Light sensitive display

1. A display device including a surface for viewing an image, the display device comprising:

a stack of layers including:

a plurality of display thin film transistors (TFTs) located in a viewable area of the display device, configured to display the image, each of the plurality of display TFTs including one display TFT channel of a plurality of display TFT channels,

a plurality of display pixels located in the viewable area of the display device and including the plurality of display TFTs;

a plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs located in the viewable area of the display device and including:

at least a first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs, and

at least a second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs,

each of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs including the display TFT channel of one of the plurality of display TFTs,

each of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs configured to detect a touch object contacting or hovering over the surface,

the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs having at least a first level of light sensitivity to detect a reduction in ambient light,

the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs having at least a second level of light sensitivity to detect an increase in the ambient light,

the first level of light sensitivity and the second level of light sensitivity being non-identical;

a plurality of readout TFTs coupled to the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and configured to output a plurality of signals representative of the detected touch object; and

logic configured to receive the plurality of signals and determine a location of the detected touch object based on the plurality of signals.

2. The display device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a black matrix layer including non-continuous openings overlaying portions of the plurality of display TFT channels, wherein centers of the non-continuous openings are offset from centers of the plurality of display TFT channels.

3. The display device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to:

select between the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs based on a current lighting condition.

4. The display device as recited in claim 3 , wherein the current lighting condition includes a first lighting condition and a second lighting condition,

wherein the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is configured to detect the touch object in the first lighting condition,

wherein the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is configured to detect the touch object in the second lighting condition,

wherein the first level of light sensitivity is less than the second level of light sensitivity, and

wherein the first lighting condition includes higher intensity light than the second lighting condition.

5. The display device as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of the photo-sensitive TFTs included in the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is coupled to a first capacitor having a first capacitance,

wherein each of the photo-sensitive TFTs included in the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is coupled to a second capacitor having a second capacitance,

wherein the first level of light sensitivity is higher than the second level of light sensitivity, and the first capacitance is less than the second capacitance.

6. The display device as recited in claim 3 , wherein the logic is further configured to automatically select between the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs.

7. The display device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a switch configured to select between the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs based on a detected lighting condition; and

a light sensor, separate and distinct from the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs, configured to detect the lighting condition.

8. The display device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a switch configured to select between the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs based on one of a plurality of operating modes, the plurality of operating modes including:

sensing an absence of light, sensing an addition of light, and adjusting sensing levels of circuitry.

9. The display device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of capacitors, each of the plurality of capacitors coupled to one of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs; and

sense circuitry configured to detect an absence of a change in charge across each of the plurality of capacitors when the touch object is contacting or hovering above the surface.

10. The display device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a black matrix layer including:

a plurality of openings configured to allow light to pass through,

at least a first portion of the plurality of openings at least partially overlays the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs, and

at least a second portion of the plurality of openings overlays at least partially the plurality of display pixels; and

a plurality of regions of a material configured to prevent light from passing through,

at least a first portion of the plurality of regions of the material overlays the plurality of readout TFTs, and

at least a second portion of the plurality of regions of the material overlays the plurality of display TFTs.

11. The display device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is configured to detect a lighting condition, the device further comprising:

a switch configured to select between the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs based on the detected lighting condition.

12. The display device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a color filter layer included in the stack of layers between the surface and at least a portion of the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs, a portion of the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs, or both.

13. A method for operating a display device, the method comprising:

displaying an image from a plurality of display pixels included in a stack of layers, the plurality of display pixels located in a viewable area of the display device and including a plurality of display thin film transistors (TFTs);

detecting a touch object contacting or hovering over a surface of the display device by:

configuring a plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs for detecting light, the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs associated with the stack of layers and located in the viewable area of the display device,

selecting one or more of a first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and a second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs,

the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs having a first level of light sensitivity to detect a reduction in ambient light,

the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs having a second level of light sensitivity to detect an increase in the ambient light,

the first level of light sensitivity and the second level of light sensitivity being non-identical, and

detecting an absence of a change in charge across a plurality of capacitors, the plurality of capacitors coupled to the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs, when the touch object is contacting or hovering over the surface,

wherein the change in the charge across the plurality of capacitors is associated with the detected light; and

determining a location of the touch object contacting or hovering over the surface based at least on the detected absence of the change in charge across the plurality of capacitors.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

separately processing data from the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and data from the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs.

15. The method as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

configuring the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs for detecting an absence of the light; and

configuring the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs for detecting an additional light.

16. The method as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

detecting a lighting condition, wherein the selection of one or more of the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is based on the detected lighting condition.

17. The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the selection of one or more of the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is automatic.

18. The method as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

configuring the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs for a first level of ambient lighting conditions; and

configuring the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs for a second level of ambient lighting conditions, the second level greater than the first level.

19. The method as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

detecting a lighting condition by determining an amount of discharge of at least the plurality of capacitors; and

classifying the detected lighting condition based on the determined amount of discharge.

20. The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the selection of one or more of the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs is based on one of a plurality of operating modes, the plurality of operating modes including:

detecting an absence of the light, sensing an addition of light, and adjusting sensing levels of circuitry.

21. The display device as recited in claim 9 , wherein the sense circuitry is further configured to detect a presence of the change in the charge across each of the plurality of capacitors in an absence of the touch object contacting or hovering above the surface.

22. The display device as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs and each of the plurality of readout TFTs are turned on and off by a controlled source.

23. The display device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs are located on a separate layer in the stack of layers than display sub-pixels of the plurality of display pixels.

24. The device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of display TFTs associated with the first selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs are photo TFTs having a first dimension,

wherein the plurality of display TFTs associated with the second selectable set of the plurality of photo-sensitive TFTs are photo TFTs having a second dimension,

wherein the first dimension and the second dimension are non-identical.