Liquid crystal display device performing both image display mode and fingerprint recognition mode

1. A liquid crystal display (LCD) panel comprised of:

a single panel lying in a single plane, having a first plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs) arranged in rows, said rows of TFTs in the panel being capable of displaying images throughout said single panel in a display mode; and

a second plurality of TFTs in a fingerprint detection area of the single panel, which is within a first area of the single panel, said second plurality of TFTs being a subset of said first plurality of TFTs said TFTs in the fingerprint detection area being capable of both actively displaying images in said display mode and generating signals that represent a fingerprint touching the single panel in the fingerprint detection area in a fingerprint recognition mode;

wherein the single panel further comprises a scan drive unit which sequentially turns on rows of the first plurality of TFTs and the second plurality of TFTs to display images in the display mode, and a data drive unit which outputs data signals to a turned-on row provided in the image display panel, and

wherein the fingerprint detection area comprises a switch control unit which sequentially turns on rows of TFTs in the fingerprint detection area in order to perform fingerprint recognition in the fingerprint detection area of the single panel, and a reading unit, to which fingerprint information recognized from a turned-on row is outputted.

2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1 , wherein the fingerprint detection area is formed from an array of fingerprint recognition components, each of the fingerprint recognition components comprising: a sensor thin film transistor, in which a photosensitive layer is formed between a first end and a second end of the sensor thin film transistor, and when light exceeding a predetermined amount of light is incident into the photosensitive transistor, the first end and the second end become electrically conductive; and a switch thin film transistor, in which a gate of the switch thin film transistor is connected to an output terminal of the switch control unit, a first end of a channel of the switch thin film transistor is connected to a second end of a channel of the sensor thin film transistor and a second end of the channel of the switch thin film transistor is connected to an input terminal of the reading unit.

3. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2 , wherein the second end of the channel of the sensor thin film transistor and the first end of the channel of the switch thin film transistor are connected to a transparent electrode.

4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2 , wherein the sensor thin film transistor and the switch thin film transistor are formed on a transparent substrate, and the liquid crystal display device further comprises a light-emitting unit under the transparent substrate.

5. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2 , further comprising an electricity charging unit, wherein one end of the charging unit is connected to the second end of the channel of the sensor thin film transistor and to the first end of the channel of the switch thin film transistor, and electric charges generated from the sensor thin film transistor are accumulated in the electricity charging unit.

6. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2 further comprising a light shut-off layer formed on the top of the switch thin film transistor.