Patent Abstract:
A display includes a power supply system using a power controller to switch a power switch to control power delivery, and an image scalar receiving a supply voltage and a supply current from the power supply system. An apparatus and method are proposed to determine a control signal in a standby mode by monitoring the supply voltage or the supply current, to wake up or turn off the power controller to reduce the switching times of the power switch in the standby mode, thereby reducing the switching loss of the power switch and the standby power consumption of the display.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related generally to the power management of a display and, more particularly, to apparatus and method for reducing the standby power consumption of a display. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Recently, due to shortage of energy sources and with environmental awareness on the rise, various energy saving functions attract more and more attention in applications of power supplies, of which the standby power consumption is one of the key factors. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a display  10  includes a power supply system  12  to provide the voltage needed by the internal components of the display  10 , and an image scalar  14  to control the size of an image displayed. The power supply system  12  uses a flyback voltage converter  16  to convert an input voltage Vin to an output voltage Vo, and the voltage Vs supplied to the image scalar  14  is generated from the voltage Vo by a low-dropout (LDO) regulator  18 . In the flyback voltage converter  16 , a transformer Tx has a primary coil Lp connected between the power input end Vin and a power switch Qsw, and a secondary coil Ls connected between a diode Do and a ground end GND, a power controller  20  provides a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal Vgs from a pin GATE to switch the power switch Qsw and thereby control the power delivery of the transformer Tx, the transformer Tx further includes an auxiliary coil Laux connected between a ground end GND and a diode Daux to supply a current Iaux for charging a capacitor Cvdd and thereby providing electricity to a power pin VDD of the power controller  20 , a photocoupler  22  and a shunt regulator  24  are used to generate a feedback signal FB to feed back the output information of the flyback voltage converter  16  to a pin COMP of the power controller  20 , a current sense resistor Rcs is connected in series with the power switch Qsw to detect the current in the primary coil Lp to generate a current sense signal VCS injected to a current sense pin CS of the power controller  20 , and according to the feedback signal FB and the current sense signal VCS, the power controller  20  modulates the duty of the power switch Qsw to regulate the output voltage Vo at a certain value and control the output power of the flyback voltage converter  16 . 
       FIG. 2  is a waveform diagram for demonstrating a conventional control method of the power controller  20 . As shown by the waveform  26 , the output current Iload of the flyback voltage converter  16  is higher in a normal mode than in a standby mode. In the normal mode, to support a heavy loading, the power switch Qsw is switched by a high-frequency PWM signal Vgs. In the standby mode, however, the power controller  20  operates in a pulse skipping mode, in which the power switch Qsw is switched less frequently because the number of pulses is reduced, and the lighter the loading is, the more pulses are skipped. Nevertheless, the use of electricity by the image scalar  14  in the standby mode was never effectively adjusted. As shown by the waveform  28 , the supply voltage Vs of the image scalar  14  remains constant in both the normal and standby modes. Therefore, even after the display  10  enters the standby mode, the image scalar  14  and the power controller  20  still operate as in the normal mode and accordingly, cause considerable power consumption. If the image scalar  14  is turned off for power saving, the display  10  will also enter an OFF mode and thus leave the standby mode. 
     Hence, it is desired an apparatus and method for reducing the standby power consumption of a display while maintaining normal operation of an image scalar of the display during the standby mode. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for reducing the standby power consumption of a display. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a display with low standby power consumption. 
     According to the present invention, a display includes a power supply system having a power controller to switch a power switch to control the power delivery, and an image scalar connected to the power supply system to receive a supply voltage therefrom. An apparatus for reducing the standby power consumption of the display includes a power monitor circuit to monitor the supply voltage in a standby mode under control of a mode signal to generate a control signal accordingly to enable or disable the power controller. A method for reducing the standby power consumption of the display includes monitoring the supply voltage in a standby mode under control of a mode signal, generating a control signal according to the variation of the supply voltage, and enabling or disabling the power controller with the control signal. 
     When disabled, the power controller stops switching the power switch and as a result, the switching loss and power consumption are both reduced. By enabling the power controller in the standby mode, the supply voltage is maintained within a range sufficient for sustaining normal operation of the image scalar. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a circuit diagram of a conventional display; 
         FIG. 2  is a waveform diagram of the display shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a circuit diagram of a display according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram of a first embodiment for the power monitor circuit shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a circuit diagram of a second embodiment for the power monitor circuit shown in  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a waveform diagram of the display shown in  FIG. 3  when using the power monitor circuit shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 3  is a circuit diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention, in which a display  30  includes a power supply system  32  to provide the voltage needed by the internal components of the display  30 , and an image scalar  34  to control the size of an image displayed. The power supply system  32  includes a flyback voltage converter  36  using a power controller  38  to switch a power switch Qsw to convert an input voltage Vin to an output voltage Vo, and an LDO  18  to generate a voltage Vs from the voltage Vo to supply to the image scalar  34 . The power supply system  32  further includes an apparatus  40  to improve the efficiency of the display  30  in a standby mode, which has a power monitor circuit  42  connected to the image scalar  34 , and a photocoupler  44  connected to the power controller  38 . The power monitor circuit  42  receives a mode signal GPIO from the image scalar  34  and monitors the voltage or current at the power pin Vs of the image scalar  34  to generate a control signal S 1  accordingly. The photocoupler  44  converts the control signal S 1  to an enable signal Sen fed back to an enable pin EN/DIS of the power controller  38 . When the display  30  operates in a normal mode, the mode signal GPIO is at a first state, i.e., at a low level, and thus the power monitor circuit  42  keeps the control signal S 1  at low, so that no current flows through the light-emitting diode D 2  in the photocoupler  44 , the transistor Q 2  is off, and the enable signal Sen is high, by which the power controller  38  continues switching the power switch Qsw as conventionally. Once the display  30  enters a standby mode, the mode signal GPIO is at a second state, i.e., at a high level, by which the power monitor circuit  42  will determine the level of the control signal S 1  according to the voltage Vs, to pull the enable signal Sen to high or to low, thereby enabling or disabling the power controller  38 . While the power controller  38  is disabled, the power controller  38  stops switching the power switch Qsw, and thus the switching loss and power consumption are both reduced and the efficiency is improved. In the standby mode, by using the apparatus  40  to disable or enable the power controller  38 , and thereby to stop or resume switching the power switch Qsw, the voltage Vs is decreased or increased within a range not exceeding the range of operating voltage of the image scalar  34 . Namely, in the standby mode, it provides only enough power for the image scalar  34  to sustain normal operation, and the voltage Vs will not be kept at a heavy loading state. In this embodiment, the mode signal GPIO is provided by the image scalar  34 ; while in other embodiments, the mode signal GPIO may be provided by the power controller  38 . Furthermore, the power monitor circuit  42  and the image scalar  34  may be integrated in a same integrated circuit. 
       FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram of a first embodiment for the power monitor circuit  42 , which includes a hysteresis comparator  46  and a logic circuit  48 . An upper threshold value Power_High and a lower threshold value Power_Low are provided for the input of the hysteresis comparator  46  to define the upper limit and the lower limit of a hysteresis band, respectively. The voltage Vs is compared with the upper and lower limits to generate a comparison signal Sc. In the logic circuit  48 , an AND gate generates a first signal S 2  according to the comparison signal Sc and the mode signal GPIO, an inverter  52  is connected to the AND gate  50  to generate a second signal S 3  by inverting the first signal S 2 , and an AND gate  54  generates the control signal S 1  according to the mode signal GPIO and the second signal S 3 . 
       FIG. 5  is a circuit diagram of a second embodiment for the power monitor circuit  42 , in which the hysteresis comparator  46  is identical to its counterpart in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , and a logic circuit  56  includes an AND gate  58  to generate a first signal S 4  according to the comparison signal Sc and the mode signal GPIO, an inverter  60  to generate a second signal S 5  by inverting the mode signal GPIO, an OR gate  62  connected to the AND gate  58  and the inverter  60  to generate a third signal S 6  according to the first signal S 4  and the second signal S 5 , and an inverter  64  connected to the OR gate  62  to generate the control signal S 1  by inverting the third signal S 6 . The logic circuit  56  of  FIG. 5  generates the same operation result as the logic circuit  48  of  FIG. 4 . A person skilled in the art can design other logic circuits based on the teachings of the foregoing embodiments. 
       FIG. 6  is a waveform diagram of the display  30  employing the power monitor circuit  42  of  FIG. 4 . In the normal mode, the mode signal GPIO is low and as a result, the control signal S 1  remains low, the enable signal Sen remains high, and the power controller  38  operates normally as conventionally. Once the display  30  enters the standby mode, as indicated at time t 1 , the mode signal GPIO transits to high, and at this time, the voltage Vs is higher than the upper threshold value Power_High, so that the control signal S 1  transits to high and brings the enable signal Sen switched to low, and consequently, the power controller  38  is disabled and stops switching the power switch Qsw, causing the output voltage Vo of the flyback voltage converter  36 , and the supply voltage Vs of the image scalar  34 , decreasing gradually. When the voltage Vs becomes lower than the lower threshold value Power_Low, as indicated at time t 2 , the comparison signal Sc transits to high, the control signal S 1  switches to low and brings the enable signal Sen switched to high, and the power controller  38  is enabled to resume switching the power switch Qsw. In consequence, the supply voltage Vs of the image scalar  34  rises with the increasing output voltage Vo of the flyback voltage converter  36 . When the voltage Vs rises above the upper threshold value Power_High, as indicated at time t 3 , the comparison signal Sc returns to low and brings the control signal S 1  back to high and the enable signal Sen back to low. Thus, the power controller  38  is disabled and stops switching the power switch Qsw, so that the supply voltage Vs of the image scalar  34  decreases with the decreasing output voltage Vo of the voltage converter  36 . The aforesaid process is repeated until the display  30  returns to the normal mode. As shown in  FIG. 6 , in the standby mode, the voltage Vs will vary between the upper threshold value Power_High and the lower threshold value Power_Low, and the PWM signal Vgs will be turned off for an extended period of time to reduce the switching loss. However, since the lower threshold value Power_Low is higher than the turn-off threshold value Power-Off of the image scalar  34 , the image scalar  34  will still operate normally. In the standby mode, the decreasing slope of the voltage Vs is related to the loading Iload of the flyback voltage converter  36 . More specifically, the lighter the loading is, the more slowly the voltage Vs decreases, the longer the power controller  38  is disabled, the lower the power consumption is. 
     While the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8