KR102439003B1 - display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a display device including a display panel for lighting a pixel, a power supply unit, a timing controller, an evaluation module for outputting first evaluation data for evaluating the state of a pixel, and a data driver, wherein the When the timing controller outputs the evaluation synchronization signal based on the evaluation module, the evaluation module supplies the first evaluation data to the data driver to output the evaluation data voltage to the display panel. Performance can be evaluated, and a plurality of sub-pixels can all be turned on at the same time or separately.
Also, according to the present invention, as a display device further including an RGB-to-RGBW converter, the performance of the display panel can be evaluated using the evaluation data passed through the RGB-to-RGBW converter.

Description

display device {DISPLAY DEVICE}

The present invention relates to a display device and a driving method thereof.

The electroluminescent device is broadly classified into an inorganic light emitting diode display device and an organic light emitting diode display device according to the material of the light emitting layer. This has great advantages.

The organic light emitting diode display controls the current flowing from the drain to the source of the driving transistor by controlling the voltage between the gate terminal and the source terminal of the driving transistor.

The current flowing from the drain to the source of the driving transistor emits light while flowing to the organic light emitting diode, and the degree of light emission can be controlled by controlling the amount of current.

Some of the organic light emitting diode display devices may be implemented as a display device having a sub-pixel structure including red, green, blue, and white in order to prevent luminance and color degradation of pure colors while increasing light efficiency. In this case, the display device must convert RGB data into RGBW data.

In addition, the display device required an external additional system such as a separate driving computer and a pattern generator to evaluate the performance of the display panel. In this case, the evaluation data provided for performance evaluation of the display panel from the external system is image data in the RGB data format. The RGB data for evaluation is converted into RGBW for evaluation by the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit.

However, since the data for evaluation converted from RGB data to RGBW is an externally provided image signal, there is a limit to the performance evaluation of a display panel that can be driven with RGBW format data. That is, since the display device cannot light all sub-pixels including red, green, blue, and white simultaneously or separately, there is a limitation in performance evaluation of the display panel. In addition, when the evaluation data passes through the RGB-to-RGBW converter, the data of the pixel to be evaluated is changed, which limits performance evaluation such as the lifespan of the display panel. In addition, an external system for evaluating the performance of the display panel of the display device is separately required, which causes an increase in cost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a display device equipped with a self-evaluation system of a display panel and capable of controlling sub-pixels.

As a means for solving the above problems, a display panel including one or more pixels, a power supply unit for outputting an evaluation driving voltage, an evaluation module for outputting first evaluation data for evaluating a state of a pixel based on the evaluation driving voltage, and a first A display device including a data driver for providing an evaluation data voltage to a pixel based on the evaluation data to a display panel may be provided. Accordingly, the present invention does not require an external evaluation system to evaluate the performance of the display panel. In addition, since the present invention does not require an external evaluation system, it is possible to reduce costs when evaluating the performance of the display panel.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the display device further includes a timing controller that provides an evaluation synchronization signal to the evaluation module based on the evaluation driving voltage, and the display panel includes data lines and gate lines crossing each other. It includes one or more pixels disposed at a position where the pixels are turned on based on the evaluation data voltage, and the evaluation module may provide the first evaluation data to the data driver based on the evaluation synchronization signal. Accordingly, the present invention does not require a separate system unit for generating a synchronization signal.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the evaluation synchronization signal includes a vertical synchronization signal, a horizontal synchronization signal, and a data enable signal, the timing controller includes a first control unit, and the first control unit includes an evaluation driving signal. An evaluation synchronization signal may be generated based on the voltage. Accordingly, the present invention does not require a separate system unit for generating a synchronization signal.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, a pixel may include a plurality of sub-pixels, and the evaluation module may output first evaluation data capable of illuminating all of the plurality of sub-pixels simultaneously or separately. have. Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be more accurately and detailed.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of sub-pixels include a first sub-pixel displaying a first color, a second sub-pixel displaying a second color, and a third sub-pixel displaying a third color. It may include a pixel and a fourth sub-pixel displaying a fourth color. Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be more accurately and detailed.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the evaluation module may output first evaluation data capable of illuminating all of the first to fourth sub-pixels simultaneously or separately. Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be more accurately and detailed.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the timing controller may include a first memory, and the first memory may store information about the first evaluation data. Accordingly, the present invention does not require a separate memory for evaluation of the display panel.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the evaluation module may include a second memory, and the second memory may store information about the first evaluation data. Accordingly, according to the present invention, a separate memory for evaluation of the display panel may be added as necessary. Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be more accurately and detailed.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first evaluation data may include luminance and position information of a lit pixel. Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be more accurately and detailed.

In another display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first evaluation data may include luminance and position information of a plurality of sub-pixels that are turned on. Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be more accurately and detailed.

In addition, the present invention provides a means for solving the above problems, including one or more pixels disposed at the intersection of data lines and gate lines, the pixels including first to fourth sub-pixels, and based on the evaluation data voltage A display panel for lighting the first to fourth sub-pixels, a power supply unit for outputting an evaluation driving voltage, a timing controller for outputting an evaluation synchronization signal based on the evaluation driving voltage, and a timing controller for outputting an evaluation synchronization signal based on the evaluation driving voltage and for evaluating the state of the pixel based on the evaluation synchronization signal An evaluation module for outputting the first evaluation data of RGB, an RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit for providing the second evaluation data of RGBW to the timing controller based on the first evaluation data, and a data line based on the third evaluation data of RGBW and a data driver supplying an evaluation data voltage to the data drivers, and the timing controller may provide third evaluation data to the data driver based on the second evaluation data. Accordingly, according to the present invention, the performance of the display panel can be evaluated using the evaluation data passed through the RGB-to-RGBW converter.

According to the present invention, performance evaluation is possible even if an external power is supplied to the power supply unit without a separate device for performance evaluation of the display device.

In addition, the present invention does not require a separate system unit for generating a synchronization signal.

In addition, since the present invention does not require an external evaluation system, it is possible to reduce costs when evaluating the performance of the display panel.

In addition, according to the present invention, all of the plurality of sub-pixels can be lit simultaneously or separately.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel can be performed more accurately and precisely.

In addition, according to the present invention, the performance of the display panel may be evaluated using the evaluation data passed through the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating a pixel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of a compensation circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of an RGB-to-RGBW converter according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data conversion unit.
6 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a timing controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a block diagram of a structure of an evaluation module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a block diagram illustrating a power supply unit, a timing controller, a data driver, and an evaluation module according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a block diagram illustrating an RGB-to-RGBW converter, a power supply, a timing controller, a data driver, and an evaluation module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. The embodiments introduced below are provided as examples so that the spirit of the present invention can be sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and may be embodied in other forms. And, in the drawings, the size and thickness of the device may be exaggerated for convenience. Like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and a method of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in a variety of different forms, and only these embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and common knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains It is provided to fully inform the possessor of the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity of description.

Reference to an element or layer to another element or “on” or “on” includes not only directly on the other element or layer, but also with other layers or other elements interposed therebetween. do. On the other hand, reference to an element "directly on" or "directly on" indicates that there are no intervening elements or layers.

The spatially relative terms "below, beneath", "lower", "above", "upper", etc. are one element or component as shown in the drawings. and can be used to easily describe the correlation with other devices or components. Spatially relative terms should be understood as terms including different directions of the device during use or operation in addition to the directions shown in the drawings. For example, when an element shown in the figures is turned over, an element described as "beneath" or "beneath" another element may be placed "above" the other element. Accordingly, the exemplary term “below” may include both directions below and above.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments, and therefore is not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, the singular also includes the plural, unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, “comprise” and/or “comprising” refers to the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations and/or elements mentioned. or addition is not excluded.

<Block diagram of display device>

1 is a block diagram illustrating a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display panel 116 , a gate driver 118 , a data driver 120 , a compensation circuit 130 , an evaluation module 300 , and RGB. It may include a -to-RGBW conversion unit, a power supply unit 500 and a timing controller 124 .

In the present invention, in order to operate in the evaluation mode for performance evaluation of the display panel, the evaluation driving voltage Vt may be output from the power supply unit 500 . When the evaluation driving voltage Vt is output, the evaluation module 300 may output evaluation data Data for evaluating the pixels included in the display panel. The data driver 120 may convert the evaluation data Data into an evaluation data voltage and output it to the data lines D1 to Dm of the display panel. For this reason, the present invention does not require an external evaluation system to evaluate the performance of the display panel. In addition, since the present invention does not require an external evaluation system, it is possible to reduce costs when evaluating the performance of the display panel.

The display panel 116 has m pairs of m data lines D1 to Dm, k sensing lines S1 to Sk, and n gate lines G1 to Gn and j corresponding to each other on a one-to-one basis. The pixels 122 may be provided in the intersection area of the sensing control lines SC1 to SCj. Signal wirings supplying the first driving power Vdd and the signal wirings supplying the second driving power Vss to each of the pixels 122 may be formed on the display panel 116 . Here, the first driving power Vdd and the second driving power Vss may be generated from the high potential driving voltage source VDD and the low potential driving voltage source VSS, respectively.

The gate driver 118 may generate a scan pulse SP in response to the gate control signal GDC from the timing controller 200 and sequentially supply it to the gate lines G1 to Gn. Also, the gate driver 118 may be controlled from the timing controller 200 to output a sensing control signal SCS, and a sensing switch in each pixel may be controlled by the sensing control signal SCS. Although it has been described that the gate driver 118 outputs both the scan pulse SP and the sensing control signal SCS, the present invention is not limited thereto, and is controlled by the timing controller 200 to output the sensing control signal SCS. A separate sensing switch control driver may be provided.

The data driver 120 may include a compensation circuit 130 . The data driver 120 may be controlled by a data control signal DDC from the timing controller 200 . That is, the data driver 120 may output a data voltage from the timing controller 200 to the data lines D1 to Dm and a sensing voltage to the sensing lines S1 to Sk. Each of the data lines D1 to Dm may be respectively connected to each pixel 122 to apply a data voltage to each of the pixels 122 . Each of the sensing lines S1 to Sk may be connected to the pixel 122 to supply a sensing voltage, and may measure the sensing voltage on the sensing lines S1 to Sk. Specifically, by supplying an initialization voltage using one sensing line S1 to Sk, a sensing voltage using charging and floating may be detected as the initialization voltage. Although the data driver 120 has been described as including the compensation circuit 130 as capable of outputting or detecting a data voltage and a sensing voltage, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a separate compensation capable of outputting or detecting a sensing voltage is not limited thereto. A circuit 130 may be provided.

The power supply unit 500 may output the evaluation driving voltage Vt, the first driving power Vdd, and the second driving power Vss based on the external power Vcc. The power supply unit 500 may directly provide the evaluation driving voltage Vt to the timing controller 200 to operate in the evaluation mode for evaluating the performance of the display panel 116 such as lifespan and stress. For this reason, in the present invention, performance evaluation is possible only by supplying external power to the power supply unit 500 without a separate device for performance evaluation of the display device 100 .

<Pixel structure>

2 is a diagram illustrating a pixel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The pixel 122 described in the present invention may refer to any one of red, green, blue, and white, and this may be separately referred to as a sub-pixel. That is, the plurality of sub-pixels include a first sub-pixel displaying a first color of red, a second sub-pixel displaying a second color of green, and a third color of blue. It may be a third sub-pixel and a fourth sub-pixel displaying a fourth color of white. The sub-pixel 122 may include a scan switch SW, a driving switch DR, a sensing switch SEW, an organic light emitting diode OLED, and a storage capacitor Cst. The scan switch SW is controlled by the scan pulse SP on the gate line Gn and is a transistor for supplying the data on the data line Dm to the sub-pixel 122. The data line Dm and the first node (N1) can be connected between. The driving switch DR is a transistor that regulates the current flowing in the organic light emitting diode OLED by the voltage between the first node N1 and the second node N2, which is its gate-source, and has a gate terminal It may be connected to the first node N1 , the source terminal may be connected to the second node N2 , and the drain terminal may be connected to the first driving power source Vdd. The sensing switch SEW is a transistor that initializes the second node N2 to detect the threshold voltage of the driving switch DR through the sensing line Sk, and controls sensing on the sensing control line SCj. It is controlled by the signal SCS and may be connected between the second and third nodes N2 and N3 . The anode terminal of the organic light emitting diode OLED may be connected to the second node N2 , and the cathode terminal may be connected to the second driving power Vss. The storage capacitor Cst may be connected between the first and second nodes N1 and N2 , that is, between the gate and the source terminal of the driving switch DR.

The brightness of the pixel is proportional to the current flowing through the organic light emitting diode (OLED) as shown in Equation 1 below.

Equation 1

는 구동 스위치(DR)의 이동도 및 기생용량에 의해 결정되는 상수값을 각각 의미한다. 수학식 1과 같이, 유기발광다이오드(OLED)의 전류(Ioled)는 구동 스위치(DR)의 문턱전압(Vth)에 크게 영향 받는다는 것을 알 수 있다. 따라서 전체 영상 이미지의 균일도는 구동 스위치(DR)의 특성 편차, 즉 문턱전압의 편차에 의해 좌우될 수 있다.Here, 'Vgs' is the difference voltage between the gate voltage Vg and the source voltage Vs of the driving switch DR, 'Vdata' is the data voltage, 'Vinit' is the initialization voltage, 'Ioled' is the driving current, 'Vth' is the threshold voltage of the drive switch (DR),

denotes a constant value determined by the mobility and the parasitic capacitance of the driving switch DR, respectively. As shown in Equation 1, it can be seen that the current Ioled of the organic light emitting diode OLED is greatly affected by the threshold voltage Vth of the driving switch DR. Accordingly, the uniformity of the entire video image may be influenced by the characteristic deviation of the driving switch DR, that is, the deviation of the threshold voltage.

<Internal structure of data driver or compensation circuit>

3 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of a compensation circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3, the compensation circuit 130 includes a sampling switch SW10 for sampling, an initialization switch SW20 for applying a reference voltage Vref, a sensing circuit 131, an analog-to-digital converter (hereinafter, ADC, 132 ), a reference voltage generator 133 , a memory 134 , and a controller 135 .

When the threshold voltage is sensed in response to the initialization control signal Spre, the initialization switch SW20 is turned on during the initialization period to sense the reference voltage Vref supplied from the reference voltage generator 133 of the pixel 122 . It can be supplied to the line Sk.

The initialization control signal Spre for controlling the initialization switch SW20 may be provided from the timing controller 200 .

The sampling switch SW10 is turned on by the high-level sampling signal Sam during threshold voltage sensing so that the sensing circuit 131 can detect the sensing voltage on the sensing lines S1 to Sk. The sampling signal Sam for controlling the sampling switch SW10 may be provided from the timing controller 200 .

Meanwhile, the sensing lines S1 to Sk may be floated by the low logic signal of the sampling signal Sam and the low logic signal of the initialization control signal Spre.

The ADC 132 may convert the sensing voltage on the sensing lines S1 to Sk detected by the sensing circuit 240 into a digital value and provide it to the memory 134 , and the memory 134 may store the digital value. By storing , information on the threshold voltage of the driving switch DR in the pixel 122 may be stored.

The control unit 135 provides information about the threshold voltage of the driving switch DR in the pixel 122 stored in the memory 134 to the timing controller 200 , and the timing controller 200 includes the compensation circuit 130 . ) may be controlled to provide the compensated data voltage to the data lines D1 to Dm. Thus, the threshold voltage of the driving switch DR in the pixel 122 may be considered.

Meanwhile, the ADC 132 may be a separate configuration separated from the sensing circuit 131 or may be included in the sensing circuit 131 to form a single configuration.

4 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of an RGB-to-RGBW converter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the data converter.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the RGB-to-RGBW converter 400 may include a degamma part 410 and a data converter 420 .

The RGB-to-RGBW converter 400 converts input red (Red; hereinafter R), green (G), and blue (Blue; hereinafter B) data into RGB and white (hereinafter W) data. You can use the output function.

The de-gamma unit 410 (De-Gamma) may serve to de-gamma process RGB data of an input image for each frame. To explain this in more detail, the de-gamma unit 410 de-gamma-processes the received inverse gamma to prevent a bit overflow occurring during an operation for converting RGB data into RGBW data to perform linear de-gamma processing. After changing to (Linear) form, do bit stretching. The degamma unit 410 may perform bit stretching using a degamma lookup table (not shown; DE-Gamma LUT). As a result, the RGB data may be output by increasing the number of bits by bit stretching by the degamma unit 410 .

The data conversion unit 420 serves to convert the RGB data output through the degamma unit 410 into RGBW data. The reason for converting RGB data into RGBW data using the data converter 420 is to drive a display panel including RGBW sub-pixels. In order to optimize power consumption without changing color coordinates, the data conversion unit 420 subtracts RGB data based on measured or calculated values having the same luminance and the same color coordinates as the W data signal from the RGB data and adds the W data signal at the same time. can do. Also, as an example, the data conversion unit 420 extracts a common grayscale value as in Equation 2 or a minimum grayscale value as in Equation 3 from R, G, and B data to generate the W data, and R, G The R, G, and B data may be generated by subtracting the W data from each of the input data of , B .

Equation 2

Equation 3

As another example, the data conversion unit 420 may perform R, G, B data can be converted into R, G, B, W data of 4 colors.

In this case, according to the conversion method disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2013-0060476 or 10-2013-0030598, mapping may be performed from RGB grayscale to WRGB grayscale.

Referring to FIG. 5 , it is an embodiment of a data conversion unit that extracts the minimum grayscale value as in Equation 3 and generates the W data. In this case, the data conversion unit 420 extracts the optimal W data based on the RGB data, and extracts R'G'B' data having the same luminance and the same color coordinates as the optimal W data to extract R'G from the RGB data. RGBW data is created by subtracting 'B' data and adding optimal W data at the same time. Also, the data converter 420 may include a first converter 421 , a minimum value selector 422 , a second converter 423 , and a signal generator 424 . The first conversion unit 421 converts RGB data into W data, respectively, and outputs the data as W1 to W3 data. The minimum value selection unit 422 selects and outputs W data having a minimum value from the W1 to W3 data signals output from the first conversion unit 421 as the minimum W data corresponding to the optimal W data. The second conversion unit 423 converts the minimum W data output from the minimum value selection unit 422 into RGB data, respectively, and outputs it as R'G'B' data. The signal generator 424 generates RGBW data by subtracting R'G'B' data from RGB data and adding minimum W data.

Meanwhile, the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit 400 may further include a gamma unit (not shown), and the gamma unit may gamma-process the converted RGBW data to have a gamma curve or a gamma voltage for each frame.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a timing controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the timing controller 200 may include a first control unit 210 , a first memory 220 , and a first communication unit 230 .

The first control unit 210 may generate an evaluation synchronization signal. The evaluation synchronization signal is a signal that enables the evaluation module 300 to generate evaluation data by synchronizing with the evaluation module 300 when the display device 100 operates in the evaluation mode. Also, the evaluation synchronization signal is a signal including a vertical synchronization signal Vsync, a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync, and a data enable signal DE. For this reason, in the present invention, there is no need for a separate system unit for generating a synchronization signal.

The first memory 220 may store information about the evaluation data. The information on the evaluation data may include luminance and position information of the evaluated pixel. Also, when each pixel of the display panel includes a plurality of sub-pixels, the information about the evaluation data may include luminance and position information of the sub-pixel to be evaluated. For this reason, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as the lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel 122 can be performed more accurately and precisely.

In addition, the first memory 220 may be a volatile or non-volatile memory, such as EEPROM or RAM. In addition, the evaluation data may be stored in an address in the first memory 220 in which information about the threshold voltage is stored, and may be stored in an address in the first memory 220 other than the address in which information about the threshold voltage is stored. have. That is, in the present invention, when the display device 100 operates in the evaluation mode and information about the evaluation data is stored in the first memory 220 , the address at which the information regarding the threshold voltage of the first memory 220 is stored It is possible to store information on the evaluation data by utilizing it, and information on the evaluation data may be stored in a separate dummy address instead of an address in which the information on the threshold voltage of the first memory 220 is stored. For this reason, the present invention does not require a separate memory for evaluation of the display panel.

The first communication unit 230 may transmit information about the evaluation data set externally to the first memory 220 . For example, the first communication unit 230 may be an I2C communication module, but is not limited thereto.

7 is a block diagram of a structure of an evaluation module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the evaluation module 300 may include an evaluation data generating unit 310 , a second memory 320 , and a second communication unit 330 .

The evaluation data generator 310 may generate evaluation data based on the evaluation synchronization signal. That is, the evaluation data generation unit 310 may be synchronized with the evaluation synchronization signal to generate evaluation data according to information about the evaluation data.

In the evaluation data, in the display panel 116 including the plurality of sub-pixels 122 , all of the plurality of sub-pixels 122 may be turned on simultaneously or separately. For example, when the pixels of the display device 100 include the first to fourth sub-pixels, the evaluation data may illuminate all of the first to fourth sub-pixels simultaneously or separately. For this reason, according to the present invention, performance evaluation such as the lifetime and stress of each sub-pixel 122 can be performed more accurately and precisely.

The second memory 320 may store information about the evaluation data. That is, when the second memory 320 does not store the information on the evaluation data in the first memory 220 of the timing controller 200 , the information on the evaluation data may be stored. In this case, according to the present invention, a separate memory for evaluation of the display panel may be added as necessary. In addition, the second memory 320 may be a volatile or non-volatile memory, such as EEPROM or RAM.

The second communication unit 330 may transmit information about the evaluation data set externally to the second memory 320 . For example, when the second communication unit 330 stores information about the evaluation data in the second memory 320 instead of the first memory 220 of the timing controller 200, the information on the evaluation data is transmitted to the second memory. It can be used to store in memory.

In addition, the second communication unit 330 may be an I2C communication module, but is not limited thereto.

<First embodiment>

8 is a block diagram illustrating a power supply unit, a timing controller, a data driver, and an evaluation module according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8 , in the first embodiment, when the display panel 116 operates in an evaluation mode for evaluation of life or stress, the power supply unit 500 , the timing controller 200 , the data driver 120 and the evaluation It may include a module 300 .

The power supply unit 500 may provide the evaluation driving voltage Vt to the timing controller 200 . More specifically, the power supply 500 may provide the evaluation driving voltage Vt to the timing controller 200 based on the external power Vcc to operate in the evaluation mode.

The timing controller 200 may provide the evaluation synchronization signals Hsync, Vsync, DE to the evaluation module 300 based on the evaluation driving voltage Vt. More specifically, when the timing controller 200 operates in the evaluation mode, it does not receive a synchronization signal from the system unit (not shown), but drives by the evaluation driving voltage Vt and outputs the evaluation synchronization signals Hsync, Vsync, DE. You can create and print it. Also, the timing controller 200 may provide a data control signal DDC for controlling the data driver 120 to the data driver 120 .

The evaluation module 300 may provide the first evaluation data Data1 for evaluating the state of the pixel 122 to the data driver 120 based on the evaluation synchronization signals Hsync, Vsync, and DE. More specifically, the evaluation module 300 is synchronized with the evaluation synchronization signals (Hsync, Vsync, DE) to generate the first evaluation data (Data1) for the evaluation of states such as the lifespan of the pixel 122 and stress, and the data driving unit (120) can be provided.

The data driver 120 may provide the evaluation data voltage to the pixel 122 based on the first evaluation data Data1 . More specifically, the data driver 120 may convert the first evaluation data Data1 into an evaluation data voltage and provide the evaluation data voltage to the data lines D1 to Dm.

For this reason, in the present invention, performance evaluation is possible only by supplying external power to the power supply unit 500 without a separate device for performance evaluation of the display device 100 , and since an external evaluation system is not required, the display panel It is possible to reduce the cost when evaluating the performance of the device, there is no need for a separate system unit for generating a synchronization signal, and when a pixel of the display panel 116 includes a plurality of sub-pixels, all of the plurality of sub-pixels 122 are simultaneously operated. Alternatively, since each sub-pixel 122 can be individually lit, performance evaluation such as lifespan and stress of each sub-pixel 122 can be performed more accurately and precisely.

<Second embodiment>

9 is a block diagram illustrating an RGB-to-RGBW converter, a power supply, a timing controller, a data driver, and an evaluation module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 9 , in the second embodiment, when the display panel 116 operates in an evaluation mode for evaluation of life or stress, the power supply unit 500 , the timing controller 200 , and the data driver 120 . ), an evaluation module 300 , and an RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit 400 .

The display panel 116 includes one or more pixels 122 disposed at intersections of the data lines D1 to Dm and the gate lines G1 to Gn, and the pixels 122 include first to fourth pixels. The sub-pixel 122 may be included and the first to fourth sub-pixels 122 may be turned on based on the evaluation data voltage.

The power supply unit 500 may provide the evaluation driving voltage Vt to the timing controller 200 . More specifically, the power supply 500 may provide the evaluation driving voltage Vt to the timing controller 200 based on the external power Vcc to operate in the evaluation mode.

The evaluation module 300 transmits the first evaluation data Data1 of RGB for evaluating the state of the pixel 122 based on the evaluation synchronization signals Hsync, Vsync, DE to the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit 400 . can provide More specifically, the evaluation module 300 is synchronized with the evaluation synchronization signals (Hsync, Vsync, DE) to convert the RGB first evaluation data (Data1) converted by the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit 400 to the pixel ( 122) may be provided to the data driving unit 120 for evaluation of states such as life and stress.

The timing controller 200 may provide the evaluation synchronization signals Hsync, Vsync, DE to the evaluation module 300 based on the evaluation driving voltage Vt. More specifically, when the timing controller 200 operates in the evaluation mode, it does not receive a synchronization signal from the system unit (not shown), but drives by the evaluation driving voltage Vt and outputs the evaluation synchronization signals Hsync, Vsync, DE. You can create and print it. Also, the timing controller 200 may provide a data control signal DDC for controlling the data driver 120 to the data driver 120 . In addition, the timing controller 200 provides the RGBW third evaluation data Data3 to the data driver 120 based on the RGBW second evaluation data Data2 output from the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit 400 . can do. That is, the timing controller 200 converts the second evaluation data of RGBW so that it can be used in the data driving unit 120 according to the RGB-to-RGBW conversion unit 400 to output the third evaluation data of RGBW (Data3). and the RGBW second evaluation data can be output without conversion.

The RGB-to-RGBW converter 400 may provide the second evaluation data Data2 of RGBW to the timing controller 200 based on the first evaluation data Data1 of RGB. More specifically, the RGB-to-RGBW converter 400 may gamma-convert the first evaluation data Data1 to generate the second evaluation data Data2 and provide it to the timing controller 200 .

The data driver 120 may provide the evaluation data voltage to the pixel 122 based on the third evaluation data Data3 . More specifically, the data driver 120 may convert the third evaluation data Data3 into an evaluation data voltage and provide the evaluation data voltage to the data lines D1 to Dm.

For this reason, in the present invention, performance evaluation is possible only by supplying external power to the power supply unit 500 without a separate device for performance evaluation of the display device 100 . In addition, the present invention does not require a separate system unit for generating a synchronization signal. In addition, since the present invention does not require an external evaluation system, it is possible to reduce costs when evaluating the performance of the display panel. In addition, according to the present invention, when a pixel of the display panel 116 includes a plurality of sub-pixels, all of the plurality of sub-pixels 122 can be turned on simultaneously or separately, so that the lifespan and stress of each sub-pixel 122 are reduced. It is possible to perform more accurate and detailed performance evaluation. In addition, according to the present invention, the performance of the display panel 116 can be evaluated using the evaluation data passed through the RGB-to-RGBW converter 400 .

In the detailed description of the present invention described above, although it has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art or those having ordinary skill in the art will It will be understood that various modifications and variations of the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification, but should be defined by the claims.

100 display
116 display panel
118 gate driver
120 data driver
122 pixels, sub-pixels
130 compensation circuit
131 sensing circuit
132 analog-to-digital converter
133 Reference voltage generator
134 memory
135 control
200 timing controller
210 first control unit
220 first memory
230 first communication unit
300 evaluation modules
310 evaluation data generator
320 second memory
330 second communication unit
400 RGB-to-RGBW converter
410 degamma part
420 data converter
421 first conversion unit
422 Minimum value selection part
423 second conversion unit
424 signal generator
500 power supply

Claims (10)

A display including one or more pixels disposed at a point where data lines and gate lines intersect, wherein the pixels include first to fourth sub-pixels to light the first to fourth sub-pixels based on an evaluation data voltage panel;
a power supply for outputting an evaluation driving voltage;
a timing controller for outputting an evaluation synchronization signal based on the evaluation driving voltage;
an evaluation module for outputting first evaluation data for evaluating the state of the pixel based on the evaluation driving voltage and the evaluation synchronization signal;
an RGB-to-RGBW converter for providing second evaluation data of RGBW to the timing controller based on the first evaluation data; and
a data driver providing an evaluation data voltage to the display panel based on the third evaluation data of RGBW;
The timing controller is configured to provide third evaluation data of RGBW to the data driver based on the second evaluation data. The method of claim 1,
The evaluation synchronization signal includes a vertical synchronization signal, a horizontal synchronization signal, and a data enable signal,
The timing controller includes a first control unit,
The first control unit generates the evaluation synchronization signal based on the evaluation driving voltage. The method of claim 1,
The pixel includes a plurality of sub-pixels,
The evaluation module is a display device for outputting first evaluation data capable of illuminating all of the plurality of sub-pixels simultaneously or separately. 4. The method of claim 3,
The plurality of sub-pixels include a first sub-pixel displaying a first color, a second sub-pixel displaying a second color, a third sub-pixel displaying a third color, and a fourth sub-pixel displaying a fourth color. display device included. 5. The method of claim 4,
The evaluation module outputs first evaluation data capable of illuminating all of the first to fourth sub-pixels simultaneously or separately. The method of claim 1,
The timing controller includes a first memory,
The first memory is a display device for storing information about the first evaluation data. The method of claim 1,
The evaluation module includes a second memory,
The second memory is a display device for storing information about the first evaluation data. The method of claim 1,
The first evaluation data is a display device including luminance and position information of the lit pixel. 4. The method of claim 3,
The first evaluation data includes luminance and position information of the plurality of sub-pixels to be turned on. delete

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