Patent ID: 7518585
Filing Date: 2009-04-14
Classification: G09G

Abstract:
1. An organic EL display device comprising: a plurality of first electrode elements arranged in a shape of stripes; a plurality of second electrode elements arranged in a shape of stripes and in a direction crossing the first electrode elements, each crossing point forming a pixel; organic light emitting layers sandwiched by the first electrode elements and the second electrode elements; a first driving unit that selectively connects each first electrode element to either a data power supply or a reference potential in accordance with a display pattern, wherein the first driving unit connects all of the first electrode elements to the reference potential in a first period of a display cycle, connects selected ones of the first electrode elements to the data power supply and non-selected ones of the first electrode elements to the reference potential in a subsequent second period of the display cycle, and connects all the first electrode elements to the reference potential in a subsequent third period of the display cycle; a second driving unit that sequentially selects the second electrode elements, one at a time, by connecting a respective selected second electrode element to ground or to a first power supply, while connecting all other second electrode elements, as non-selected second electrode elements, to a second power supply, and that changes the selection to a next selected second electrode element in the first period of each subsequent display cycle, control means for controlling the second power supply in synchronism with the operation of the first driving unit such that the potential it applies to the non-selected second electrode elements is equal to the reference voltage in the first and third periods of the display cycle and is equal to a potential applied to a selected first electrode element in the second cycle of the display cycle; wherein a potential difference applied to each pixel defined by a selected first electrode element and a selected second electrode element in the second period of the display cycle is such as to cause a light emission current to flow through the light emitting layer sandwiched between the selected first electrode element and the selected second electrode element, and wherein a potential difference applied to any other pixel is such as to prevent light emission current from flowing through the light emitting layer of the pixel.