Foveated Display Gate Circuit With Variable Row Activation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing display technologies require complex and potentially unreliable circuits to drive large numbers of display elements, necessitating numerous control signals and increasing the risk of errors.

Innovation Solution

A gate circuit utilizing flip flops driven by two clock signals, allowing the frequency of one clock signal to adjust the number of display elements simultaneously activated, simplifying the control process and reducing the need for multiple control signals.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If complex circuits with numerous control signals are used to drive large numbers of display elements, then the display can be driven, but the reliability decreases and the circuit complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedisplay control reliabilityVSAvoidcircuit complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The display elements are divided into multiple groups that can be driven by a reduced number of control signals. The gate circuit segments the control task by using flip-flops to generate multiple gate signals from fewer input signals, thereby reducing the overall number of control signals needed while maintaining reliable display operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The gate circuit uses flip-flops that can operate in multiple modes depending on the clock signal frequency. By changing the clock frequency, the same circuit can drive different numbers of display element groups simultaneously, providing universal control capability for various display configurations without requiring separate dedicated circuits for each mode.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Quantity of substance

If the number of control signals is increased to drive more display elements, then more display elements can be controlled, but the risk of errors increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of display elementsVSAvoidcontrol signal reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The gate circuit acts as an intermediary between the controller and the display elements. It uses flip-flops to generate multiple gate signals from a reduced set of control signals, thereby mediating the control task and reducing the direct number of control signals needed while maintaining the ability to control a large number of display elements reliably.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Adaptability or versatility

If fixed frequency clock signals are used, then the circuit operation is stable, but the ability to vary display resolution is limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedisplay resolution adaptabilityVSAvoidcircuit operation stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The gate circuit incorporates a controllable clock signal whose frequency can be dynamically adjusted. By varying the clock frequency, the circuit can adapt to drive different numbers of display element groups simultaneously, enabling flexible resolution adjustment while the flip-flop-based architecture maintains stable and reliable circuit operation across different frequency settings.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP4672208A1Gate circuit for driving foveated displays
Publication Date: 2025.12.31 META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • EP4672208A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4672208A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4672208A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A gate circuit is described comprising flip flops that are each driven by one of two clock signals, and which are arranged such that adjusting the frequency of one of these clock signals changes the number of subsets of display elements that are simultaneously driven. In a foveated display, an image may be produced with different effective resolutions in different parts of the same image by treating groups of display elements as a single pixel. For example, a more detailed portion of the image may be produced with each display element having an independent color, whereas a less detailed portion of the same image may be produced with multiple contiguous display elements having the same color. The gate circuit described herein may allow multiple rows to be activated to produce output from at least some of their display elements at the same time as one another.