JP4967511B2 - Display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device that displays an image by current-driving a light emitting element arranged for each pixel. Specifically, the present invention relates to a so-called active matrix display device that controls the amount of current that is supplied to a light emitting element such as an organic EL by an insulated gate field effect transistor provided in each pixel circuit.

  In a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an image is displayed by arranging a large number of liquid crystal pixels in a matrix and controlling the transmission intensity or reflection intensity of incident light for each pixel according to image information to be displayed. This also applies to an organic EL display using an organic EL element as a pixel, but unlike a liquid crystal pixel, the organic EL element is a self-luminous element. Therefore, the organic EL display has advantages such as higher image visibility than the liquid crystal display, no backlight, and high response speed. Further, the luminance level (gradation) of each light emitting element can be controlled by the value of the current flowing therethrough, and is greatly different from a voltage control type such as a liquid crystal display in that it is a so-called current control type.

In the organic EL display, similarly to the liquid crystal display, there are a simple matrix method and an active matrix method as driving methods. Although the former has a simple structure, there is a problem that it is difficult to realize a large-sized and high-definition display. Therefore, the active matrix method is actively developed at present. In this method, a current flowing through a light emitting element in each pixel circuit is controlled by an active element (generally a thin film transistor or TFT) provided in the pixel circuit, and is described in the following patent documents.
JP 2003-255856 A JP 2003-271095 A JP 2004-133240 A JP 2004-029791 A JP 2004-093682 A

  A conventional pixel circuit is arranged at a portion where a row scanning line for supplying a control signal and a column signal line for supplying a video signal intersect, and includes at least a sampling transistor, a pixel capacitor, a drive transistor, and a light emitting element. . The sampling transistor conducts in response to the control signal supplied from the scanning line and samples the video signal supplied from the signal line. The pixel capacitor holds an input voltage corresponding to the signal potential of the sampled video signal. The drive transistor supplies an output current as a drive current during a predetermined light emission period in accordance with the input voltage held in the pixel capacitor. In general, the output current depends on the carrier mobility and threshold voltage of the channel region of the drive transistor. The light emitting element emits light with luminance according to the video signal by the output current supplied from the drive transistor.

  The drive transistor receives an input voltage held in the pixel capacitor at the gate, causes an output current to flow between the source and the drain, and energizes the light emitting element. In general, the light emission luminance of a light emitting element is proportional to the amount of current applied. Further, the output current supply amount of the drive transistor is controlled by the gate voltage, that is, the input voltage written in the pixel capacitor. The conventional pixel circuit controls the amount of current supplied to the light emitting element by changing the input voltage applied to the gate of the drive transistor in accordance with the input video signal.

Here, the operating characteristic of the drive transistor is expressed by the following Equation 1.
Ids = (1/2) μ (W / L) Cox (Vgs−Vth) ² Formula 1
In the transistor characteristic formula 1, Ids represents a drain current flowing between the source and the drain, and is an output current supplied to the light emitting element in the pixel circuit. Vgs represents a gate voltage applied to the gate with reference to the source, and is the above-described input voltage in the pixel circuit. Vth is the threshold voltage of the transistor. Μ represents the mobility of the semiconductor thin film constituting the channel of the transistor. In addition, W represents the channel width, L represents the channel length, and Cox represents the gate capacitance. As is apparent from the transistor characteristic equation 1, when the thin film transistor operates in the saturation region, if the gate voltage Vgs increases beyond the threshold voltage Vth, the thin film transistor is turned on and the drain current Ids flows. In principle, as shown in the above transistor characteristic equation 1, if the gate voltage Vgs is constant, the same amount of drain current Ids is always supplied to the light emitting element. Therefore, if video signals of the same level are supplied to all the pixels constituting the screen, all the pixels should emit light with the same luminance, and the uniformity of the screen should be obtained.

  However, in reality, thin film transistors (TFTs) composed of semiconductor thin films such as polysilicon have variations in individual device characteristics. In particular, the threshold voltage Vth is not constant and varies from pixel to pixel. As apparent from the transistor characteristic equation 1 described above, if the threshold voltage Vth of each drive transistor varies, even if the gate voltage Vgs is constant, the drain current Ids varies and the luminance varies from pixel to pixel. , Damage the screen uniformity. Conventionally, a pixel circuit incorporating a function for canceling variations in threshold voltages of drive transistors has been developed, and is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 3 described above.

  However, the variation factor of the output current with respect to the light emitting element is not only the threshold voltage Vth of the drive transistor. As is apparent from the transistor characteristic equation 1 described above, the output current Ids varies even when the mobility μ of the drive transistor varies. As a result, the uniformity of the screen is impaired. Correcting the variation in mobility is also a problem to be solved.

  In view of the above-described problems of the conventional technology, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device in which a mobility correction function of a drive transistor is incorporated in each pixel. In particular, it is an object to suppress variation in the mobility correction period and thereby further increase the uniformity of the screen of the display device. In order to achieve this purpose, the following measures were taken. That is, the display device according to the present invention basically includes a pixel array section and a drive section that drives the pixel array section. The pixel array section includes row-like first scanning lines and second scanning lines, column-like signal lines, matrix-like pixels arranged at intersections thereof, power supply lines for supplying power to each pixel, and grounding Line. The driving unit sequentially supplies a first control signal to each first scanning line to scan the pixels line by line in a row unit, and sequentially outputs a second scanner to each second scanning line in accordance with the line sequential scanning. A second scanner for supplying a control signal and a signal selector for supplying a video signal to the column-shaped signal lines in accordance with the line sequential scanning are provided. The pixel includes a light emitting element, a sampling transistor, a drive transistor, a switching transistor, and a pixel capacitor. The sampling transistor has a gate connected to the first scanning line, a source connected to the signal line, and a drain connected to the gate of the drive transistor. The drive transistor and the light emitting element are connected in series between the power line and the ground line to form a current path. The switching transistor is inserted into the current path, and its gate is connected to the second scanning line. The pixel capacitor is connected between the source and gate of the drive transistor. Here, the sampling transistor is turned on in response to the first control signal supplied from the first scanning line, samples the signal potential of the video signal supplied from the signal line, and holds it in the pixel capacitor. The switching transistor is turned on in response to a second control signal supplied from the second scanning line to bring the current path into a conductive state. The drive transistor causes a driving current to flow to the light emitting element through a current path placed in the conductive state in accordance with a signal potential held in the pixel capacitor. The driving unit applies the first control signal to the first scanning line to turn on the sampling transistor to start sampling of the signal potential, and then the second control signal is applied to the second scanning line. The mobility of the drive transistor during the correction period from the first timing when the switching transistor is turned on to the second timing when the first control signal applied to the first scanning line is released and the sampling transistor is turned off Is applied to the signal potential held in the pixel capacitor. As a characteristic matter, at least one of the sampling transistor and the switching transistor that regulates the first timing and the second timing that define the correction period has a channel length of 10 μm or more, and the correction period is controlled by suppressing variations in the transistor threshold voltage. To suppress fluctuations.

  Further, the present invention includes a pixel array section and a drive section for driving the pixel array section. The pixel array section includes row-shaped first scanning lines and second scanning lines, column-shaped signal lines, and portions where these intersect. And a power supply line and a ground line for supplying power to each pixel, and the driving unit sequentially supplies a first control signal to each first scanning line so that the pixels are lined in units of rows. A first scanner that sequentially scans, a second scanner that sequentially supplies a second control signal to each second scanning line in accordance with the line sequential scanning, and a video signal to a column-shaped signal line in accordance with the line sequential scanning. The pixel includes a light emitting element, a sampling transistor, a drive transistor, a switching transistor, and a pixel capacitor, and the sampling transistor has a gate connected to the first scan line. , That The source is connected to the signal line, the drain is connected to the gate of the drive transistor, and the drive transistor and the light emitting element are connected in series between the power line and the ground line to form a current path, The switching transistor is inserted in the current path, the gate thereof is connected to the second scanning line, and the pixel capacitor is connected between the source and gate of the drive transistor, The sampling transistor is turned on in response to a first control signal supplied from the first scanning line, samples a signal potential of a video signal supplied from the signal line, and holds the signal potential in the pixel capacitor. Is turned on in response to a second control signal supplied from the second scanning line to make the current path conductive, and the drive transistor In response to the signal potential held in the pixel capacitor, a driving current is passed through the light emitting element through the current path placed in the conductive state, and the driving unit supplies the first control signal to the first scanning line. Is applied to turn on the sampling transistor to start sampling of the signal potential, and then, from the first timing when the second control signal is applied to the second scanning line and the switching transistor is turned on, the first scanning line is turned on. During the correction period until the second timing when the first control signal applied to is released and the sampling transistor is turned off, the correction for the mobility of the drive transistor is applied to the signal potential held in the pixel capacitor. The first scanner and the second scanner are integrated on the same substrate as the pixel array unit, and at least one of the sampling transistor and the switching transistor that regulates the first timing and the second timing that define the correction period is provided. The channel length is set longer than that of the transistors constituting the first scanner and the second scanner, and variation in the correction period is suppressed by suppressing variations in the transistor threshold voltage.

  Furthermore, the present invention comprises a pixel array section and a drive section for driving the pixel array section. The pixel array section includes row-shaped first scanning lines and second scanning lines, column-shaped signal lines, and portions where these intersect. And a power supply line and a ground line for supplying power to each pixel, and the driving unit sequentially supplies a first control signal to each first scanning line so that the pixels are lined in units of rows. A first scanner that sequentially scans, a second scanner that sequentially supplies a second control signal to each second scanning line in accordance with the line sequential scanning, and a video signal to a column-shaped signal line in accordance with the line sequential scanning. The pixel includes a light emitting element, a sampling transistor, a drive transistor, a switching transistor, and a pixel capacitor, and the sampling transistor has a gate connected to the first scan line. , The source of the transistor is connected to the signal line, the drain is connected to the gate of the drive transistor, and the drive transistor and the light emitting element are connected in series between the power line and the ground line to form a current path. The switching transistor is inserted in the current path, the gate thereof is connected to the second scanning line, and the pixel capacitor is connected between the source and gate of the drive transistor, The sampling transistor is turned on in response to the first control signal supplied from the first scanning line, samples the signal potential of the video signal supplied from the signal line, and holds the signal potential in the pixel capacitor. The transistor is turned on in response to the second control signal supplied from the second scanning line to make the current path conductive, and the drive transistor Causes a driving current to flow to the light emitting element through a current path placed in the conductive state in accordance with the signal potential held in the pixel capacitor, and the driving unit applies the first control to the first scanning line. After the signal is applied to turn on the sampling transistor to start sampling of the signal potential, the first scanning is started from the first timing when the second control signal is applied to the second scanning line and the switching transistor is turned on. During the correction period until the second timing when the first control signal applied to the line is released and the sampling transistor is turned off, the correction of the mobility of the drive transistor is applied to the signal potential held in the pixel capacitor . The pixel includes a correction transistor necessary for correcting variation in the threshold voltage of the drive transistor. At least one of the sampling transistor and the switching transistor that regulates the first timing and the second timing that defines the correction period has a channel length set longer than that of the correction transistor, and the sampling transistor and the switching transistor The variation in the correction period is suppressed by suppressing the variation in the threshold voltage of at least one of the above.

  According to the present invention, after the sampling transistor is turned on and sampling of the signal potential is started, during the correction period from the first timing when the switching transistor is turned on to the second timing when the sampling transistor is turned off, the mobility of the drive transistor is reduced. Correction (mobility correction operation) is performed. Specifically, the drive current flowing through the drive transistor in accordance with the signal potential is negatively fed back to the pixel capacitance during the correction period to adjust the held signal potential. When the mobility of the drive transistor is large, the negative feedback amount is increased correspondingly, and the decrease in the signal potential is increased. As a result, the drive current can be suppressed. On the other hand, when the mobility of the drive transistor is small, the amount of negative feedback with respect to the pixel capacitance is small, so that the decrease amount of the held signal potential is small. Therefore, the drive current does not decrease so much. In this way, the signal potential is adjusted in a direction to cancel this according to the mobility of the drive transistor of each pixel. Therefore, although the mobility of the drive transistor of each pixel varies, each pixel exhibits substantially the same level of light emission luminance with respect to the same signal potential. As a result, the uniformity of the screen can be improved.

  By the way, the negative feedback amount with respect to the pixel capacitance is determined by the correction period. If the correction period is constant for all pixels, there is no variation in the amount of negative feedback, and the difference in mobility can be corrected cleanly. However, in practice, the pulse of the control signal supplied from each scanner to the sampling transistor and the switching transistor is dull due to the influence of wiring capacitance and wiring resistance. Due to the dullness of the pulse waveform, a shift occurs in the first timing when the switching transistor is turned on and the second timing when the sampling transistor is turned off, and the time width of the correction period varies. Therefore, the present invention suppresses variations in threshold voltages of the sampling transistors and switching transistors by setting the channel lengths longer. By suppressing variations in the transistor threshold voltage, it is possible to prevent the on timing of the switching transistor and the off timing of the sampling transistor from deviating greatly even when the pulse of the control signal is dull. In this way, fluctuations in the mobility correction period can be suppressed, mobility correction can be performed accurately over all pixels, and screen uniformity can be further improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a display device according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, this display device basically includes a pixel array section 1, a scanner section, and a signal section. The scanner unit and the signal unit constitute a drive unit. The pixel array unit 1 includes a first scanning line WS, a second scanning line DS, a third scanning line AZ1 and a fourth scanning line AZ2 arranged in a row, a signal line SL arranged in a column, and these scannings. A matrix pixel circuit 2 connected to the lines WS, DS, AZ1 and AZ2 and the signal line SL, and a plurality of first potentials Vss1, second potential Vss2 and third potential VDD necessary for the operation of each pixel circuit 2 Power line. The signal unit includes a horizontal selector 3 and supplies a video signal to the signal line SL. The scanner unit includes a write scanner 4, a drive scanner 5, a first correction scanner 71, and a second correction scanner 72. The first scan line WS, the second scan line DS, the third scan line AZ1, and the fourth scan, respectively. A control signal is supplied to the line AZ2 to sequentially scan the pixel circuit 2 for each row. The scanner unit is integrated with the pixel array unit 1 on the same panel substrate.

  FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration example of a pixel incorporated in the image display device illustrated in FIG. As illustrated, the pixel circuit 2 includes a sampling transistor Tr1, a drive transistor Trd, a first switching transistor Tr2, a second switching transistor Tr3, a third switching transistor Tr4, a pixel capacitor Cs, and a light emitting element EL. Including. The sampling transistor Tr1 conducts in response to a control signal supplied from the scanning line WS during a predetermined sampling period, and samples the signal potential of the video signal supplied from the signal line SL into the pixel capacitor Cs. The pixel capacitor Cs applies an input voltage Vgs to the gate G of the drive transistor Trd in accordance with the signal potential of the sampled video signal. The drive transistor Trd supplies an output current Ids corresponding to the input voltage Vgs to the light emitting element EL. The light emitting element EL emits light with a luminance corresponding to the signal potential of the video signal by the output current Ids supplied from the drive transistor Trd during a predetermined light emission period.

  The first switching transistor Tr2 is turned on according to the control signal supplied from the scanning line AZ1 prior to the sampling period, and sets the gate G of the drive transistor Trd to the first potential Vss1. The second switching transistor Tr3 is turned on in response to a control signal supplied from the scanning line AZ2 prior to the sampling period, and sets the source S of the drive transistor Trd to the second potential Vss2. The third switching transistor Tr4 is turned on according to the control signal supplied from the scanning line DS prior to the sampling period to connect the drive transistor Trd to the third potential VDD, and thus corresponds to the threshold voltage Vth of the drive transistor Trd. The voltage is held in the pixel capacitor Cs to correct the influence of the threshold voltage Vth. Further, the third switching transistor Tr4 is turned on again in response to the control signal supplied from the scanning line DS during the light emission period, connects the drive transistor Trd to the third potential VDD, and flows the output current Ids to the light emitting element EL.

  As is apparent from the above description, the pixel circuit 2 is composed of five transistors Tr1 to Tr4 and Trd, one pixel capacitor Cs, and one light emitting element EL. The transistors Tr1 to Tr3 and Trd are N channel type polysilicon TFTs. Only the transistor Tr4 is a P-channel type polysilicon TFT. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and N-channel and P-channel TFTs can be mixed as appropriate. The light emitting element EL is, for example, a diode type organic EL device having an anode and a cathode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the light emitting element generally includes all devices that emit light by current drive.

  As a feature of the present invention, the driving unit of the display device applies the first control signal WS to the first scanning line WS, turns on the sampling transistor Tr1, and starts sampling of the signal potential. Correction from the first timing applied to the second scanning line DS to turn on the switching transistor Tr4 to the second timing to release the first control signal WS applied to the first scanning line WS and turn off the sampling transistor Tr1 In the period t, the correction for the mobility μ of the drive transistor Trd is added to the signal potential held in the pixel capacitor Cs to perform the mobility correction.

  Here, at least one of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 that regulates the first timing and the second timing that define the mobility correction period has a channel length L of 10 μm or more, and the threshold voltage Vtn of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the drive transistor Variations in the threshold voltage Vtp of Tr4 are suppressed, and fluctuations in the mobility correction period t are suppressed. Field effect thin film transistors tend to have less variation in threshold voltage as the channel length becomes longer. Therefore, in the present invention, the channel length of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 is set to 10 μm or more. A specific channel length may not be specified depending on the pixel scale factor. Even in such a case, the channel length L of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 is set to be longer than that of the transistors constituting the scanners 4, 5, 71, 72 included in the peripheral drive unit. The variation in the correction period is suppressed by suppressing the variation in the threshold voltage of the transistor. As described above, the write scanner 4 and the drive scanner 5 are integrated with thin film transistors on the same substrate as the pixel array unit 1. In some cases, the channel length L of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 is set to be longer than the threshold voltage correcting switching transistors Tr2 and Tr3, thereby varying the threshold voltage of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4. It is also possible to suppress fluctuations in the mobility correction period.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram in which only the pixel circuit 2 is extracted from the image display device shown in FIG. In order to facilitate understanding, the signal potential Vsig of the video signal sampled by the sampling transistor Tr1, the input voltage Vgs and output current Ids of the drive transistor Trd, and the capacitance component Coled of the light emitting element EL are added. . The operation of the pixel circuit 2 according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a timing chart of the pixel circuit shown in FIG. The operation of the pixel circuit shown in FIG. 3 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows the waveforms of control signals applied to the scanning lines WS, AZ1, AZ2 and DS along the time axis T. In order to simplify the notation, the control signals are also represented by the same reference numerals as the corresponding scanning lines. Since the transistors Tr1, Tr2 and Tr3 are N-channel type, they are turned on when the scanning lines WS, AZ1 and AZ2 are at a high level and turned off when the scanning lines are at a low level. On the other hand, since the transistor Tr4 is a P-channel type, it is turned off when the scanning line DS is at a high level and turned on when it is at a low level. This timing chart also shows the change in the potential of the gate G and the change in the potential of the source S of the drive transistor Trd, along with the waveforms of the control signals WS, AZ1, AZ2, and DS.

  In the timing chart of FIG. 4, timings T1 to T8 are defined as one field (1f). Each row of the pixel array is sequentially scanned once during one field. The timing chart shows the waveforms of the control signals WS, AZ1, AZ2, DS applied to the pixels for one row.

  At timing T0 before the field starts, all control line numbers WS, AZ1, AZ2, DS are at a low level. Therefore, the N-channel transistors Tr1, Tr2, Tr3 are in the off state, while only the P-channel transistor Tr4 is in the on state. Therefore, since the drive transistor Trd is connected to the power supply VDD via the transistor Tr4 in the on state, the output current Ids is supplied to the light emitting element EL according to the predetermined input voltage Vgs. Therefore, the light emitting element EL emits light at the timing T0. At this time, the input voltage Vgs applied to the drive transistor Trd is expressed by the difference between the gate potential (G) and the source potential (S).

  At the timing T1 when the field starts, the control signal DS is switched from the low level to the high level. As a result, the switching transistor Tr4 is turned off and the drive transistor Trd is disconnected from the power supply VDD, so that the light emission stops and the non-light emission period starts. Therefore, at the timing T1, all the transistors Tr1 to Tr4 are turned off.

  Subsequently, at timing T2, since the control signals AZ1 and AZ2 are at a high level, the switching transistors Tr2 and Tr3 are turned on. As a result, the gate G of the drive transistor Trd is connected to the reference potential Vss1, and the source S is connected to the reference potential Vss2. Here, Vss1−Vss2> Vth is satisfied, and by setting Vss1−Vss2 = Vgs> Vth, preparation for Vth correction performed at timing T3 is performed. In other words, the period T2-T3 corresponds to a reset period of the drive transistor Trd. Further, when the threshold voltage of the light emitting element EL is VthEL, VthEL> Vss2 is set. Thereby, a minus bias is applied to the light emitting element EL, and a so-called reverse bias state is obtained. This reverse bias state is necessary for normally performing the Vth correction operation and the mobility correction operation to be performed later.

  At timing T3, the control signal AZ2 is set to the low level, and the control signal DS is also set to the low level. As a result, the transistor Tr3 is turned off while the transistor Tr4 is turned on. As a result, the drain current Ids flows into the pixel capacitor Cs, and the Vth correction operation is started. At this time, the gate G of the drive transistor Trd is held at Vss1, and the current Ids flows until the drive transistor Trd is cut off. When cut off, the source potential (S) of the drive transistor Trd becomes Vss1-Vth. At timing T4 after the drain current is cut off, the control signal DS is returned to the high level again, and the switching transistor Tr4 is turned off. Further, the control signal AZ1 is also returned to the low level, and the switching transistor Tr2 is also turned off. As a result, Vth is held and fixed in the pixel capacitor Cs. Thus, the timing T3-T4 is a period for detecting the threshold voltage Vth of the drive transistor Trd. Here, this detection period T3-T4 is called a Vth correction period.

  After performing the Vth correction in this way, the control signal WS is switched to the high level at timing T5, the sampling transistor Tr1 is turned on, and the video signal Vsig is written into the pixel capacitor Cs. The pixel capacitance Cs is sufficiently smaller than the equivalent capacitance Coled of the light emitting element EL. As a result, most of the video signal Vsig is written into the pixel capacitor Cs. Precisely, the difference Vsig−Vss1 of Vsig with respect to Vss1 is written in the pixel capacitor Cs. Therefore, the voltage Vgs between the gate G and the source S of the drive transistor Trd becomes a level (Vsig−Vss1 + Vth) obtained by adding Vth previously detected and held and Vsig−Vss1 sampled this time. In the following description, assuming Vss1 = 0V for simplification of explanation, the gate / source voltage Vgs becomes Vsig + Vth as shown in the timing chart of FIG. The sampling of the video signal Vsig is performed until timing T7 when the control signal WS returns to the low level. That is, the timing T5-T7 corresponds to the sampling period.

  At timing T6 before the end of the sampling period T7, the control signal DS becomes low level and the switching transistor Tr4 is turned on. As a result, the drive transistor Trd is connected to the power supply VDD, so that the pixel circuit proceeds from the non-light emitting period to the light emitting period. In this manner, the mobility correction of the drive transistor Trd is performed in the period T6-T7 in which the sampling transistor Tr1 is still on and the switching transistor Tr4 is on. That is, in the present invention, the mobility correction is performed in the period T6-T7 in which the rear part of the sampling period and the head part of the light emission period overlap. Note that, at the beginning of the light emission period in which the mobility correction is performed, the light emitting element EL is actually in a reverse bias state, and thus does not emit light. In the mobility correction period T6-T7, the drain current Ids flows through the drive transistor Trd while the gate G of the drive transistor Trd is fixed at the level of the video signal Vsig. Here, by setting Vss1−Vth <VthEL, the light emitting element EL is placed in a reverse bias state, so that it exhibits simple capacitance characteristics instead of diode characteristics. Therefore, the current Ids flowing through the drive transistor Trd is written into a capacitor C = Cs + Coled obtained by combining both the pixel capacitor Cs and the equivalent capacitor Coled of the light emitting element EL. As a result, the source potential (S) of the drive transistor Trd increases. In the timing chart of FIG. 4, this increase is represented by ΔV. Since this increase ΔV is eventually subtracted from the gate / source voltage Vgs held in the pixel capacitor Cs, negative feedback is applied. In this way, the mobility μ can be corrected by negatively feeding back the output current Ids of the drive transistor Trd to the input voltage Vgs of the drive transistor Trd. The negative feedback amount ΔV can be optimized by adjusting the time width t of the mobility correction period T6-T7.

At timing T7, the control signal WS becomes low level and the sampling transistor Tr1 is turned off. As a result, the gate G of the drive transistor Trd is disconnected from the signal line SL. Since the application of the video signal Vsig is cancelled, the gate potential (G) of the drive transistor Trd can be increased and increases with the source potential (S). Meanwhile, the gate / source voltage Vgs held in the pixel capacitor Cs maintains a value of (Vsig−ΔV + Vth). As the source potential (S) rises, the reverse bias state of the light emitting element EL is canceled, so that the light emitting element EL actually starts to emit light by the inflow of the output current Ids. The relationship between the drain current Ids and the gate voltage Vgs at this time is given by the following equation 2 by substituting Vsig−ΔV + Vth into Vgs of the previous transistor characteristic equation 1.
Ids = kμ (Vgs−Vth) ² = kμ (Vsig−ΔV) ² Equation 2
In the above formula 2, k = (1/2) (W / L) Cox. It can be seen from the characteristic formula 2 that the term Vth is canceled and the output current Ids supplied to the light emitting element EL does not depend on the threshold voltage Vth of the drive transistor Trd. Basically, the drain current Ids is determined by the signal voltage Vsig of the video signal. In other words, the light emitting element EL emits light with a luminance corresponding to the video signal Vsig. At that time, Vsig is corrected by the negative feedback amount ΔV. This correction amount ΔV acts so as to cancel the effect of the mobility μ located in the coefficient part of the characteristic formula 2 just. Therefore, the drain current Ids substantially depends only on the video signal Vsig.

  Finally, when the timing T8 is reached, the control signal DS becomes high level, the switching transistor Tr4 is turned off, the light emission ends, and the field ends. Thereafter, the operation proceeds to the next field, and the Vth correction operation, the mobility correction operation, and the light emission operation are repeated again.

  FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a state of the pixel circuit 2 in the mobility correction period T6-T7. As shown in the figure, in the mobility correction period T6-T7, the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 are on, while the remaining switching transistors Tr2 and Tr3 are off. In this state, the source potential (S) of the drive transistor Tr4 is Vss1-Vth. This source potential (S) is also the anode potential of the light emitting element EL. By setting Vss1−Vth <VthEL as described above, the light emitting element EL is placed in a reverse bias state, and exhibits simple capacitance characteristics instead of diode characteristics. Therefore, the current Ids flowing through the drive transistor Trd flows into the combined capacitance C = Cs + Coled of the pixel capacitance Cs and the equivalent capacitance Coled of the light emitting element EL. In other words, a part of the drain current Ids is negatively fed back to the pixel capacitor Cs, and the mobility is corrected.

  FIG. 6 is a graph of the above-described transistor characteristic formula 2, in which Ids is plotted on the vertical axis and Vsig is plotted on the horizontal axis. The characteristic formula 2 is also shown below the graph. In the graph of FIG. 6, a characteristic curve is drawn in a state where the pixel 1 and the pixel 2 are compared. The mobility μ of the drive transistor of the pixel 1 is relatively large. Conversely, the mobility μ of the drive transistor included in the pixel 2 is relatively small. Thus, when the drive transistor is composed of a polysilicon thin film transistor or the like, it is inevitable that the mobility μ varies between pixels. For example, when the signal potential Vsig of the video signal of the same level is written in both the pixels 1 and 2, the output current Ids 1 ′ flowing through the pixel 1 having the high mobility μ is equal to the mobility μ unless the mobility is corrected. A large difference is generated as compared with the output current Ids2 'flowing through the small pixel 2. In this way, a large difference occurs between the output currents Ids due to the variation in the mobility μ, so that unevenness occurs and the uniformity of the screen is impaired.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the variation in mobility is canceled by negatively feeding back the output current to the input voltage side. As apparent from the previous transistor characteristic equation 1, the drain current Ids increases when the mobility is large. Therefore, the negative feedback amount ΔV increases as the mobility increases. As shown in the graph of FIG. 6, the negative feedback amount ΔV1 of the pixel 1 having a high mobility μ is larger than the negative feedback amount ΔV2 of the pixel 2 having a low mobility. Therefore, the larger the mobility μ is, the more negative feedback is applied, and the variation can be suppressed. As shown in the figure, when ΔV1 is corrected in the pixel 1 having a high mobility μ, the output current greatly decreases from Ids1 ′ to Ids1. On the other hand, since the correction amount ΔV2 of the pixel 2 having the low mobility μ is small, the output current Ids2 ′ does not decrease so much to Ids2. As a result, Ids1 and Ids2 are substantially equal, and the variation in mobility is cancelled. Since the cancellation of the variation in mobility is performed in the entire range of Vsig from the black level to the white level, the uniformity of the screen becomes extremely high. In summary, when there are pixels 1 and 2 having different mobility, the correction amount ΔV1 of the pixel 1 having high mobility is smaller than the correction amount ΔV2 of the pixel 2 having low mobility. That is, as the mobility increases, ΔV increases and the decrease value of Ids increases. As a result, pixel current values having different mobilities are made uniform, and variations in mobility can be corrected.

For reference, numerical analysis of the mobility correction described above is performed. As shown in FIG. 5, the analysis is performed by taking the source potential of the drive transistor Trd as a variable V in a state where the transistors Tr1 and Tr4 are turned on. Assuming that the source potential (S) of the drive transistor Trd is V, the drain current Ids flowing through the drive transistor Trd is as shown in Equation 3 below.

Further, Ids = dQ / dt = CdV / dt is established as shown in the following Expression 4 by the relationship between the drain current Ids and the capacitance C (= Cs + Coled).

Both sides are integrated by substituting Equation 3 into Equation 4. Here, the initial state of the source voltage V is -Vth, and the mobility variation correction time (T6-T7) is t. When this differential equation is solved, the pixel current with respect to the mobility correction time t is given as shown in Equation 5 below.

  As described above, the drive current flowing in the pixel circuit having the mobility correction function is given by Equation 5. Here, the mobility correction time t is practically set to several μs. Here, the mobility correction time t is determined by the falling interval of the control signal DS and the control signal WS as shown in FIG. In general, pulse wirings such as scanning lines WS and DS are formed of a material having high electrical resistance such as metal molybdenum, and further parasitic capacitance due to wiring overlap with other layers is large. The waveform becomes dull as shown in FIG. When the falling waveform of the pulse is dull, the ON operation point of the switching transistor Tr4 and the OFF operation point of the sampling transistor Tr1 shift due to variations in threshold voltages of the switching transistor Tr4 and the sampling transistor Tr1. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the mobility correction time t varies due to threshold voltage variations of the transistors Tr1 and Tr4.

  For example, when paying attention to the control signal DS, its falling waveform first falls steeply and then falls gently under the influence of the time constant of the wiring. This control signal DS is applied to the gate of the switching transistor Tr4. On the other hand, the source of the switching transistor Tr4 is connected to VDD. Therefore, the P-channel type switching transistor Tr4 is turned on when its gate potential is lower than VDD− | Vtp |. This ON timing is the beginning of the mobility correction time t. However, the threshold voltage Vtp of the switching transistor Tr4 is not necessarily constant, and varies depending on the process. In the graph of FIG. 7, the maximum value of Vtp is represented by VtpMAX, and the minimum value is represented by VtpMIN. Since the threshold voltage Vtp of the switching transistor Tr4 varies in this way, the ON operation point varies from the standard to the back and forth.

  Similarly, the control signal WS applied to the gate of the sampling transistor Tr1 also falls steeply first and then gradually falls under the influence of the wiring time constant. On the other hand, the signal potential Vsig is applied to the source of the sampling transistor Tr1. Therefore, when the gate potential of the sampling transistor Tr1 falls below Vsig + Vtn, the sampling transistor Tr1 is turned off. Vtn is a standard value of the threshold voltage of the sampling transistor Tr1. The threshold voltage Vtn of the N-channel sampling transistor Tr1 also varies between the minimum values VtnMIN and VtnMAX under the influence of the process. Therefore, the off operation point of the sampling transistor Tr1 also varies back and forth. Therefore, the mobility correction time t varies between the shortest worst case and the longest worst case. This variation in the mobility correction time t is mainly caused by variations in the threshold voltages of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4.

  FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the mobility correction time and the drive current (pixel current) flowing through the pixel. In this graph, the horizontal axis represents mobility correction time, and the vertical axis represents pixel current. As is apparent from the graph, when the mobility correction time varies, the pixel current varies from pixel to pixel. This impairs the screen uniformity. As described above, variations in mobility correction time are mainly caused by variations in threshold voltages of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the cause of variation in threshold voltage of thin film transistors. As shown in the figure, the display device is formed of a single insulating substrate and is a flat panel 0. On the panel 0, in addition to the pixel array section 1, a peripheral light scanner 4, a drive scanner 5, a horizontal selector 3, and the like are also integrated. Similar to the central pixel array unit 1, these peripheral driving units are integrated with thin film transistors. In general, a thin film transistor uses a polycrystalline silicon film as an element region. This polycrystalline silicon film is converted into a polycrystalline silicon thin film by, for example, forming an amorphous silicon thin film on an insulating substrate and then crystallizing it by irradiating laser light. For this laser light irradiation, the amorphous silicon film is converted into a polycrystalline silicon film by, for example, irradiating a line-shaped laser beam sequentially from the top to the bottom of the panel 0. If a local fluctuation occurs in the laser output during the laser light irradiation process, a difference in crystallinity of the polycrystalline silicon film occurs in the vertical direction of the panel 0, and this results in variations in threshold voltages of the thin film transistors. . Therefore, the variation of the normal threshold voltage appears in the horizontal direction of the panel 0 along the line of the laser beam. In the example shown in the drawing, the correction time is shortened due to the fluctuation of the threshold voltage in some lines, and conversely, the correction time is long in other lines. As shown in FIG. 8, the variation in the correction time leads to the variation in the pixel current, so that luminance unevenness appears in a stripe shape along the line. When the correction time is shorter than the average, the amount of negative feedback with respect to the signal potential is reduced, so that a streak brighter than the surroundings is generated. On the other hand, when the correction time is longer than the standard, the amount of negative feedback with respect to the signal potential increases, so that the signal potential is lowered, and a darker streak than the surroundings is generated accordingly. In general, a panel with high luminance is required, and for this purpose, it is necessary to shorten the mobility correction period that acts in the direction of reducing the signal potential as much as possible. When the mobility correction time is shortened, streaks of luminance unevenness due to the variation become more prominent.

  In the present invention, in order to suppress variation in the mobility correction time t, the threshold voltage of the transistors Tr1 and Tr4 is designed by increasing the channel length L of the transistors that determine the correction time t such as the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4. The variation of the is suppressed. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the relationship between the L length of the thin film transistor and the Vth variation. The horizontal length is L length, and the vertical axis is Vth variation (deviation value). As is apparent from the graph, the Vth variation of the thin film transistor having the polycrystalline silicon film as the element region becomes smaller as the L length becomes longer. The polycrystalline silicon film is composed of a collection of silicon crystal grains, and when viewed locally, the distribution of crystal grains varies. By increasing the channel length in the direction of current flow, the variation in the distribution of crystal grains is averaged, and the variation in the threshold voltage is reduced accordingly.

  In general, a sampling transistor and a switching transistor often use an L length of about 5 μm in order to minimize the pixel layout area. However, as shown in the graph of FIG. 10, it can be seen that when the L length is around 5 μm, the variation in Vth is large. For this reason, the operating points of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 shift, and the mobility correction time t varies. As a result, luminance unevenness occurs in a streak shape, and the yield is reduced. In the present invention, the L length of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 for determining the mobility correction time t is designed to be 10 μm or more. Thereby, Vth variation can be suppressed. When L is set to 10 μm, the variation of about 50 percent Vth can be suppressed as compared with the conventional case. Furthermore, when L = 20 μm is set, the variation range of the threshold voltage can be suppressed to 25% compared to the conventional case. Thus, the yield can be significantly improved by designing the L length to be 10 μm or more.

  However, depending on the scale factor of the pixel circuit, it may be difficult to determine a preferable range of the channel length by an absolute value. Even in this case, at least one of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 is set to have a channel length longer than that of the transistors constituting the peripheral scanner, thereby suppressing variations in the transistor threshold voltage, and the mobility correction period. The fluctuation of the is suppressed. Alternatively, the channel length of at least one of the sampling transistor Tr1 and the switching transistor Tr4 is set to be longer than that of the other switching transistors Tr2, Tr3, etc., thereby suppressing variations in threshold voltage and changing the mobility correction period. Can be suppressed.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a display device according to the present invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the pixel structure of the display apparatus concerning this invention. It is a circuit diagram with which it uses for operation | movement description of the display apparatus concerning this invention. 6 is a timing chart for explaining the operation. It is a circuit diagram similarly used for operation | movement description. It is a graph similarly provided for operation | movement description. It is a wave form diagram similarly provided for operation | movement description. It is a graph similarly provided for operation | movement description. It is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation in the same manner. It is a graph similarly provided for operation | movement description.

Explanation of symbols

0 ... panel, 1 ... pixel array section, 2 ... pixel circuit, 3 ... horizontal selector, 4 ... light scanner, 5 ... drive scanner, 71 ... first correction Scanner 72 ... Second correction scanner, Tr1 ... Sampling transistor, Tr2 ... First switching transistor, Tr3 ... Second switching transistor, Tr4 ... Third switching transistor, Trd ... Drive transistor, Cs ... pixel capacitance, EL ... light emitting element, Vss1 ... first power supply potential, Vss2 ... second power supply potential, VDD ... third power supply potential, WS ... first Scan line, DS ... second scan line, AZ1 ... third scan line, AZ2 ... fourth scan line,

Claims (1)

It consists of a pixel array part and a drive part that drives it,
The pixel array section includes row-like first scanning lines and second scanning lines, column-like signal lines, matrix-like pixels arranged at intersections thereof, power supply lines for supplying power to each pixel, and grounding With a line,
The driving unit sequentially supplies a first control signal to each first scanning line to scan the pixels line by line in a row unit, and sequentially outputs a second scanner to each second scanning line in accordance with the line sequential scanning. A second scanner for supplying a control signal, and a signal selector for supplying a video signal to a column-shaped signal line in accordance with the line sequential scanning,
The pixel includes a light emitting element, a sampling transistor, a drive transistor, a switching transistor, and a pixel capacitor.
The sampling transistor has a gate connected to the first scanning line, a source connected to the signal line, a drain connected to the gate of the drive transistor,
The drive transistor and the light emitting element are connected in series between the power line and the ground line to form a current path,
The switching transistor is inserted in the current path, and its gate is connected to the second scanning line,
The pixel capacitor is a display device connected between a source and a gate of the drive transistor,
The sampling transistor is turned on in response to the first control signal supplied from the first scanning line, samples the signal potential of the video signal supplied from the signal line, and holds it in the pixel capacitor,
The switching transistor is turned on in response to a second control signal supplied from the second scanning line to make the current path conductive.
The drive transistor causes a drive current to flow to the light emitting element through a current path placed in the conductive state in accordance with a signal potential held in the pixel capacitor,
The driving unit applies the first control signal to the first scanning line to turn on the sampling transistor to start sampling of the signal potential, and then the second control signal is applied to the second scanning line. The mobility of the drive transistor during the correction period from the first timing when the switching transistor is turned on to the second timing when the first control signal applied to the first scanning line is released and the sampling transistor is turned off To the signal potential held in the pixel capacitance,
At least one of the sampling transistor and the switching transistor that regulate the first and second timings that define the correction period has a channel length of 10 μm or more, and suppresses variations in the transistor threshold voltage to suppress fluctuations in the correction period. Viewing equipment you.

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