PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-8988471-B2
Application Number: US-201213601801-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Systems and methods for dynamic dwelling time for tuning display to reduce or eliminate mura artifact

Abstract:
Systems and methods for calibrating an electronic display to reduce or eliminate a mura artifact are provided. The mura artifact may be due to differential behavior of common voltage layers (VCOMs) in the electronic display. One method for reducing or eliminating the mura artifact may involve turning on an electronic display and programming pixels the electronic display to a uniform gray level. An initial luminance value may be determined and, after waiting a period of time, a subsequent luminance of the pixels may be measured. When a difference between the subsequent luminance and initial luminance is within a threshold, the mura artifact may be understood to have settled and the electronic display may be calibrated.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 turning on an electronic display; 
 programming pixels the electronic display to a uniform gray level; 
 measuring an initial luminance of the pixels; 
 waiting a first period of time; 
 measuring a subsequent luminance of the pixels; 
 calibrating the display to reduce artifacts when a magnitude of a difference between the subsequent luminance and the initial luminance is within a threshold; and 
 when the magnitude of the difference between the subsequent luminance and the initial luminance does not exceed the threshold:
 waiting a second period of time; and 
 remeasuring the subsequent luminance of the pixels; 
 
 wherein the display is calibrated to reduce artifacts when a magnitude of a difference between the latest two measurements of luminance is within the threshold. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein measuring the initial luminance and measuring the subsequent luminance comprise measuring an absolute value of luminance of a subset of the pixels that are brighter or darker than another subset of the pixels. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein measuring the initial luminance and measuring the subsequent luminance comprise measuring a difference between a first subset of the pixels and a second subset of the pixels, wherein the first subset of the pixels is brighter or darker than the second subset of the pixels. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first period of time is longer than the second period of time. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gray level is configured to produce a stronger contrast of a mura artifact than most other gray levels. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gray level is a gray level between G 40  to G 80  on a scale from G 0  to G 255 . 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gray level is configured to produce a stronger contrast of a mura artifact than all other gray levels. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gray level is a gray level of G 63  on a scale from G 0  to G 255 . 
     
     
       9. A system for calibrating an electronic display, comprising:
 a camera configured to capture images of an active area of an electronic display while the electronic display is programmed to a uniform gray level, such that a mura artifact of the electronic display is enhanced relative to most other gray levels; and 
 a computer configured to:
 receive a first image of the electronic display when the electronic display is turned on and programmed to the uniform gray level; 
 determine a first luminance difference between bright areas and dark areas of the mura artifact in the first image; 
 wait a first period of time; 
 receive a second image of the electronic display; 
 determine a second luminance difference between the bright areas and dark areas of the mura artifact in the second image; when the magnitude of the difference between the second luminance and the first luminance does not exceed a threshold:
 wait a second period of time; 
 receive a third image of the electronic display; 
 determine a third luminance difference between the bright areas and dark areas of the mura artifact in the third image; and 
 indicate that the display is ready to be calibrated to reduce or eliminate the mura artifact when a magnitude of a difference between the third luminance and the second luminance is within the threshold. 
 
 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the threshold is configured to indicate that the mura artifact has stabilized. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the threshold is less than or equal to about 300 cd/m 2 . 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the threshold is less than or equal to about 100 cd/m 2 . 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the threshold is greater than about 500 cd/m 2 . 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the camera is configured to obtain images of a bit depth sufficient to detect the mura artifact. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the camera is configured to obtain images having a bit depth of 12 or greater. 
     
     
       16. A method of manufacturing an electronic device, comprising:
 installing an electronic display into the electronic device; 
 turning on the electronic device; 
 programming pixels of the electronic display to a first gray level; 
 determining luminance values output by the pixels at a first point in time and a second point in time; 
 when the magnitude of the difference between the luminance value at the first time and the luminance value at the second time does not exceed a threshold:
 waiting until a third point in time; and 
 determining a luminance value output by the pixels at the third point in time; and 
 
 starting to calibrate the electronic display to reduce a mura artifact when the luminance value at the second point in time and the luminance value at the third point in time are different from one another by less than the threshold value. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the electronic display comprises a liquid crystal display comprising a plurality of common voltage layers (VCOMs) and wherein the mura artifact is due at least in part to differential characteristics of the VCOMs. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the electronic device comprises a handheld device, a portable phone, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, or a desktop computer, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
       19. An electronic device comprising:
 an electronic display; and 
 a processor configured to:
 cause pixels of the electronic display to be programmed to a gray level; 
 periodically receive substantially real-time images of the pixels of electronic display; 
 determine luminance values of the pixels of a first image and a second image; and 
 calibrate the electronic display after luminance values from the first image and a second image are different by less than a threshold; 
 when the luminance values from the first image and the second image are different by more than the threshold:
 wait for a third received image; 
 determine luminance values of the pixels of a third image; and 
 calibrate the electronic display after luminance values from the second image and the third image are different by less than the threshold. 
 
 
 
     
     
       20. The electronic device of  claim 19 , comprising a camera configured to capture the images of the pixels of the electronic display via a reflective material directing light from the electronic display to the camera. 
     
     
       21. The electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to receive the images from an external source, wherein the images derive from a camera external to the electronic device. 
     
     
       22. One or more articles of manufacture comprising:
 one or more tangible, machine-readable media comprising processor-executable instructions to:
 periodically receive real-time images of an electronic display programmed to display a single gray level; 
 when luminance differences between light and dark areas of the electronic display apparent in a first real-time image and a second real time image of the electronic display are different from one another by greater than a threshold value, wait until receiving a third real-time image; and 
 when luminance differences between light and dark areas of the electronic display apparent in the second real-time image and the third real-time image of the electronic display are different from one another by less than a threshold value:
 indicate that a mura of the electronic display has stabilized; or 
 start to tune the electronic display to reduce or eliminate the mura; or 
 both.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Non-Provisional Patent Application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/657,652, entitled “Systems and Methods for Dynamic Dwelling Time for Tuning Display to Reduce or Eliminate Mura Artifact”, filed Jun. 8, 2012, which are herein incorporated by reference. 
     In addition, the following patent applications, all filed on Jun. 8, 2012, are related: “Systems and Methods for Reducing or Eliminating Mura Artifact Using Contrast-Enhanced Imagery,” U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/657,704; “Systems and Methods for Reducing or Eliminating Mura Artifact Using Image Feedback,” U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/657,656; “Systems and Methods for Dynamic Dwelling Time For Tuning Display to Reduce or Eliminate Mura Artifact,” U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/657,652; and “Systems and Methods for Mura Calibration Preparation,” U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/657,701. The above applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to electronic displays and, more particularly, to electronic displays tuned to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     Electronic displays commonly appear in electronic devices such as televisions, computers, and phones. One type of electronic display, known as a liquid crystal display (LCD), displays images by modulating the amount of light allowed to pass through a liquid crystal layer within pixels of the LCD. In general, LCDs modulate the light passing through each pixel by varying a voltage difference between a pixel electrode and a common electrode. This creates an electric field that causes the liquid crystal layer to change alignment. The change in alignment of the liquid crystal layer causes more or less light to pass through the pixel. By changing the voltage difference (often referred to as a data signal) supplied to each pixel, images are produced on the LCD. 
     Conventionally, the common electrodes of the pixels of the LCD are all formed from a single common voltage layer (VCOM). Thus, to the extent that undesirable bias voltages or voltage perturbations may occur in the VCOM, any resulting negative effects would be distributed over the entire LCD. When an LCD includes multiple VCOMs, however, it is believed that undesirable bias voltages or voltage perturbations may occur differentially on the various VCOMs. These differential bias voltages or voltage perturbations could produce visible artifacts known as muras, or largely permanent display screen artifacts. 
     SUMMARY 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for reducing or eliminating mura artifacts in electronic displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. In a particular example, it is believed that certain artifacts or muras could arise in an LCD having multiple distinct common voltage layers (VCOMs). For example, an LCD with VCOMs generally arranged in alternating rows and columns may exhibit a vertical stripe feature of merit. The vertical stripe feature of merit may appear as alternating light and dark vertical stripes along the LCD. 
     Various embodiments of the present disclosure may reduce or eliminate artifacts, including those due to differential voltages or voltage perturbations on multiple distinct VCOMs. In one example, an LCD having multiple VCOMs may be tuned automatically or by a human operator to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. To do so, a display panel first may be programmed to display a uniform gray level in which artifacts are likely to be visible (e.g., gray level G 63  of an 8-bit range from G 0  to G 255 ). A camera may obtain images of the display. The images may be amplified around the average luminance emitted by the display panel, thereby sharply increasing the contrast of the display panel artifacts occurring at that gray level. A human operator or an electronic control system may adjust certain display panel operating parameters until the artifacts are no longer visible. Such operating parameters may include, for example, a gate clock overlap, a gate clock fall time, a source output parking voltage, and/or a differential VCOM resistance. 
     In other examples, the display panel may be tuned at two or more gray levels. First, operating parameters that substantially eliminate mura artifacts at a first gray level (e.g., G 63 ) may be determined. Next, the level of mura artifacts at a second gray level (e.g., G 127 ) may be analyzed to determine whether the display panel is within a specification. Additionally or alternatively, other operating parameters may be determined that substantially eliminate mura artifacts at the second gray level (e.g., G 127 ). Based on these operating parameters and the operating parameters that substantially eliminate mura artifacts at the first gray level (e.g., G 63 ), intermediate operating parameters that allow the display panel to operate within a specified range may be determined. 
     Furthermore, the above methods may account for a variable transient effect of some mura artifacts and/or electrostatic discharge (ESD) on the display. For example, a display panel having multiple distinct VCOMs may be tuned, to prevent mura artifacts as well as other artifacts such as display flicker, after a VCOM transient dwelling time has elapsed. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure involve periodically testing a newly manufactured LCD until a mura artifact due to multiple distinct VCOMs has been reduced by a threshold amount. In addition, the display may be baked to reduce stray charges on the display before calibration. The resulting LCDs may be much less likely to exhibit artifacts due to the multiple distinct VCOMs. 
     Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an electronic device with a liquid crystal display (LCD) tuned such that mura artifacts are reduced or eliminated, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a notebook computer representing an embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of a handheld device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram illustrating display circuitry of the LCD, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram of the multiple VCOMs of the LCD, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIGS. 6 and 7  are block diagrams illustrating circuitry for controlling a gate clock overlap and/or gate clock fall time to improve image quality of the LCD, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a timing diagram illustrating an effect of changing a gate clock fall time of the LCD, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a timing diagram illustrating an effect of varying a gate clock overlap of the LCD, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram of circuitry for controlling a source output parking voltage to improve image quality of the LCD, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 11  is an I-V curve showing leakage currents of a thin film transistor (TFT) of a pixel of the LCD that may be adjusted using the source parking voltages as shown in  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a block diagram illustrating circuitry for adjusting resistances of VCOMs of the LCD to improve image quality, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 13  is a timing diagram illustrating voltage changes in certain display elements caused by TFT gate deactivation when the disclosed techniques are not employed; 
         FIG. 14  is a timing diagram illustrating voltage changes in certain display elements caused by TFT deactivation after applying additional resistance to certain VCOMs, thereby improving image quality, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 15  is a block diagram of a system for calibrating the LCD to reduce or eliminate certain muras, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 16  is a flowchart of a method for reducing or eliminating the muras using the system of  FIG. 15 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIGS. 17 and 18  are luminance plots of muras of the LCD, as used in the method of  FIG. 16 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 19  is a plot comparing artifacts to operational parameters for two gray levels, with points associated with a first method for correcting for certain muras, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 20  is a flowchart of a method for reducing or eliminating certain muras as generally illustrated in  FIG. 19 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 21  is a plot comparing artifacts to operational parameters for two gray levels, with points associated with a second method for correcting for certain muras, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 22  is a flowchart of a method for reducing or eliminating certain muras as generally illustrated in  FIG. 21 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 23  is a flowchart of a method for calibrating a lot of LCDs, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 24  is a block diagram of a system for calibrating the LCD after the LCD has been installed in an electronic device, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 25  is a flowchart for calibrating the LCD using the system of  FIG. 24 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 26  is a block diagram of another system for calibrating the LCD after the LCD has been installed in the electronic device using an onboard camera, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 27  is a flowchart of a method for calibrating the LCD using the system of  FIG. 26 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 28  is a luminance plot of certain mura artifacts over time, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 29  is a flowchart of a method for choosing when to begin calibrating the LCD to account for the transient behavior of certain mura artifacts, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 30  is a voltage diagram comparing positive and negative pixel voltages to an ideal and an actual VCOM voltage, in accordance with an embodiment; and 
         FIG. 31  is a flowchart of a method for reducing stray charge or other artifacts before calibrating the LCD for certain mura artifacts, in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. These described embodiments are only examples of the presently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but may nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. 
     As mentioned above, it is believed that differential voltages and voltage perturbations on distinct common voltage layers (VCOMs) of a liquid crystal display (LCD) can produce artifacts known as muras. As used herein, the term “mura” refers to an artifact that is essentially permanent—that is, an artifact that can remain at least partially visible any time the display is on. The nature of the muras may depend on the arrangement of the internal components of the display. For instance, when the VCOMs are generally arranged in rows and columns, the resulting mura artifact may be known as a vertical stripe feature of merit (VSFOM). A VSFOM may manifest as light and dark stripes oriented parallel to source lines of the LCD. 
     Unsightly mura artifacts may be reduced or eliminated with proper tuning The embodiments of this disclosure relate to calibrating an LCD, or an electronic device including an LCD, such that artifacts or muras due to differential voltages on multiple distinct VCOMs are reduced or eliminated. In one example, a human operator or control system or an automatic control system may vary certain operating parameters of the LCD while viewing a contrast-enhanced image of the display. Varying the operating parameters—such as gate clock overlap, gate clock fall time, source output parking voltage, and/or differential resistance of various VCOMs—may vary the behavior of the mura artifact. Additionally or alternatively, the operating parameters may be adjusted according in a particular manner depending on the output of the display at different gray levels. 
     Before continuing, it should be appreciated that these techniques may be used in other contexts than just to reduce or eliminate VSFOM artifacts. Indeed, it is believed that any muras that can be varied by tuning various operating parameters, including but not limited to those operating parameters discussed in greater detail below, may be reduced or eliminated according to these techniques. Thus, although this disclosure uses the example of mura artifacts due to multiple distinct common voltage layers (VCOMs), the techniques of this disclosure should also be understood to be applicable to reduce or eliminate muras due to other causes. 
     With the foregoing in mind, many suitable electronic devices may employ electronic displays tuned such that mura artifacts are reduced or eliminated. For example,  FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting various components that may be present in an electronic device suitable for use with such a display.  FIGS. 2 and 3  respectively illustrate perspective and front views of a suitable electronic device, which may be, as illustrated, a notebook computer or a handheld electronic device. 
     Turning first to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  10  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, among other things, one or more processor(s)  12 , memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24 , network interfaces  26 , a power source  28 , and/or a camera  30 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG. 1  may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should be noted that  FIG. 1  is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in the electronic device  10 . As will be appreciated, when there is a variation in voltage perturbation between VCOMs of the display  18 , image quality of the display  18  may be distorted. For example, portions of the display  18  using one VCOM could produce different colors than portions of the display  18  using a different VCOM unless made more uniform, as taught by this disclosure. 
     By way of example, the electronic device  10  may represent a block diagram of the notebook computer depicted in  FIG. 2 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 3 , or similar devices. It should be noted that the processor(s)  12  and/or other data processing circuitry may be generally referred to herein as “data processing circuitry.” This data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the data processing circuitry may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device  10 . As presented herein, the data processing circuitry may control the application of the added resistance as well as tuning of the resistance level to reduce a variation in voltage perturbation between two VCOMs (e.g., a column VCOM and a row VCOM) of the display  18 . 
     In the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , the processor(s)  12  and/or other data processing circuitry may be operably coupled with the memory  14  and the nonvolatile memory  16  to execute instructions. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor(s)  12  may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media at least collectively storing the instructions or routines, such as the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16 . The memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. Also, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor(s)  12 . 
     The display  18  may be a touch-screen liquid crystal display (LCD), for example, which may enable users to interact with a user interface of the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, the electronic display  18  may be a MultiTouch™ display that can detect multiple touches at once. As will be described further below, the display  18  may include at least to distinct common voltage layers (VCOMs). An additional resistance may be added to at least one of these VCOMs to cause that VCOM to respond to voltage perturbations in a similar way as other VCOMs. By reducing variations in voltage perturbations on the VCOMs, color reproduction on the display  18  may be more uniform. As provided in an example discussed below, the electronic device  10  may include circuitry to control the resistance(s) of at least one of the VCOMs of the display  18 . 
     The input structures  22  of the electronic device  10  may enable a user to interact with the electronic device  10  (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface  24  may enable electronic device  10  to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interfaces  26 . The network interfaces  26  may include, for example, interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as a Bluetooth network, for a local area network (LAN), such as an 802.11x Wi-Fi network, and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as a 3G or 4G cellular network. The power source  28  of the electronic device  10  may be any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. The camera(s)  30  may capture images. The electronic device  10  may, in some embodiments, use images of the display  18  (e.g., as reflected by a mirror) to calibrate the display  18 . 
     The electronic device  10  may take the form of a computer or other type of electronic device. Such computers may include computers that are generally portable (such as laptop, notebook, and tablet computers) as well as computers that are generally used in one place (such as conventional desktop computers, workstations and/or servers). In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  in the form of a computer may be a model of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. By way of example, the electronic device  10 , taking the form of a notebook computer  32 , is illustrated in  FIG. 2  in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The depicted computer  32  may include a housing  34 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , and ports of an I/O interface  24 . In one embodiment, the input structures  22  (such as a keyboard and/or touchpad) may be used to interact with the computer  32 , such as to start, control, or operate a GUI or applications running on computer  32 . A camera  30  may obtain video or still images. The display  18  may be tuned to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a front view of a handheld device  36 , which represents one embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  36  may represent, for example, a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or any combination of such devices. By way of example, the handheld device  36  may be a model of an iPod® or iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. In other embodiments, the handheld device  36  may be a tablet-sized embodiment of the electronic device  10 , which may be, for example, a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. 
     The handheld device  36  may include an enclosure  38  to protect interior components from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The enclosure  38  may surround the display  18 . The I/O interfaces  24  may open through the enclosure  38  and may include, for example, a proprietary I/O port from Apple Inc. to connect to external devices. 
     User input structures  40 ,  42 ,  44 , and  46 , in combination with the display  18 , may allow a user to control the handheld device  36 . For example, the input structure  40  may activate or deactivate the handheld device  36 , the input structure  42  may navigate a user interface to a home screen, a user-configurable application screen, and/or activate a voice-recognition feature of the handheld device  36 , the input structures  44  may provide volume control, and the input structure  46  may toggle between vibrate and ring modes. A microphone  48  may obtain a user&#39;s voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker  50  may enable audio playback and/or certain phone capabilities. A headphone input  52  may provide a connection to external speakers and/or headphones. A front-facing camera  30  may capture still images or video. The display  18  may be tuned to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. 
     The display  18  may operate by activating and programming a number of picture elements, or pixels. These pixels may be generally arranged in a pixel array  100 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . The pixel array  100  of the display  18  may include a number of unit pixels  102  disposed in a pixel array or matrix. In such an array, each unit pixel  102  may be defined by an intersection of gate lines  104  (also referred to as scanning lines) and source lines  106  (also referred to as data lines). Although only six unit pixels  102  are shown ( 102 A- 102 F), it should be understood that in an actual implementation, the pixel array  100  may include hundreds or thousands of such unit pixels  102 . Each of the unit pixels  102  may represent one of three subpixels that respectively filter only one color (e.g., red, blue, or green) of light. For purposes of the present disclosure, the terms “pixel,” “subpixel,” and “unit pixel” may be used largely interchangeably. 
     In the example of  FIG. 4 , each unit pixel  102  includes a thin film transistor (TFT)  108  for switching a data signal supplied to a respective pixel electrode  110 . The potential stored on the pixel electrode  110  relative to a potential of a common electrode  112  may generate an electrical field sufficient to alter the arrangement of a liquid crystal layer of the display  18 . When the arrangement of the liquid crystal layer changes, the amount of light passing through the pixel  102  also changes. A source  114  of each TFT  108  may connect to a source line  106  and a gate  116  of each TFT  108  may connect to a gate line  104 . A drain  118  of each TFT  108  may be connect to a respective pixel electrode  110 . Each TFT  108  may serve as a switching element that may be activated and deactivated by a scanning or activation signal on the gate lines  104 . 
     When activated, a TFT  108  may pass the data signal from its source line  106  onto its pixel electrode  110 . As noted above, the data signal stored by the pixel electrode  110  may be used to generate an electrical field between the respective pixel electrode  110  and a common electrode  112 . This electrical field may align the liquid crystal molecules within the liquid crystal layer to modulate light transmission through the pixel  102 . Thus, as the electrical field changes, the amount of light passing through the pixel  102  may increase or decrease. In general, light may pass through the unit pixel  102  at an intensity corresponding to the applied voltage from the source line  106 . 
     These signals and other operating parameters of the display  18  may be controlled by integrated circuits (ICs)  121  of the display  18 . These driver ICs  121  of the display  18  may include a processor, microcontroller, or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The driver ICs  121  may be chip-on-glass (COG) components on a TFT glass substrate, components of a display flexible printed circuit (FPC), and/or components of a printed circuit board (PCB) that is connected to the TFT glass substrate via the display FPC. Further, the driver ICs  121  of the display  18  may include the source driver  120  may include any suitable article of manufacture having one or more tangible, computer-readable media for storing instructions that may be executed by the driver ICs  121 . 
     For instance, a source driver integrated circuit (IC)  120  may receive image data  122  from the processor(s)  12  and send corresponding image signals to the unit pixels  102  of the pixel array  100 . The source driver  120  may also couple to a gate driver integrated circuit (IC)  124  that may activate or deactivate rows of unit pixels  102  via the gate lines  104 . As such, the source driver  120  may provide timing signals  126  to the gate driver  124  to facilitate the activation/deactivation of individual rows (i.e., lines) of pixels  102 . In other embodiments, timing information may be provided to the gate driver  124  in some other manner. 
     The storage  16  of the electronic device  10  or local nonvolatile memory  128  of the display  18  may store values of certain operational parameters  129  of the display  18 . The display driver ICs  121  may apply these operational parameters  129  of the display  18  to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts on the display  18 . As will be discussed below, the operational parameters  129  may be programmed according to any suitable methods, including those discussed further below. Operational parameters  129  that may be programmed in the storage  16  and/or nonvolatile memory  128  may include a gate clock overlap, a gate clock fall time, a source output parking voltage, and/or a resistance of various common voltage layers (VCOMs) of the display  18 . 
     Some mura artifacts may be due to the arrangement of common voltage layers (VCOMs) serving as common electrodes  112 . In particular, when the VCOMs of the display  18  appear as rows and columns, striping muras known as vertical stripe features of merit (VSFOMs) may occur. One example arrangement of various VCOMs of the display  18  appears in  FIG. 5 . This arrangement could cause mura artifacts on the display  18  unless the operational parameters  129  are properly tuned. 
     As seen in  FIG. 5 , the common voltage layers (VCOMs) that make up the common electrodes  112  may include column VCOMs  130 , guard rail VCOMs  131 , and row VCOMs  132 . Although  FIG. 5  shows only two column VCOMs  130 A and  130 B, three guard rail VCOMs  131 , and two row VCOMs  132 , an actual implementation of the display may include any suitable number of these components. A VCOM power supply  133  may supply power to the various VCOMs individually. Thus, a row VCOM supply  134 A may supply power to the row VCOMs  132 , a column VCOM supply may supply power to the column VCOMs  130 , and a guard rail VCOM supply may supply power to the guard rail VCOMs  131 . 
     Supplying power to the various VCOMs separately may allow the column VCOMs  130 , guard rail VCOMs  131 , and row VCOMs  132  to gather touch sense information when operating in a touch mode of operation. Specifically, though the column VCOMs  130 , guard rail VCOMs  131 , and row VCOMs  132  may be supplied the same direct current (DC) bias voltage, different alternating current (AC) voltages may be supplied and/or received on them at different times. Namely, the display  18  may be configured to switch between two modes of operation: a display mode and a touch mode. In the display mode, the row and column VCOMs  130 ,  132  operate in the aforementioned manner, in which an electric field is generated between the column and row VCOMs  130  and  132  and respective pixel electrodes  110 . The electric field modulates the liquid crystal layer to let a certain amount of light pass through the pixel. Thus, an image may be displayed on the display  18  in the display mode. In the touch mode, the row VCOM  132  and the column VCOM  130  may be configured to sense a touch on the display  18 . In certain embodiments, a stimulus signal or voltage may be provided by the row VCOM  132 . The column VCOM  130  may be configured to receive a touch signal and output the data to be processed by the processor(s)  12 . The touch signal may be generated when an operator touches the display  18  and capacitively couples with a portion of the row VCOM  132  and a portion of the column VCOM  130 . Thus, the portion of the column VCOM  130  may receive a signal indicative of a touch. 
     Since the various VCOMs are electrically separated, it is possible for one to become biased more or less than another. This may produce mura artifacts on pixels along the rows and/or columns. When the display  18  operates according to certain operating parameters  129 , however, mura artifacts may be substantially reduced or eliminated. 
     Operating Parameters 
     Any suitable operating parameters  129  may be adjusted to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts on the display  18 . Among other things, the operating parameters  129  may include a gate clock overlap, a gate clock fall time, a source output parking voltage, and/or a differential resistance on the various VCOMs  130 ,  131 , and/or  132 . The adjustment of these various operating parameters  129  will be discussed further below. 
     Gate Clock Overlap and Gate Clock Fall Time 
     Adjusting gate clock overlap and gate clock fall time may reduce or eliminate muras. As will be discussed below, a gate clock overlap and a gate clock fall time may be programmed into the nonvolatile storage  128 . Although the following examples of  FIGS. 6 and 7  include circuitry that can automatically adjust the gate clock overlap and/or gate clock fall time, this circuitry may or may not be present in a display  18  that is calibrated according to the techniques of this disclosure. Accordingly, the examples of  FIGS. 6 and 7  should be viewed in this light. Indeed, the principles of varying the gate clock overlap and gate clock fall time generally described in relation to  FIGS. 6-9  below may be employed even when the gate clock overlap and gate clock fall time are adjusted manually or only when the display  18  is initially calibrated, as discussed further below. 
     Embodiments involving adjustment of gate clock overlap and/or gate clock fall time relate to  FIGS. 6-9 . The adjustment of gate clock overlap and/or gate clock fall time may also be described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/479,066, “DEVICES AND METHODS FOR REDUCING A VOLTAGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VCOMS OF A DISPLAY,” which was filed on May 23, 2012, is assigned to Apple, Inc., and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. As seen in  FIG. 6 , the electronic device  10  may include a power management unit (PMU)  134 . The PMU  134  is used to manage the power of the electronic device  10  and may control when power is applied to, or removed from, other components of the electronic device  10 . For example, the PMU  134  provides a high gate voltage (VGH)  136  to the gate driver  124 . In the present embodiment, the PMU  134  provides a low gate voltage (VGL)  138  to a gate control device  140 . The gate control device  140  receives a voltage difference  142  and uses the voltage difference  142  to produce a controlled VGL  144  that is provided to the gate driver  124 . As will be appreciated, the gate driver  124  may use the VGH  134  to apply an activation voltage to the gate lines  104 , while the gate driver  124  may use the controlled VGL  144  to apply a deactivation voltage to the gate lines  104 . As such, the gate driver  124  may be configured to couple together either the VGH  134  or the controlled VGL  144  to the gate lines  104 . 
     A voltage sensing device  146  may be used to determine the voltage difference  142  between a first input  148  and a second input  150 . In the present embodiment, the first input  148  is electrically coupled to the VCOM_A  130  and the second input  150  is electrically coupled to the VCOM_B  132 . Accordingly, the voltage sensing device  146  detects the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132 . The voltage sensing device  146  may be any suitable voltage sensing device, such as an electronic amplifier (e.g., operational amplifier, differential amplifier, etc.). 
     As illustrated, the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  may not physically be the same size. Accordingly, the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  may result from resistive differences between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132 . For example, when one of the gate lines  104  is deactivated, voltages stored on pixels  102  may change due to kickback voltage. As will be appreciated, the kickback voltage may not be the same for the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  due to their resistive differences. Therefore, the voltage sensing device  146  may detect the voltage difference  142 . 
     To reduce the voltage difference  142 , and therefore to reduce the visibility of the mura artifact, the voltage sensing device  146  provides the voltage difference  142  to the gate control device  140 . The gate control device  140  may use the voltage difference  142  to modify the VGL  138  and provide the controlled VGL  144  to the gate driver  124 . Specifically, after the gate control device  140  receives the VGL  138  indicating that the gates  116  should be deactivated, the gate control device  140  may modify the VGL  138  based at least partially on the voltage difference  142  to produce the controlled VGL  144 . For example, the gate control device  140  may modify the rate that the activation voltage on the gate lines  104  transitions to the deactivation voltage. By modifying the rate that the gate lines  104  transition from the activation voltage to the deactivation voltage, the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  may be reduced. As will be appreciated, the gate control device  140  may use a mapping table to determine a rate that the gate lines  104  should transition to the deactivation voltage for a particular voltage difference  142 . For example, the mapping table may include multiple voltage differences and rates of deactivation that correspond to each voltage difference. 
     The display  18  may have any number of VCOMs and the VCOMs may vary in size.  FIG. 6  generally represents a diagram of circuitry of the electronic device  10  for controlling a voltage difference between sets of VCOMs of the display  18  to improve image quality of the display  18 . Specifically, in the present embodiment, the display  18  includes the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  132 , a VCOM_C  152 , and a VCOM_D  154 . As illustrated, each of the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  132 , the VCOM_C  152 , and the VCOM_D  154  generally have a length  156 . Further, the VCOM_A  130  has a width  158 , the VCOM_B  132  has a width  160 , the VCOM_C  152  has a width  162 , and the VCOM_D  154  has a width  164 . In certain embodiments, the width  158  and the width  162  may generally be the same. In addition, the width  160  and the width  164  may generally be the same. Accordingly, the input  148  may be coupled to the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_C  152  (e.g., because they are generally the same size and will generally have similar resistive qualities), while the input  150  may be coupled to the VCOM_B  132  and the VCOM_D  154  (because they are generally the same size and will generally have similar resistive qualities). Therefore, in the present embodiment a single voltage sensing device may be used. 
     The display  18  may have more than one voltage sensing device (e.g., when there are more than two sizes of VCOMs). Accordingly,  FIG. 7  illustrates one embodiment of circuitry of the electronic device  10  having multiple voltage sensing devices for sensing voltage differences between VCOMs of the display  18 . In the present embodiment, the gate control device  140  is configured to receive the VGH  136  and the VGL  138 . As such, the gate control device  140  provides a controlled VGH  166  and the controlled VGL  144  to the gate driver  124 . Thus, the gate control device  140  may control the rates and/or timing of the activation and deactivation voltages that are applied to the gates  116  via the gate lines  104 , as explained in detail below in relation to  FIG. 9 . 
     Further, the gate control device  140  receives a second voltage difference  168  from a second voltage sensing device  170 . As illustrated, the voltage sensing device  146  receives inputs  148  and  150 , which are electrically coupled to the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132 , respectively. The second voltage sensing device  170  receives inputs  172  and  174 , which are electrically coupled to the VCOM_B  132  and the VCOM_C  152 , respectively. Accordingly, the gate control device  140  may receive the voltage difference  142  (e.g., the voltage difference between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132 ) and the voltage difference  170  (e.g., the voltage difference between the VCOM_B  132  and the VCOM_C  152 ). Although the gate control device  140  does not receive a voltage difference between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_C  152 , the gate control device  140  may determine such a voltage difference. The gate control device  140  may use a mapping table where each row includes two voltage differences (e.g., for two voltage sensing devices) that together correspond to a rate of deactivation for the two voltage differences. 
     As illustrated, the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  may each have a length  176 , while the VCOM_C  152  has a length  178 . Further, the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  132 , and the VCOM_C  152  may have widths  180 ,  182 , and  184 , respectively. Accordingly, the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  132 , and the VCOM_C  152  may each be a different size and therefore may have different resistive characteristics. As such, two voltage sensing devices  146  and  170  may be used to detect the voltage differences between the VCOMs. As will be appreciated, in embodiments with a greater number if different sizes of VCOMs, the number of voltage sensing devices may increase. It should be noted that each gate line  104  may include a subset of pixels  102  from each VCOM. For example, one gate line  104  includes a subset  186  from the VCOM_A  130 , a subset  188  from the VCOM_B  132 , and a subset  190  from the VCOM_C  152 . 
       FIG. 8  relates to adjusting a gate clock fall time to decrease the voltage difference between VCOMs.  FIG. 8  illustrates one embodiment of a timing diagram  192  that shows a reduction of the voltage difference  142  between VCOMs of the display  18  by controlling a rate that a voltage on a gate line  104  (e.g., GATE_A) is removed from pixels  102  to improve image quality of the display  18 . As illustrated by segment  194 , the gate line  104  may start in a logic low (deactivated) state. At a time  195 , the gate line  104  may transition to a logic high (activated) state where it remains through segment  196 . At a time  198 , the gate line  104  may begin to transition toward the logic low state at a fixed rate, during segment  200 . The fixed rate of transition may be a predetermined rate configured to be applied for a fixed period of time (e.g., until a time  202 ). At the time  202 , the transition rate toward the logic low state may become variable (e.g., actively controlled) and may be based on the voltage difference  142 , in order to decrease the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132 , as shown by segment  204 . After the gate line  104  reaches the logic low state, the gate line  104  remains in the logic low state, as shown by segment  206 . 
     In the present embodiment, a voltage is applied to the VCOM_A  130  during segment  208 . At a time  210 , a kickback voltage alters the voltage of the VCOM_A  130 , as shown by segment  212 . As illustrated, the voltage of the VCOM_A  130  may change by a voltage  214 . The voltage of the VCOM_A  130  then begins to return to the voltage applied during segment  208 , as shown by segments  216  and  218 . Segment  216  corresponds to the rate that the gate line  104  is deactivated during segment  200 , while segment  218  corresponds to the rate that the gate line  104  is deactivated during segment  204 . At a time  220 , the voltage of the VCOM_A  130  may vary from the voltage applied during segment  208  by a voltage  222 . During segment  224 , the voltage of the VCOM_A  130  may be approximately the same as the voltage applied during segment  208 . 
     A voltage is applied to the VCOM_B  132  during segment  226 . At the time  210 , a kickback voltage alters the voltage of the VCOM_B  132 , as shown by segment  228 . As illustrated, the voltage of the VCOM_B  132  may change by a voltage  230 . The voltage of the VCOM_B  132  then begins to return to the voltage applied during segment  226 , as shown by segments  232  and  234 . Segment  232  corresponds to the rate that the gate line  104  is deactivated during segment  200 , while segment  234  corresponds to the rate that the gate line  104  is deactivated during segment  204 . At the time  220 , the voltage of the VCOM_B  132  may vary from the voltage applied during segment  226  by a voltage  236 . During segment  238 , the voltage of the VCOM_B  132  may be approximately the same as the voltage applied during segment  226 . 
     In certain embodiments, the voltage applied to the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  may be approximately the same and, therefore, the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  during segments  208  and  226  may be approximately zero. Furthermore, the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  at the time  212  may be approximately the difference between the voltage  214  and the voltage  230 . As previously described, such a voltage difference  142  may decrease the quality of an image on the display  18 . Accordingly, the display  18  uses this voltage difference  142  to control the rate that the activation signal is removed from the pixels  102  (e.g., via the gate line  104 ) to decrease the voltage difference  142 . Specifically, during segment  204  of the gate line  104 , the display  18  uses the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  to change the rate that the activation signal is removed from the pixels  102 . For example, the voltage difference  142  is reduced from its value at time  210  to a voltage difference  142  of the difference between the voltage  222  and the voltage  236  at the time  220 . Further, during segments  224  and  238  the voltage difference  142  may be reduced to approximately zero. 
     In some embodiments, the time that an activation signal is applied to pixels  102  is controlled to decrease the voltage difference between VCOMs. This may be referred to as gate clock overlap.  FIG. 9  illustrates one embodiment of a timing diagram  240  that shows a reduction of the voltage difference  142  between VCOMs of the display  18  by controlling a time that a voltage on a second gate line  104  (e.g., GATE_B) is applied to pixels  102  to improve image quality of the display  18 . As illustrated by segment  244 , the first gate line  104  (e.g., GATE_A) may start in a logic low (deactivated) state. At a time  245 , the first gate line  104  may transition to a logic high (activated) state where it remains through segment  246 . At a time  248 , the gate line  104  may transition toward the logic low state at a fixed rate, during segment  250 . After the first gate line  104  reaches the logic low state, the first gate line  104  remains in the logic low state, as shown by segment  252 . 
     As illustrated by segment  254 , the second gate line  104  (e.g., GATE_B) may start in a logic low (deactivated) state. At the time  248 , the second gate line  104  may transition toward a logic high (activated) state at a fixed rate, as shown by segment  256 . The fixed rate of transition may be a predetermined rate configured to be applied for a fixed period of time (e.g., until a time  258 ). At the time  258 , the transition rate toward the logic high state may become variable (e.g., actively controlled) and may be based on the voltage difference  142 , in order to decrease the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132 , as shown by segment  260 . After the second gate line  104  reaches the logic high state, the second gate line  104  remains in the logic high state, as shown by segment  262 . 
     In the present embodiment, a voltage is applied to the VCOM_A  130  during segment  264 . At the time  258 , a kickback voltage alters the voltage of the VCOM_A  130 , as shown by segment  266 . As illustrated, the voltage of the VCOM_A  130  may change by a voltage  268 . The voltage of the VCOM_A  130  then returns to the voltage applied during segment  264 , as shown by segment  270 . Segment  270  corresponds to the rate that the second gate line  104  is activated during segment  260 . During segment  262 , the voltage of the VCOM_A  130  may be approximately the same as the voltage applied during segment  264 . 
     A voltage is applied to the VCOM_B  132  during segment  274 . At the time  258 , a kickback voltage alters the voltage of the VCOM_B  132 , as shown by segment  276 . As illustrated, the voltage of the VCOM_B  132  may change by a voltage  278 . The voltage of the VCOM_B  132  then returns to the voltage applied during segment  274 , as shown by segment  280 . Segment  280  corresponds to the rate that the second gate line  104  is activated during segment  260 . During segment  282 , the voltage of the VCOM_B  132  may be approximately the same as the voltage applied during segment  274 . 
     In certain embodiments, the voltage applied to the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  may be approximately the same and, therefore, the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  during segments  264  and  274  may be approximately zero. Furthermore, the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  at the time  258  may be approximately the difference between the voltage  268  and the voltage  278 . As previously described, such a voltage difference  142  may decrease the quality of an image on the display  18 . Accordingly, the display  18  uses this voltage difference  142  to control the rate and/or timing that the activation signal is applied to the pixels  102  (e.g., via the second gate line  104 ) to decrease the voltage difference  142 . Specifically, during segment  260  of the second gate line  104 , the display  18  uses the voltage difference  142  between the VCOM − A  130  and the VCOM_B  132  to change the rate that the activation signal is applied to the pixels  102 . For example, the voltage difference  142  is reduced from its value at time  258  to a voltage difference  142  of approximately zero during segments  272  and  282 . 
     To summarize, the examples of  FIGS. 6-9  may generally describe adjusting the gate clock overlap and gate clock fall time as a function of the voltage difference between various VCOMs. However, it should be appreciated that the gate clock overlap and gate clock fall time may be calibrated at one time and the values of which stored as the operating parameters  129  in the storage  16  of the electronic device  10  and/or the nonvolatile memory  128  of the display  18 . That is, rather than dynamically change the gate clock overlap and gate clock fall time operating parameters  129 , these values may be set as static values selected to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. These values may be adjusted according to the various techniques discussed further below. 
     Source Output Parking Voltage 
     Another operating parameter  129  that may be adjusted and programmed into the storage  16  and/or nonvolatile storage  128  is a source output parking voltage. Source output parking voltage refers to a voltage remaining on the source lines  106  when the display  18  temporarily operates in the touch mode rather than the display mode. In particular, it is believed that adjusting the source output parking voltages of the display  18  may adjust the leakage currents of the pixels  102 . Adjusting the leakage current of the pixels  102  may, in turn, adjust the visibility of the mura artifact of the display  18 . A further discussion of source output parking voltages may be found in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/655,667, “DEVICES AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING IMAGE QUALITY IN A DISPLAY HAVING MULTIPLE VCOMS,” filed on Jun. 8, 2012, assigned to Apple, Inc., and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Examples describing the effect of adjusting the source output parking voltage are provided with reference to  FIGS. 10 and 11 . 
     Namely,  FIG. 10  generally represents one embodiment of a circuit diagram of components of the electronic device  10  for applying different signals to different VCOMs of the display  18  having multiple VCOMs to improve image quality of the display  18 . In particular, the electronic device  10  includes a VCOM_A  130 , a VCOM_B  131 , a VCOM_C  132 , a VCOM_D  131 , a VCOM_E  130 , a VCOM_F  131 , and a VCOM_G  132 . As illustrated, the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_C  132 , the VCOM_D  131 , the VCOM_E  130 , the VCOM_F  131 , and the VCOM_G  132  each have multiple pixels  102  coupled thereon. As may be appreciated, the VCOMs may have any number of pixels  102  coupled thereon. Furthermore, there may be any suitable number of VCOMs of the display  18 . It should be noted that the common electrodes  112  of the illustrated pixels  102  may be electrically coupled to their respective VCOM. 
     In certain embodiments, the VCOMs of the display  18  may be arranged into rows and columns. The rows and columns of the VCOMs may be used during a touch mode of the display for sensing touches of the display. For example, a touch driving signal (e.g., a low voltage AC signal) may be supplied to one or more rows of VCOMs. While the signal is supplied, a touch may be sensed using one or more columns of VCOMs. In the present embodiment, the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_E  130  may be part of a row of VCOMs. Accordingly, the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_E  130  may be electrically coupled together. Furthermore, the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_E  130  may be electrically coupled to a VCOM TX    134 A configured to provide a touch driving signal to the row of VCOMs. As may be appreciated, the display  18  may include one or more VCOM TX    134 A to drive the rows of VCOMs of the display  18 . 
     The VCOM_C  132  and the VCOM_G  132  may be part of the columns of VCOMs of the display  18 . For example, the VCOM_C  132  may be part of one column of VCOMs and the VCOM_G  132  may be part of another column of VCOMs. As illustrated, the VCOM_C  132  and the VCOM_G  132  may be electrically coupled together. Furthermore, the VCOM_C  132  and the VCOM_G  132  may be electrically coupled to a VCOM RX    134 B configured to sense a touch of the display  18 . As may be appreciated, the display  18  may include one or more VCOM RX    134 B to sense touches of the display  18 . For example, the display  18  may include one VCOM RX    134 B for each column of VCOMs. 
     The display  18  may include VCOMs that function as guard rails configured to inhibit direct capacitive coupling (e.g., without a touch such as from a finger) from occurring between the rows and columns of VCOMs. As illustrated, the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_D  131 , and the VCOM_F  131  may all be guard rails. As illustrated, the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_D  131 , and the VCOM_F  131  may be electrically coupled together. Furthermore, the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_D  131 , and the VCOM_F  131  may be electrically coupled to a VCOM GR    134 C. As may be appreciated, the display  18  may include one or more VCOM GR    134 C that may provide signals to the guard rails. 
     The gate driver  124  is coupled to the gate lines  104  for activating and/or deactivating the gates  116  of the TFTs  108  of the pixels  102 . Furthermore, the source driver  120  is coupled to the source lines  106  for supplying data signals to the sources  114  of the TFTs  108  of the pixels  102 . As may be appreciated, the source driver  120  may supply data signals to pixels  102  based on the VCOM that the pixels  102  are coupled to. For example, the source driver  120  may supply data signals of a first voltage to pixels  102  of VCOM rows (e.g., SOURCE TX    306 ). Furthermore, the source driver  120  may supply data signals of a second voltage to pixels  102  of VCOM guard rails (e.g., SOURCE GR    308 ). Moreover, the source driver  120  may supply data signals of a third voltage to pixels  102  of VCOM columns (e.g., SOURCE RX    310 ). Although the SOURCE TX    306 , the SOURCE GR    308 , and the SOURCE RX    310  are illustrated as being part of the source driver  120 , it should be noted that the SOURCE TX    306 , the SOURCE GR    308 , and the SOURCE RX    310  are illustrated to show that different signals may be supplied to different VCOMs of the display  12  and not that there are necessarily such devices within the source driver  120 . 
     As illustrated, the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_C  132 , the VCOM_D  131 , the VCOM_E  130 , the VCOM_F  131 , and the VCOM_G  132  may not physically be the same size. Accordingly, the VCOM_A  130 , the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_C  132 , the VCOM_D  131 , the VCOM_E  130 , the VCOM_F  131 , and the VCOM_G  132  may have resistive differences. In certain embodiments, the VCOM_A  130  and the VCOM_E  130  may be approximately the same size. Furthermore, the VCOM_C  132  and the VCOM_G  132  may be approximately the same size. Moreover, the VCOM_B  131 , the VCOM_D  131 , and the VCOM_F  131  may be approximately the same size. 
     During operation, the display  18  may alternate between a display mode and a touch mode. During the display mode, the display  18  receives image data and provides data signals to pixels  102  to store the image data on the pixels  102 . During the touch mode, the display  18  provides a touch driving signal and senses touches that occur. As may be appreciated, when the touch driving signal is applied to the display  18 , a gate-to-source voltage of the TFTs  108  of the pixels  102  may be modified, which may result in an increased leakage current (e.g., drain-to-source current) of the TFTs  108 .  FIG. 11  is a diagram  156  illustrating a relationship between a gate-to-source voltage  158  of a TFT  108  and a drain-to-source current  160  of the TFT  108 . 
     Specifically, the drain-to-source current  160  is negative during a segment  162 . At the end of segment  162 , the drain-to-source current  160  reaches zero, at point  164 . The gate-to-source voltage  158  at point  164  is indicated by a voltage  166  which is a negative voltage. During a segment  168 , the drain-to-source current  160  is positive. Accordingly, if the gate-to-source voltage  158  were to fluctuate about the axis  160  based on a touch driving signal (e.g., a low voltage AC signal), the drain-to-source current  160  would fluctuate between a low positive value and a high positive value, resulting in a potential for high leakage, which in turn may decrease the quality of the image of the display  18 . However, if the gate-to-source voltage  158  were to fluctuate about an axis formed by the voltage  166 , the drain-to-source current  160  would fluctuate between a low negative value and a low positive value, resulting in lower leakage and improving the quality of the image of the display  18 . Accordingly, voltages are applied to the source lines  106  to change the gate-to-source voltage  158  and thereby shift the axis related to the drain-to-source current  160  fluctuations. 
     In certain embodiments, voltages may be applied to the source lines  106  as part of the display mode and remain applied during the touch mode until the display mode resumes. Specifically, data may be stored on the pixels  102  of the display  18  line by line during the display mode until all lines of pixels  102  have data stored on them. For example, if the display  18  were to have 960 lines of pixels  102 , during the display mode all 960 lines of pixels  102  may have data stored on them. In certain embodiments, as part of the display mode, the display  18  may act as if it contains a 961st line of pixels  102  (e.g., a virtual line). For the 961st line of pixels  102 , voltages are applied to the source lines  106  just as when other lines of pixels  102  store data; however, the gate lines  104  are not activated (e.g., remain deactivated) so that data is not stored on the pixels  102 . Furthermore, the voltages applied to the source lines  106  remain after the display mode ends and through the touch mode until the display mode begins again. As such, the voltages applied to the source lines  106  may be considered “parked.” 
     As previously discussed, the voltages applied to the source lines  106  may vary based on the VCOMs that the source lines  106  provide signals to. The voltages may vary in order to tune each set of pixels  102  coupled to a single VCOM so that the TFTs  108  of the VCOM have a minimum amount of leakage current. The difference in voltage between different VCOMs may be due in part to the size of the VCOMs, the number of pixels  102  coupled to the VCOMs, and so forth. In one embodiment, the voltage applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE TX    306  may be approximately a gray 255 voltage, the voltage applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE GR    308  may be approximately a gray 127 voltage, and the voltage applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE RX    310  may be approximately a gray 0 voltage. In another embodiment, the voltage applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE TX    306  may be approximately a gray 255 voltage, the voltage applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE GR    308  may be approximately a gray 204 voltage, and the voltage applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE RX    310  may be approximately a gray 192 voltage. In other embodiments, the voltages applied to the source lines represented by SOURCE TX    306 , SOURCE GR    308 , and SOURCE RX    310  may be tuned to any suitable voltage. Accordingly, the leakage current of TFTs  108  of the pixels  102  may be reduced and the image quality of the display  18  may be improved. 
     The particular source output parking voltages applied may be selected and stored as operating parameters  129  in the storage  16  and/or the nonvolatile memory  128 . With different source output parking voltages, the mura artifacts due to the different VCOMs may become more or less pronounced. 
     Differential VCOM Resistance 
     It is believed that the differential bias voltages that may occur on the different VCOMs may be due at least in part to different transient voltage perturbations that occur on the VCOMs. Changing the RC time constants of the VCOMs thus may impact these transient voltage perturbations. Thus, another of the operational parameters  129  of the display  18  that may be changed, in some embodiments, is a differential VCOM resistance value or differential capacitance value. It should be appreciated that, as used in this document, references to an operating parameter  129  relating to VCOM resistance should be understood to include, additionally or alternatively, varying VCOM capacitance. A further discussion of differential VCOM resistance may be found in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/657,671, “Differential VCOM Resistance or Capacitance Tuning for Improved Image Quality,” filed on Jun. 8, 2012, assigned to Apple, Inc., and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The following discussion relating to  FIGS. 12-14  will generally describe how the VCOM resistance may affect the appearance of mura artifacts. 
     As mentioned above, the display  18  may have any suitable number of VCOMs and the VCOMs may vary in size.  FIG. 12  generally represents a diagram of circuitry of the electronic device  10  capable of reducing variation in voltage perturbation between the column VCOMs  130  and the row VCOMs  132  of the display to improve image quality of the display  18 . Specifically, in the present embodiment, the display  18  includes a column VCOM  130  and a row VCOM  132 . Each of the column VCOM  130  and the row VCOM  132  may include a plurality of pixels  102 , as shown. Further, the display  18  may include a plurality of row VCOMs  132  and a plurality of column VCOMs  130 . The row VCOMs  132  may be coupled to each other via a line such that each row VCOM  132  shares the same voltage level. The column VCOMs  130  may be individually coupled to the VCOM source  134 . Although not shown in  FIG. 12 , other VCOMs may also be present (e.g., “guard rail” VCOMs  131  between the column VCOMs  130  and the row VCOMs  132 ). 
     At least partially due to the configuration of the row VCOMs  132 —namely, that the row VCOMs  132  are in line with the gate lines  104 —the row VCOMs  132  may experience greater interference from voltage changes in the gate line  104  due to TFT gate deactivation. Since each of the column VCOMs  130  may extend down the display  18 , and thus only shares a relatively small part its total area with a given gate line  104 , the column VCOMs  130  may experience comparatively less. Moreover, the column VCOMs  130  and the row VCOMs  132  may have different inherent resistances (e.g., Rcolumn and Rrow) between respective voltage supplies  134 B and  134 A, as well as different capacitances between the gate lines  104  (e.g., Cgc values associated with the VCOMs  130  and  132 ). The effect of these different VCOM characteristics, as well as different amounts of exposure to the gate lines  104 , may produce different voltage perturbations on the column VCOMs  130  and the row VCOMs  132 . 
     Since different voltage perturbations could produce image artifacts, differences in voltage perturbations may be mitigated by adjusting the resistance(s). As will be discussed below, increasing the column VCOM  130  resistance may cause the corresponding time constant of the voltage perturbation on the column VCOM  130  to be extended. Ordinarily, increasing a resistance is considered problematic. Indeed, an increased resistance can result in lower power efficiency and increased heat waste. In this case, however, increasing the resistance may reduce or eliminate image artifacts. 
     As such, column VCOMs  130  may be coupled to a resistance device  340 . In the example of  FIG. 12 , the resistance device  340  includes a non-resistive path  342  and a resistive path  344  selectable by a switch  346 . A resistance controller  350  may cause the resistance device  340  to switch between the resistive path  344  and the non-resistive path  342 . The resistance controller  350  may be a separate component of the display  18  or may be integrated into other components of the display  18  (e.g., display or touch driver circuitry). In some embodiments, the resistance controller  350  may switch to the resistive path  344  during a display mode and to the non-resistive path  342  during a touch screen mode of the display  18 . In other embodiments, only a resistive path  344  may be employed. In these embodiments, the resistance controller  350  may be absent. 
     In any case, the resistive path  344  may add resistance using any suitable resistive elements. These may include a resistor of a single value, a resistor that may be set or programmed during the fabrication of the display  18 , or a variable resistance device (e.g., a resistor ladder). Additionally or alternatively, the resistance device  340  may include a capacitor. Such a capacitor may vary the time constant of the column VCOMs  130  in a similar manner as the additional resistance. Moreover, the column VCOMs  130  may be coupled to different resistance devices  340  with different resistance values. In certain embodiments, some column VCOMs  130  may be coupled to resistance devices  340  and some column VCOMs  130  may not be coupled to resistance devices  340 . 
     Moreover, in some embodiments, the resistance controller  350  may do more than just control the switching of the resistance device  340  between the resistive path  344  and the non-resistive path  342 . Indeed, the resistance controller  350  may, additionally or alternatively, control the resistance of the resistive path  344 . For example, the resistive device(s) of the resistive path  344  may be chosen to provide a range of possible resistance values. The resistance controller  350  may tune the resistance of the resistive path  344  to reduce or eliminate image artifacts caused by variations in voltage perturbation. 
       FIGS. 13 and 14  illustrate the effect of reducing the voltage perturbation differences between the column VCOMs  130  and the row VCOMs  132 . Namely,  FIG. 13  represents a timing diagram when the present techniques are not applied, and  FIG. 14  represents a timing diagram when the present techniques are applied. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates voltage levels  360  of the row VCOM  132  and the column VCOM  132  in response to TFT gate deactivation with respect to time when an additional resistance on the column VCOM  130  is not employed. TFT gate deactivation is illustrated by a gate voltage curve  362 , in which the voltage in the TFT gate line  104  drops at t 0 , signifying the point of TFT gate deactivation  374 . Accordingly, due to capacitive coupling between the gate line  104  and the VCOMs  130  and  132 , a voltage of the row VCOM (line  364 ) may also exhibits a transient drop in voltage at t 0  as well. The row VCOM  132 , due to its configuration and physical relation to the gate line, may experience a rise time of t 2 −t 0  in order to return to its original voltage value at t 2  (point  376 ). A voltage in the column VCOM (line  366 ) may experience a less dramatic voltage drop at t 0 , in response to TFT gate deactivation  374 . As such, the column VCOM  130  may return to its original voltage (point  378 ) faster than the row VCOM  132 , at t 1 . 
     A voltage in the row pixel (line  368 ), which is coupled to the row VCOM  132 , may experience a similar drop in voltage level. As such, the row pixel voltage  368 , which generally determines how much light is shown by the pixel, would not return to its original value until t 2 . In the example of  FIG. 13 , however, the TFT  108  may completely open and prevent any changes in any pixels  102  after time t 1 . Thus, the row pixel voltage  368  does not ever fully return to its programmed value, but instead stops at the voltage level it has reached by time t 1  (point  380 ). Meanwhile, a voltage in the column pixel (line  370 ) may experience a voltage drop and rise time similar to that of the column VCOM (line  378 ). The column pixel thus may return to its original value (point  382 ) at t 1 . That is, the column pixel (line  370 ) may return to its original value faster than the row pixel (line  368 ). As a result, the variation in voltage perturbation between row VCOM (line  364 ) and column VCOM (line  366 ) may result in different programmed values in row pixels (point  380 ) and column pixels (point  382 ) even when the values should be the same. This may be seen on the display  18  as vertical striping artifacts when the column VCOMs  130  extend vertically down the display  18 . 
     The rise time of the column pixel (line  370 ) may be altered by altering the resistance of the column VCOM  130 . Specifically, the rise time of the column VCOM  130  , and thus column pixel, may be increased by increasing the resistance of the column VCOM  130 . As such, the resistance device  340  described above and illustrated in  FIG. 12  may be chosen or tuned to a resistance that increases the rise time of the column VCOM to match that of the row VCOM. Thus, the variation in voltage perturbation between the column pixel and the row pixel caused by TFT deactivation may be largely reduced and/or eliminated. 
       FIG. 14  illustrates the voltage levels  384  of the row VCOM (line  364 ) and the column VCOM (line  366 ), in which the column VCOM  130  is coupled to the resistance device  340  shown in  FIG. 13 . As illustrated, the gate voltage (line  362 ) drops at the point of TFT gate deactivation  374 . Likewise, the row VCOM voltage (line  364 ) and column VCOM voltage (line  366 ) drop as well, due to the capacitive coupling between the VCOMs  130  and  132  and the gate line  104 . The row VCOM  132  experiences a rise time of t 2  in order to return to its original voltage (point  376 ). The column VCOM  130 , due to it its added resistance from the resistance device  340 , may also experience a rise time of t g  in order to return to its original voltage level (point  378 ). Accordingly, the row pixel voltage (line  368 ) and column pixel voltage (line  382 ) experience correspondingly similar rise times in response to TFT gate deactivation. In some embodiments, the voltage drops may also be similar, but may not be in all cases. As such, both the row pixel voltage (line  370 ) and the column pixel voltage (line  382 ) may be stopped at the same voltage level when the TFT  108  completely opens and the row pixels (line  368 ) and column pixels (line  370 ) stabilize. Thus, display errors and artifacts attributed to variation in voltage perturbation between row VCOMs  132  and column VCOMs  130  may be largely reduced and/or eliminated. 
     As mentioned, the resistance device  340  may be switched on when the display is in display mode. In certain embodiments, the resistance controller  350  may detect that the display  18  is in the display mode. The resistance controller  350  may detect that the display  18  is in the display mode by sensing a signal indicative of the display  18  being in the display mode. The resistance controller  350  may connect the resistive path  344  in response to detecting the display mode. Thus, the column VCOM  130  may be coupled to the resistance path  344  and take on a higher resistance value. As discussed, this may allow the column VCOM  130  rise time to generally match that of the row VCOM  132 . In other embodiments, this may allow the column VCOM  130  rise time to be lengthened such that the ultimate voltage programmed in the column pixels  102  is the same as that of the row pixels  102  when the same source or data voltage is provided. 
     Since the resistance device  340  may not be needed when the display  18  is in touch mode, the resistance controller  350  may be configured to detect when the display  18  is in the touch mode. As such, the resistance controller  166  may connect to the non-resistive path  342  in response to detecting the touch mode, decoupling the column VCOM  130  from the resistive path  344 . The resistance controller  350  may continue to detect when the display  18  is in the display mode or touch mode, and switch the resistance device  340  accordingly. 
     In this way, variable resistances applied to the VCOMs of the display  18  (as stored as the operating parameters  129  in the nonvolatile memory  128 ) may reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. This and any other suitable operating parameters  129 , including gate clock overlap, gate clock fall time, and/or source output parking voltage may be used to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts (e.g., VSFOMs) due to differential VCOM characteristics. 
     Calibration of the Display and Programming of the Operating Parameters 
     The various operating parameters  129  discussed above can be used to reduce or eliminate muras, such as vertical stripe features of merit (VSFOMs) in the display  18 . A calibration control system  400 , as shown by  FIG. 15  represents one example of a system to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts of the display  18 . In the example of  FIG. 15 , a peripheral area  402  and an active area  404  of the display  18  are pictured. A coordinate system appearing in  FIG. 15  includes a y axis and an x axis. A mura artifact on the display  18  includes alternating light and dark lines parallel to the y axis. 
     A camera  406  may capture at least a portion of the active area  404  where mura artifacts may be to produce at least one image  408 . The camera  406  may be any suitable digital imaging device that can capture the artifact on the display  18  in sufficient contrast. It is believed that less contrast may be needed when the system  400  relies on a human operator than when the system  400  calibrates the display  18  automatically. As such, when the system  400  calibrates the display  18  automatically, the camera  406  may be a camera that can capture a higher dynamic range. For example, it is believed that the contrast between elements of the mura artifact may differ by less than one-fifth of a gray level and still remain visible. To capture this contrast when operating in an automatic mode rather than being controlled by a human operator, the camera  406  may capture 12 bits of dynamic range or more. When controlled by a human operator, a less expensive camera  406  of lower dynamic range may be used. 
     A calibration control terminal  410 , which may be any suitable computer system, may receive the images  408  from the camera  406 . The calibration control terminal  410  may control the display  18  according to a programmed algorithm or under the control of a human operator. As will be discussed below, the calibration control terminal  410  may initially select a gray level  412  for the pixels of the display  18  to display. The gray level  412  may be displayed by at least those pixels captured in the images  408 . Using the images  408  as feedback, the calibration control terminal  410  and/or its human operator may adjust the parameters  129  of the display  18  such that mura artifacts are reduced and/or eliminated. 
     As mentioned above, the calibration control terminal  410  may be any suitable electronic device or computer system that can control the display  18  in the manner shown in  FIG. 15 . As such, the calibration control terminal  410  may include any suitable processor  416  and memory and/or storage  418 . The processor  416  may carry out instructions encoded in the memory and/or storage  418  according to the techniques discussed below. When the calibration is performed in a generally automatic fashion, a display  420  may or may not be present. When controlled by a human operator, the human operator may view the images  408  on the display  420  as feedback to adjustments to the operating parameters  129 . 
     The calibration of system  400  of  FIG. 15  may amplify the contrast in the images  408  to make the mura artifact of the display  18  more clearly visible. A flowchart  430  of  FIG. 16 , for example, describes one manner in which the display  18  may be calibrated to reduce or eliminate mura artifacts. The flowchart  430  of  FIG. 16  may be carried out automatically or by a human operator. The flowchart  430  may begin when the pixels of the display  18  are set to a gray level sufficient to produce contrasting mura artifacts (block  432 ). Any suitable gray level may be employed. It is believed that a gray level of G 63  out of a range of possible gray levels of G 0  to G 255  will produce the highest amount of contrast in the mura artifact. In some embodiments, the gray level may be any value between gray levels of around G 40  and G 80 , depending on the particular susceptibility to these gray levels to the mura artifacts. In some embodiments, the gray level selected may be less than G 127 . 
     The camera  406  may obtain images  408  of the display  18  (block  434 ). The calibration control terminal  410  may determine an average luminance of the display panel  18  in the image(s)  408  (block  436 ). The calibration control terminal  410  then may amplify the image(s)  408  around the average luminance(s) (block  438 ). When these amplified images  408  are displayed on the display  420 , a human operator may be able to more clearly see the effects of changing the operating parameter(s)  129  of the display. 
     Before continuing further in the flowchart  430  of  FIG. 16 , the reader is directed to  FIGS. 17 and 18 , which generally illustrate the effect of amplifying the image(s)  408 . In the example of  FIG. 17 , which may represent the image(s)  408  at block  436 , a luminance diagram  440  shows luminance (ordinate  442 ) of the display  18  along the x axis (abscissa  444 ) of the display  18 . The luminance varies across the width of the display  18  due to vertical stripes of the mura, which may be seen as areas of low luminance  446  and areas of high luminance  448 . These areas of low luminance  446  and areas of high luminance  448  may be averaged to obtain an average luminance  450 . A contrast may be visualized as a luminance difference  452  between the areas of low luminance  446  and the areas of high luminance  448 . 
       FIG. 18  generally represents a luminance of the images  408  after block  438 . In  FIG. 18 , a luminance diagram  454  shows that the areas of low luminance  446  and the areas of high luminance  448  have been amplified in relation to the average luminance  450 . As such, a luminance difference  456  is much greater. With this higher contrast, a human operator and/or the calibration control terminal  410  may more easily discern the mura artifacts. 
     Returning to the flowchart  430  of  FIG. 16 , using the amplified images  408 , a human operator and/or the calibration control terminal  410  may determine whether any mura artifacts are visible (decision block  458 ). If not, the current operating parameters  129  being supplied to the display  18  may be programmed in the non-volatile memory  128  of the display  18  (block  460 ). 
     If any mura artifacts remain visible, the human operator and/or the calibration control terminal  410  may adjust one or more operating parameters  129  (block  462 ). As mentioned above, the operating parameter(s)  129  may include a gate clock overlap, a gate clock fall time, a VCOM resistance, a source output parking voltage, and/or any other suitable operating parameters that affect the appearance of the mura artifacts. As the parameters are adjusted (block  462 ), the images  408  may continue to be obtained (block  434 ), the luminances of each averaged (block  436 ), and amplified (block  438 ) as discussed above. The operating parameters  129  may continue to be adjusted until the mura artifacts are no longer visible. 
     With or without amplifying the images  408  as in the method  430  of  FIG. 16 , the calibration control terminal  410  and/or a human operator may calibrate the display  18 . For example, the calibration control terminal  410  and/or the human operator may adjust one or more of the operating parameters  129  as generally shown in  FIGS. 19-22 .  FIGS. 19 and 20  provide a first example, and  FIGS. 21 and 22  provide a second example.  FIG. 19  is a plot of artifact visibility (ordinate  472 ) against one or more of the operating parameters  129  (abscissa  474 ). Two curves  476  and  478  respectively represent the visibility of artifacts at two different gray levels. In the example of  FIG. 19 , the gray levels selected are gray level G 63  (curve  476 ) and gray level G 127  (curve  478 ). Here, the gray level G 63  may be chosen because the mura artifacts have the possibility to be strongest in a positive sense at gray level G 63 . The gray level G 127  may be chosen because the mura artifacts have the possibility to be strongest in a negative sense at G 127 . In other embodiments, however, any other suitable gray levels may be selected. As illustrated in plot  470 , as the parameter(s)  129  are dialed up or down, the extent to which the mura artifacts become more or less visible may depend on the gray level being displayed on the display  18 . Where both curves  476  and  478  fall within a specified range  480 , the display  18  may be understood to be well calibrated. Points A, B, C, D, and E of the plot  470  refer to points associated with a flowchart  490  shown in  FIG. 20 . 
     The flowchart  490  of  FIG. 20  may begin when the pixels of the display  18  are set to display a gray level of G 63  (block  492 ). When this occurs, the display  18  may be understood to be displaying mura artifacts at a level associated with point A on the plot  470  of  FIG. 19 . The calibration control terminal  410  and/or a human operator may dial the parameter(s)  129  down until the artifact(s) are substantially eliminated (block  494 ). This may entail changing the parameter(s)  129  in discrete amounts until the artifacts begin to appear inverted, as may occur at point B of  FIG. 19 . The parameter(s)  129  may be walked back one discrete step to be approximately to what likely may be the lowest visibility of the artifacts when the display  18  is displaying a gray level of G 63 , corresponding to point C of  FIG. 19 . 
     Although, the display  18  may show few or no mura artifacts at the gray level G 63 , it is possible that the mura artifacts may be excessive at another gray level (e.g., G 127 ). Thus, the calibration control terminal  410  and/or the human operator next may set the gray level to G 127  (block  496 ). In this example, the level of artifacts seen when the gray level is changed may be visualized as point D of the plot  470  of  FIG. 19 . The calibration control terminal  410  and/or the human operator then may observe whether the luminance contrast of the mura artifacts are within the specified bounds (e.g., within the specified range  480 ) (block  498 ). 
     In the example of  FIG. 19 , point D occurs within the specified range  480 . Thus, the calibration control terminal  410  or the human operator may observe that the mura artifact visibility is within the specification (decision block  500 ). The calibration control terminal  410  thus may store the parameter(s)  129  in the display  18  (block  502 ). It is possible, depending on the specified range  480  and the distribution of the curves  476  and  478 , that the artifact visibility at point D could fall outside of the specified range  480  (decision block  500 ). When this is the case (decision block  500 ), the parameter(s)  129  may be walked back in discrete amounts (block  504 ) until the value is within the specified range  480 . In some embodiments, the discrete steps of changes in the parameter(s)  129  may be larger when initially determining the point along the gray level G 63  curve  476  where no artifacts occur (e.g., point C). The discrete steps of changes in the parameter(s)  129  may be smaller when moving along the gray level G 126  curve  478  (e.g., half the size of the discrete steps at the gray level G 63 ). 
     In another example, illustrated in  FIGS. 21 and 22 , ideal artifact correction on both curves  476  and  478  may be initially determined, and an intermediate value may be selected based on these two values. A plot  508  of  FIG. 21  is substantially the same as the plot  470  of  FIG. 19 , except that different points are shown. The points A, B, C, D, E, and F of the plot  508  correspond to blocks of a flowchart  510  of  FIG. 22 . The flowchart  510  of  FIG. 22  may begin when the calibration control terminal  410  sets the gray level of the display 2 G 63  (block  512 ). This may correspond to point A on the plot  508  of  FIG. 21 . The calibration control terminal  410  may gradually adjust the parameter(s)  129  in discrete steps until the mura artifacts are inverted at point B, then stepping back one discrete step such that the mura artifacts are substantially at zero at point C (block  514 ). The value of the parameter(s)  129  reached at block  514  at point C may be temporarily stored in the memory  418  of the calibration control terminal  410 . This value may be used in determining the ultimate intermediate parameter(s)  129  that may be stored in the display  18 . 
     Next, the calibration control terminal  410  may determine values of the operating parameter(s)  129  that similarly causes the display  18  to reach a zero-point for the gray level G 127 . Thus, the calibration control terminal  410  may cause the display  18  to display a gray level of G 127  (block  516 ). This may correspond to point D in the plot  508  of  FIG. 21 . Thus, an inverted artifact may be visible on the display  18  at block  516 . The calibration control terminal  410  may adjust the parameter(s)  129  by stepping back in discrete steps until reaching a zero-point at the gray level of G 127  (block  518 ). In the plot  508  of  FIG. 21 , this may correspond to stepping until the artifact seen at the gray level G 127  become inverted from the original point D to point E along the curve  478 . The calibration control terminal  410  then may walk back the parameter(s)  129  by one step to achieve a very low level of mura artifacts (e.g., substantially zero artifacts) at point F. The memory  418  of the calibration control terminal  410  may store this value of the parameter(s)  129 . 
     At block  520  of  FIG. 22 , the values of the parameter(s)  129  obtained at block  514  and  518  may be used to determine an intermediate value of the operating parameter(s)  129 . This intermediate value of the operating parameter(s)  129  may cause both the gray level G 63  and gray level G 127  to fall within the specified range  480  (block  520 ), though neither may necessarily be completely artifact-free. To do so, the calibration control terminal  410  may select an absolute average, a weighted average, or may use the values from blocks  514  and  518  in any other suitable function to determine an intermediate parameter(s)  129  value. The calibration control terminal  410  then may store the determined intermediate parameter(s)  129  value in the display  18  (block  522 ). 
     Regardless of the calibration approach used, displays  18  may be calibrated individually or by lot. For example, as shown by a flowchart  530  of  FIG. 23 , only some samples of displays  18  may be selected from a lot or batch being manufactured (block  532 ). Suitable calibration parameter(s)  129  thus may be determined for each display  18  in the sample (block  534 ). Using any suitable statistical method, common calibration parameter(s) may be determined for the sample (block  536 ). For example, a median or model value of calibration parameter(s)  129  that causes the display  18  of the sample to all fall within a specified range of suitable artifacts visibility may be determined. The common calibration parameter(s) associated with the statistical sample may be programmed into each display  18  of the lot (block  538 ). 
     The severity of the mura artifact(s) may relate to a temperature of the display  18 . For instance, it is believed that vertical stripe feature of merit (VSFOM) artifacts may become more pronounced at higher temperatures. Thus, the common calibration parameter(s)  129  that are selected may be selected such that the displays  18  of the lot of displays may remain within a specified range despite variations in temperature. To account for these temperature variations, the sample of the display panels obtained from the lot of displays  18  may include a suitable range of operating temperatures. The distribution of temperatures in the sample may be selected experimentally, as may be the sample size, such that the resulting common calibration parameter(s)  129  may keep the display panels  18  within the specified range 480 despite changes in temperature. 
     The various techniques and systems discussed above also may apply after the display  18  has been installed within an electronic device  10 . For instance, the calibration control terminal  410  and/or the human operator may adjust the parameter(s)  129  of the display  18  through the electronic device  10  where the display  18  may already be installed. Additionally or alternatively, the processor(s)  12  of the electronic device  10  may operate as the calibration control terminal  410 , as illustrated in  FIG. 24 . In a calibration system  550  of  FIG. 24 , a camera  552  may supply images  554  of the display  18  of an electronic device  10 , here shown as the handheld device  36 . The handheld device  36  may vary the operation of the display  18  according to any suitable calibration technique, including those discussed above. Thus, as illustrated by a flowchart  560  of  FIG. 25 , the electronic device  10  may receive images from an external camera such as the camera  552  (block  562 ). The electronic device  10 , such as the handheld device  36  shown in  FIG. 24 , may perform any suitable calibration techniques using the feedback images  554  (block  564 ). 
     In some embodiments, an electronic device  10 , such as the handheld device  36 , may avoid using an external camera, relying instead on its onboard camera  30 , as illustrated in  FIG. 26 . In  FIG. 26 , a calibration system  570  includes an electronic device  10 , here shown as the handheld device  36  and a reflective surface  572 . The reflective surface  572  may be any suitable surface that can reflect light  574  with suitable clarity such that mura artifacts on the display  18  are perceptible by the camera  30  of the electronic device  10 . In addition, in some embodiments, the camera  30  may be of a sufficiently high dynamic range so as to be able to distinguish the artifacts without amplification. For instance, the camera  30  may capture a dynamic range of 12 bits or higher when the mura artifacts may be up to one-fifth of a gray level. 
     The system  570  of  FIG. 26  may operate in a manner described by a flowchart  580  of  FIG. 27 . The flowchart  580  may begin when the electronic device  10  is placed before the reflective surface  572  (block  582 ). In certain embodiments, more than one reflective surface  572  may be employed, and the light  574  may be redirected to a back-facing camera  30  rather than a front-facing camera  30  as shown in  FIG. 26 . The flowchart  580  of  FIG. 27  may continue when the onboard camera  30  of the electronic device  10  captures reflective images of the display  18  (block  584 ). Using these images as feedback, the electronic device  10  may perform any suitable artifact calibration techniques, including those discussed above (block  586 ). 
     The mura artifact discussed above may have a transient character. For instance, as shown by a plot  590  of  FIG. 28 , the visibility of the artifacts (ordinate  592 ) may vary with time (abscissa  594 ). A curve  596  of artifact visibility thus may decrease substantially exponentially between an initial time t 0  and a settling time t 1 . Calibrating the display  18  before the display  18  has reached the settling time t 1  could produce in accurate parameter(s)  129  that do not fully reduce or eliminate the artifact(s). As such, before calibrating the display  18 , the display  18  may be allowed to dwell for some period of time, as generally represented by a flowchart  600  of  FIG. 29 . 
     Since the settling time t 1  may vary from display  18  to display  18 , the flowchart  600  may aim to begin calibrating the display  18  as soon as the mura artifact is settled. The flowchart  600  may begin when the display  18  is initially activated and the luminance of the artifact may be measured (block  602 ). For instance, the camera  406 ,  552 , or  30  may determine a luminance difference between the bright areas and dark areas of the artifact(s) or simply a luminance of one of either the bright or the dark areas. The display  18  then may be allowed to dwell—that is, to remain on—for some period of time (block  604 ). In the example of the flowchart  600 , this amount of time is 15 seconds. Any suitable amount of time may be chosen, however, depending on the characteristics of the display panels  18 . Having given the display  18  an opportunity to dissipate some of the artifact(s), the luminance difference of the artifact(s) may be measured again (block  606 ). 
     Since the settling time t l  may vary from display  18  to display  18 , the display  18  may be deemed to have settled once the difference between the latest two measurements has changed less than a given magnitude. Thus, if the magnitude of the difference between the latest two measurements exceeds some threshold (e.g., around 300 cd/m 2 ), it may understood that the artifact has not yet settled, (block  608 ), and so the display  18  may be allowed to dwell an additional period of time (block  610 ). The threshold may be selected depending on the characteristics of the display panels  18  being manufactured. In some cases, the threshold may be selected by batch or lot, and/or may be adjusted as more displays from the batch or lot are calibrated. For instance, in some embodiments, the threshold may be relatively small (e.g., 100 candela per meter squared (cd/m 2 ) or less), while in other embodiments, the threshold may be coarser (e.g., 500 cd/m 2 or even greater). The additional period of time may be any suitable period of time, lasting from less than one second to a few seconds. In some embodiments, the delay period of block  610  may be the same as the first period of delay (e.g., 15 seconds). 
     On the other hand, if the magnitude of the difference between the latest two luminance measurements does exceed the threshold (decision block  608 ), the display  18  may be understood to have reached sufficiently near to its settling value (e.g., at t 1  and beyond). Artifact calibration may than may be performed (block  612 ) without concern that the severity of the artifact(s) will change dramatically during the course of calibration. 
     Another concern that may be addressed before calibrating the display  18  for mura artifacts may be flicker induced by bias voltages accumulating in the display  18 . Such bias voltages may arise due to differences between an ideal common voltage (VCOM) value supplied to the common electrodes  112  and the actual VCOM value supplied to the common electrodes  112 . In another example, these bias voltages may appear due to stray charges introduced into the display  18  during the manufacture of the display  18  or the electronic device  10  in which the display  18  has been installed. Both of these potential sources of display  18  flicker will be addressed below. 
     Turning to  FIG. 30 , a voltage diagram  620  illustrates one reason bias voltages may build up in the display  18  as the display  18  operates. It may be recalled that the display  18  pixels  102  operate by varying an electric field through the liquid crystal material of each pixel. To generate the electric field, the common electrode  112  may be maintained at a generally uniform DC level over time. The voltage value supplied on the pixel electrodes  110 , however, may be some voltage value higher or lower than the VCOM voltage supplied to the common electrode  110  to produce the electric field. Since maintaining the same polarity on the pixel electrodes  110  for an extended period of time could be problematic, the polarity of the voltage supplied to the pixel electrodes  110  may vary occasionally (e.g., on a frame-by-frame basis). 
     These values are generally reflected in the voltage diagram  620  of  FIG. 30 . Several voltages of these display  18  components are located along a voltage axis  622 . Namely, an ideal value of a VCOM voltage is shown at line  622 , a positive polarity of a voltage supplied to a pixel electrode  110  appears at line  624 , and a negative polarity of a voltage value supplied to a pixel electrode  110  is shown at line  626 . The voltages at line  624  and  626  have been selected such that magnitude  628  and  630  are the same. This ensures that the electric fields produced by the positive pixel values of  624  and negative pixel values  626  have substantially the same effect on the liquid crystal material of each pixel  102  of the display  18 . 
     In reality, however, the actual VCOM value may differ from the ideal VCOM value. In the voltage diagram  620  of  FIG. 30 , an actual VCOM value is provided as an example at line  632 , which differs somewhat from the ideal VCOM value at  622 . The magnitude of the value between the actual VCOM voltage and the positive and negative polarities appears as magnitudes  634  and  636 . Since the magnitudes  634  and  636  are not the same, the electric field produced by these values is slightly different and flicker may result. Specifically, when the pixels  102  of the display  18  are supplied with alternating polarities of data signals, and the magnitudes  634  and  636  result, the pixels  102  generally may spend more time at a slightly more negative polarity than at the positive polarity. As such, bias voltages (e.g., in the negative direction, in the voltage diagram  620  of  FIG. 30 ), may form in the display  18 . This produces flicker, which may make the mura artifacts more difficult to correct in the calibration techniques discussed above. As such, the displays  18  may be tuned to correct flicker before addressing the mura artifacts. 
     Even before eliminating flicker artifacts, reducing or eliminating stray charges due to various steps in the manufacturing process of the display  18  and/or the electronic device  10  into which the display  18  has been installed may be warranted. For example, as shown by a flowchart  640  of  FIG. 31 , once a display panel has been largely built (block  642 ), the display  18  may be baked to cause stray charge to the reduced or eliminated (block  644 ). In particular, the display  18  and/or the electronic device  10  (if the display  18  has already been installed) may be baked at a relatively high temperature (e.g., around 50° C.) for a period of time suitable to reduce or eliminate the stray charges on the display  18 . In certain embodiments, the display  18  may be baked in relatively high humidity (e.g., around approximately 50% humidity) to reduce the chance of electrostatic discharge (ESD) events. The temperature selected may be any suitably high temperature that causes stray charge to more easily dissipate from the display  18 , while remaining low enough not to damage components of the display  18 . Similarly, the humidity may be selected to be high enough to prevent ESD events on the display  18 , while remaining low enough not to cause short-circuiting of the display  18 . 
     After baking the display  18 , flicker tuning may be performed (block  646 ). Flicker tuning may be carried out using any suitable technique, such as adjusting the VCOM voltage values while observing the amount with the degree to which the display  18  exhibits flickering. In some embodiments, the flicker tuning may take place while the display  18  is displaying a gray level that suitably produces contrasting artifacts on the display mura artifacts on the display  18 . For instance, the gray level may be selected to be the primary gray level used in mura artifact calibration. Thus, the gray level may be selected to be a gray level that produces the greatest contrast in the mura artifacts. In one embodiment, this gray level may be a gray level of G 63 . By tuning for flicker at the gray level that produces contrasting mura artifacts on the display  18 , artifact calibration (block  648 ) may be performed on a display  18  with reduced flicker and/or negative effects due to stray charge on the display  18 . Any suitable mura artifact calibration may be performed, including any of those discussed above. 
     Technical effects of the present disclosure include the manufacture of a display having multiple common voltage layers (VCOMs) with improved image quality. Namely, despite the presence of multiple VCOMs in the display, mura artifacts, such as vertical striping artifacts, may be reduced or eliminated. These techniques may be performed with assistance from a human operator or automatically by a control terminal. By dynamically accounting for the transient character of certain mura artifacts, calibrating the mura artifacts may be carried out both precisely and efficiently. Moreover, by baking the display to reduce or eliminate stray charge before performing flicker tuning, the resulting displays may exhibit fewer flickering artifacts or defects due to stray charge. 
     The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20120831
Publication Date: 20150324
Grant Date: 20150324
Priority Date: 20120608
Inventors: AL-DAHLE AHMAD
STRONKS DAVID A.
BAE HOPIL
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "Y10T29/49002", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3655", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0223", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3696", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/49117", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/49002", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/49117", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2360/145", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2310/067", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N17/00", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0233", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A61P31/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0693", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3696", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0233", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0223", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2360/145", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N17/00", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2310/067", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0693", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3655", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 49714999