Source Driver Power Control for Always-On Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power saving methods for OLED display source drivers are inefficient in adapting to various Always-On Display (AOD) images, leading to suboptimal power consumption settings and increased burdens on display devices due to global or partial display area configurations.
Innovation Solution
A 2-dimensional power saving control method that detects image data to generate specific control signals for each operational amplifier, enabling or disabling them independently based on image features, using X-direction and Y-direction control signals to optimize power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by stationary object
If a global bias configuration with lower current is provided for every operational amplifier in the source driver, then the DC power consumption of the source driver is reduced, but the power consumption configuration may not achieve its optimal settings for normal cases with various AOD images
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control of operational amplifiers from a global configuration to individual channel control. Each channel's operational amplifier can be independently controlled based on the image data requirements, allowing optimal power consumption settings for each specific AOD image while maintaining adaptability across different image types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic control of operational amplifier bias configurations based on detected image data. The system adjusts the bias current of each operational amplifier in real-time according to the actual display requirements, transitioning from static global configuration to dynamic adaptive configuration that optimizes power consumption for each specific image scenario.
2Use of energy by stationary object
If partial display area configuration is used to define the range of AOD images, then operational amplifiers in non-display areas can be disabled, but this method is not effective if the AOD image has a larger contour or occupies a larger range resulting in small or even no non-display area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality control by allowing each operational amplifier to have its own bias configuration setting based on the specific requirements of its corresponding channel. This enables fine-grained power management where only the necessary operational amplifiers are activated with appropriate bias levels, rather than using a coarse partial display area approach that fails when AOD images occupy most of the display area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the control parameter from binary enable/disable based on partial display area to continuous bias current adjustment for each operational amplifier. By varying the bias current parameter individually for each channel based on image data detection, the system achieves effective power savings regardless of the AOD image size or position.
3Adaptability or versatility
If there are a large variety of AOD images applied to the display device, then the display device has to be configured with a great number of different partial display configurations for the AOD images, but this generates large burdens on the display product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service control where the system automatically detects image data and generates appropriate control signals for each operational amplifier without requiring manual configuration. This eliminates the burden of creating and managing multiple partial display configurations for different AOD images, as the system autonomously adapts to each image type through automated detection and control signal generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary detection of image data to generate control signals before actual display operation. By pre-analyzing the image content and determining the optimal bias configuration for each operational amplifier in advance, the system avoids the complexity of runtime configuration adjustments and eliminates the need for multiple pre-defined partial display configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling a source driver includes the steps of: detecting a line of image data to be outputted by a plurality of channels of the source driver, to generate a detection result; generating a plurality of control signals according to the detection result, each of the plurality of control signals corresponding to a channel among the plurality of channels; and enabling or disabling an operational amplifier in each of the plurality of channels via one of the plurality of control signals corresponding to the channel.