CN104252850A - source driver - Google Patents

Abstract

A source driver is used for driving a display panel. The source driver comprises a data processing circuit, a data transmission interface and a driving channel. The data processing circuit is used for receiving the picture data and converting the picture data from a serial format into a parallel format. The data processing circuit is used for copying picture data. The picture data corresponds to a display picture. The data transmission interface is coupled to the data processing circuit and is used for transmitting the copied picture data. The driving channel is coupled to the data transmission interface, and is used for receiving the copied picture data and driving the display panel by using the copied picture data. For the same display screen, the data volume of the screen data transmitted by the data transmission interface is larger than that of the screen data received by the data processing circuit.

Description

source driver

technical field

The present invention relates to a driving device, and in particular to a source driver for driving a display panel.

Background technique

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) has the characteristics of light and thin appearance, low power consumption and no radiation pollution, and has been widely used in various computer systems, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA) and other information products. The working principle of liquid crystal display is to use liquid crystal molecules in different alignment states to have different polarization or refraction effects on light, so the penetration of light can be controlled through liquid crystal molecules in different alignment states, and output light of different intensities can be further generated. And red, green, blue light with different grayscale intensities.

To perform the above-mentioned operations of displaying images, a timing controller, a gate driver, and a source driver are usually used to drive the liquid crystal display. Generally speaking, when the liquid crystal display operates at a high frame rate, the source driver needs to operate at a relatively high speed. However, when operating at high speed, the source driver consumes more power and is prone to overheating and electromagnetic interference ( EMI ) problems.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides a source driver that can reduce power consumption and reduce temperature and electromagnetic interference problems.

The invention provides a source driver for driving a display panel. The source driver includes a data processing circuit, a data transmission interface and a driving channel. The data processing circuit is used for receiving picture data and converting the picture data from serial format to parallel format. The data processing circuit is used for copying picture data. The screen data corresponds to the display screen. The data transmission interface is coupled to the data processing circuit for transmitting the copied image data. The driving channel is coupled to the data transmission interface for receiving the copied picture data, and using the copied picture data to drive the display panel. For the same display screen, the data volume of the screen data transmitted by the data transmission interface is greater than the data volume of the screen data received by the data processing circuit.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned data processing circuit includes a data conversion circuit and a data replication circuit. The data converting circuit is used for receiving picture data, and converting the picture data from serial format to parallel format. The data duplication circuit is coupled to the data conversion circuit for receiving the picture data in the parallel format and duplicating the picture data in the parallel format.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned data processing circuit includes a data replication circuit and a data conversion circuit. The data duplication circuit is used for receiving picture data and duplicating the picture data. The data converting circuit is coupled to the data duplicating circuit for receiving the copied picture data and converting the copied picture data from serial format to parallel format.

The invention provides a source driver for driving a display panel. The source driver includes a data conversion circuit, a data transmission interface and multiple driving channels. The data converting circuit is used for receiving picture data, and converting the picture data from serial format to parallel format. The screen data corresponds to the display screen. The data transmission interface is coupled to the data conversion circuit for transmitting image data. The driving channel is coupled to the data transmission interface for receiving picture data and using the picture data to drive the display panel. For the same display picture, two adjacent drive channels among the drive channels store the same picture data.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the aforementioned driving channels includes a first latch circuit and a second latch circuit. The first latch circuit is used for receiving and storing frame data. The second latch circuit is coupled to the first latch circuit for receiving and storing the frame data provided by the first latch circuit. For the same display frame, the first latch circuits of two adjacent driving channels receive and store the same frame data.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the aforementioned driving channels includes a first latch circuit and a second latch circuit. The first latch circuit is used for receiving and storing frame data. The second latch circuit is coupled to the first latch circuit for receiving and storing the frame data provided by the first latch circuit. In two adjacent driving channels, one of the first latch circuits receives and stores frame data. For the same display picture, one of the first latch circuits provides picture data to the second latch circuits of two adjacent drive channels, and the second latch circuits of two adjacent drive channels The device circuit receives and stores the same picture data.

Based on the above, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the source driver can selectively decide whether to copy the frame data, so as to reduce its own operating speed, thereby reducing power consumption, and reducing temperature and EMI problems.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail together with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a source driver according to a related example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a source driver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 , FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 respectively illustrate schematic diagrams of source drivers of other embodiments of the present invention.

[Description of labels]

10: Timing controller 100, 200, 300, 400, 500: Source driver

110, 410, 510: data conversion circuit

120, 220, 320, 420a, 420b, 520a, 520b: drive channel

122, 222, 322, 422a, 422b, 522a, 522b: first latch circuit

124, 224, 324, 424a, 424b, 524a, 524b: second latch circuit

130, 230, 330, 430, 530: data transmission interface

210, 310: Data processing circuit 212, 312: Data conversion circuit

214, 314: data replication circuit RX: receiver circuit

Di1: Screen data in serial format Di2: Screen data in parallel format

Di3: Screen data after copying

Detailed ways

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a source driver according to a related example of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 1 , the source driver 100 of this related example is used to receive the frame data Di1 provided by the timing controller 10 to drive a display panel (not shown) accordingly to display a corresponding image frame. Specifically, in this example, the source driver 100 first uses the receiver circuit RX to receive the picture data Di1 in a serial format, and then uses the data conversion circuit 110 to convert the picture data Di1 into parallel (parallel) Format data Di2. Afterwards, the data converting circuit 110 sequentially transmits the frame data Di2 to the latch circuit 122 of the driving channel 120 via the data transmission interface 130 for storage. When the amount of stored data is sufficient to drive a line of pixels, the latch circuit 122 outputs the stored frame data Di2 to the latch circuit 124 for storage. Next, according to the driving sequence, the latch circuit 124 outputs the stored image data Di2 to the output buffer amplifier circuit (not shown) at an appropriate timing, so as to charge and discharge the liquid crystal capacitance of the display panel.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a source driver according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 2 , the source driver 200 of this embodiment includes a receiver circuit RX, a data processing circuit 210 , a data transmission interface 230 and a driving channel 220 . In this embodiment, the source driver 200 utilizes the receiver circuit RX to receive the frame data Di1 provided by the timing controller 10 , and the frame data Di1 corresponds to a display frame. Next, the data processing circuit 210 receives the frame data Di1, and is used to convert the frame data Di1 from the serial format to the parallel format. At the same time, the data processing circuit 210 can also be used to copy the picture data Di2 to generate the copied picture data Di3. Afterwards, the data processing circuit 210 outputs the copied image data Di3 to the driving channel 220 via the data transmission interface 230 . The data transmission interface 230 is coupled between the data processing circuit 210 and the driving channel 220 for transmitting the copied image data Di3. The data transmission interface 230 here includes a data bus (data bus). The driving channel 220 is coupled to the data transmission interface 230 for receiving the copied image data Di3 and using the copied image data Di3 to drive the display panel.

Specifically, at least in order to reduce the problem of temperature rise caused by electromagnetic interference and power consumption, when the display panel intends to display a relatively monotonous image, the display image at this time does not need to have a high resolution. At this time, the timing controller 10 may send the frame data Di1 with a small amount of data to the source driver 200 . Afterwards, the data processing circuit 210 inside the source driver 200 copies the received data to meet the requirement of driving the display panel to display the corresponding image frame.

For example, in the embodiment in which the source driver 200 is configured with 960 driving channels, the timing controller 10 only needs to provide the amount of data required by 480 driving channels to source driver 200 . Next, the source driver 200 doubles the amount of received data to drive the display panel accordingly. Therefore, in this embodiment, the source driver 200 only needs to receive a small amount of data, and can provide sufficient frame data to drive the display panel through copying. Therefore, in this embodiment, for the same display screen, the data volume of the screen data Di3 transmitted by the data transmission interface 230 is greater than the data volume of the screen data Di1 received by the data processing circuit 210 . It should be noted that, in this example, the number of driving channels and the size of the data volume are only for illustration, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In detail, please continue to refer to FIG. 2 , the data processing circuit 210 of this embodiment includes a data conversion circuit 212 and a data replication circuit 214 . The data conversion circuit 212 is used for receiving the frame data Di1, and converting the frame data Di1 from a serial format to a parallel format, and outputting the frame data Di1 to the data duplication circuit 214 . The data duplication circuit 214 is coupled between the data conversion circuit 212 and the data transmission interface 230 for receiving the picture data Di2 in parallel format, and duplicating the picture data Di2 to generate duplicated picture data Di3. In short, after receiving the data transmitted by the timing controller 10, the data conversion circuit 212 converts the serial data into parallel data. After the data is converted into a parallel format, the data duplication circuit 214 performs data duplication again. Next, the data replication circuit 214 transmits the replicated data to the data transmission interface 230 , and sequentially stores the data in the first latch circuit 222 and the second latch circuit 224 of the driving channel 220 .

In this embodiment, the data processing circuit 210 converts the format of the picture data Di1 before copying, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the data processing circuit may first copy the picture data and then perform format conversion.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a source driver according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the source driver 300 of this embodiment is similar to the source driver 200 of FIG. The format of the subsequent screen data Di3 is converted.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the data copying circuit 312 is used to receive and copy the picture data Di1 to generate copied picture data Di3, and output the copied picture data Di3 to the data converting circuit 314 . The data conversion circuit 314 is coupled between the data duplication circuit 312 and the data transmission interface 330 to receive the copied picture data, and convert the copied picture data Di3 from a serial format to a parallel format to generate a parallel format Screen data Di2.

In the above embodiments, the data processing circuit converts the format of the picture data before copying, or copies the picture data before performing format conversion, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the data processing circuit may also choose not to copy the picture data, but adjust the data bus, or change the storage location of the data in the drive channel to achieve the same effect as copying the picture data.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a source driver according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 4 , the source driver 400 of this embodiment includes a data conversion circuit 410 , a data transmission interface 430 and a plurality of driving channels 420 a, 420 b. The data conversion circuit 410 is used for receiving the picture data Di1, and converting the picture data Di1 from the serial format to the parallel format, so as to generate the picture data Di2 in the parallel format. The frame data corresponds to the image frame displayed on the display panel. The data transmission interface 430 is coupled to the data conversion circuit 410 for transmitting the picture data Di2. The driving channels 420a, 420b are coupled to the data transmission interface 430 for receiving the frame data Di2 and using the frame data Di2 to drive the display panel. In this embodiment, after the frame data Di1 in the serial format is converted into the frame data Di2 in the parallel format, the data conversion circuit 410 transmits the frame data Di2 to the driving channels 420a and 420b via the data transmission interface 430 simultaneously. Therefore, for the same display frame, in the driving channels of the source driver 400 , the two adjacent driving channels 420a, 420b store the same frame data Di2.

Specifically, the driving channels 420a, 420b of this embodiment include first latch circuits 422a, 422b and second latch circuits 424a, 424b, respectively. The first latch circuits 422a and 422b are respectively used for receiving and storing the frame data Di2. Since the data conversion circuit 410 transmits the same picture data Di2 to the drive channels 420a and 420b at the same time, for the same display picture, the first latch circuit of the two adjacent drive channels 420a and 420b in this embodiment 422a, 422b receive and store the same picture data Di2. Next, the second latch circuits 424a, 424b are respectively coupled to the first latch circuits 422a, 422b for receiving and storing the frame data provided by the first latch circuits 422a, 422b. Since the first latch circuits 422a and 422b respectively store the same frame data Di2, the second latch circuits 424a and 424b also respectively store the same frame data Di2, thereby achieving the data duplication operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a source driver according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the source driver 500 of this embodiment is similar to the source driver 400 of FIG. A latch circuit receives and stores frame data.

Specifically, in this embodiment, after the picture data Di1 in the serial format is converted into the picture data Di2 in the parallel format, the data conversion circuit 410 will transmit the picture data Di2 to the first latch of the drive channel 520a via the data transmission interface 530 Lock circuit 522a. Therefore, in the two adjacent driving channels 520a, 520b, one of the first latch circuits 522a receives and stores the frame data Di2. Next, the first latch circuit 522a transmits the frame data Di2 to the first latch circuits 524a and 524b at the same time. Therefore, for the same display frame, one of the first latch circuits 522a respectively provides the same frame data Di2 to the second latch circuits 524a, 524b of the two adjacent driving channels 520a, 520b, therefore, The second latch circuits 524a, 524b of the two adjacent driving channels 520a, 520b respectively receive and store the same frame data Di2, thereby achieving data duplication operation.

To sum up, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the source driver reduces its own operating speed by duplicating frame data, thereby reducing power consumption, and reducing temperature and EMI problems. In addition, the source driver can also choose not to copy the picture data, but adjust the data bus, or change the storage position of the data in the drive channel to achieve the same effect as copying the picture data.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. a source electrode driver, for driving display panel, this source electrode driver comprises:

Data processing circuit, in order to receive picture data, and is converted to parallel form by this picture data by serial form, and copies this picture data, the wherein corresponding display frame of this picture data;

Data transmission interface, is coupled to this data processing circuit, in order to this picture data after transmission copying; And

Drive passage, be coupled to this data transmission interface, in order to receive this picture data after copying, and utilize this picture data after copying to drive this display panel,

Wherein for same display frame, the data volume of this picture data that this data transmission interface transmits is greater than the data volume of this picture data that this data processing circuit receives.

2. source electrode driver according to claim 1, wherein this data processing circuit comprises:

Data converting circuit, in order to receive this picture data, and is converted to parallel form by this picture data by serial form; And

Data copy circuit, is coupled to this data converting circuit, in order to receive this picture data of parallel form, and copies this picture data of parallel form.

3. source electrode driver according to claim 1, wherein this data processing circuit comprises:

Data copy circuit, in order to receive this picture data, and copies this picture data; And

Data converting circuit, is coupled to this data copy circuit, in order to receive this picture data after copying, and this picture data after copying is converted to parallel form by serial form.

4. a source electrode driver, for driving display panel, this source electrode driver comprises:

Data converting circuit, in order to receive picture data, and is converted to parallel form by this picture data by serial form, the wherein corresponding display frame of this picture data;

Data transmission interface, is coupled to this data converting circuit, in order to transmit this picture data; And

Multiple driving passage, is coupled to this data transmission interface, in order to receive this picture data, and utilizes this picture data to drive this display panel,

Wherein for same display frame, two adjacent in the plurality of driving passage drive passage to store this identical picture data.

5. source electrode driver according to claim 4, wherein respectively this driving passage comprises:

First latch unit circuit, in order to receive and to store this picture data; And

Second latch unit circuit, is coupled to this first latch unit circuit, in order to receive and to store this picture data that this first latch unit circuit provides,

Wherein for this same display frame, those the first latch unit circuit of adjacent two the plurality of driving passages receive and store this identical picture data.

6. source electrode driver according to claim 4, wherein respectively this driving passage comprises:

First latch unit circuit, in order to receive and to store this picture data; And

Second latch unit circuit, is coupled to this first latch unit circuit, in order to receive and to store this picture data that this first latch unit circuit provides,

Wherein in adjacent two the plurality of driving passages, the described first latch unit circuit of one of them receives and stores this picture data, and for this same display frame, this one of them described first latch unit circuit provides this picture data to those the second latch unit circuit of two adjacent the plurality of driving passages, and those the second latch unit circuit of adjacent two the plurality of driving passages receive and store this identical picture data.