Abstract:
A touch detecting method comprises: enabling a sample signal in a period between driving a previous gate line and a previous two gate line before a corresponding gate line of a sense unit, and sampling a readout signal in a corresponding readout line during a sample period corresponding to the enabled sample signal by a readout unit; using the sampled readout signal during the sample period by the readout unit as a sample reference signal; enabling a sense readout signal in a period between driving the corresponding gate line of the sense unit and a next gate line, and reading out the readout signal during a sense readout period corresponding to the enabled sense readout signal; using the readout signal during the sense readout period as a sense signal; and judging whether the sense unit is touched according to the sample reference signal and the sense signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to the touch detecting field, and more particularly to a touch detecting method applied to a flat display device with an in-cell touch panel and a flat display device with an in-cell touch panel. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    With the rapid development of science and technology, since flat display device (such as, liquid crystal display device) has many advantages such as high image quality, little size, light weight and wide application-range, etc., it is widely applied to various consumer electronics products, such as mobile phones, notebook computers, desktop display devices and televisions, etc., and has gradually substituted conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) display to be a main trend of the display devices. 
         [0005]    Touch device provides a new human-machine interface, and it is more intuitional in use and more suitable for the human nature. If the touch device is integrated with the liquid crystal display device together, the liquid crystal display device can have touch function, and it is a development trend of the liquid crystal display devices. 
         [0006]    Refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a schematic structure view of a flat display device with in-cell touch panel. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the flat display device  10  comprises a plurality of gate lines G 1 ˜G 4 , . . . , G n+1 ˜G n+4 , . . . (n=0, 4, 8, . . . ), a plurality of data lines  11 , a plurality of pixel transistors  12 , a plurality of pixel electrodes  13 , a plurality of sense units  14  and a plurality of readout lines  15 . The gate lines G 1 ˜G 4 , . . . , G n+1 ˜G n+4 , . . . are arranged crossing over with the data lines  11 , and thereby dividing the flat display device  10  into a plurality of pixel regions (not marked). Each of the pixel regions has a pixel transistor  12  and a pixel electrode  13  disposed therein, and the pixel transistor  12  in each of the pixel regions is electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the gate lines and a corresponding one of the data lines. Thus a gate signal provided on the corresponding gate line is configured for determining whether switching on the pixel transistor  12 , and a data signal provided on the corresponding data line is transmitted to the pixel electrode  13  when the pixel transistor  12  is switched on. This technology is well-known for the persons skilled in the art, and thus will not be described in detail herein. 
         [0007]    The sense units  14  are disposed in some of the pixel regions of the flat display device  10  respectively. Furthermore, each of the sense units  14  is electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the gate lines (such as the gate line Gn+3 as shown in  FIG. 1 , wherein n=0, 4, 8 . . . ) and a corresponding one of the readout lines  15 , thus the gate signal provided on the corresponding gate line drives this sense unit  14 , and this sense unit  14  further is electrically coupled to a readout unit  20  as shown in  FIG. 2  through the corresponding readout line  15 . In the flat display device  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 , each of the sense units  14  is configured for sensing 4×4 pixel regions (as denoted by the solid rectangle on the left-top corner of  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0008]    Refer to  FIG. 2 , which is a schematic circuit block diagram of a readout unit. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the readout unit  20  comprises an operational amplifier  21 , a first capacitor  22 , a first switch  23 , a second switch  24 , a second capacitor  25 , a third switch  26 , a third capacitor  27  and a processor  28 . A positive input terminal of the operational amplifier  21  is electrically coupled to a reference voltage V ref , and a negative input terminal thereof is electrically coupled to the readout line  15  to receive the readout signal in the readout line  15 . The first capacitor  22  is electrically between the negative input terminal and an output terminal of the operational amplifier  21 , and the first switch  23  is electrically coupled with the first capacitor  22  in parallel. The second switch  24  and the third switch  26  are electrically coupled between the output terminal of the operational amplifier  21  and the processor  28  in parallel. The second capacitor  25  is electrically coupled between the second switch  24  and a grounding potential, and the third capacitor  26  is electrically coupled between the third switch  26  and the grounding potential. The processor  28  is electrically coupled to the second capacitor  25  and the third capacitor  26 . 
         [0009]    Refer to  FIG. 3 , which is a schematic timing sequence view of various signals of a conventional touch detecting method. As shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , a sample signal MUX_T_HS is enabled in a period between driving the corresponding gate line G n+3  and the nearest gate line G n+2  preceding the gate line G n+3  of each of the sense units  14 , thus the second switch  24  controlled by the sample signal MUX_T_HS is switched on. At this moment, the readout signal in the readout line  15  passes through the switched-on first switch  23  and the switched-on second switch  24  to be transmitted and stored into the second capacitor  25  as a sample reference signal V HS . Then, a sense readout signal MUX_T_HR is enabled in another period between driving the corresponding gate line G n+3  of each of the sense unit  14  and the nearest gate line G n+4  succeeding the gate line G n+3 , thus the third switch  26  controlled by the sense readout signal MUX_T_HR is switched on. At the moment, the first switch  23  is switched off due to the signal MUX_RESET, the readout signal in the readout line  15  passes through the operational amplifier  21  and the switched-on third switch  26  to be transmitted and stored into the third capacitor  27  as a sense signal V HR . Finally, the processor  28  judges whether the sense unit  14  is touched according to the sample reference signal V HS  stored in the second capacitor  25  and the sense signal V HR  stored in the third capacitor  27 . 
         [0010]    However, as shown in  FIG. 3 , when the flat display device  10  displays a pattern, the inputted gate signals would cause a capacitance-coupling phenomenon/effect to the sense unit  14 , to influence the readout signal in the readout line  15  such that a capacitance-coupling noise is produced in the readout signal. In detail, when the flat display device  10  displays a normal pattern, every two gate lines reverse the polarity once, thus it generates a slight capacitance-coupling phenomenon to the sense unit  14 , the capacitance-coupling noise of the readout signal in the readout line  15  is slight, and it will not influence the sense result. When the flat display device  10  displays a specific pattern, every one gate line reverse the polarity once, thus it generates a large capacitance-coupling phenomenon to the sense unit  14 , the capacitance-coupling noise of the readout signal in the readout line is large. Specially, since the conventional touch detecting method enables the sample signal MUX_T_HS in the period between driving the corresponding gate line G n+3  and the previous gate line G n+2  of the sense units  14 , and at the moment the readout signal in the readout line  15  is regarded as the sample reference signal V HS , the capacitance-coupling noise of the specific pattern in the sample reference signal V HS  has the polarity opposite to that of the capacitance-coupling noise of the specific pattern in the sense signal V HR . Thus if employing (V HR −V HS ) to judge whether the sense unit  14  is touched, the sense result is influenced by the double of the capacitance-coupling noise of the specific pattern. That is, the sense result of the conventional touch detecting method is seriously influenced by the capacitance-coupling noise, and the final sense result thereof may be altered. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0011]    The present invention relates to a touch detecting method, which can reduce the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon so as to obtain an accurate sense result. 
         [0012]    The present invention also relates to a flat display device with an in-cell touch panel, which can reduce the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon so as to obtain an accurate sense result. 
         [0013]    A touch detecting method in accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment, is applied to a flat display device with an in-cell touch panel. The flat display device comprises a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of sense units and a plurality of readout lines. The gate lines are arranged crossing over with the data lines and thereby dividing the flat display device into a plurality of pixel regions. The sense units are disposed into some of the pixel regions, and each of the sense units is electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the gate lines and thereby being driven by a gate signal on the corresponding gate line, and each of the sense units is further electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the readout lines so as to electrically couple to a readout unit. The touch detecting method comprises: enabling a sample signal during a period between driving the nearest gate line and the second nearest gate line preceding the corresponding gate line of one of the sense units, and sampling a readout signal by the readout unit on the corresponding readout line of the sense unit during a sample period corresponding to the sample signal being enabled; using the readout signal sampled by the readout unit during the sample period as a sample reference signal; enabling a sense readout signal during another period between driving the corresponding gate line and the nearest gate line succeeding the corresponding gate line of the sense unit, and reading out the readout signal by the readout unit on the corresponding readout line during a sense readout period corresponding to the sense readout signal being enabled; using the readout signal read out by the readout unit during the sense readout period as a sense signal; and determining whether the sense unit is touched according to the sample reference signal and the sense signal. 
         [0014]    A flat display device with an in-cell touch panel in accordance with another preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of sense units and a plurality of readout lines. The gate lines are arranged crossing over with the data lines to divide the flat display device into a plurality of pixel regions. The sense units are disposed into some of the pixel regions, and each of the sense units is electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the gate lines and thereby being driven by a gate signal on the corresponding gate line and further electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the readout lines. Each of the readout units employs the corresponding readout line to be electrically coupled to a corresponding sense unit. When performing a touch detecting operation, a sample signal is enabled during a period between driving the nearest gate line and the second nearest gate line preceding the corresponding gate line of one of the sense units, and a corresponding one of the readout units samples the corresponding readout line during a sample period corresponding to the sample signal being enabled to obtain a sample reference signal. A sense readout signal is enabled during another period between driving the corresponding gate line of the sense unit and the nearest gate line succeeding the corresponding gate line of the sense unit, and the corresponding readout unit samples the corresponding readout line during a sense readout period corresponding to the sense readout signal being enabled to obtain a sense signal and then the sense unit whether is touched or not is determined according to the sample reference signal and the sense signal. 
         [0015]    Preferably, each of the readout units comprises an operational amplifier, a first capacitor, a first switch, a second switch, a second capacitor, a third switch, a third capacitor and a processor. A positive input terminal of the operational amplifier is electrically coupled to a reference voltage, a negative input terminal thereof is electrically coupled to the corresponding readout line, and an output terminal thereof is configured for outputting the sample reference signal or the sense signal. The first capacitor is electrically coupled between the negative input terminal and the output terminal of the operational amplifier. The first switch is electrically coupled between the negative input terminal and the output terminal of the operational amplifier and in parallel with the first capacitor. The second switch is electrically coupled to the output terminal of the operational amplifier. The second capacitor is electrically coupled between the second switch and a grounding potential to receive and store the sample reference signal when switching on the second switch. The third switch is electrically coupled to the output terminal of the operational amplifier. The third capacitor is electrically coupled between the third switch and the grounding potential to receive and store the sense signal when the third switch is switched on. The processor is electrically coupled to the second capacitor and the third capacitor to determine whether the sense unit is touched according to the sample reference signal and the sense signal. 
         [0016]    Preferably, every four of the gate lines in the flat display device are divided into a group, and the sense units are respectively electrically coupled to third gate lines of the groups. 
         [0017]    Preferably, the first switch is switched off when using the readout signal read out by the readout unit during the sense readout period as the sense signal. 
         [0018]    Preferably, the first switch is switched on when using the readout signal sampled by the readout unit during the sample period as the sample reference signal. Alternatively, the first switch is switched off when using the readout signal sampled by the readout unit during the sample period as the sample reference signal. In another embodiment, for the sense units corresponding to a first group of the gate lines, the first switch is switched on when using the readout signal sampled by the readout unit during the sample period as the sample reference signal; and for the sense units corresponding to the other groups of the gate lines, the first switch is switched off when using the readout signal sampled by the readout unit during the sample period as the sample reference signal. 
         [0019]    The touch detecting method and the flat display device with the in-cell touch panel of the present invention can make the capacitance-coupling noises in the sample reference signal have the polarity same to that in the sense signal, to cancel out/counteract the capacitance-coupling noises respectively in the sample reference signal and the sense signal. Accordingly, the touch detecting method and the flat display device of the present invention can eliminate the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon, and thus the sense result thereof is accurate. 
         [0020]    Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of modes best suited to carry out the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]    These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 
           [0022]      FIG. 1  is a schematic structure view of a flat display device with in-cell touch panel. 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  is a schematic circuit block diagram of a readout unit. 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  is a schematic timing sequence view of various signals of a conventional touch detecting method. 
           [0025]      FIG. 4  is a flowing chart of a touch detecting method of the present invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  is a schematic timing sequence view of various signals of a touch detecting method in accordance with a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  is a schematic timing sequence view of various signals of a touch detecting method in accordance with a second preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0028]    It is to be understood that other embodiment may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted,” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. Accordingly, the descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. 
         [0029]    Refer to  FIGS. 4-5 , wherein  FIG. 4  is a flowing chart of a touch detecting method of the present invention, and  FIG. 5  is a schematic timing sequence view of various signals of the touch detecting method in accordance with a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The touch detecting method as shown in  FIGS. 4-5  may be applied to the flat display device  10  with the in-cell touch panel as shown in  FIGS. 1-2 . 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-2  and  4 - 5  together, the touch detecting method of the exemplary embodiment comprises steps  101 - 105 . The step  101  is that enabling the sample signal MUX_T_HS during a period between driving the second nearest gate line G n+1  and the nearest gate line G n+2  preceding the corresponding gate line G n+3  of each of the sense units  14 , and sampling a readout signal by the readout unit  20  in a corresponding readout line  15  during a sample period t 1  corresponding to the sample signal MUX_T_HS is enabled. The step  102  is that using the readout signal sampled by the readout unit  20  during the sample period t 1  as the sample reference signal V HS . The step  103  is that enabling the sense readout signal MUX_T_HR during a period t 2  between driving the corresponding gate line Gn+3 of each of the sense units  14  and the nearest gate line Gn+4 succeeding the corresponding gate line of the sense unit, and reading out the readout signal by the readout unit  20  in the corresponding readout line  15  in a sense readout period t 2  corresponding to the sense readout signal MUX_T_HR is enabled. The step  104  is that using the readout signal read out by the readout unit  20  during the sense readout period t 2  as the sense signal V HR . The step  105  is that determining whether the sense unit  14  is touched according to the sample reference signal V HS  and the sense signal V HR . 
         [0031]    In detail, when the sample signal MUX_T_HS is enabled, the second switch  24  in the readout unit  20  which is controlled by the sample signal MUX_T_HS, is switched on. Thus the readout unit  20  samples the readout signal in the readout line  15  during the sample period t 1 , and stores the readout signal in the readout line  15  into the second capacitor  25 . In addition, since the first switch  23  is controlled by the control signal MUX_RESET, and as shown in  FIG. 5 , the control signal MUX_RESET is in an enable state during the sample period t 1  in the exemplary embodiment, the first switch  23  is switched off during the sample period t 1  (in the exemplary embodiment, the first switch  23  is switched off and not in on-state when enabling the control signal MUX_RESET, and the second switch  24  and the third switch  25  are switched off when enabling the sample signal MUX_T_HS and MUX_T_HR respectively). Therefore, the readout signal in the readout line  15  during the sample period t 1  passes through the integration circuit composed of the operational amplifier  21  and the first capacitor  22 , and is transmitted to the switched-on second switch  24 , and then is transmitted to the second capacitor  25  through the switched-on second switch  24  and stored in the second capacitor  25 , to be regarded as the sample reference signal V HS . 
         [0032]    When the sense readout signal MUX_T_HR is enabled, the third switch  26  in the readout unit  20  which is controlled by the sense readout signal MUX_T_HR, is switched on. At the moment, the control signal MUX_RESET is also in the enabled state, thus the first switch  23  is switched off. Therefore, the readout signal in the readout line  15  during the sense readout period t 2  passes through the integration circuit composed of the operational amplifier  21  and the first capacitor  22 , and the switched-on third switch  26  to be transmitted to the third capacitor  27  and stored in the third capacitor  27  for being regarded as the sense signal V HR . 
         [0033]    Then, the processor  28  judges whether the sense unit  14  is touched according to the sample reference signal V HS  and the sense signal V HR . According to the equivalent circuit, it can be seen that, the sample reference signal of the present invention can be obtained by V HS =(V ref −V CF(HS) ), and the sense signal thereof is obtained by V HR =(V ref −V CF(HR) ). Thus the output result of the processor  28  of the readout unit  20  is obtained by (V HS −V HR )=[(V ref −V CF(HS) )−(V ref −V CF(HR) )]=[−V CF(HS) +V CF(HR) ], wherein V ref  is the reference voltage electrically coupled to the positive input terminal of the operational amplifier  21 , V CF(HS)  is the voltage of the first capacitor  22  during the sample period t 1 , V CF(HR)  is the voltage of the first capacitor  22  during the sense readout period t 2 . When the sense unit  14  is not touched, V CF(HR)  is zero and the output result of the processor  28  is approximately 0. When the sense unit  14  is touched, V CF(HR)  approaches the reference voltage V ref , and the output result of the processor  28  is approximately the reference voltage V ref . Therefore, the processor  28  can judge whether the sense unit  14  is touched according to the sample reference signal V HS  and the sense signal V HR . 
         [0034]    Since the touch detecting method of the exemplary embodiment enables the sample signal MUX_T_HS during the period between driving the second nearest gate line Gn+1 and the nearest gate line Gn+2 preceding the corresponding gate line Gn+3 of each sense unit  14 , when the flat display device  10  displays the specific pattern, the capacitance-coupling noise in the readout signal of the readout line  15  which is sampled by the readout unit  20  during the sample period t 1 , when enabling the sample signal MUX_T_HS, has the polarity same to that of the capacitance-coupling noise in the readout signal of the readout line  15  which is sampled by the readout unit  20  during the sense readout period t 2 , when enabling the sense readout signal MUX_T_HR. That is, the capacitance-coupling noise in the sample reference signal V HS  has the polarity same to that in the sense signal V HR , thus the capacitance-coupling noises in the sample reference signal V HS  and the sense signal V HR  are cancelled out. The touch detecting method of the present invention can eliminate the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon, and thus the sense result is accurate. 
         [0035]    Refer to  FIG. 6 , which is a schematic timing sequence view of various signals of a touch detecting method in accordance with a second preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The touch detecting method of the exemplary embodiment is similar with that as shown in  FIG. 5 , except that the touch detecting method of the second exemplary embodiment switches on the second switch  24  controlled by the sample signal MUX_T_HS when enabling the sample signal MUX_T_HS, and the control signal MUX_RESET is not enabled at the moment, such that the first switch  23  is also switched on which is controlled by the control signal MUX_RESET. Therefore, the readout signal in the readout line  15  during the sample period t 1  directly passes through the switched-on first switch  23  to be transmitted to the switched-on second switch  24 , and then be transmitted to the second capacitor  25  through the switched-on second switch  24  and stored in the second capacitor  25 , for being regarded as the sample reference signal V HS . The touch detecting method of the second exemplary embodiment also obtains the sample reference signal V HS  during the period t 1  between driving the second nearest gate line G n+1  and the nearest gate line G n+2  preceding the corresponding gate line G n+3  of each sense unit  14 , thus the capacitance-coupling noise in the sample reference signal V HS  has the polarity same to that in the sense signal V HR . In addition, when the touch detecting method of the second exemplary embodiment obtains the sample reference signal V HS , the readout signal does not pass through the integration circuit composed of the operational amplifier  21  and the first capacitor  22 , but passes through the switched-on first switch  23  and the switched-on second switch  24 . Thus, the sample reference signal V HS  is greatly influenced by the reference voltage V ref , and it can reduce the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon. 
         [0036]    In addition, when the flat display device  10  displays an image, the capacitance-coupling phenomenon caused by the first group of the gate lines G 1 ˜G 4  to the sense unit  14  electrically connected with the first group is larger than that caused by those of other groups of the gate lines, thus the capacitance-coupling phenomenon of the first group of the gate lines G 1 ˜G 4  applied to the sense unit  14  cannot be stable after a while. Therefore, it is understood for persons skilled in the arts that, the present invention can employ the touch detecting method as shown in  FIG. 6  into the sense unit corresponding to the first group of the gate lines G 1 ˜G 4 , and employ the touch detecting method as shown in  FIG. 5  into the sense units corresponding to other groups of the gate lines. That is, for the sense unit  14  corresponding to the first group of the gate lines G 1 ˜G 4  of the flat display device  10 , the control signal MUX_RESET is in the non-enable state and the first switch  23  is switched on when the readout unit  20  regards the readout signal during the sample period t 1  as the sample reference signal V HS . Thus the readout signal in the readout line  15  passes through the switched-on first switch  23  instead of the integration circuit composed of the operational amplifier  21  and the first capacitor  22 , to be transmitted to the second capacitor  25 . For the sense units  14  corresponding to the other groups of the gate lines, the control signal MUX_RESET is in the enable state and the first switch  23  is not switched-on when the readout unit  20  regards the readout signal during the sample period t 1  as the sample reference signal V HS . The readout signal in the readout line  15  passes through the integration circuit composed of the operational amplifier  21  and the first capacitor  22 , to be transmitted to the second capacitor  25 . The touch detecting method thereof can make the sample reference signal V HS  of the sense unit  14  corresponding to the first group of the gate lines G 1 ˜G 4  greatly influenced by the reference voltage V ref , so as to reduce the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon. 
         [0037]    In summary, the touch detecting method of the present invention can make the capacitance-coupling noise in the sample reference signal have the polarity same to that in the sense signal, to cancel out the capacitance-coupling noises in the sample reference signal and the sense signal. Accordingly, the touch detecting method of the present invention can eliminate the influence of the capacitance-coupling phenomenon, and thus the sense result thereof is accurate. 
         [0038]    The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including configurations ways of the recessed portions and materials and/or designs of the attaching structures. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.