LED driver circuits, LED driving methods, LED displays and electronic devices

Abstract

An LED driving circuit for driving an LED array includes: a main control unit for generating a display data signal; a column driving circuit for synchronously generating multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal; and a row scan control circuit for performing a row-by-row activation operation on the LED array according to the row scan control signal provided by the column driving circuit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to LED display architecture, and more particularly to an LED display architecture that eliminates the need for simplified signal cable connections. Prior Technology

[0002] Please refer to Figure 1, which illustrates a block diagram of an existing LED display. As shown in Figure 1, the LED display has a main control unit 11, a row scanning control circuit 12, a column driving circuit 13, and an LED array 14, where row represents a row and column represents a column. For example, when the LED array 14 has 10 rows and 20 columns of LEDs, each row will have 20 LEDs. During display operation, the row scanning control circuit 12 will sequentially activate one row of LEDs (20 LEDs) in the LED array 14, and the column driving circuit 13 will synchronously output 20 driving currents from 20 channels to light up these LEDs. The current values ​​of these driving currents are determined by the display data corresponding to one row in a frame of display data.

[0003] The main control unit 11 is used to control the row scanning control circuit 12 and the column driving circuit 13 to perform display operations on the LED lamp array 14. The main control unit 11 sends a row scanning control signal S SCAN to the row scanning control circuit 12 to drive the row scanning control circuit 12 to enable the LED lamp array 14 row by row, and sends a display data signal S DATA to the column driving circuit 13 so that the column driving circuit 13 can synchronously output multiple driving currents to light up the LED lamps of the LED lamp array 14 row by row.

[0004] However, since the main control unit 11 needs connecting wires to connect the row scanning control circuit 12 and the column driving circuit 13 when constructing an LED display, the number of these connecting wires will be quite large and difficult to handle when the LED lamp array 14 is a large-size LED display composed of multiple LED modules, and the row / column driving of the LED lamp array 14 is easily out of sync due to the different lengths of these connecting wires.

[0005] To address the aforementioned issues, a novel LED display architecture is urgently needed in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0006] One objective of this invention is to provide an LED driving method, which can use a column of driving circuits to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal, so as to drive the row scan control circuit and the column of driving circuits to operate synchronously to complete the row-by-row activation operation of an LED lamp array.

[0007] Another objective of this invention is to provide an LED driving circuit that can simplify the signal line connection complexity of large-size LED displays and improve the operational reliability of large-size LED displays by means of the aforementioned method.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide an LED display that can improve its operational reliability by means of the aforementioned LED driving circuit.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can improve its operational reliability by means of the aforementioned LED display.

[0010] To achieve the above objectives, an LED driver circuit is proposed, which is used to drive an array of LED beads and has the following characteristics: A main control unit is used to generate a display data signal; A drive circuit is used to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a line scan control signal according to the display data signal; and A row scan control circuit is used to enable the LED array row by row according to the row scan control signal provided by the column drive circuit.

[0011] In one embodiment, the main control unit is a timing control unit.

[0012] In one embodiment, the display data signal is transmitted via a Mini-LVDS interface or an RSDS interface.

[0013] In one embodiment, the column drive circuit is composed of multiple column drive chips cascaded together.

[0014] In one embodiment, the row scanning control circuit is composed of multiple row driver chips cascaded together.

[0015] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention further proposes an LED driving method, which is implemented by an LED driving circuit to drive an LED array. The LED driving circuit has a main control unit, a column driving circuit, and a row scanning control circuit. The method includes: The main control unit generates a display data signal; The drive circuit of this column synchronously generates multiple output channel currents and a line scan control signal according to the display data signal; and The row scan control circuit is driven by the row scan control signal provided by the column drive circuit to perform a row-by-row activation operation on the LED array.

[0016] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention further proposes an LED display having an LED array and an LED driving circuit for driving the LED array, the LED driving circuit having: A main control unit is used to generate a display data signal; A drive circuit is used to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a line scan control signal according to the display data signal; and A row scan control circuit is used to enable the LED array row by row according to the row scan control signal provided by the column drive circuit.

[0017] In one embodiment, the main control unit is a timing control unit.

[0018] In one embodiment, the display data signal is transmitted via a Mini-LVDS interface or an RSDS interface.

[0019] In one embodiment, the column drive circuit is composed of multiple column drive chips cascaded together.

[0020] In one embodiment, the row scanning control circuit is composed of multiple row driver chips cascaded together.

[0021] In possible embodiments, the display may be a millimeter-sized diode light-emitting display, a micrometer-sized diode light-emitting display, or a quantum dot diode light-emitting display.

[0022] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention further proposes an electronic device having a central processing unit and an LED display as described above, wherein the central processing unit is used to communicate with the LED display.

[0023] In possible embodiments, the electronic device may be a smart TV, an electronic advertising billboard, or a smart display window.

[0024] To enable your review committee to further understand the structure, features, purpose, and advantages of this invention, detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments are attached below with drawings. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0025] Figure 1 shows a block diagram of an existing LED display; Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of the LED display of the present invention; Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of the LED driving method of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the electronic device of the present invention. Implementation

[0026] Please refer to Figure 2, which shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the LED display of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, an LED display 100 has an LED driving circuit (including a main control unit 110, a column driving circuit 120 and a row scanning control circuit 130) and an LED lamp array 140. The LED driving circuit is used to drive the LED lamp array 140.

[0027] In detail, the main control unit 110 can be a timing control unit, which is used to generate a display data signal S DATA; the column drive circuit 120 is used to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents I LED and a row scan control signal S SCAN according to the display data signal S DATA; the row scan control circuit 130 is used to perform a row-by-row activation operation on the LED lamp array 140 according to the row scan control signal S SCAN provided by the column drive circuit 120.

[0028] In addition, the display data signal S DATA can be transmitted via a Mini-LVDS (Mini Low Voltage Differential Signal) interface or an RSDS (Smaller Swing Differential Signal) interface.

[0029] In addition, when the LED lamp array 140 is a large-size LED lamp array, the column driving circuit 120 can be formed by cascading multiple column driving chips, and the row scanning control circuit 130 can be formed by cascading multiple row driving chips.

[0030] In addition, the display 100 may be a single millimeter diode light-emitting display, a single micrometer diode light-emitting display, or a quantum dot diode light-emitting display.

[0031] During operation, the LED driver circuit executes the following program:

[0032] (a) The main control unit 110 generates a display data signal SDATA;

[0033] (ii) The column drive circuit 120 synchronously generates multiple output channel currents ILED and a row scan control signal SCAN according to the display data signal SDATA; and

[0034] (iii) The row scan control circuit 130 drives the LED lamp array 140 to perform a row-by-row activation operation by driving the row scan control signal S SCAN provided by the column drive circuit 120.

[0035] As described above, this invention discloses an LED driving method. Please refer to Figure 3, which illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of the LED driving method of this invention. This method is implemented by an LED driving circuit to drive an LED array. The LED driving circuit includes a main control unit, a column driving circuit, and a row scanning control circuit. As shown in Figure 3, the method includes the following steps: generating a display data signal using the main control unit (step a); driving the column driving circuit to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a row scanning control signal according to the display data signal (step b); and driving the row scanning control circuit to perform a row-by-row activation operation on the LED array according to the row scanning control signal provided by the column driving circuit (step c).

[0036] In the above steps, the main control unit can be a timing control unit; the display data signal can be transmitted through a Mini-LVDS (Mini Low Voltage Differential Signal) interface or an RSDS (Smaller Swing Differential Signal) interface.

[0037] In addition, when the LED array is a large-size LED array, the column driving circuit can be formed by cascading multiple column driving chips, and the row scanning control circuit can be formed by cascading multiple row driving chips.

[0038] Furthermore, based on the above description, the present invention further proposes an electronic device. Please refer to FIG4, which is a block diagram of one embodiment of the electronic device of the present invention. As shown in FIG4, an electronic device 200 has an LED display 210 and a central processing unit 220, wherein the LED display 210 is implemented by the LED display 100 and the central processing unit 220 is used to communicate with the LED display 210.

[0039] In addition, the electronic device 200 can be a smart TV, an electronic advertising billboard, or a smart display window.

[0040] Based on the above design, the present invention has the following advantages: I. The LED driving method of the present invention can use a column of driving circuits to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal, so as to drive the row scan control circuit and the column of driving circuits to operate synchronously to complete the row-by-row activation operation of an LED lamp bead array; Second, the LED driving circuit of the present invention can simplify the signal line connection complexity of large-size LED displays and improve the operational reliability of large-size LED displays by means of the aforementioned method; Third, the LED display of the present invention can improve its operational reliability through the aforementioned LED driving circuit; and Fourth, the electronic device of the present invention can improve its operational reliability by means of the aforementioned LED display.

[0041] The embodiments disclosed in this case are preferred embodiments. Any partial changes or modifications that originate from the technical ideas of this case and can be easily deduced by those skilled in the art are not outside the scope of the patent rights of this case.

[0042] In conclusion, this case demonstrates a significant difference from conventional technology in terms of purpose, means, and effectiveness. Furthermore, its invention is practical and meets the patent requirements for an invention. We earnestly request that your esteemed examiner carefully review the case and grant a patent as soon as possible to benefit society. This is our sincere prayer.

[0043] 11: Main Control Unit 12: Line scanning control circuit 13: Column drive circuit 14: LED LED array 100: LED Display 110: Main Control Unit 120: Column drive circuit 130: Line Scan Control Circuit 140: LED LED array 200: Electronic devices 210: LED Display 220: Central Processing Unit Step a: Use the main control unit to generate a display data signal. Step b: Drive the column drive circuit to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal. Step c: Drive the row scan control circuit to perform a row-by-row activation operation on the LED array according to the row scan control signal provided by the column drive circuit.

Claims

1. An LED driving circuit for driving a large-size LED array, comprising: a main control unit for generating a display data signal; a column driving circuit for synchronously generating multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal; and a row scan control circuit for performing a row-by-row activation operation on the large-size LED array only according to the row scan control signal provided by the column driving circuit; wherein, The main control unit is a timing control unit. The column drive circuit is composed of multiple column drive chips cascaded together, and the row scan control circuit is composed of multiple row drive chips cascaded together.

2. The LED driver circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, The display data signal is transmitted via a Mini-LVDS interface or an RSDS interface.

3. An LED driving method, implemented by an LED driving circuit to drive a large-size LED array, the LED driving circuit having a main control unit, a column driving circuit, and a row scanning control circuit, and the method comprising: The main control unit generates a display data signal; drives the column drive circuit to synchronously generate multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal; and drives the row scan control circuit to perform a row-by-row activation operation on the large-size LED array only according to the row scan control signal provided by the column drive circuit; wherein, the main control unit is a timing control unit, the column drive circuit is composed of multiple cascaded column drive chips, and the row scan control circuit is composed of multiple cascaded row drive chips.

4. An LED display comprising a large-size LED array and an LED driving circuit for driving the large-size LED array, the LED driving circuit comprising: a main control unit for generating a display data signal; a column driving circuit for synchronously generating multiple output channel currents and a row scan control signal according to the display data signal; and a row scan control circuit for performing a row-by-row activation operation on the large-size LED array only according to the row scan control signal provided by the column driving circuit; wherein, The main control unit is a timing control unit. The column drive circuit is composed of multiple column drive chips cascaded together, and the row scan control circuit is composed of multiple row drive chips cascaded together.

5. The LED display as described in claim 4, wherein, The display data signal is transmitted via a Mini-LVDS interface or an RSDS interface.

6. The LED display as described in claim 4, which is a display selected from the group consisting of a single millimeter diode light-emitting display, a single micrometer diode light-emitting display and a quantum dot diode light-emitting display.

7. An electronic device comprising a central processing unit and an LED display as described in any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein, The central processing unit is used to communicate with the LED display.

8. The electronic device as described in claim 7, which is an electronic device selected from the group consisting of smart televisions, electronic advertising billboards, and smart display windows.

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