Method for displaying error rates of data channels of display

A method for displaying error rates of data channels of a display is provided. A timing controller of the display repeatedly transmits a test signal with a specific format to a first and a second source drivers of the display via a first and a second data channels of the display. During testing, a first number and a second number of times of the first source driver and the second source driver determining that the received test signal does not have the specific format are counted respectively. The first and the second source drivers control displaying of a first area and a second area of a panel of the display respectively according to the counted first and second numbers of times. Accordingly, the error rates of the data channels are presented on the panel of the display in a way that the error rates could be recognized more easily.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 101129425, filed on Aug. 14, 2012. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a method for displaying error rates of data channels of a display, and more particularly, to a method for displaying error rates of data channels of a display in a way that the error rates are easily recognized.

2. Description of Related Art

In recent years, display panel technology has matured. In addition, display panels continue to increase in both size and resolution to meet consumer demands. However, when the resolution and size of a display panel are increased, the operating frequency inside the display panel also becomes higher. A conventional transmission system in a display panel has to be disposed with a plurality of data channels such that it is difficult to enable all the data channels to have similar electrical characteristics in a high-frequency environment. Thus no effective correction mechanism for correcting the foregoing problem can be easily provided by a source driver, and accordingly the error rates of the data channels are hard to reduce. More importantly, additional cost is incurred particularly for resolving the foregoing problem in the system so that product competitiveness cannot be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method for displaying error rates of data channels of a display. The method is by transmitting a test signal with a specific format to a plurality of source drivers of a display so that the source drivers determine the error rates of a plurality of data channels of the display according to the received test signal and control a panel of the display to present the error rates of the data channels in a way that the error rates are easily recognized.

The invention provides a method for displaying error rates of data channels of a display. The method includes, by a timing controller of the display, repeatedly transmitting the test signal with the specific format to a first and a second source drivers of the display via a first and a second data channels of the display. The method also includes, by the first and the second source drivers, receiving the test signal respectively from the first and the second data channels, and determining if the received test signal has the specific format. The method further includes, during a testing period, counting respectively a first number and a second number of times of the first source driver and the second source driver determining that the received test signal does not have the specific format. The method additionally includes, by the first source driver, controlling displaying of a first area of the panel of the display according to the counted first number of times. The method includes also, by the second source driver, controlling displaying of a second area of the panel according to the counted second number of times.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first area includes a first sub-area and a second sub-area, and the second area includes a third sub-area and a fourth sub-area. The first source driver controls a size of the first sub-area according to the counted first number of times, and the second source driver controls a size of the third sub-area according to the counted second number of times.

In an embodiment of the invention, an area ratio between the first sub-area and the third sub-area is equal to a ratio of the counted first number of times to the counted second number of times.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver controls the first sub-area and the second sub-area to be displayed with different gray-level values, and the second source driver controls the third sub-area and the fourth sub-area to be displayed with different gray-level values.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver controls the first sub-area to be displayed with graded gray-level values, and the second source driver controls the third sub-area to be displayed with graded gray-level values.

In an embodiment of the invention, the panel includes a plurality of pixels and a plurality of data lines. The first and the second source drivers are coupled to the pixels via the data lines. The first source driver controls displaying of the first sub-area during a first display period according to the counted first number of times. The second source driver controls displaying of the third sub-area during a second display period according to the counted second number of times. A ratio of the first display period to the second display period is equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times to the counted second number of times.

In an embodiment of the invention, the panel includes a plurality of pixels and a plurality of data lines. The first source driver controls a first number of the data lines according to the counted first number of times to control displaying of the first sub-area. The second source driver controls a second number of the data lines according to the counted second number of times to control displaying of the third sub-area. A ratio of the first number to the second number is equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times to the counted second number of times.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver controls a color displayed by the first area according to the counted first number of times, and the second source driver controls a color displayed by the second area according to the counted second number of times.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver controls the first sub-area to be displayed with graded color-level values, and the second source driver controls the third sub-area to be displayed with graded color-level values.

Based on the above, the invention is by transmitting a test signal with a specific format to a plurality of source drivers of a display so that the source drivers determine the error rates of the plurality of data channels of the display according to the received test signal and control a panel of the display to present the error rates of the data channels in a way that the error rates are easily recognized.

To make the aforementioned features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Please refer toFIG. 1.FIG. 1is a schematic diagram of a display100according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the display100is a liquid crystal display, but the invention is not limited thereto. The invention is applicable to any type of display adopting a timing controller (TCON) for controlling driving and displaying of a source driver. The display100has a timing controller (TCON)110, a first source driver130(1), a second source driver130(2) and a panel140. For the convenience of illustration, only two source drivers are described in this embodiment. However, the invention is not limited thereto. This embodiment is applicable to displays having different numbers of source drivers. The timing controller110is used to generate a test signal STand to generate a clock signal and a data signal for controlling operation of the display100. The timing controller110is coupled respectively to the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) via a first data channel120(1) and a second data channel120(2).

The first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2) may be achieved by circuits such as transistor-transistor logic (TTL) circuits, differential input/output circuits, etc. In addition, methods for transmitting signals between the timing controller110and the two source drivers130(1),130(2) include point-to-point method, multi-drop method, clock-embedded method, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the clock signal and the data signal generated by the timing controller110for controlling operation of the display100are transmitted to the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) respectively via different transmission interfaces. The first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2) are respectively coupled to the different transmission interfaces for transmitting the clock signal and the data signal generated by the timing controller110, so as to transmit the clock signal and the data signal generated by the timing controller110respectively to the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2). In another embodiment of the invention, the clock signal generated by the timing controller110is included in the data signal generated by the timing controller110. In one of the several embodiments, the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) include a clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit for processing the signals from the timing controller110, so as to generate the clock and data for driving the panel140.

In addition, the timing controller110repeatedly transmits the test signal STto the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) via the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2). The test signal STis in a specific format, and the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) determine if the received test signal STis in the specific format. In general, if no error occurs in the transmission of the test signal STto the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2), the test signal STreceived by the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) is in the specific format. Nevertheless, in cases where the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2) are too long due to oversizing of the panel, the test signal STmay fade or be interfered with during the transmission, such that the test signal STreceived by the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) is not necessarily in the specific format. Therefore, by repeatedly transmitting the test signal STin the specific format to the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2), and by allowing the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) to respectively determine if the received test signal STis in the specific format, the error rates of the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2) are respectively calculated. In addition, in an embodiment of the invention, the test signal STin the specific format is a secret key consisting of a series of bits. In addition, in an embodiment of the invention, the test signal STin the specific format has a specific waveform.

Please refer toFIG. 1andFIG. 2.FIG. 2is a timing diagram of the test signal STinFIG. 1. The test signal STis in the specific format, and in an embodiment of the invention, the test signal STin the specific format is a secret key consisting of a series of bits. In another embodiment of the invention, the test signal STin the specific format has a specific waveform. For example, in an embodiment, the timings of STbetween T0and T1, ST(1), ST(2), ST(3), ST(4), . . . ST(N)are specifically coded. It is possible that ST(1)=ST(2)=ST(3)=ST(4), . . . =ST(N)or that ST(1)≠ST(2)≠ST(3)≠ST(4), . . . ≠ST(N).

During a testing period TS, the timing controller110repeatedly transmits the test signal STto the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) via the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2). Herein, the testing period TSstarts at a time T0and ends at a time T1. In an embodiment of the invention, the timing controller110periodically transmits the test signal STto the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) during the testing period TS. In another embodiment of the invention, the timing controller110aperiodically transmits the test signal STto the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) during the testing period TS. In other words, the time interval between two adjacent transmissions of the test signal STmay be fixed or not fixed.

During the testing period TS, the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) respectively count a first number and a second number of times the source drivers themselves determine that the received test signal STis not in the specific format. For the convenience of illustration, it is assumed that the counted first number of times is equal to N1 and the counted second number of times is equal to N2. The first source driver130(1) controls displaying of a first area150(1) of the panel140according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls displaying of a second area150(2) of the panel140according to the counted second number of times N2. For example, in an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls the first area150(1) to display the counted first number of times N1 as an Arabic numeral according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls the second area150(2) to display the counted second number of times N2 as an Arabic numeral according to the counted second number of times N2. For another example, in an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls a color displayed by the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls a color displayed by the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) set the colors displayed by the first area150(1) and the second area150(2) respectively according to the degrees of the error rates corresponding to the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2). For example, when the counted first number of times N1 or the counted second number of times N2 is smaller than a first preset threshold value, the corresponding first source driver130(1) or second source driver130(2) drives the corresponding first area150(1) or second area150(2) to display green. When the counted first number of times N1 or the counted second number of times N2 is between the first preset threshold value and a second preset threshold value, the corresponding first source driver130(1) or second source driver130(2) drives the corresponding first area150(1) or second area150(2) to display yellow. Herein, the second preset threshold value is greater than the first preset threshold value. When the counted first number of times N1 or the counted second number of times N2 is greater than the second preset threshold value, the corresponding first source driver130(1) or second source driver130(2) drives the corresponding first area150(1) or second area150(2) to display red. Based on the above, a tester of the display100roughly determines the error rates corresponding to the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2) according to the colors displayed by the first area150(1) and the second area150(2). It should be noted that the error rate of the first data channel120(1) positively correlates to the counted first number of times N1, and the error rate of the second data channel120(2) positively correlates to the counted second number of times N2. Thus, the counted first number of times N1 can be used to represent the error rate of the first data channel120(1), and the counted second number of times N2 can be used to represent the error rate of the second data channel120(2).

Please refer toFIG. 1andFIG. 3.FIG. 3is a flowchart illustrating displaying of the error rates of the data channels of the display100inFIG. 1according to a method of an embodiment of the invention. In step S312, the first source driver130(1) sets the counted first number of times N1 to zero and the second source driver130(2) sets the counted second number of times N2 to zero. In step S314, the timing controller110transmits the test signal STto the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) via the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2). Then, in steps S316and S318, the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) respectively determine if the received test signal STis in the specific format. When the first source driver130(1) determines that the received test signal STis not in the specific format, step S320is executed so that one is added to the counted first number of times N1. Similarly, when the second source driver130(2) determines that the received test signal STis not in the specific format, step S322is executed so that one is added to the counted second number of times N2. In step S324, the timing controller110determines whether to end the test, i.e. determines if the testing period TShas ended. If the test is not ended, the step S314is repeated. Otherwise, steps S326and S328are executed. In the step S326, the first source driver130(1) controls displaying of the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1. In the step S328, the second source driver130(2) controls displaying of the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2.

Please refer toFIG. 1,FIG. 3andFIG. 4.FIG. 4is a flowchart illustrating displaying of the error rates of the data channels of the display100inFIG. 1according to a method of an embodiment of the invention. The process inFIG. 4differs from the process inFIG. 3mainly in the sequence of execution of the steps S324, S326and S328; the two processes are otherwise identical and description thereof will not be repeated. In the process inFIG. 4, when the step S316or S320ends, the step S326is executed so that the first source driver130(1) timely controls displaying of the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1. Similarly, when the step S318or S322ends, the step S328is executed so that the second source driver130(2) timely controls displaying of the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2. After the step S326or S328is executed, the step S324is executed.

To more clearly explain the method for displaying error rates of data channels of the display employed in other embodiments of the invention, the method for driving the panel140is roughly described below. Please refer toFIG. 1andFIG. 5.FIG. 5is a schematic diagram of the panel140according to an embodiment of the invention. The panel140has a plurality of pixels50, a plurality of data lines (e.g. D0˜D3), a plurality of scan lines (e.g. G0˜G2) and a plurality of transistors Q. Each pixel50is coupled to one end of the transistor Q, the data line (e.g. D0˜D3) is coupled to the other end of the transistor Q, and a gate of the transistor Q is coupled to the scan line (e.g. G0˜G2). In this embodiment, the panel140is a liquid crystal display panel. The source driver and a gate driver in the display drive the panel140respectively by transmitting a data voltage and a scan voltage. In addition, the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) are coupled to the pixels50via the data lines (e.g. D0˜D3) of the panel140, so as to transmit the data voltage to the pixels50via the data lines.

Please refer toFIG. 6.FIG. 6is for demonstrating how the error rates of the data channels of the display100are displayed in an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the first source driver130(1) controls displaying of the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls displaying of the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2. The first area150(1) includes a first sub-area160(1) and a second sub-area160(2), and the second area150(2) includes a third sub-area160(3) and a fourth sub-area160(4). The first source driver130(1) controls a size of the first sub-area160(1) according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver150(2) controls a size of the third sub-area160(3) according to the counted second number of times N2. When the counted first number of times N1 gets greater, which means a higher error rate of the first data channel120(1), and thus the first sub-area160(1) becomes larger while the second sub-area160(2) becomes smaller. Similarly, when the counted second number of times N2 gets greater, which means a higher error rate of the second data channel120(2), and thus the third sub-area160(3) becomes larger while the fourth sub-area160(4) becomes smaller. Therefore, the error rates of the first data channel120(1) and the second data channel120(2) can be determined according to the sizes of the first sub-area160(1) and the third sub-area160(3).

In an embodiment of the invention, the first sub-area160(1) and the third sub-area160(3) respectively have a number of display rows (e.g.152(1)˜152(3) and152(a)˜152(j)), wherein the number is identical to the counted first number of times N1 or the counted second number of times N2. In other words, the number of the display rows which the first sub-area160(1) has is equal to the counted first number of times N1, and the number of the display rows which the third sub-area160(3) has is equal to the counted second number of times N2. For example, inFIG. 6, the counted first number of times N1 is equal to 3 and the counted second number of times N2 is equal to 10. Thus, an area ratio between the first sub-area160(1) and the third sub-area160(3) is equal to a ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2. In addition, the vertical resolution of each of the display rows may be one or more pixels. In other words, all the pixels in each of the display rows are controlled by one or more scan lines.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls the first sub-area160(1) and the second sub-area160(2) to be displayed with different gray-level values, and the second source driver130(2) controls the third sub-area160(3) and the fourth sub-area160(4) to be displayed with different gray-level values. In other words, the first sub-area160(1) is displayed with a first gray-level value and the second sub-area160(2) is displayed with a second gray-level value, wherein the first gray-level value is not equal to the second gray-level value. The third sub-area160(3) is displayed with a third gray-level value and the fourth sub-area160(4) is displayed with a fourth gray-level value, wherein the third gray-level value is not equal to the fourth gray-level value.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls the first sub-area160(1) to be displayed with graded gray-level values, and the second source driver130(2) controls the third sub-area160(3) to be displayed with graded gray-level values. For example, if the gray-level values of the display rows152(1)˜152(3) in the first sub-area160(1) are respectively G1, G2 and G3, and the gray-level values of the display rows152(a)˜152(j) in the third sub-area160(3) are respectively Ga, Gb, Gc, Gd, Ge, Gf, Gg, Gh, Gi and Gj, G1<G2<G3 or G1>G2>G3. In addition, Ga<Gb<Gc<Gd<Ge<Gf<Gg<Gh<Gi<Gj, or Ga>Gb>Gc>Gd>Ge>Gf>Gg>Gh>Gi>Gj. In an embodiment of the invention, the gray-level value G1 is equal to the gray-level value Ga, the gray-level value G3 is equal to the gray-level value Gj, the gray-level value displayed by the second sub-area160(2) is G3, and the gray-level value displayed by the fourth sub-area160(4) is Gj.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls a color displayed by the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls a color displayed by the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2. Herein, the first source driver130(1) controls the first sub-area160(1) to be displayed with graded color-level values, and the second source driver130(2) controls the third sub-area160(3) to be displayed with graded color-level values. For example, if the color-level values of the display rows152(1)˜152(3) in the first sub-area160(1) are respectively C1, C2 and C3, and the color-level values of the display rows152(a)˜152(j) in the third sub-area160(3) are respectively Ca, Cb, Cc, Cd, Ce, Cf, Cg, Ch, Ci and Cj, C1<C2<C3 or C1>C2>C3. In addition, Ca<Cb<Cc<Cd<Ce<Cf<Cg<Ch<Ci<Cj, or Ca>Cb>Cc>Cd>Ce>Cf>Cg>Ch>Ci>Cj. In an embodiment of the invention, the color-level value displayed by the second sub-area160(2) is C3, and the color-level value displayed by the fourth sub-area160(4) is Cj.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls displaying of the first sub-area160(1) during a first display period according to the counted first number of times N1. The second source driver130(2) controls displaying of the third sub-area160(3) during a second display period according to the counted second number of times N2. A ratio of the first display period to the second display period is equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2. Please refer toFIG. 7.FIG. 7is a timing diagram of the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) according to an embodiment of the invention. In each frame period TF, the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) update once the screen displayed on the panel140. The first source driver130(1) controls displaying of the first sub-area160(1) during a first display period TAaccording to the counted first number of times N1. The second source driver130(2) controls displaying of the third sub-area160(3) during a second display period TBaccording to the counted second number of times N2. A ratio of the first display period TAto the second display period TBis equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2. In a state with a fixed scanning period, since the ratio of the first display period TAto the second display period TBis equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2, the area ratio between the first sub-area160(1) and the third sub-area160(3) is equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2. In addition, the first source driver130(1) controls displaying of the second sub-area160(2) during a third display period TC, and the second source driver130(2) controls displaying of the fourth sub-area160(4) during a fourth display period TD.

In the embodiments inFIGS. 6 and 7, in each frame period TF, the first source driver130(1) first drives the first sub-area160(1) and then drives the second sub-area160(2), and the second source driver130(2) first drives the third sub-area160(3) and then drives the fourth sub-area160(4). Nevertheless, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, in an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) first drives the second sub-area160(2) and then drives the first sub-area160(1), and the second source driver130(2) first drives the fourth sub-area160(4) and then drives the third sub-area160(3). Please refer toFIG. 8andFIG. 9.FIG. 8is for demonstrating how the error rates of the data channels of the display100are displayed in an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 9is a timing diagram of the first source driver130(1) and the second source driver130(2) corresponding to the embodiment inFIG. 8. In each frame period TF, the first display period TAfollows behind the third display period TCin timing, and the second display period TBfollows behind the fourth display period TDin timing. In addition, in each frame period TF, the first source driver130(1) first drives the second sub-area160(2) during the third display period TCand then drives the first sub-area160(1) during the first display period TA, and the second source driver130(2) first drives the fourth sub-area160(4) during the fourth display period TDand then drives the third sub-area160(3) during the second display period TB.

Please refer toFIG. 10.FIG. 10is for demonstrating how the error rates of the data channels of the display100are displayed in an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the first source driver130(1) controls displaying of the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls displaying of the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2. The first area150(1) includes a first sub-area170(1) and a second sub-area170(2), and the second area150(2) includes a third sub-area170(3) and a fourth sub-area170(4). The first sub-area170(1) and the third sub-area170(3) respectively have a number of display rows (e.g.172(1)˜172(4) and172(a)˜172(j)), wherein the number is identical to the counted first number of times N1 or the counted second number of times N2. In other words, the number of the display rows which the first sub-area170(1) has is equal to the counted first number of times N1, and the number of the display rows which the third sub-area170(3) has is equal to the counted second number of times N2. For example, inFIG. 10, the counted first number of times N1 is equal to 4 and the counted second number of times N2 is equal to 10. Thus, an area ratio between the first sub-area170(1) and the third sub-area170(3) is equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2. In addition, the horizontal resolution of each of the display rows may be one or more pixels. In other words, all the pixels in each of the display rows are controlled by one or more data lines.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls a first number of the data lines (e.g. the data lines D0˜D3inFIG. 5) according to the counted first number of times N1 so as to control displaying of the first sub-area170(1). The second source driver130(2) controls a second number of the data lines according to the counted second number of times N2 so as to control displaying of the third sub-area170(3). A ratio of the first number to the second number is equal to the ratio of the counted first number of times N1 to the counted second number of times N2.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls the first sub-area170(1) and the second sub-area170(2) to be displayed with different gray-level values, and the second source driver130(2) controls the third sub-area170(3) and the fourth sub-area170(4) to be displayed with different gray-level values. In other words, the first sub-area170(1) is displayed with a first gray-level value and the second sub-area170(2) is displayed with a second gray-level value, wherein the first gray-level value is not equal to the second gray-level value. The third sub-area170(3) is displayed with a third gray-level value and the fourth sub-area170(4) is displayed with a fourth gray-level value, wherein the third gray-level value is not equal to the fourth gray-level value.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls the first sub-area170(1) to be displayed with graded gray-level values, and the second source driver130(2) controls the third sub-area170(3) to be displayed with graded gray-level values. For example, if the gray-level values of the display rows172(1)˜172(4) in the first sub-area170(1) are respectively G1, G2, G3 and G4, and the gray-level values of the display rows172(a)˜172(j) in the third sub-area170(3) are respectively Ga, Gb, Gc, Gd, Ge, Gf, Gg, Gh, Gi and Gj, G1<G2<G3<G4 or G1>G2>G3>G4. In addition, Ga<Gb<Gc<Gd<Ge<Gf<Gg<Gh<Gi<Gj, or Ga>Gb>Gc>Gd>Ge>Gf>Gg>Gh>Gi>Gj. In an embodiment of the invention, the gray-level value G1 is equal to the gray-level value Ga, the gray-level value G3 is equal to the gray-level value Gj, the gray-level value displayed by the second sub-area170(2) is G3, and the gray-level value displayed by the fourth sub-area170(4) is Gj.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first source driver130(1) controls a color displayed by the first area150(1) according to the counted first number of times N1, and the second source driver130(2) controls a color displayed by the second area150(2) according to the counted second number of times N2. The first source driver130(1) controls the first sub-area170(1) to be displayed with graded color-level values, and the second source driver130(2) controls the third sub-area170(3) to be displayed with graded color-level values. For example, if the color-level values of the display rows172(1)˜172(4) in the first sub-area170(1) are respectively C1, C2, C3 and C4, and the color-level values of the display rows172(a)˜172(j) in the third sub-area170(3) are respectively Ca, Cb, Cc, Cd, Ce, Cf, Cg, Ch, Ci and Cj, C1<C2<C3<C4 or C1>C2>C3>C4. In addition, Ca<Cb<Cc<Cd<Ce<Cf<Cg<Ch<Ci<Cj, or Ca>Cb>Cc>Cd>Ce>Cf>Cg>Ch>Ci>Cj. In an embodiment of the invention, the color-level value displayed by the second sub-area170(2) is C3 and the color-level value displayed by the fourth sub-area170(4) is Cj.

In the embodiment inFIG. 10, the first sub-area170(1) is located at the left side of the second sub-area170(2), and the third sub-area170(3) is located at the left side of the fourth sub-area170(4). Nevertheless, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, in an embodiment of the invention, the first sub-area170(1) is located at the left side of the second sub-area170(2), and the third sub-area170(3) is located at the right side of the fourth sub-area170(4), as shown inFIG. 11. Also, as shown inFIG. 12, the first sub-area170(1) is located at the right side of the second sub-area170(2), and the third sub-area170(3) is located at the left side of the fourth sub-area170(4). Also, as shown inFIG. 13, the first sub-area170(1) is located at the right side of the second sub-area170(2), and the third sub-area170(3) is located at the right side of the fourth sub-area170(4).

It should be noted that though only two source drivers are described in the above embodiments, the invention is applicable to displays having three or more source drivers. Please refer toFIG. 14.FIG. 14is for demonstrating how error rates of data channels of a display1400having a plurality of source drivers are displayed in an embodiment of the invention. The display1400has a plurality of data channels120(1)˜120(n) and a plurality of source drivers130(1)˜130(n), wherein n≧3. Each of the source drivers130(1)˜130(n) is coupled to the timing controller110via a corresponding data channel among the data channels120(1)˜120(n), so as to receive the test signal STas well as relevant clock signal and data signal from the timing controller110. During the testing period TS, the timing controller110repeatedly transmits the test signal STto the source drivers130(1)˜130(n) via the data channels120(1)˜120(n). The source drivers130(1)˜130(n) respectively determine if the received test signal STis in the specific format, and respectively count numbers of times the test signal STis determined not in the specific format. Next, the source drivers130(1)˜130(n) respectively control displaying of the corresponding areas150(1)˜150(n), according to the counted numbers of times.

When the display presents the error rates corresponding to each data channel, the tester may adjust parameters of the data channels based on the displayed error rates, such that the adjusted error rates of the data channels are reduced to meet a preset specification. The aforementioned methods for adjusting the parameters of the data channels include, but are not limited to, adjusting terminal resistance values of the data channels, adjusting sizes of equalizers of the data channels, and adjusting currents of receivers of the data channels.

In summary, the invention is by transmitting a test signal with a specific format to a plurality of source drivers of a display so that the source drivers determine the error rates of the plurality of data channels of the display according to the received test signal and control a panel of the display to present the error rates of the data channels in a way that the error rates are easily recognized.