Display driver, display system, and method of operating the display driver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10430918-B2
Application number	US-201514736413-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2015
Priority date	Jul 23, 2014
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

A display driver includes a first memory configured to store a plurality of pieces of image data, and an image generator configured to access the first memory based on display information and generate first display data based on the plurality of pieces of image data stored in the first memory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display driver, comprising:
an interface configured to receive a plurality of pieces of reference image data and a command signal indicating an operation mode of the display driver from a host processor distinct from the display driver;
a first memory configured to store the plurality of pieces of reference image data;
a second memory configured to store second display data provided from the host processor; and
an image generator configured to access the first memory based on display information, and generate first display data based on at least one piece of reference image data corresponding to the display information from among the plurality of pieces of reference image data stored in the first memory, in response to a first operation mode of the command signal,
wherein, in the first operation mode, the interface does not receive any display data from the host processor, and the image generator internally generates the first display data based on the at least one piece of reference image data stored in the first memory,
wherein the at least one piece of reference image data used to internally generate the first display data in the first operation mode is received by the display driver before a display section,
wherein, in a second operation mode, the interface receives the second display data from the host processor,
wherein the second operation mode, when the second display data corresponds to a moving image, the second display data is output for display by bypassing the second memory,
wherein, in the second operation mode, when the second display data corresponds to a still image, the second display data is output for display by storing the second display data in the second memory and subsequently reading the second display data from the second memory.

2. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pieces of reference image data include at least one of predetermined symbol images and a plurality of pieces of frame image data including the predetermined symbol images.

3. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein a display panel is driven based on the first display data generated by the image generator in the first operation mode, and the display panel is driven based on the second display data received from the host processor in the second operation mode.

4. The display driver of claim 3 , further comprising:
a selector configured to receive the first display data and the second display data, select one of the first display data and the second display data based on a selection signal set according to a current operation mode, and output the selected display data,
wherein the selected display data corresponds to an image that is to be displayed on the display panel.

5. The display driver of claim 1 , further comprising:
a real time generator configured to generate time information, and provide the time information to the image generator as the display information.

6. The display driver of claim 5 , wherein the image generator is configured to generate a watch image corresponding to the time information as the first display data every preset period.

7. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the image generator is configured to read a plurality of pieces of symbol image data corresponding to the display information from the first memory, synthesize the plurality of pieces of symbol image data, and generate the first display data based on the plurality of pieces of symbol image data.

8. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the image generator is configured to read a plurality of pieces of frame image data corresponding to the display information from the first memory, and output the plurality of pieces of frame image data as the first display data.

9. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the image generator is configured to synthesize the second display data received from the host processor and symbol image data read from the first memory, and generate the first display data based on the synthesized second display data and the synthesized symbol image data.

10. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the image generator comprises:
a memory controller configured to access the first memory based on the display information; and
an image synthesizer configured to synthesize the plurality of pieces of reference image data stored in the first memory, and generate the first display data based on the synthesized plurality of pieces of reference image data.

11. The display driver of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of pieces of reference image data are compressed and stored in the first memory, and the image generator further comprises an image decoder configured to reconstruct the plurality of pieces of compressed reference image data stored in the first memory.

12. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the display information is provided from the host processor.

13. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the display information is touch information corresponding to a touch detected on a touch panel, and the display information is directly provided from a touch screen controller.

14. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein the display information comprises time information, incoming phone call information, weather information, or remaining battery charge information.

15. The display driver of claim 1 , wherein a display panel is driven based on the first display data generated by the image generator in the first operation mode, the display panel is driven based on the second display data received from the host processor in the second operation mode, and the host processor operates in a low speed mode or a sleep mode when the display panel is driven in the first operation mode.

16. A display driver, comprising:
an interface configured to receive a plurality of pieces of reference image data, a command signal, and second display data from a host processor distinct from the display driver;
a command decoder configured to generate display information and a selection signal indicating a current operation mode based on the command signal;
a first memory configured to store the plurality of pieces of reference image data;
a second memory configured to store the second display data provided from the host processor;
an image generator configured to receive the display information from the command decoder, access the first memory based on the display information, and generate first display data based on at least one piece of reference image data corresponding to the display information from among the plurality of pieces of reference image data stored in the first memory; and
a selector configured to receive the selection signal from the command decoder, receive the first display data from the image generator, receive the second display data from the second memory, select one of the first display data and the second display data based on the selection signal, and output the selected display data,
wherein the selected display data corresponds to an image that is to be displayed on a display panel,
wherein, when the current operation mode is a first operation mode, the interface does not receive any display data from the host processor, and the image generator internally generates the first display data based on the at least one piece of reference image data stored in the first memory,
wherein the at least one piece of reference image data used to internally generate the first display data in the first operation mode is received by the display driver before a display section,
wherein, when the current operation mode is a second operation node, the inter

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Yang-Hyo
• Woo Soo-Young
• Kim Do-Kyung

Classifications

• G06T11/60

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title

• G09G2330/021

  Power management, e.g. power saving · CPC title

• H04N19/44

  Decoders specially adapted therefor, e.g. video decoders which are asymmetric with respect to the encoder · CPC title

• G06F3/14

  Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} · CPC title

• G09G3/3208

  organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED] · CPC title