transparent films 104 such that one wiring section 6 does not overlap with the other wiring section 6, thereby forming the display device 101. In this example, the transparent films 104 of the two transparent display units 103A and 103B are overlapped so that the wiring sections 6 are arranged in an L-shape, and the transparent films 104 are also offset diagonally. Due to this overlapping arrangement of the transparent display units 103A and 103B, the respective light-emitting elements 5 are offset, so the display device 101 has multiple light-emitting elements 5 arranged in a staggered pattern.

[0027] The drawing unit 2 splits the video signal to be displayed into two video signals A and B, sends video signal A to the transparent display unit 103A, and rotates video signal B by 90 degrees before sending it to the other transparent display unit 103B. In this example as well, the spatial filtering process described above may be performed as needed.

[0028] The display device 101 in this example is also suitable for displaying vehicle driving information, etc., by attaching the transparent display units 103A and 103B to the windshield of a car. Furthermore, the edges of the windshield are not straight but angled. The transparent display units 103A and 103B in this example are designed to match the shape of the edges of the windshield, and the stepped portion described above follows the edge of the windshield.

[0029] In the embodiments described above, the display device was constructed by overlapping two transparent display units, but in the present invention, two or more transparent display units may be overlapped. Furthermore, these transparent display units may be overlapped in any orientation as long as the wiring parts do not overlap. Also, in the embodiments described above, the two transparent display units were offset diagonally in order to arrange the light-emitting elements in a staggered pattern, but in the present invention, the transparent display units may be offset in any direction, up, down, left, or right.

[0030] The embodiments described above merely represent typical forms of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, it can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the core principles of the present invention. As long as such modifications still possess the configuration of the present invention, they are of course included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1,101 Display device 2 drawing units 3A,3B,103A,103B Transparent display section 4,104 Transparent film 5 Light-emitting element 6 Wiring section

Claims

1. It comprises multiple transparent display units and a drawing unit that sends video signals to each transparent display unit, Each transparent display unit comprises a transparent film, a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged on the transparent film, and a wiring section attached to the edge of the transparent film. The aforementioned multiple transparent display sections are arranged such that one wiring section does not overlap with another, with the transparent films overlapping each other. The drawing unit creates a video signal to be assigned to each transparent display unit based on the video signal to be displayed, and sends the video signal to each transparent display unit. A display device characterized by the following features.

2. The transparent display unit comprises two of the aforementioned units. Each transparent display unit has the plurality of light-emitting elements arranged in a grid pattern. The multiple light-emitting elements are arranged in a staggered pattern with the transparent films of the two transparent display sections overlapping each other. The display device according to feature 1.

3. The two transparent display sections are arranged so that the wiring sections face each other, with the transparent films overlapping. The drawing unit divides the video signal to be displayed into two parts, inverts one of the video signals by 180 degrees, and sends it to the other transparent display unit. The display device according to feature 2.

4. The two transparent display sections are arranged such that the wiring sections are arranged in an L-shape, with the transparent films overlapping each other. The drawing unit divides the video signal to be displayed into two parts, rotates one of the video signals by 90 degrees, and sends it to the other transparent display unit. The display device according to feature 2.

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