JPS5832715B2 - Bar graph display method using gas discharge panel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a bar graph display method using a gas discharge panel, particularly a self-shifting gas discharge panel having a memory function.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various devices have been proposed that display levels and bar graphs of various amounts of change using a display device equipped with an array of a large number of light emitting elements.

Display devices include light-emitting diodes (LEDs), liquid crystal display panels, EL display elements, and gas discharge type display devices, but among gas discharge type devices, when a self-shifting gas discharge panel with an external electrode structure is used, The panel's own memory and self-scanning capabilities simplify the drive circuitry.

However, in conventional bar graph display devices of this type, when rewriting the currently displayed bar graph information to bar graph information corresponding to the new amount to be displayed, all old information is once erased, and then the new information is rewritten. Since it adopted a writing method, it had the disadvantage that display control was complicated.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional situation, the present invention provides a new bar graph display method using a self-shifting gas discharge panel that allows easy rewriting of bar graphs in accordance with changes in the amount to be displayed. The purpose is to

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new display method that utilizes the characteristics of a self-shifting gas discharge panel to display a character that gives meaning to a corresponding bar graph at the head position of the corresponding bar graph.

Briefly stated, the invention provides a bar graph of a length corresponding to the quantity to be displayed on a self-shifting gas discharge panel having a shift channel comprising a regular array of shift electrodes and having a write electrode at one end. When displaying, the deviation between the signal corresponding to the currently displayed amount and the signal corresponding to the new amount to be displayed is detected, and the shift direction and shift amount are determined based on the detection output corresponding to this deviation amount. It is characterized by controlling the

Since this method controls the length of the bar graph by extracting only the changes in the input information to be displayed, it is extremely easy to follow up on changes in the input information, and as a whole a simple and high-performance bar graph display device can be obtained. That will happen.

In this invention, the term "bar graph" is used not only to represent a quantity as a graph, but also to represent the level of various measurement data.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

First, before explaining the bar graph display, we will briefly explain the structure and operating principle of the self-shifting gas discharge panel used as a display device in this invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a plan view showing the electrode arrangement of a self-shifting gas discharge panel equipped with a meandering electrode structure, and a cross-sectional view taken along the line nn', in which two shift channels SC1 and SC2 are representatively shown.

In the relationship between the two figures, this gas discharge panel has first electrodes X11 . A group of X12... and a second electrode X20. A group of X2 Two bus conductors ¥1 and ¥
The third electrode y11.2 is alternately connected to the third electrode y11.2. y12...
and a group of fourth electrodes y2□, y22...

The surface of each electrode is covered with dielectric layers 3 and 4 made of alumina or low-melting glass, etc., and a gas mixture of neon (Ne) and a small amount of xenon (Xe) is injected into the gap 5 between them. It is sealed to have p and ct values of -4Torr-CHl.

Thus, in the gas filling gap 5, four-phase discharge cells ai bi ci and di (i=1.2·
) are arranged regularly, and this arrangement of discharge cells creates the aforementioned shift channels sc1,
SC2 is configured.

And two bus conductors x1 on each of the X side and the Y side. x2
By sequentially switching and applying pulse voltages to , yl, and y2, the discharge spot generated in the write discharge element W is sequentially shifted to the adjacent discharge element according to the input information to the write electrode located at one end of each shift channel. It becomes possible to do so.

FIG. 3 shows an example of one driving voltage waveform for such a shift operation, and shows VYI, VXl, VY2 and
2 is a voltage waveform applied to the four electrode groups through each bus conductor, and VA, VB, VC, and VD are voltage waveforms applied to the four-phase discharge cells as a composite voltage of the electrode voltage waveforms.

Further, VWi is a write voltage waveform applied to the write electrode, and WC is a composite voltage waveform applied to the write discharge cell W.

As is clear from FIG. 3, the shift operation of this gas discharge panel is performed by distributing the four basic pulse trains, ■, ■, and ■, in a relationship that sequentially rotates with respect to the four busbars. -t3 during one rotation period consisting of four steps, the D-phase and A-phase discharge cells are energized by the shift pulse Ps.

Writing is performed in step . And this t.

The discharge spot generated by the application of the write voltage pulse Pw during the period is sequentially shifted so as to share two adjacent discharge cells, and after the shift, the discharge cell has the basic pulse train ■ and ■ or ■ and ■. A narrow erase pulse Pe is added based on the phase difference between the two.

Furthermore, if the rotational switching of the basic pulse train is stopped, the discharge spot remains at the shifted position to provide a static display mode, and if the rotational order of switching is reversed, a shift in the opposite direction becomes possible.

The present invention proposes the simplest and highest performance display method for displaying bar graphs using the self-shifting gas discharge panel as exemplified above. One example will be explained.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic system diagram of an apparatus for distantly related to the bar graph display method according to the present invention, and shows the above-mentioned gas discharge panel F.
Clock circuit 10 forming one drive control section for DP
, a counter circuit 11, a timing signal generation circuit 12, a switching circuit 13, a shift driver circuit 14, a write driver circuit 15, a drive control circuit 16, and an AD converter 17, a memory circuit 18, and a deviation detection circuit 19 that constitute a display control section. , and a display control circuit 20.

The clock signal generated by the clock circuit 10 is frequency-divided by the next counter circuit 11, and then enters the timing signal generation circuit 12, where the clock signal is divided into four pulses corresponding to the four basic pulse trains ■ to ■ previously explained with reference to FIG. A column drive timing signal is generated.

This drive timing signal train is rotated in the next switching circuit 13 in the distribution order to the shift driver circuits 14 (141 to 144) every four step units of one shift period, and the four shift drivers 141 to 144 driven thereby are rotated. 144 to each bus conductor Yl of FDP
, Xi, Y2. Shift pulses Ps are sequentially supplied to X2 in the relationship shown in FIG.

In addition, in the write driver circuit 15, the basic pulse train of ■ is applied to the bus conductor ¥1, and the discharge cells of D and human phase are energized.

During this period, it is driven by a drive timing signal train corresponding to the basic pulse train (2) and supplies a pulse Pw of a write voltage level Vw to the write electrode W of the FDP.

On the other hand, analog data corresponding to the amount to be displayed inputted from the input terminal In is sent to the display control circuit 2 in synchronization with the drive circuit section.
The signal is converted into a digital signal in an AD converter 17 controlled by 0, and is coded into, for example, an 8-bit signal and input to the next memory circuit 18.

The memory circuit 18 is composed of, for example, a 16-bit shift register, in which the upper 8 bits contain old information and the lower 8 bits contain old information.
It is structured so that new information can be added to the bits.

In other words, each time new information is read, the previous information is advanced to the upper 8 bit stage, so the shift register always contains new information corresponding to the amount of new information to be displayed and the information displayed before it. The old information corresponding to the current amount is stored in a form that can be compared.

Therefore, in the deviation detection circuit 19 having the following digital comparator configuration, by comparing the contents of the upper 8 bits and the contents of the lower 8 bits of the shift register, the amount to be newly displayed and the amount to be displayed previously are compared. It is possible to detect deviations from the actual amount.

After setting the bit signal representing the deviation extracted in this way to the next presettable counter (not shown) included in the drive control circuit 16, the contents of the counter are counted down to zero by a clock frequency division signal, and during this period Rotation switching of the drive timing signal switching circuit 13 is performed for a shift period corresponding to the count value.

Further, a bit signal for shift direction control indicating whether the deviation increases or decreases with respect to the old information is added to the bit signal from the deviation detection circuit 19 that indicates the deviation, and this signal is used to control the drive control circuit. A flip-flop circuit (not shown) included in 16 is switched to generate a shift direction control signal,
A command is issued to the drive timing signal switching circuit 13 to perform a forward shift or a reverse shift depending on whether the deviation signal is positive or negative.

Thus, in the initial state, since the old information is zero, a bit signal corresponding to the amount to be displayed is set in the presettable counter of the drive control circuit 16, and a signal instructing a forward shift is output.

Therefore, the drive timing signal switching circuit 13 switches the drive timing signal according to the countdown number until the contents of the counter reach zero, and as a result, writing is performed in the write discharge cells of the gas discharge panel FDP every one shift cycle. , the written discharge spot shifts sequentially along each shift channel as previously described.

When the content of the presettable counter of the drive control circuit 16 that controls the amount of shift becomes zero, the switching of the drive timing is stopped and the shift operation is also stopped, and the shift position of the leading discharge spot at that time is displayed. It corresponds to the power quantity.

Changes in the input data to be displayed are constantly monitored in the display control section at a predetermined cycle synchronized with the clock, and if a deviation occurs between the currently displayed data and the currently displayed data, the amount of deviation is detected by the drive control circuit 16. can be placed in

Then, a shift operation is performed by a predetermined amount in the forward or reverse direction depending on whether the deviation amount is positive or negative, so that the displayed bar graph immediately follows changes in the input data.

In actual bar graph display, a gas discharge panel equipped with a large number of shift channels SC1SC2 as shown in Fig. 1 is used. It is preferable that adjacent shift channels correspond to one bar graph, and a plurality of bar graphs are displayed vertically or horizontally.

Figure 5 shows the display mode when four bar graphs are displayed side by side on a single panel, and at the beginning of each bar graph there is a character (A) that gives meaning to the bar graph.
, B, C, D) are displayed on the - side.

Further, in this case, the four bar graphs are each displayed in a different display pattern, so that they can be easily identified.

In order to display multiple bar graphs side by side as shown in Figure 4 above, the Y-side electrode of the shift channel corresponding to each bar graph display line is individually derived for each display line, and the The shift operation may be performed selectively depending on the amount.

In addition, in order to display characters such as letters or symbols at the top position of each bar graph, a signal from a character generator is selectively applied to the write electrode of each display line prior to the write shift operation of the bar graph data. All you have to do is write the text.

Furthermore, the display pattern can be arbitrarily changed by appropriately setting the signals applied to the write electrodes in advance.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the essence of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made in combination with conventional techniques.

For example, a gas discharge panel used as a display may be a self-shifting gas discharge panel with a crossed electrode structure, or may be a surface discharge type or parallel electrode type panel.

Further, the shift channel does not have to be linear; it is also possible to configure a circular or semicircular shift channel and display a bar graph from one or both ends of the shift channel.

Furthermore, when displaying a plurality of bar graphs side by side, the display mode may be changed by combining different colored phosphors for each display line to make the emitted light different in color or the brightness different.

In short, according to this invention, when the amount of input data to be displayed changes, instead of erasing the previous display content and rewriting new information as in the past, the data is changed in the order corresponding to the amount of change. The display follows changes in input data through directional or reverse shifts, making drive and control extremely simple, and the self-shifting gas discharge panel provides extremely high brightness. , can give a high quality display.

Therefore, the present invention is highly effective in displaying analog quantities of various measuring instruments in the form of bar graphs.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are plan views of essential parts showing the electrode configuration of a self-shifting gas discharge panel applied to the present invention, and
-n' line sectional view, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a driving voltage waveform of a self-shift type gas discharge panel, FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing a schematic configuration of a bar graph display device according to the present invention, and FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a bar graph display mode. PDP: Self-shifting gas discharge panel, ¥1゜xl,
y2 and X2: bus conductor, 14: shift driver circuit, 15: write driver circuit, 16: drive control circuit, i
7: AD converter, 18: memory circuit, 19: deviation detection circuit, 20: display control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device comprising a plurality of shift electrodes whose surfaces are covered with a dielectric layer facing a gas discharge space and arranged in a regular manner, and a shift channel defined along the shift electrode arrangement. A system for displaying a bar graph corresponding to the amount to be displayed on a self-shifting gas discharge panel having a writing electrode at one end, the circuit comprising: a circuit that sequentially shifts a discharge spot generated at the writing electrode along a shift channel; , a circuit that compares a signal corresponding to the amount to be displayed with a signal corresponding to the amount displayed before it and detects their deviation; and a shift of the discharge spot based on the output of the deviation detection circuit. A bar graph display method using a gas discharge panel, characterized in that it has a circuit that controls the direction and shift amount, and displays the amount to be displayed as a bar graph with a length corresponding to the shift amount of the discharge spot. 2 Using a self-shifting gas discharge panel in which a large number of shift channels are arranged in parallel, a plurality of adjacent shift channels are made to correspond to one bar graph display, and a plurality of bar graphs are displayed on a single panel. A bar graph display method using a gas discharge panel according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. Prior to the writing shift of the leading discharge spot of the bar graph corresponding to the amount to be displayed, a character giving meaning to the bar graph is written, and the character is shifted in conjunction with the shifting operation of the leading discharge spot of the corresponding bar graph. A bar graph display method using a gas discharge panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: 4. Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the display formats of the plurality of bar graphs are different from each other.
Bar graph display method using the gas discharge panel described in Section 1.