Patent ID: 7973749

Claim:
A display device, comprising: a light source; a transparent/scattering switching element disposed above the light source capable of switching between states in which light that has entered from the light source is transmitted or scattered for emittance; a display panel disposed above the transparent/scattering switching element for receiving light emitted from the transparent/scattering switching element and displaying images, said display panel having a plurality of pixels arranged in the form of a matrix so as to form a display area; a gate-line drive circuit disposed on the display panel and composed of a shift register for outputting, upon receiving a power source voltage comprising a positive and a negative power source voltage for driving the pixels and a start signal for instructing a scanning timing of said display panel, a scanning pulse for scanning the pixels of said display area; and a transparent/scattering switching element drive circuit disposed on the display panel for generating a drive voltage of said transparent/scattering switching element using as inputs said power source voltage including said positive and negative power source voltages, said start signal for instructing a scanning timing of said display panel, and a control signal, and for outputting at least one of two signals for driving said transparent/scattering switching element based on a combination of said start signal for instructing a scanning timing of said display panel and said control signal, wherein said transparent/scattering switching element drive circuit has a circuit, comprising at least a bit counter and a transmission gate, for reversing, in response to the start signal for instructing the scanning timing of the display panel, a polarity of the drive voltage of said transparent/scattering switching element, whereby the polarity of the drive voltage of said transparent/scattering switching element is reversed in synchronization with a switching of said start signal for instructing a scanning timing of said display panel to a high level; and a plurality of series of said gate-line drive circuits, wherein the start signal for instructing a scanning timing of said display panel is a start signal for instructing a start of gate scanning of thin-film transistors in the pixels of the display area.