PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-8970808-B2
Application Number: US-201213609773-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Display with temperature sensors

Abstract:
A display may be provided with display layers such as a thin-film-transistor layer and a color filter layer. Liquid crystal material may be interposed between the thin-film-transistor layer and the color filter layer. Due to temperature fluctuations during operation, the optical properties of the liquid crystal material may be altered. To prevent color casts from developing in the display, the display may include temperature sensors. The temperature sensors may run along the left and right edges of the thin-film-transistor layer or may be mounted to other portions of the display. A signal bus may be used to gather temperature sensor data from the temperature sensors. Control circuitry may use temperature data from the temperature sensors to make display color cast adjustments that compensate for temperature fluctuations in different regions of the display.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A display, comprising:
 a display layer substrate having a rectangular periphery with edges; 
 an array of display pixels on the substrate; 
 at least one temperature sensor; 
 at least one additional substrate, wherein the at least one temperature sensor is mounted on the at least one additional substrate; and 
 a signal path that is formed from metal traces on the display layer substrate and on the at least one additional substrate. 
 
     
     
       2. The display defined in  claim 1  wherein the at least one temperature sensor comprises a plurality of temperature sensors running along the given one of the edges. 
     
     
       3. The display defined in  claim 2  wherein the signal path is coupled to the plurality of temperature sensors. 
     
     
       4. The display defined in  claim 3  wherein the at least one additional substrate comprises a plurality of flexible printed circuit substrates each of which is coupled to the display layer substrate along the given one of the edges and wherein each of the plurality of temperature sensors is mounted on a respective one of the flexible printed circuit substrates. 
     
     
       5. The display defined in  claim 4  further comprising a plurality of display control integrated circuits each of which is mounted on a respective one of the flexible printed circuit substrates. 
     
     
       6. The display defined in  claim 5  further comprising a flexible printed circuit cable coupled to the display substrate layer, wherein part of the signal path includes metal traces on the flexible printed circuit cable. 
     
     
       7. The display defined in  claim 6  further comprising a data line driver integrated circuit on the flexible printed circuit cable. 
     
     
       8. The display defined in  claim 7  wherein the display layer substrate comprises a thin-film-transistor layer substrate. 
     
     
       9. The display defined in  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of integrated circuits, wherein the at least one temperature sensor comprises a plurality of temperature sensors, and wherein each of the plurality of integrated circuits includes one of the temperature sensors. 
     
     
       10. The display defined in  claim 9  further comprising gate lines and data lines that provide control signals to the array of display pixels, wherein each of the integrated circuits includes gate line driver circuitry coupled to the gate lines. 
     
     
       11. The display defined in  claim 9  wherein each of the integrated circuits includes analog-to-digital converter circuitry that digitizes temperature signals from the temperature sensors and includes communications circuitry. 
     
     
       12. The display defined in  claim 11  wherein the communications circuitry is configured to communicate over a two-wire communications bus. 
     
     
       13. The display defined in  claim 1  wherein the display substrate layer has an upper surface on which the display pixels are formed, has an opposing lower surface on which at least one additional temperature sensor is mounted, and has vias through the display substrate layer. 
     
     
       14. The display defined in  claim 1  wherein the edges include a left edge and a right edge and wherein the at least one temperature sensor includes a first set of temperature sensors that are mounted along the left edge and a second set of temperature sensors that are mounted along the right edge. 
     
     
       15. An electronic device, comprising:
 a liquid crystal display having a thin-film-transistor layer and a plurality of temperature sensors that are mounted along at least one edge of the thin-film-transistor layer; and 
 control circuitry that is configured to gather temperature sensor data from the temperature sensors to compensate the liquid crystal display for color casts due to temperature fluctuations in the thin-film-transistor layer, wherein the at least one edge of the thin-film-transistor layer comprises a left edge, wherein the thin-film transistor layer has an opposing right edge, and wherein the liquid crystal display further comprises:
 a plurality of flexible printed circuit substrates coupled to the left and right edges of the thin-film-transistor layer, wherein the temperature sensors are mounted on the plurality of flexible printed circuit substrates. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  wherein the thin-film transistor layer includes thin-film transistors that are coupled to gate lines and data lines, the liquid crystal display further comprising a plurality of gate driver integrated circuits coupled to the gate lines, wherein each of the plurality of gate driver integrated circuits is mounted on a respective one of the flexible printed circuit substrates. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  wherein the liquid crystal display comprises a plurality of gate driver integrated circuits coupled to gate lines in the liquid crystal display and wherein each of the temperature sensors is associated with a respective one of the gate driver integrated circuits. 
     
     
       18. A display, comprising:
 a thin-film-transistor substrate layer having an array of display pixels controlled by control signals provided over gate lines and data lines, wherein the thin-film-transistor substrate layer has peripheral edges; and 
 a plurality of temperature sensor integrated circuits mounted on the thin-film-transistor substrate layer, wherein the plurality of temperature sensor integrated circuits is configured to measure temperatures along at least some of the peripheral edges. 
 
     
     
       19. The display defined in  claim 18  further comprising a plurality of integrated circuits coupled to at least some of the gate lines and data lines, wherein the temperature sensor integrated circuits are formed as part of the integrated circuits. 
     
     
       20. The display defined in  claim 18  further comprising:
 a plurality of display control integrated circuits coupled to at least some of the gate lines and data lines, wherein the temperature sensor integrated circuits are each coupled to a respective one of the plurality of display control integrated circuits. 
 
     
     
       21. The display defined in  claim 18  further comprising a signal bus to which each of the plurality of temperature sensor integrated circuits is coupled.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices with displays. 
     Electronic devices often include displays. For example, cellular telephones and portable computers often include displays for presenting information to a user. An electronic device may have a housing such as a housing formed from plastic or metal. Components for the electronic device such as display components may be mounted in the housing. 
     It can be challenging to incorporate a display into the housing of an electronic device. Size and weight are often important considerations in designing electronic devices. Often when components are installed in close proximity to one another in an effort to minimize system size, components may become hot during use. 
     During operation of displays such as liquid crystal displays, temperature changes in liquid crystal material can lead to changes in the optical properties of the liquid crystal material. These changes can cause color casts if not corrected. For example, as a result of a decrease in the birefringence of the liquid crystal material with increasing temperature, liquid crystal displays typically become bluer as temperatures rise. 
     To address temperature-dependent color changes in liquid crystal displays, a temperature sensor is sometimes mounted to the back of a display. The temperature sensor may be used to estimate the temperature of the display in real time. The control circuitry for the display may then pre-distort video information loaded into the display with a color shift that compensates for the estimated temperature-induced color shift. 
     This type of approach may be unsatisfactory for displays that are characterized by non-uniform temperature profiles across the surface of the display. If the locations of hot system components and cooling system patterns cause temperature variations across the display, the temperature sensor on the back of the display will not be able to accurately estimate display temperature. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved temperature sensing for displays in electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with a display. The display may be provided with display layers such as a thin-film-transistor layer and a color filter layer. Liquid crystal material may be interposed between the thin-film-transistor layer and the color filter layer. Due to temperature fluctuations during operation, the optical properties of the liquid crystal material may be altered. To prevent color casts from developing in the display due to changes in the optical properties of the liquid crystal material, the display may incorporate temperature sensors. 
     The temperature sensors may run along the left and right edges of the thin-film-transistor layer or may be mounted to other portions of the display. Temperature readings may be taken from the temperature sensors to determine the temperatures of different regions of the display. 
     The temperature sensors may be implemented as circuits on the surface of a display layer substrate, as discrete devices, or as portions of integrated circuits. Control circuitry may use temperature data from the temperature sensors to make display color cast adjustments that compensate for temperature fluctuations. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a laptop computer with a display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a handheld electronic device with a display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a tablet computer with a display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with a display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram of an illustrative display showing how an array of display pixels in the display may be provided with control signals using control circuitry coupled to data lines and gate lines in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a top view of an illustrative thin-film-transistor layer to which flexible printed circuits with temperature sensors and gate driver integrated circuits have been mounted in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a circuit diagram of illustrative temperature sensor integrated circuits that are coupled to a bus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a display control integrated circuit such as a gate driver integrated circuit and a temperature sensor integrated circuit of the type that may be mounted adjacent to the gate driver integrated circuit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a circuit diagram of a display control integrated circuit such as a gate driver integrated circuit that includes processing circuitry for processing temperature data from an associated temperature sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a display control integrated circuit such as a gate driver integrated circuit mounted on a substrate and temperature sensor circuitry formed on the substrate in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a display control integrated circuit such as a gate driver integrated circuit of the type that may include temperature sensor components and associated temperature sensor data processing circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of an edge portion of a display substrate having integrated circuits such as gate driver integrated circuits or other display control integrated circuits and temperature sensor integrated circuits in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective view of a portion of a display substrate to which a flexible printed circuit cable has been attached showing how a temperature sensor may be mounted on the flexible printed circuit cable or on the substrate in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display substrate showing how components such as a flexible printed circuit cable and integrated circuits of the type that may include temperature sensor circuitry and temperature sensor data processing circuitry may be mounted on the inactive side of the display substrate and coupled to the active side of the substrate using vias in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in using temperature sensor circuitry arrayed around the periphery of a display substrate to compensate a display for temperature-induced color variations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may include displays. The displays may be used to display images to a user. Illustrative electronic devices that may be provided with displays are shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 . 
       FIG. 1  shows how electronic device  10  may have the shape of a laptop computer having upper housing  12 A and lower housing  12 B with components such as keyboard  16  and touchpad  18 . Device  10  may have hinge structures  20  that allow upper housing  12 A to rotate in directions  22  about rotational axis  24  relative to lower housing  12 B. Display  14  may be mounted in upper housing  12 A. Upper housing  12 A, which may sometimes referred to as a display housing or lid, may be placed in a closed position by rotating upper housing  12 A towards lower housing  12 B about rotational axis  24 . 
       FIG. 2  shows how electronic device  10  may be a handheld device such as a cellular telephone, music player, gaming device, navigation unit, or other compact device. In this type of configuration for device  10 , housing  12  may have opposing front and rear surfaces. Display  14  may be mounted on a front face of housing  12 . Display  14  may, if desired, have a display cover layer or other exterior layer that includes openings for components such as button  26 . Openings may also be formed in a display cover layer or other display layer to accommodate a speaker port (see, e.g., speaker port  28  of  FIG. 2 ). 
       FIG. 3  shows how electronic device  10  may be a tablet computer. In electronic device  10  of  FIG. 3 , housing  12  may have opposing planar front and rear surfaces. Display  14  may be mounted on the front surface of housing  12 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , display  14  may have a cover layer or other external layer with an opening to accommodate button  26  (as an example). 
     The illustrative configurations for device  10  that are shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3  are merely illustrative. In general, electronic device  10  may be a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. 
     Housing  12  of device  10 , which is sometimes referred to as a case, may be formed of materials such as plastic, glass, ceramics, carbon-fiber composites and other fiber-based composites, metal (e.g., machined aluminum, stainless steel, or other metals), other materials, or a combination of these materials. Device  10  may be formed using a unibody construction in which most or all of housing  12  is formed from a single structural element (e.g., a piece of machined metal or a piece of molded plastic) or may be formed from multiple housing structures (e.g., outer housing structures that have been mounted to internal frame elements or other internal housing structures). 
     Display  14  may be a touch sensitive display that includes a touch sensor or may be insensitive to touch. Touch sensors for display  14  may be formed from an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes, a resistive touch array, touch sensor structures based on acoustic touch, optical touch, or force-based touch technologies, or other suitable touch sensor components. 
     Displays for device  10  may, in general, include image pixels formed from light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), plasma cells, electrowetting pixels, electrophoretic pixels, liquid crystal display (LCD) components, or other suitable image pixel structures. In some situations, it may be desirable to use LCD components to form display  14 , so configurations for display  14  in which display  14  is a liquid crystal display are sometimes described herein as an example. Other types of display technology may be used in device  10  if desired. 
     A display cover layer may cover the surface of display  14  or a display layer such as a color filter layer or other portion of a display may be used as the outermost (or nearly outermost) layer in display  14 . A display cover layer or other outer display layer may be formed from a transparent glass sheet, a clear plastic layer, or other transparent member. 
     Touch sensor components such as an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes formed from transparent materials such as indium tin oxide may be formed on the underside of a display cover layer, may be formed on a separate display layer such as a glass or polymer touch sensor substrate, or may be integrated into other display layers (e.g., substrate layers such as a thin-film transistor layer). 
     A schematic diagram of an illustrative configuration that may be used for electronic device  10  is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry  29 . Control circuitry  29  may include storage and processing circuitry for controlling the operation of device  10 . Control circuitry  29  may, for example, include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Control circuitry  29  may include processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio codec chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Control circuitry  29  may be used to run software on device  10 , such as operating system software and application software. Using this software, control circuitry  29  may present information to a user of electronic device  10  on display  14 . When presenting information to a user on display  14 , sensor signals and other information may be used by control circuitry  29  in making adjustments to the strength of backlight illumination that is used for display  14  and the color cast associated with image data in various portions of display  14 . 
     Input-output circuitry  30  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output circuitry  30  may include communications circuitry  32 . Communications circuitry  32  may include wired communications circuitry for supporting communications using data ports in device  10 . Communications circuitry  32  may also include wireless communications circuits (e.g., circuitry for transmitting and receiving wireless radio-frequency signals using antennas). 
     Input-output circuitry  30  may also include input-output devices  34 . A user can control the operation of device  10  by supplying commands through input-output devices  34  and may receive status information and other output from device  10  using the output resources of input-output devices  34 . 
     Input-output devices  34  may include sensors and status indicators  36  such as an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an accelerometer, and light-emitting diodes and other components for gathering information about the environment in which device  10  is operating and providing information to a user of device  10  about the status of device  10 . 
     Audio components  38  may include speakers and tone generators for presenting sound to a user of device  10  and microphones for gathering user audio input. 
     Display  14  may be used to present images for a user such as text, video, and still images. Sensors  36  may include a touch sensor array that is formed as one of the layers in display  14 . 
     User input may be gathered using buttons and other input-output components  40  such as touch pad sensors, buttons, joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, touch sensors such as sensors  36  in display  14 , key pads, keyboards, vibrators, cameras, and other input-output components. 
     A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative configuration that may be used for display  14  of device  10  (e.g., for display  14  of the devices of  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , or  FIG. 3  or other suitable electronic devices) is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , display  14  may include backlight structures such as backlight unit  42  for producing backlight  44 . During operation, backlight  44  travels outwards (vertically upwards in dimension Z in the orientation of  FIG. 5 ) and passes through display pixel structures in display layers  46 . This illuminates any images that are being produced by the display pixels for viewing by a user. For example, backlight  44  may illuminate images on display layers  46  that are being viewed by viewer  48  in direction  50 . 
     Display layers  46  may be mounted in chassis structures such as a plastic chassis structure and/or a metal chassis structure to form a display module for mounting in housing  12  or display layers  46  may be mounted directly in housing  12  (e.g., by stacking display layers  46  into a recessed portion in housing  12 ). Display layers  46  may form a liquid crystal display or may be used in forming displays of other types. 
     In a configuration in which display layers  46  are used in forming a liquid crystal display, display layers  46  may include a liquid crystal layer such a liquid crystal layer  52 . Liquid crystal layer  52  may be sandwiched between display layers such as display layers  58  and  56 . Layers  56  and  58  may be interposed between lower polarizer layer  60  and upper polarizer layer  54 . 
     Layers  58  and  56  may be formed from transparent substrate layers such as clear layers of glass or plastic. Layers  56  and  58  may be layers such as a thin-film transistor layer and/or a color filter layer. Conductive traces, color filter elements, transistors, and other circuits and structures may be formed on the substrates of layers  58  and  56  (e.g., to form a thin-film transistor layer and/or a color filter layer). Touch sensor electrodes may also be incorporated into layers such as layers  58  and  56  and/or touch sensor electrodes may be formed on other substrates. Layers  58  and  56  may have rectangular peripheries each having upper and lower edges and left and right edges. 
     With one illustrative configuration, layer  58  may be a thin-film transistor layer that includes an array of thin-film transistors and associated electrodes (display pixel electrodes) for applying electric fields to liquid crystal layer  52  and thereby displaying images on display  14 . Layer  56  may be a color filter layer that includes an array of color filter elements for providing display  14  with the ability to display color images. If desired, layer  58  may be a color filter layer and layer  56  may be a thin-film transistor layer. 
     During operation of display  14  in device  10 , control circuitry  29  (e.g., one or more integrated circuits such as components  68  on printed circuit  66  of  FIG. 5 ) may be used to generate information to be displayed on display (e.g., display data). The information to be displayed may be conveyed from circuitry  68  to display control circuits such as display driver integrated circuit  62  using a signal path such as a signal path formed from conductive metal traces in flexible printed circuit  64  (as an example). 
     Control circuitry for controlling display  14  may, in general, be formed on a substrate such as substrate  58 , may be formed using an integrated circuit that is mounted on a substrate such as substrate  58 , or may be formed elsewhere in device  10  (e.g., on a flexible printed circuit such as flexible printed circuit  64 , a printed circuit such as printed circuit  66 , or other substrate). As an example, circuitry such as gate driver circuitry for display  14  may be formed using thin-film transistors on substrate  58  (e.g., amorphous thin-film transistors or polysilicon thin-film transistors). As another example, an integrated circuit may be mounted on the surface of substrate  58  in a “chip-on-glass”arrangement. Display circuitry may also be formed on substrates that are electrically coupled to substrate  58 . 
     In the example of  FIG. 5 , display driver integrated circuit  62  has been mounted on thin-film-transistor layer driver ledge  82 . This is merely illustrative. Display control circuits such as gate driver circuits (sometimes referred to as row line driver circuits), data line driver circuits (sometimes referred to as source line drivers, column line driver circuits, or display driver chips) or elsewhere in device  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , a flexible printed circuit cable such as flexible printed circuit  64  may be used in routing signals between printed circuit  66  and thin-film-transistor layer  58 . If desired, display driver integrated circuit  62  may be mounted on printed circuit  66  or flexible printed circuit  64 . Printed circuit  66  may be formed from a rigid printed circuit board (e.g., a layer of fiberglass-filled epoxy) or a flexible printed circuit (e.g., a flexible sheet of polyimide or other flexible polymer layer). 
     Backlight structures  42  may include a light guide plate such as light guide plate  78 . Light guide plate  78  may be formed from a transparent material such as clear glass or plastic. During operation of backlight structures  42 , a light source such as light source  72  may generate light  74 . Light source  72  may be, for example, an array of light-emitting diodes. 
     Light  74  from light source  72  may be coupled into edge surface  76  of light guide plate  78  and may be distributed in dimensions X and Y throughout light guide plate  78  due to the principal of total internal reflection. Light guide plate  78  may include light-scattering features such as pits or bumps. The light-scattering features may be located on an upper surface and/or on an opposing lower surface of light guide plate  78 . 
     Light  74  that scatters upwards in direction Z from light guide plate  78  may serve as backlight  44  for display  14 . Light  74  that scatters downwards may be reflected back in the upwards direction by reflector  80 . Reflector  80  may be formed from a reflective material such as a layer of white plastic or other shiny materials. 
     To enhance backlight performance for backlight structures  42 , backlight structures  42  may include optical films  70 . Optical films  70  may include diffuser layers for helping to homogenize backlight  44  and thereby reduce hotspots, compensation films for enhancing off-axis viewing, and brightness enhancement films (also sometimes referred to as turning films) for collimating backlight  44 . Optical films  70  may overlap the other structures in backlight unit  42  such as light guide plate  78  and reflector  80 . For example, if light guide plate  78  has a rectangular footprint in the X-Y plane of  FIG. 5 , optical films  70  and reflector  80  may have a matching rectangular footprint. 
       FIG. 6  is a circuit diagram of an illustrative display such as display  14  showing how display  14  may include an array of display pixels such as display pixels  100 . Display pixels  100  may be organized in rows and columns. Display control circuitry such as circuitry  108  and  110  may be used to supply control signals to display  14  over signal lines such as lines  102  and  104 . Display pixels  100  may contain electrodes for applying electric fields to associated portions of liquid crystal layer  52  ( FIG. 5 ). Transistor circuitry such as thin-film transistors formed from amorphous or polycrystalline silicon may be included in display pixels  100 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , for example, each display pixel may include a thin-film transistor such as thin-film transistor  106 . The source S of each transistor  106  may be coupled to a respective one of lines  102 , so lines  102  are sometimes referred to as source lines. Lines  102  may also sometimes be referred to as column lines or data lines. 
     During operation of display  14 , circuitry  108  may be used to supply display data signals (D1, D2, D3 . . . ) to the array of display pixels  100  via data lines  102 . Circuitry  108  may therefore sometimes be referred to as display driver circuitry, data line driver circuitry, column driver circuitry, or source driver circuitry (as examples). Circuitry  108  may receive data to be displayed via path  112 . For example, circuitry  108  may be implemented in the form of an integrated circuit that is mounted on a flexible printed circuit, other printed circuit substrates, or a portion of a display substrate such as a thin-film-transistor substrate. Path  112  may be formed from a flexible printed circuit bus or other bus and may be used to couple circuitry  108  to processor circuitry and other control circuitry in device  10 . 
     Control circuitry  108  may provide clock signals and control signals to circuitry  110  over paths such as path  114 . Circuitry  110  may include circuitry that selectively asserts control signals on lines  104 . The control signals on lines  104  may sometimes be referred to as row control signals. These control signals may also sometimes be referred to as gate signals (G1, G2, G3, . . . ), because they are applied to the gates G of thin-film transistors  106  in display pixels  100 . Circuitry  110 , which may sometimes be referred to as gate driver circuitry or row driver circuitry, may contain a linked chain of circuits that assert gate line signals on lines  104  in sequence (e.g., first asserting G1, then asserting G2, then asserting G3, and so forth). 
     Although shown along the left-hand edge of display  14  in the example of  FIG. 6 , circuitry  110  may be formed along the right-hand edge of display  14  or along both the right and left edges of display  14 , if desired. Gate driver circuitry  110  may be implemented using thin-film transistors on a display substrate such as substrate  58 , may be implemented as part of circuitry  108  (e.g., when circuitry  108  is formed using an integrated circuit), or may be formed using one or more separate integrated circuits. As an example, there may be one or more integrated circuits  108  arranged alone the upper edge of display  14  and one or more integrated circuits  110  arranged along the left and right edges of display  14 . These integrated circuits  108  may be mounted on thin-film-transistor substrate  58  (using chip-on-glass technology) or may be mounted on ancillary substrates such as flexible printed circuit substrates having traces that are electrically coupled to corresponding traces on thin-film-transistor substrate  58  (e.g., using anisotropic conductive film or other conductive adhesive to form trace-to-trace connections, using solder connections, using welds, using connectors, etc.). 
       FIG. 7  is a top view of an illustrative configuration of the type that may be used for display  14 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , gate lines  104  may run horizontally across the width of thin-film-transistor substrate  58  and data lines  102  may run vertically across thin-film-transistor substrate  58 . Display pixels  100  ( FIG. 6 ) may be controlled by data signals on lines  102  and gate signals on lines  104 . Data signals for lines  102  may be provided by one or more display control circuits such as data line driver circuits  108 . Gate signals for lines  104  may be provided by one or more display control circuits such as gate line driver circuits  110 . 
     Circuitry  108  may be mounted on a substrate such as substrate  64  (e.g., a flexible printed circuit or other suitable substrate). Circuitry  108  may be implemented using one or more integrated circuits running along the upper edge of substrate  58  or mounted elsewhere in display  14 . Path  112  may be used to provide display data to circuitry  108 . Circuitry  108  may produce corresponding data signals on lines  102  and clock signals and other control signals for circuitry  110  on path  114 . 
     Circuitry  110  may be implemented as a series of discrete integrated circuits  110  (as an example). Each integrated circuit  110  may be mounted on a respective substrate  120 . Substrates  120  may be, for example, flexible printed circuit substrates having metal traces that are coupled to respective metal traces on substrate  58  using anisotropic conductive film or other conductive adhesive, using solder, using welds, using connectors, etc. If desired, integrated circuits  110  may be mounted on substrate  58  using a chip-on-glass configuration or the circuitry of integrated circuits  110  may be formed as part of a thin-film-transistor circuit on substrate  58 . The configuration of  FIG. 7  in which individual gate driver integrated circuits  110  are mounted on respective flexible printed circuit substrates  120  that are coupled along the left and/or right edges of display  14  is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , path  114  may include multiple segments. A first segment  114  may be coupled between circuitry  108  and a first integrated circuit  110  that is coupled to the upper left of display substrate  58 . A second segment  114  may be coupled between the first integrated circuit  110  and a second integrated circuit  110 , which is located adjacent to circuit  110  on the left edge of display substrate  58 . Additional segments  114  may be used to couple successive integrated circuits  110  to each other to form a chain of gate driver circuits  110  of the left edge of the display. Circuits  110  may be coupled similarly on the right edge of the display. During operation, path  114  may be used to share control signals such as clock data signals that help circuits  110  stay synchronized with each other as they successively assert gate signals on gate lines  104 . Paths such as path  114  may include metal traces on substrate  64 , metal traces on substrate  58 , and metal traces on each of substrates  120 . 
     To accurately monitor the temperature of display  14 , particularly in configurations for display  14  in which different portions of substrate  58  may exhibit different operating temperatures, it may be desirable to provide display  14  with temperature sensing capabilities. As an example, temperature sensing circuitry  116  may be provided on substrates  120  or elsewhere in display  14  to monitor temperatures. Temperature sensing circuitry for display  14  may, in general, be implemented using thin-film-transistor circuitry on a substrate such as display substrate  58  (e.g., along one or more, two or more, or three or four of the peripheral edges of substrate  58 ) or substrates  120  or  64 , may be implemented using integrated circuits (e.g., integrated circuits mounted on substrates  58 ,  120 ,  64 , and/or other substrates), or may be implemented using discrete temperature sensing components (e.g., discrete surface mount technology temperature sensors mounted on substrates  58 ,  120 ,  64 , and/or other substrates). The configuration of  FIG. 7  in which temperature sensors  116  are shown as being implemented as circuits (e.g., integrated circuits) mounted on respective substrates  120  along the edges of substrate  58  is merely illustrative. 
     Signals associated with the operation of temperature sensor circuitry  116  may be routed to and from circuitry  116  using paths that are coupled between circuitry  108  and circuitry  116 , using paths that are coupled between circuitry  110  and circuitry  116 , using paths that are coupled between control circuitry  29  ( FIG. 4 ) and circuitry  116  (e.g., integrated circuits  68  of  FIG. 5 ), and using other paths to couple circuitry  116  to circuitry for processing and using temperature signal measurements from circuitry  116 . 
     As shown in the illustrative example of  FIG. 7 , temperature sensor integrated circuits  116  may be formed on each of substrates  120  along the left and right edges of thin-film-transistor substrate  58 . A path such as path  118  of  FIG. 7  that includes metal traces on printed circuit substrates  120  and that includes metal traces on substrate  58  may be used to link successive temperature sensors  116 . Path  118  may serve as a signal bus and may have respective segments that link respective temperature sensors. Some of path  118  may, if desired, be formed on substrate  64  (e.g., to couple temperature sensor circuits  116  to control circuitry  29  such as integrated circuits  68  of  FIG. 5 ). Portions of path  118  such as path segment  118 ′ may also be used to couple temperature sensor communications path  118  to circuitry  108 . If desired, circuitry  110  may include circuitry for communicating with temperature sensors  116 . In this type of configuration, communications paths such as branches of path  118  may be used to couple circuits  110  to associated adjacent temperature sensors  116 . 
     A circuit diagram of illustrative temperature sensor circuitry of the type that may be used in display  14  is shown in  FIG. 8 . In the example of  FIG. 8 , temperature sensors  122  are coupled to circuits  124 . Each temperature sensor  122  may be based on a temperature sensing diode or other temperature sensor. The block of circuitry  124  that is coupled to each temperature sensor  122  may include analog-to-digital converter circuitry for converting analog temperature data from temperature sensor  122  into digital temperature data, processing circuitry for processing temperature data, and communications circuitry for handling communications with other circuits. For example, each circuitry block  124  may include circuitry for transmitting temperature data over bus  118 . Bus  118  in the  FIG. 8  example is a two-wire bus (e.g., an I 2 C bus) that is coupled to each of circuits  116 . Each circuit  116  in  FIG. 8  may be implemented using a separate integrated circuit. Each of these integrated circuits may be mounted on a respective printed circuit substrate  120  ( FIG. 7 ) running along the edge of display  14 . 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of an illustrative temperature sensor configuration in which temperature sensor  122  and the circuitry of circuit block  124  of  FIG. 8  has been implemented as an integrated circuit  116  that is mounted on substrate  126  adjacent to integrated circuit  128  (e.g., a gate driver integrated circuit such as integrated circuit  110 , a display driver integrated circuit such as circuit  108 , or other display control integrated circuit). Substrate  126  may be a printed circuit such as one of flexible printed circuits  120  of  FIG. 7  or a display layer substrate such as display layer  58  (e.g., a thin-film-transistor layer). If desired, integrated circuit  116  and integrated circuit  128  may be mounted on separate substrates. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , temperature sensor  122  (e.g., a temperature sensing diode) may be implemented as part of a different device than the circuitry of block  124 . As an example, temperature sensor  122  may be implemented as a thin-film device on a substrate such as thin-film-transistor layer substrate  58 , whereas circuit block  124  may be implemented as part of integrated circuit  128  (e.g., an integrated circuit mounted on a substrate such as substrate  62 ,  120 , or  58 ). Integrated circuit  128  may include display control circuitry  130  such as gate driver circuitry for driving gate signals G onto gate lines  104  or control circuitry associated with display control circuitry  108  (as examples). 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a temperature sensor such as temperature sensor  122  of  FIG. 10  and an integrated circuit such as integrated circuit  128  of  FIG. 10  mounted on a common substrate such as substrate  126  (e.g., a substrate such as substrate  62 , a substrate such as one of substrates  120 , or a substrate such as substrate  58 ). If desired, temperature sensor  122  and integrated circuit  128  may be mounted on separate substrates. 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 12 , a single integrated circuit (integrated circuit  128 ) has been used to implement temperature sensor  122 , circuit block  124 , and display control circuitry  130  (e.g., gate driver circuitry or data line driver circuitry). Integrated circuit  128  may be mounted on substrate  126  (e.g., a substrate such as substrate  62 , a substrate such as one of substrates  120 , or a substrate such as substrate  58 ). 
     As shown in the perspective view of  FIG. 13 , a display layer substrate such as thin-film-transistor substrate  58  may be used as substrate  126 . In the example of  FIG. 13 , temperature sensor integrated circuits  116  have been mounted adjacent to integrated circuits  128 . Integrated circuits  128  may be gate driver integrated circuits such as gate driver integrated circuits  110  of  FIG. 7  or data line driver (source driver) integrated circuits such as circuit  108  of  FIG. 7 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 14 , temperature sensor circuitry  116  may be mounted on flexible printed circuit substrate  130  (as shown by temperature sensor circuitry  116 - 1 ) or on substrate  58  (as shown by temperature sensor circuitry  116 - 2 ). Circuits  116 - 1  and  116 - 2  may be implemented as integrated circuits, as thin-film devices, as discrete surface mount technology (SMT) parts, etc. Integrated circuit  128  may be a display control circuit such as one of gate driver integrated circuits  110  of  FIG. 7  or a date line driver integrated circuit such as circuit  108  of  FIG. 7 . If desired, integrated circuit  128  may be mounted on portion  132  of substrate  130  while circuit  116 - 1  is mounted adjacent to region  132  and/or circuit  116 - 2  is mounted on substrate  58 . 
     If desired, components such as temperature sensing circuitry  116  and/or display control circuitry such as circuitry  108  and  110  may be mounted on the lower surface of display substrate  58 . This type of configuration is shown in  FIG. 15 . As shown in  FIG. 15 , thin-film-transistor substrate  58  has opposing upper and lower surfaces such as upper surface  140  and lower surface  142 . Thin-film-transistor circuitry  134  may include transistors such as transistors  106  of  FIG. 6 . Circuitry such as one or more integrated circuits  138 , thin-film-transistor circuitry  144 , and flexible printed circuit substrate  136  may be formed on lower surface  142  of substrate  58 . Vias such as vias  136  (e.g., vertical holes that are partially or fully filled with a conductive material such as metal) may be used in routing signals between the circuitry on upper surface  140  and circuitry on lower surface  142 . With this type of configuration, circuitry such as temperature sensors  122 , circuit blocks  124 , temperature sensor integrated circuits  116 , circuits  110  and  108 , and/or other circuitry may be formed on lower surface  142  and/or on upper surface  140 . 
     Illustrative steps involved in gathering and using temperature data using temperature sensors such as temperature sensors  122  are shown in  FIG. 16 . 
     At step  146 , control circuitry  29  of device  10  may gather temperature data from temperature sensors  122 . Temperature sensors  122  may be formed as thin-film devices on a substrate such as substrate  58  or other substrate layers, may be formed as part of an integrated circuit mounted on a substrate such as one of substrates  120 , substrate  62 , or substrate  58  (as examples) or may otherwise be incorporated into display  14  at a location that allows temperature sensors  122  to be exposed to the same temperatures as display pixels  106  of display  14 . Temperature sensors  122  may communicate with control circuitry  29  using communications circuitry in circuits  124 . By gathering temperature data from temperature sensors  122 , control circuitry  29  may ascertain the temperature of substrate  58  and display pixels  106  at various locations across display  14 . As an example, if there are five temperature sensors running along the left edge of display substrate  58  and five temperature sensors running along the right edge of display substrate  58 , control circuitry  29  can make temperature measurements corresponding to ten separate regions of display  14 . By evaluating the temperatures of each of the ten regions (in this example), control circuitry  29  can identify hotspots within display  14  and can take corrective action. 
     After gathering temperature information from temperature sensors  122 , control circuitry  29  may, at step  148 , make compensating adjustments to the display data that is being displayed on display  14 . For example, in response to determining from the temperature measurements of step  146  that one of ten regions in display  14  is particularly hot and is therefore expected to have a particularly blue color cast, control circuitry  29  can adjust the color of the content that is associated with that region by providing that content with an opposing color cast, so that the resulting content that is displayed on display  14  has satisfactorily uniform and accurate colors. The operations of steps  146  and  148  may be performed continuously to accommodate temperature changes associated with events such as powering up device  10 , adjusting the brightness of display  14 , turning on and off resources in device  10  in a way that affects internal component temperatures and therefore the temperature of portions of display  14 , and other operations in device  10  that affect display temperature. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20120911
Publication Date: 20150303
Grant Date: 20150303
Priority Date: 20120911
Inventors: DROLET JEAN-JACQUES
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G09G3/20", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/13306", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/041", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/36", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/36", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/13306", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/041", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/2092", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/041", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/2092", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 50232961