Liquid crystal display driver

Abstract: There is disclosed a liquid crystal display driver based on a 1/4-duty binary-voltage driving system. The driver com­ prises a means for generating at least four kinds of common signals and a means for generating at least eleven kinds of segment signals, wherein the V on /V off ratio of the effective value is set to be greater than about 1.7.

Description: The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display driver for use in a display unit of a desktop electronic calculator (hereinafter referred to as calculator) or the like. For duty-driving a liquid crystal display (hereinafter abbreviated to LCD), it is necessary to apply a bias voltage so as to obtain a proper on-off effective value. In this operation, at least three voltages have been required heretofore inclusive of more than one intermediate level voltage in addition to a supply voltage. For example, in a dry battery type calculator, a driving operation is performed with 1/3 duty·1/3 bias or 1/4 duty·1/3 bias having two values of intermediate level voltage. The above 1/3 duty·1/3 bias is effected by signals of the waveforms shown in Fig. 7. Supposing now E = 1.5 V, the V ON /V OFF ratio α becomes √3 ≒ 1.73. In a solar battery type calculator (hereinafter referred to as SB calculator), it is customary to perform a driving operation with 1/3 duty. 1/2 bias having three values of a solar battery voltage, a doubled voltage thereof obtained through a booster and an intermediate level voltage. In the former dry battery type calculator where intermediate level voltages are obtained by division through a bleeder resistor, the current is merely slight. However, in the latter SB calculator where the set current is as small as 1/2 to 1/3 of the bleeder current in the dry battery type, it is impossible to adopt a means of producing an intermediate level voltage by a bleeder resistor. Therefore its power source is formed by the use of a booster equipped with two capacitors outside of an LSI. But in the above structure, the number of required component parts is increased due to the necessity of a booster, and the circuit configuration is rendered complicated. Meanwhile, with regard to another system for duty driving the LCD at two voltages of a single power source without using such booster which causes the aforementioned disadvantages, there is known a pulse control system that executes driving by pulses of the waveforms shown in Fig. 8 or 9. In the 1/2 duty pulses of Fig. 8: (a) shows a waveform H1 where h1 represents a selection period and h2 a half selection period; and (b) shows another waveform H2 where h2 represents a selection period and h1 a half selection period. And the waveform so shaped as to apply a voltage during each selection period has an effective on-value in its common, while the waveform so shaped as not to apply any voltage has an effective off-value. When E = 1.5 V, V ON = √ 3/4 ·E = 1.3 V and V OFF = √ 1/4 ·E = 0.75 V. Therefore the V ON /V OFF ratio α becomes √3 ≒ 1.73. Meanwhile, in the 1/3 duty pulse shown in Fig. 9, V ON = 1.22 V and V OFF = 0.87 V, so that α = 1.41. Although it is possible to produce a 1/4 duty waveform in a similar way, the ratio α comes to be so small as 1.29. Since the contrast of the LCD becomes higher with increase of the ratio α, it is customary in the calculator to adopt a system that ensures a greater value of α exceeding 1.73. The number of signals required for driving the LCD elements can be reduced as the denominator in the LCD-driving duty factor becomes greater, in such a manner that 1/3 is superior to 1/2, 1/4 to 1/3 and so forth. Therefore, duty drive with such a greater value is desirable on condition that the same display quality can be achieved. However, in the conventional structure mentioned above, 1/2 duty is the limit due to the value of α for pulse-driving the liquid crystal display in the calculator, and 1/3 duty is not employable with respect to the display quality or contrast. Meanwhile for LCD drive in the SB calculator, a 1/3 duty·1/2 bias system is adopted in most cases. In driving an 8-digit LCD, for example, required signals are 27 in total. As compared therewith, at least 36 signals are required in the case of using 1/2 duty pulses to consequently bring about an increase of the chip size in an LSI and also a larger number of package pins, thereby causing a higher cost of production. The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above problems observed in the prior art. And its object resides in providing an improved liquid crystal display driver which is based on a 1/4 duty binary voltage driving system and is capable of reducing the number of required signals for driving the LCD, thereby realizing dimensional reduction of the LSI with resultant curtailment of the production cost. For the purpose of achieving the aforementioned object, the liquid crystal display driver of the present invention uses binary voltages for driving a liquid crystal display having at least one eight-segment display element, the display element comprising two segment signal electrodes, each associated with a respective group of four segments of the display element, and four common signal electrodes, each associated with a respective pair of segments comprising one from each said group, each segment of the display element being selectively operable in an ON condition and an OFF condition in dependence upon binary voltage driving signals applied to the segment signal electrode and the common signal electrode associated with that segment, so as to permit the display of predetermined character patterns, the display driver comprising: common signal generator means for generating four mutually different binary common signals for respective application to said common signal electrodes; and segment signal generator means for generating at least eleven mutually different binary segment signals for selective application to said segment signal electrodes according to the character pattern to be displayed, characterised in that: each of said common signals and each of said segment signals has a frame period divided equally into five one-bit timing intervals; and a voltage E is applied to a segment during three of said five one-bit timing intervals causing the effective value of the driving signal waveform applied to said segment of the display element to be V ON = √3/√5.E in said ON condition of said segment and a voltage E is applied to a segment during only one of said five one-bit timing intervals causing the effective value of the driving signal waveform applied to said segment to be V OFF = √1/√5.E in said OFF condition of said segment, where E is the binary '1' voltage level. Therefore, the V ON /V OFF ratio of the effective value is set to be greater than about 1.7, and the constitution is so contrived as to attain reduction in the cost of production. The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the present invention. In the drawings: Figs. 1 through 6 show an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which: Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram of a liquid crystal display driver; Fig. 2 is a timing chart of output signals from a divider and a ring counter shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a timing chart of signals from a clock generator, a ROM and a segment shift register · latch; Fig. 4 (a), (b) and (c) are timing charts of common waveforms, segment waveforms and exemplary applied-voltage waveforms; Fig. 4 (d) and (e) illustrate the generation of two character patterns using the common waveforms and segment waveforms of Fig. 4 (a) and (b); Fig. 5 is a connection diagram of a 1/4 duty segment pattern; and Fig. 6 illustrates how the liquid crystal display driver is constituted on a tape; Figs. 7 through 12 show a conventional liquid crystal driver, in which Fig. 7 (a), (b) and (c) are timing charts of common waveforms, segment waveforms and exemplary applied-voltage waveforms in a 1/3 duty·1/3 bias driving system; Fig. 8 is a timing chart of drive signals in a 1/2 duty pulse driving system; Fig. 9 is a timing chart of drive signals in a 1/3 duty pulse driving system; Fig. 10 is a circuit diagram of a 1/4 duty·1/3 bias common waveform generator; Fig. 11 is a connection diagram of a 1/4 duty segment pattern; and Fig. 12 illustrates how the liquid crystal display driver is constituted on a tape. Hereinafter an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 through 12. The liquid crystal display driver of the present invention is based on a 1/4 duty binary voltage driving system as shown in Fig. 1. It comprises a clock generator 1; a divider 2 for producing a display signal by dividing an original oscillation frequency into a frequency Φf; a ring counter 3 for producing timing signals h1 - h5; a common driver 4 which is a common signal generating means to produce at least 4 kinds of common waveforms H1 - H4; a ROM 5 consisting of a data address decoder 5a and a main ROM 5b to serve as a means for generating at least 11 kinds of segment signals; a segment shift register·latch 6 consisting of a segment shift register 6a and a segment latch 6b; and a segment driver 7 for driving segment signals. The ring counter 3 is connected to the common driver 4 via a T flip-flop 8 and is further connected to the segment shift register latch 6 via the T flip-flop 8 and an exclusive-OR gate 9. And the ROM 5 is connected to the segment shift register·latch 6 via the exclusive OR 9. Now the operation of the liquid crystal display driver having the above constitution will be described below with reference to the timing charts of Figs. 2 and 3. The clock generator 1 produces output signals Φ1, Φ2 shown in Fig. 3 (a), (b). And the output Φf of the divider 2 shown in Fig. 2 (a) is synchronous with Φ2 as the former is obtained from the latter by frequency division. Accordingly, h1 - h5 of Fig. 2 (b) - (f) and H1 - H4 of Fig. 2 (h) - (k) are also synchronous with Φ2 respectively. The ring counter 3 produces waveforms of h1 - h5 by using Φf as clock pulses. A signal FR of Fig. 2 (g) is used for inversion per frame and is inverted at the fall of h1. H1 - H4 are EX-OR signals of h2 - h5 and FR. The ROM 5 generates segment signals ai, bi and performs the operation shown in Table 1 of truth values where 5 bits of DP and X4 - X1 (Fig. 1) are used as data and 6 bits of ai/bi and h1 - h5 as addresses (10 combinations in total since h1 - h5 become 1 simultaneously in only one bit thereof). Denoted by X4 - X1 and DP are signals from a data register (not shown), and the output Q of the ROM 5 is obtained in accordance with such contents and the timing of ai/bi and h1 - h5. For example, at the timing of h1 as shown in Fig. 3, first a signal a₁ is decoded according to Φw of Fig. 3 (d) with ai/bi = 1 (timing of ai) in Fig. 3 (e) and then is inputted to the segment shift register 6a. In this stage, if the display content of the first digit (a₁, b₁) is 8, it follows that Q = 0 as the ROM 5 produces an output 0 due to Xin = 8, DP = 0 and a1 - h1 from Table 1. In case FR = 0, a bit 0 is inputted to the fore (left) end of the segment shift register 6a. At the next timing, Q = 1 as ai/bi = 0 (bi), Xin = 8, DP = 0 and h1 from Table 1, so that a bit 1 is inputted to the fore end of the segment shift register 6a according to Φw, and simultaneously the content of the segment shift register 6a is shifted rightward by one bit. When the display content of the second digit is 2, it follows similarly that Q = 0 as ai/bi = 1, Xin = 2, Dp = 1 and h1; and Q = 0 as ai/bi = 0, Xi = 2, DP = 1 and h1. Thereafter the operation is continued until signals for the eighth digit and the symbol digit S are decoded, whereby the entire 17 bits of the segment shift register 6a are filled with data. Denoted by ΦT in Fig. 2 (ℓ) is a signal produced at the fall of h1 and serving to decide the timing to transfer the content of the segment shift register 6a to the segment latch 6b in parallel. The 17-bit data decoded at the timing of h1 is transferred to the segment latch 6b according to the pulse ΦT produced synchronously with the fall of h1 and is outputted from terminals a1·b1 - S via a buffer of the segment driver 7. The timing after such transfer according to the pulse ΦT corresponds to h2, but the content of the display signal outputted from the terminals corresponds to h1. Any timing error caused by the segment shift register 6a and the segment latch 6b is corrected by changing h2 to H1, h3 to H2, h4 to H3 and h5 to H4 respectively in the common driver 4. At the timing of h2, decoding is executed in accordance with Xin, DP, ai·bi and h2, and after being inputted to the segment shift register 6a, the data is transferred to the segment latch 6b according to the pulse ΦT produced at the fall of h2 and then is displayed. Thereafter the data is decoded similarly to the above until the timing of h5 and subsequently the procedure is returned to the timing of h1. This operation is performed exactly in the same manner until the output Q of the ROM 5 is obtained, and thereafter the signal FR becomes 1, so that an inverted signal of Q is fed to the segment shift register 6a. Denoted by Xin·DP in Fig. 3 (i) is a timing to switch over the data synchronously with Φ2. A shift pulse Φw for the segment shift register 6a is sampled at the timing of Φ1. Shown in Fig. 3 (j) is the output waveform of Q (timing of h1) obtained when the content of the display data register representing the values of Xin and DP is 64512.8. The terminal S is provided for turning on a symbol or the like other than -shaped character segments, and it is usable within a range of combinations of the segment waveforms shown in Fig. 3. The liquid crystal display driver described hereinabove has the following features in comparison with the aforementioned conventional one. (1) With regard to the driving signal waveform shown in Fig. 4, the portions corresponding to h1 and h2 in the driving pulses of Fig. 8 are existent merely as timing, and the respective effective values are obtainable throughout the entirety of one frame. The timing is composed of 5 bits despite 1/4 duty and fulfils an important role as a correction period for ensuring a proper effective value relative to the portion denoted by T in Fig. 4 (a). (2) When E = 1.5, the effective value of the driving signal waveform is, from Fig. 4, V ON = √ 3/5 .E = 1.16 V and V OFF = √ 1/5 ·E = 0.67 V. Although this value is about 10% smaller than that obtained in the pulse drive of Fig. 8, it may be taken into consideration at the time of selecting V th of the LCD. The V ON /V OFF ratio α becomes √3 ≒ 1.73, which is equal to the value in the aforesaid pulse drive (Fig. 8). (3) Due to the 1/4 duty, the number of required drive signals in an 8-digit desktop electronic calculator is 21 which is less by 15 signals as compared with 1/2 duty pulses and corresponds to less than 60% thereof, whereby the number of pads in the LSI chip can be diminished to eventually realise dimensional reduction of both the LSI and the apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Furthermore, since the number of package pins can also be diminished, it becomes possible to lower the production cost of the LSI. In addition, the common driver 4 shown in Fig. 1 is widely simplified in comparison with the conventional 1/4 duty·1/3 bias common signal generator of Fig. 10. (4) The 1/4-duty binary-voltage driving system adopted in the present invention is contrived in the following manner correspondingly to a -shaped character pattern. As is apparent from the waveforms of Fig. 4, 16 patterns formable by on-off combinations of H1 - H4 are not entirely existent in this system, and there are merely 12 patterns (as shown in Fig. 4(b)) with the exception of 4 patterns where one of H1 - H4 is on while the remaining three are off. Meanwhile, in the case of representing 0 - 9 (inclusive of a sign · ) with -shaped character segments, there are only 11 patterns of on-off combinations as shown in Tables 4 and 5 according to the conventional method of connecting 1/4 duty segments shown in Fig. 11. However, Table 5 includes a pattern (1000) which is not existent in Fig. 4, so that it is not usable directly without any change. Accordingly, with respect to the -shaped character segment pattern, the combinations have been modified to those shown in Fig. 5. Patterns of such modified combinations are shown in Tables 2 and 3. The patterns of Table 3 are entirely included in those of Fig. 4 and can therefore be displayed. Denoted by x in ai - H4 of Table 4 and ai - H3 of Table 2 represents either 1 or 0, signifying that there are two cases, i.e. with and without a decimal point. Figs. 4(d) and (e) illustrate the generation of the character patterns for display of the numerals '1' and '9', respectively, on a display element configured as shown in Fig. 5. Referring to Fig. 5, in order to display the numeral '1', the segment supplied with common signal H₁ and segment signal a i and the segment supplied with common signal H₂ and segment signal a i require activation. From Fig. 4(b), the segment signal a i needs to be H₁H₂H₃H₄ = 1100 and the segment signal b i needs to be H₁H₂H₃H₄ = 0000. The effect of applying these two segment signals to the display element is shown in Fig. 4(d), in which the condition of each segment is shown for the five timing intervals t₁ - t₅ of one frame. For the segments which are OFF, the combination of common signal and segment signal produces a net voltage in one of the five intervals. The effective value of the driving signal waveform in the OFF condition is thus V OFF = √1/√5.E. For the segments which are ON, the combination of common signal and segment signal produces a net voltage in three of the five intervals. The effective value of the driving signal waveform in the ON condition is thus V ON = √3/√5.E. In Fig. 4(e) the condition of each segment is shown for the five timing intervals t₁ - t₅ of one frame when the numeral '9' is displayed. The same values of V ON and V OFF are obtained. (5) In this display driver where the number of both LCD driving signals and package pins are diminished, terminals can be disposed in an improved array particularly when manufacturing an LSI package with a film carrier by the art of TAB (tape automated bonding), thereby attaining remarkable effects in reducing the number of film pitches and curtailing the material cost. Fig. 12 illustrates an exemplary arrangement of a conventional film carrier LSI, wherein terminals 20 ... for the LCD and keys are arrayed in parallel with one another in the longitudinal direction of a tape 21, and the width of the LSI is determined by that of the tape 21 (actually the effective width W with the exception of sprockets 22 ...). And the number of pitches or sprockets 22 ... is adjusted in accordance with the number of terminals 20 ... to determine the tape length for each LSI 23. The number of terminals 20 ... disposable within one pitch is determined substantially by the mounting precision. Supposing that the terminal pitch is 0.9 mm as illustrated in Fig. 12, a tape length of 27.9 mm is required for arraying 31 terminals 20, thereby necessitating 6 pitches. Meanwhile 26 terminals are provided in the present invention as shown in Fig. 6, so that the tape length required is 23.4 mm which corresponds to 5 pitches. However, since the transverse effective length of the tape 21 is 25.4 mm, it becomes possible to achieve a transverse array of terminals 20 ... . In contrast with the tape 21 of Fig. 12 where power terminals and component mounting pads are arrayed transversely with margin space, there exists the possibility in the example of Fig. 6 that the density can be increased to 2 - 3 pitches corresponding to 9.5 - 14.25 mm. Consequently, as compared with 5 pitches in the conventional structure, the number of film pitches can be diminished to a half to eventually accomplish wide reduction of the required material with curtailment of the production cost. As described hereinabove, the liquid crystal display driver of the present invention is based on a 1/4-duty binary-voltage driving system and is equipped with a means for generating at least 4 kinds of common signals and a means for generating at least 11 kinds of segment signals, wherein the V on /V off ratio is set to be at least 1.7, so that the following advantageous effects are attainable. (1) Due to its operation performed with a single power source, no booster is required to consequently simplify the circuit configuration. Therefore a capacitor for the booster can be eliminated to reduce the number of component parts, whereby a dimensional reduction is achievable relative to the LSI chip with resultant curtailment of the production cost. (2) The number of LCD driving terminals can be diminished as compared with the known device to eventually reduce the dimensions of the LSI package, hence curtailing the production cost of the LSI and rendering the display driver more compact. (3) Because of the nonnecessity of a booster, the driving voltage can be lowered to eventually decrease the power consumed in the LSI and LCD. Accordingly, it becomes possible to realize a smaller power source with reduced production cost. While only certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as claimed.

Claims: A liquid crystal display driver which uses binary voltages for driving a liquid crystal display having at least one eight-segment display element, the display element comprising two segment signal electrodes, each associated with a respective group of four segments of the display element, and four common signal electrodes, each associated with a respective pair of segments comprising one from each said group, each segment of the display element being selectively operable in an ON condition and an OFF condition in dependence upon binary voltage driving signals applied to the segment signal electrode and the common signal electrode associated with that segment, so as to permit the display of predetermined character patterns, the display driver comprising: common signal generator means (4) for generating four mutually different binary common signals (Fig. 4(a)) for respective application to said common signal electrodes; and segment signal generator means (5) for generating at least eleven mutually different binary segment signals (Fig. 4(b)) for selective application to said segment signal electrodes according to the character pattern to be displayed, characterised in that: each of said common signals and each of said segment signals has a frame period divided equally into five one-bit timing intervals; and a voltage E is applied to a segment during three of said five one-bit timing intervals, causing the effective value of the driving signal waveform (Fig. 4(c)) applied to said segment of the display element to be V ON = √3/√5.E in said ON condition of said segment, and a voltage E is applied to a segment during only one of said five one-bit timing intervals, causing the effective value of the driving signal waveform (Fig. 4(c)) applied to said segment to be V OFF = √1/√5.E in said OFF condition of said segment, where E is the binary '1' voltage level. A liquid crystal display driver according to claim 1, wherein said segment signal generator means (5) generates eleven mutually different binary segment signals. A liquid crystal display driver according to claim 1 or claim 2, comprising: timing means (1, 2, 3) for producing timing signals (h₁ - h₅); logic circuit means (4) for logically combining said timing signals to generate said four common signals; and memory means (5) for generating selected ones of said segment signals in dependence upon said timing signals and input data (DP, X₄ - X₁) related to the character pattern to be displayed. A liquid crystal display driver according to claim 3, further comprising register means (6) having a serial input connected to the output of said memory means (5) and a plurality of parallel outputs (a₁, b₁, -- a₈, b₈) which provide respective segment signals for elements of a multi-element display. A liquid crystal display driver according to claim 3 or claim 4, including means (8, 9) for inverting said common signals and said segment signals during alternate said frame periods in dependence upon one (h₁) of said timing signals. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising a liquid crystal display which has a plurality of eight-segment display elements, and a display driver in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.

Inventors: TOSHIO NISHIMURA, TOSHIO, NISHIMURA
Applicants: SHARP KK, SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1987
Main classification: G09G3
IPC codes: G02F1, G09G3