TWI851369B - Panel driving device and panel driving method - Google Patents

Abstract

A panel driving device and a panel driving method are provided. The panel driving device is suitable for a panel structure with an integrated substrate for integrating a substrate of a light-emitting diodes and an electromagnetic sensing substrate. The panel driving device includes a timing controller and an electromagnetic sensing controller. At beginning of each display frame, the timing controller generates a timing synchronization signal and provides the timing synchronization signal to the electromagnetic sensing controller. The timing controller performs one of disabling and enabling to the display operations in the first time period according to the timing synchronization signal, and performs the other of disabling and enabling to the display operations in the second time period. During a period while the display operations are enabled, the electromagnetic sensing operation is not be enabled.

Description

Panel driving device and panel driving method

The present invention relates to a panel driving technology with electromagnetic sensing function, and in particular to a panel driving device and a panel driving method.

Currently, the input devices for consumer electronic products are mainly touch panels, and some products also use stylus as another input device. Operating electronic products with fingers is intuitive and convenient, but it may not be suitable for all occasions. If you need to input on a small electronic product panel or want to input content accurately, it is more convenient to use a stylus to input in writing. Stylus often uses electromagnetic sensing technology.

On the other hand, as panels become thinner and lighter, many devices installed on the panels are being studied in an integrated manner. Since the driving circuit of the backlight module on the panel is often driven by high voltage and pulse width modulation (PWM) signals, high voltage and PWM signals can easily interfere with nearby circuits due to coupling effects. Therefore, other electronic components are designed to be separated from the driving circuit of the backlight module by a certain distance to reduce interference. The electromagnetic sensing substrate is an independent component and will not be integrated with other components, but it also somewhat hinders the thinning of the panel.

The present invention provides a panel driving device and a panel driving method, which integrates a substrate carrying a mini light-emitting diode with an electromagnetic sensing substrate, and uses a time-division multiplexing method to avoid interference between display and electromagnetic sensing.

The panel driving device of the present invention is suitable for integrating a substrate of a light-emitting diode and an electromagnetic sensing substrate into a panel structure of an integrated substrate. The panel driving device includes a timing controller and an electromagnetic sensing controller. The electromagnetic sensing controller is coupled to the timing controller. At the beginning of each display frame, the timing controller generates a clock synchronization signal and provides the clock synchronization signal to the electromagnetic sensing controller. The timing controller disables or enables the display operation in a first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and disables or enables the display operation in a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period do not overlap each other; the electromagnetic sensing controller enables or disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and enables or disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period, wherein during the period of enabling the display operation, the electromagnetic sensing operation will not be enabled, and during the period of enabling the electromagnetic sensing operation, the display operation will not be enabled.

The panel driving method of the present invention is suitable for integrating a light-emitting diode substrate and an electromagnetic sensing substrate into a panel structure with integrated substrates. The panel driving method includes: generating a clock synchronization signal at the beginning of each display frame, and providing the clock synchronization signal to an electromagnetic sensing controller; disabling or enabling a display operation in a first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and disabling or enabling the other of the display operation in a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period do not overlap; and enabling or disabling an electromagnetic sensing operation in the first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and enabling or disabling the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period by the electromagnetic sensing controller, wherein during the period of enabling the display operation, the electromagnetic sensing operation will not be enabled, and during the period of enabling the electromagnetic sensing operation, the display operation will not be enabled.

Based on the above, the panel driving device and panel driving method described in the embodiment of the present invention integrate the substrate carrying the mini light-emitting diode and the electromagnetic sensing substrate and perform circuit layout together, thereby reducing the overall cost of the system and making the panel thinner. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention uses the timing synchronization signal sent by the timing controller as a reference so that the display work of the timing controller and the electromagnetic sensing work of the electromagnetic sensing controller do not run at the same time, thereby using time-division multiplexing to avoid interference.

110A, 110B: Panel structure

112: Liquid crystal display layer

115:Mini light-emitting diode (LED) layer

116:Mini LED substrate

117: Electromagnetic sensing substrate

118: Integrated substrate

200: Panel drive device

210: Timing controller

230: LED driver

240: Electromagnetic induction controller

S310~S350: Steps of panel driving method

Vsync: timing synchronization signal

Dframe1, Dframe2, Dframe3: display frame

TKN1, TKN2: thickness

TDis1, TDis2, TEn1, TEn2: time period

ScanEN1: First enabling period

ScanEN2: Second enabling period

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a panel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a panel driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart of a panel driving method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the signals corresponding to the panel and the panel driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a panel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 includes two types of panel structures 110A and 110B. FIG. 1 includes two types of panel structures 110A and 110B. The panel structure 110A in FIG. 1 mainly includes a liquid crystal display layer 112, a mini light emitting diode (LED) layer 115, a mini light emitting diode substrate 116 for carrying the mini light emitting diodes, and an electromagnetic sensing substrate 117. The user of this embodiment can add substrates or layers with other functions to the panel structure 110A in FIG. 1 according to their needs, for example, a touch sensing panel, etc. The electromagnetic sensing substrate 117 is used to sense the approach, touch, and distance of a touch pen or a corresponding touch element, thereby realizing information input of the touch pen or the touch element. Since the mini LED substrate 116 and the electromagnetic sensing substrate 117 are at different levels and are spaced apart from each other, there is less interference between the two. The thickness of the electromagnetic sensing substrate 117 of this embodiment is about 0.2 to 0.6 millimeters (mm).

The embodiment of the present invention integrates the mini LED substrate 116 and the electromagnetic sensing substrate 117 in the panel structure 110A of FIG. 1 and performs circuit layout together, thereby integrating the mini LED substrate 116 and the electromagnetic sensing substrate 117 in the panel structure 110A of FIG. 1 into the integrated substrate in the panel structure 110B of FIG. 1, that is, integrating the two substrates into one substrate, thereby saving the thickness of one substrate, thereby reducing the overall cost of the system and making the panel have a smaller thickness. Therefore, the thickness TKN2 of the panel structure 110B of FIG. 1 in the embodiment of the present invention will be less than the thickness TKN1 of the panel structure 110A of FIG. 1.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention uses the timing synchronization signal sent by the timing controller as a reference so that the display work of the timing controller and the electromagnetic sensing work of the electromagnetic sensing controller do not run at the same time, thereby using time-division multiplexing to avoid interference. FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a panel driving device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The panel driving device 200 is suitable for integrating the substrate of the light-emitting diode (such as the mini LED substrate 116 in FIG1) and the electromagnetic sensing substrate (such as the electromagnetic sensing substrate 117 in FIG1) into a panel structure (such as the panel structure 110B in FIG1) of an integrated substrate (such as the integrated substrate 118 in FIG1).

The panel driving device 200 in FIG2 includes a panel structure 110B, a timing controller 210, and an electromagnetic sensing controller 240. The timing controller 210 is used to control the panel structure 110B to perform display work. In some embodiments of the present invention, if the timing controller 210 is implemented by a touch panel integration (touch/display integration, TDDI) chip, and the panel structure 110B has a touch panel layer, the display work described in this embodiment may also include the function of sensing finger touch.

The electromagnetic sensing controller 240 can perform electromagnetic sensing through the integrated substrate in the panel structure 110B. This electromagnetic sensing is to sense the approach, touch and distance of the stylus or the corresponding touch element, thereby realizing the information input of the stylus or the touch element. A synchronous channel path is established between the timing controller 210 and the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 of this embodiment. For example, the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 and the timing controller 210 are directly coupled to each other using a general purpose input and output (GPIO) pin, and the timing controller 210 uses this general purpose input and output pin to provide a clock synchronization signal to the electromagnetic sensing controller 240. Thus, the timing controller 210 and the electromagnetic induction controller 240 can use this clock synchronization signal to synchronize the clocks of both parties, thereby facilitating the planning of the display working time period controlled by the timing controller 210 and the electromagnetic induction working time period controlled by the electromagnetic induction controller 240.

The panel driver 200 also includes a light-emitting diode driver 230, which is coupled to the timing controller 210. The light-emitting diode driver 230 is controlled by the timing controller 210 to perform the display operation of the panel driver 200. The panel driver 200 of this embodiment can also have components such as a motherboard, a central processing unit, etc. of a consumer electronic device (such as a tablet device, a laptop, a mobile phone). The following is a detailed description of various embodiments that conform to the present invention with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

FIG3 is a flow chart of a panel driving method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG4 is a schematic diagram of signals corresponding to a panel and a panel driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG3 and FIG4 can be implemented by the panel driving device 200 in FIG2. In order to describe this embodiment in detail, steps S310, S320 and S330 in FIG3 are executed by the timing controller 210 in FIG2, and steps S340, S3450 and S370 in FIG3 are executed by the electromagnetic induction controller 240 in FIG2.

Here, the first horizontal row of FIG. 4 is explained. The first horizontal row of FIG. 4 presents multiple display frames Dframe1, Dframe2 and Dframe3. In this embodiment, each display frame has a time length of 8.33 milliseconds to display a screen.

Please refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 at the same time. In step S310, at the beginning of each display frame, the timing controller 210 generates a clock synchronization signal Vsync and provides the clock synchronization signal Vsync to the electromagnetic induction controller 240.

The timing controller 210 performs one of disabling and enabling the display operation in a first time period according to the clock synchronization signal Vsync, and performs the other of disabling and enabling the display operation in a second time period. The first time period and the second time period do not overlap each other. Here, the timing controller 210 first disables the display operation as an example. In step S320, the timing controller 210 generates the clock synchronization signal Vsync and passes through a silent period (i.e., a time period TDis1) as a first time period, and during the silent period (time period TDis1), the timing controller 210 disables the display operation. In step S330, after the silent period TDis1, the timing controller 210 enables the display operation in the second time period (i.e., time period TEn1) and completes the display operation before the display frame Dframe1 ends.

The electromagnetic sensing controller 240 enables or disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the first time period according to the clock synchronization signal Vsync, and enables or disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period. During the period of enabling the display operation controlled by the timing controller 210, the electromagnetic sensing operation controlled by the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 will not be enabled. Furthermore, during the period of enabling the electromagnetic sensing operation controlled by the electromagnetic sensing controller 240, the display operation controlled by the timing controller 210 will not be enabled. Specifically, in step S340, the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 enables the electromagnetic sensing operation during the electromagnetic sensing operation period (i.e., time period TEn2) after obtaining the clock synchronization signal Vsync. Furthermore, the electromagnetic sensing working period (time period TEn2) and the silent period (time period TDis1) are the same time period. In step S350, after the electromagnetic sensing working period (time period TEn2), the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period (i.e., time period TDis2). When step S330 and step S350 are completed, the process returns to step S310.

In this way, the embodiment of the present invention uses the timing synchronization signal Vsync sent by the timing controller 210 as a reference so that the display work of the timing controller 210 and the electromagnetic sensing work of the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 do not run at the same time, thereby using time-division multiplexing to avoid interference.

In order to make the electromagnetic sensing frequency reach a reporting rate of more than 200 Hz, the electromagnetic sensing controller 240 performs electromagnetic sensing in the first enabling period ScanEN1 and the second enabling period ScanEN2 in sequence during the electromagnetic sensing working period (time period TEn1), thereby achieving a reporting rate of about 240 Hz when the display timing is 120 Hz. In this embodiment, when the display timing is 120Hz, each display frame Dframe1, Dframe2 and Dframe3 is 8.33 milliseconds, the first enabling period ScanEN1 and the second enabling period ScanEN2 are both 2.9 milliseconds (ms), the first time segment (such as time segment TDis1, TEn2) is 5.8 milliseconds, and the second time segment (such as time segment TEn1, TDis2) is 2.5 milliseconds. The user of this embodiment can adjust the length of the aforementioned time segments according to their needs. For example, the first time segment can be set to between 3ms and 6.5ms. When the display timing is 60Hz, each display frame Dframe1, Dframe2 and Dframe3 is 16.67 milliseconds.

In summary, the panel driving device and panel driving method described in the embodiment of the present invention integrate the substrate carrying the mini light-emitting diode and the electromagnetic sensing substrate and perform circuit layout together, thereby reducing the overall cost of the system and making the panel thinner. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention uses the timing synchronization signal sent by the timing controller as a reference so that the display work of the timing controller and the electromagnetic sensing work of the electromagnetic sensing controller do not run at the same time, thereby using time-division multiplexing to avoid interference.

S310~S350: Steps of panel driving method

Claims (8)

A panel driving device is suitable for integrating a substrate of a light-emitting diode and an electromagnetic sensing substrate into a panel structure of an integrated substrate. The panel driving device includes: a timing controller; and an electromagnetic sensing controller coupled to the timing controller, wherein at the beginning of each display frame, the timing controller generates a clock synchronization signal and provides the clock synchronization signal to the electromagnetic sensing controller, and the timing controller disables or enables a display operation in a first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and disables or enables the display operation in a second time period according to the clock synchronization signal, wherein the first time period and the second time period do not overlap each other; the electromagnetic sensing controller generates a clock synchronization signal according to the clock synchronization signal, and provides the clock synchronization signal to the electromagnetic sensing controller, wherein the clock synchronization signal generates a clock synchronization signal according to the clock synchronization signal, and the electromagnetic sensing controller generates a clock synchronization signal according to the clock synchronization signal. The signal is used to enable or disable the electromagnetic sensing work in the first time period, and to enable or disable the electromagnetic sensing work in the second time period, wherein the electromagnetic sensing work will not be enabled during the period of enabling the display work, and the display work will not be enabled during the period of enabling the electromagnetic sensing work, wherein the timing controller passes through a silent period after generating the clock synchronization signal as the first time period, and during the silent period, the timing controller disables the display work, and, after the silent period, the timing controller enables the display work in the second time period, and completes the display work before the display frame ends. The panel driving device as described in claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic sensing controller enables electromagnetic sensing during the electromagnetic sensing working period after obtaining the clock synchronization signal, the electromagnetic sensing working period and the silent period are the same time period, and after the electromagnetic sensing working period, the electromagnetic sensing controller disables the electromagnetic sensing. The panel driving device as described in claim 2, wherein the electromagnetic sensing controller performs the electromagnetic sensing in a first enabling period and a second enabling period sequentially during the electromagnetic sensing operation period. The panel driving device as described in claim 3, wherein the electromagnetic induction controller and the timing controller are directly coupled to each other using a general purpose input and output (GPIO) pin, and the timing controller uses the general purpose input and output pin to provide the clock synchronization signal to the electromagnetic induction controller. The panel driving device as described in claim 1 further includes: a light-emitting diode driver coupled to the timing controller and controlled by the timing controller to perform the display operation. A panel driving method is applicable to integrating a substrate of a light-emitting diode and an electromagnetic sensing substrate into a panel structure of an integrated substrate. The panel driving method comprises: generating a clock synchronization signal at the beginning of each display frame, and providing the clock synchronization signal to an electromagnetic sensing controller; disabling or enabling a display operation in a first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and disabling or enabling the other of the display operation in a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period do not overlap; and enabling or disabling an electromagnetic sensing operation in the first time period according to the clock synchronization signal by the electromagnetic sensing controller, and enabling or disabling the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period. The magnetic sensing operation is enabled or disabled, wherein during the period of enabling the display operation, the electromagnetic sensing operation is not enabled, and during the period of enabling the electromagnetic sensing operation, the display operation is not enabled, wherein the steps of disabling or enabling the display operation in a first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and disabling or enabling the display operation in a second time period include: after generating the clock synchronization signal, a silent period as the first time period is passed, and the display operation is disabled during the silent period; after the silent period, the display operation is enabled in the second time period, wherein the display operation is completed before the display frame ends. As described in claim 6, the panel driving method, wherein the electromagnetic sensing controller enables or disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the first time period according to the clock synchronization signal, and the other step of enabling or disabling the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period includes: The electromagnetic sensing controller enables the electromagnetic sensing operation during the electromagnetic sensing operation period after obtaining the clock synchronization signal, and the electromagnetic sensing operation period and the silent period are the same time period; and after the electromagnetic sensing operation period, the electromagnetic sensing controller disables the electromagnetic sensing operation in the second time period. The panel driving method as described in claim 6 further includes: using the electromagnetic sensing controller to sequentially perform the electromagnetic sensing operation in a first enabling period and a second enabling period during the electromagnetic sensing operation period.

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