Display driver and display panel module
Provided is a display driver which can be used in common in any of COF mounting and COG mounting. In the display driver, a position (or write/output position) of display data output by an output circuit can be changed along a direction of an array of external output terminals S 1 to S 540 according to mode data, whereby an array of external output terminals to use for output can be selected from more than one kind of arrays different in layout pitch. Therefore, the display driver can be used in display panels with signals lines having different pitches serving to receive drive signals from the display driver and in addition, used in common in any of COF mounting and COG mounting which are different from each other in the pitch of mounting wiring lines.
1. A display driver, comprising:
a plurality of external output terminals disposed along a first direction of the display driver;
an output circuit operable to supply display drive signals to a display panel using the external output terminals; and
a control circuit operable to select an array of the external output terminals from more than one kind of arrays different in layout pitch according to an output mode data setting, wherein the selected array of the external output terminals is used by the output circuit for outputting the display drive signals.
2. The display driver according to claim 1 , wherein the output circuit comprises:
a line latch circuit comprising a plurality of data registers for holding pixel data; and
a drive circuit operable to produce the display drive signals from the pixel data output by the line latch circuit and provide the display drive signals to the external output terminals.
3. The display driver according to claim 2 , wherein the control circuit is configured to perform write address control for sequentially writing the pixel data into the line latch circuit according to the output mode data setting, and output control for outputting, in parallel, outputs of the data registers to the drive circuit.
4. The display driver according to claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of the data registers holds the pixel data of more than one pixel as one unit.
5. The display driver according to claim 4 , wherein the drive circuit is configured to output, in a time-sharing manner, the display drive signals corresponding to the pixel data of more than one pixel output by the data registers.
6. The display driver according to claim 1 , wherein the more than one kind of arrays that are selectable by the control circuit comprise an array of the external output terminals in which a condition of a pitch allocated for spacing between adjacent terminals of the external output terminals is changed.
7. The display driver according to claim 6 , wherein the array of the external output terminals used for outputting drive signals are arrayed from both ends of the array of the external output terminals toward the center of the array of the external output terminals along the first direction of the array.
8. The display driver according to claim 1 , wherein the more than one kind of arrays that are selectable by the control circuit comprise an array of the external output terminals in which a number of the external output terminals used for outputting the display drive signals is changed.
9. The display driver according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a host interface circuit; and
a register circuit to input control data from the host interface circuit,
wherein the control circuit is operable to select the array of the external output terminals based on the control data set in the register circuit.
10. A display panel module comprising:
a display panel comprising display elements; and
a display driver configured to supply display drive signals to the display panel,
wherein the display driver comprises:
a plurality of external output terminals disposed along a first direction of the display driver,
an output circuit operable to produce the display drive signals to supply to the display panel using the external output terminals, and
a control circuit operable to select an array of the external output terminals from more than one kind of arrays different in layout pitch according to an output mode data setting, wherein the selected array of the external output terminals is used by the output circuit for outputting the display drive signals.
11. The display panel module according to claim 10 , wherein the more than one kind of arrays that are selectable by the control circuit comprise an array of the external output terminals in which a condition of a pitch allocated for spacing between adjacent terminals of the external output terminals used for outputting the display drive signals is changed.
12. The display panel module according to claim 11 , wherein the more than one kind of arrays that are selectable by the control circuit further comprise an array of the external output terminals in which a number of the external output terminals used for outputting the display drive signals is changed.
13. The display panel module according to claim 11 , wherein the more than one kind of arrays that are selectable by the control circuit comprise an array in which the external output terminals used for outputting the display drive signals are arrayed from both ends of the array of the external output terminals toward the center of the array of the external output terminals along the first direction of the array.
14. The display panel module according to claim 11 , wherein the display driver is mounted on a glass substrate of the display panel.
15. The display panel module according to claim 11 , wherein the display driver is mounted on a flexible wiring board connected to the display panel.
16. The display panel module according to claim 11 , wherein the output circuit of the display driver comprises:
a line latch circuit comprising a plurality of data registers for holding pixel data; and
a drive circuit operable to produce display drive signals from the pixel data output by the line latch circuit and provide the display drive signals to the external output terminals, and
wherein the control circuit of the display driver is configured to perform write address control for sequentially writing the pixel data into the line latch circuit according to the output mode data setting and output control for outputting in parallel outputs of the data registers to the drive circuit.
17. The display panel module according to claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of the data registers holds pixel data of more than one pixel as one unit, and
the drive circuit is configured to output, in a time-sharing manner, the display drive signals corresponding to the pixel data of more than one pixel output by the data registers, and
wherein the display panel comprises select circuits configured to receive the display drive signals output by the drive circuit in the time-sharing manner, select signal lines of the display elements of the display panel corresponding to the received display drive signals, and supply the display drive signals to the selected signal lines.
18. A method, comprising:
providing a display driver comprising external output terminals disposed along a first direction;
selecting, based on output mode data setting, an array of the external output terminals from more than one kind of array different in layout pitch; and
transmitting, using the selected array of the external output terminals, display driver signals to a display panel.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
producing the display drive signals based on pixel data outputted by a line latch circuit in the display driver.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
performing write address control for sequentially writing the pixel data into the line latch circuit according to the output mode data setting; and
performing output control for outputting, in parallel, outputs of data registers in the line latch circuit that hold the pixel data to the drive circuit.