Display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11544957-B2
Application number	US-202117244851-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2021
Priority date	Jul 30, 2020
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

A display device includes a display panel, an input sensor, and a control unit. The display panel includes a light blocking layer that includes an opening. The input sensor includes a first sensing element, a second sensing element, and a third sensing element. The control unit calculates a first distance between the first sensing element and the second sensing element when the display panel is in a first state and the second sensing element overlaps the opening, calculates a second distance between the first sensing element and a third sensing element when the display device is in a second state that differs from that of the first state and the third sensing element overlaps the opening, and corrects an image obtained from the input sensor on the basis of the first distance and the second distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display device, comprising:
a display panel that is divided into a folding region and a non-folding region and that includes a display element layer above a light blocking layer, wherein the light blocking layer includes an opening formed therein;
an input sensor disposed under the light blocking layer of the display panel, wherein the input sensor overlaps the non-folding region and includes a first sensing element, a second sensing element, and a third sensing element; and
a control unit that
calculates a first distance between the first sensing element and the second sensing element when the display panel is in a first state and the second sensing element overlaps the opening,
calculates a second distance between the first sensing element and the third sensing element when the display device is in a second state that differs from that of the first state and the third sensing element overlaps the opening, and
corrects an image obtained from the input sensor based on the first distance and the second distance.

2. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensing element is disposed adjacent to an edge of the input sensor.

3. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the first state is when the display panel is unfolded, the second state is when the display panel is folded, and the image is obtained by the input sensor in the second state.

4. The display device of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of holes are further formed in the light blocking layer, and the plurality of holes and the opening have a same shape.

5. The display device of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of holes are further formed in the light blocking layer, and the opening has a shape that differs from a shape of each of the plurality of holes.

6. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensing element, the second sensing element, and the third sensing element are spaced apart in a first direction.

7. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the control unit
divides the image into a plurality of sub-images based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance,
rotates each of the plurality of sub-images into a plurality of rotated sub-images, respectively,
combines the plurality of rotated sub-images, and
provides a fingerprint image.

8. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the control unit stores a difference between the first distance and the second distance, and divides the image into a plurality of sub-images using the difference when the display panel is in the second state.

9. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the control unit
divides the image into a plurality of sub-images using a cutting line calculated based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance, and
obtains fingerprint information when the display panel is in the second state.

10. A display device, comprising:
a display panel that includes a display element layer, and a light blocking layer disposed under the display element layer and that includes an opening formed therein, wherein the display panel is divided into a folding region and a non-folding region;
an input sensor disposed under the non-folding region of the display panel and that includes a plurality of sensing elements; and
a control unit that
divides a first image obtained from the input sensor into a plurality of first sub-images using a first cutting line wherein fingerprint information is obtained when the display panel is unfolded, and
divides a second image obtained from the input sensor into a plurality of second sub-images using a second cutting line in a different position from the first cutting line wherein fingerprint information is obtained when the display panel is folded.

11. The display device of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of sensing elements include
a first sensing element disposed adjacent to an edge of the input sensor,
a second sensing element that overlaps the opening when the display panel is unfolded, and
a third sensing element that overlaps the opening when the display panel is folded.

12. The display device of claim 11 , wherein the first sensing element, the second sensing element, and the third sensing element are spaced apart in a first direction.

13. The display device of claim 11 , wherein the control unit
calculates a first distance between the first sensing element and the second sensing element, and
calculates a second distance between the first sensing element and the third sensing element.

14. The display device of claim 13 , wherein the second cutting line is obtained by moving the first cutting line by a distance that corresponds to a difference value between the first distance and the second distance.

15. The display device of claim 14 , wherein the control unit
stores the difference value,
determines the second cutting line using the difference when the display panel is folded, and
divides the second image based on the second cutting line.

16. The display device of claim 10 , wherein the control unit
rotates each of the plurality of second sub-images,
combines the plurality of rotated second sub-images into a fingerprint image, and
provides the fingerprint image.

17. The display device of claim 10 , wherein
a plurality of holes are formed in the light blocking layer, and
the plurality of holes and the opening have a same shape.

18. The display device of claim 10 , wherein
a plurality of holes are formed in the light blocking layer, and
the opening has a shape that differs from a shape of each of the plurality of holes.

19. A display device, comprising:
a display panel that is divided into a folding region and a non-folding region and includes a light blocking layer that includes a plurality of openings;
an input sensor disposed under the non-folding region of the display panel, wherein the input sensor includes a first sensing element, a second sensing element that overlaps an opening of the plurality of openings when the display panel is unfolded, and a third sensing element that overlaps the opening of the plurality of openings when the display panel is partially folded; and
a control unit that includes a distance calculation unit, an image division unit, an image rotation unit and an image combination unit,
wherein when a first image is obtained by the input sensor when the display panel is unfolded,
the distance calculation unit calculates a first distance between the first sensing element and the second sensing element,
the image division unit divides the first image into a plurality of first sub-images using a first cutting line,
the image rotation unit rotates each of the plurality of sub-images to form a plurality of rotation images, and
the image combination unit extracts information for obtaining a fingerprint by deleting unnecessary image portions from the plurality of rotation images, forms a plurality of partial images and combines the plurality of partial images into a fingerprint image.

20. The display device of claim 19 , wherein
when a second image is obtained by the input sensor when the display panel is at least partially folded,
the distance calculation unit calculates a second distance between the first sensing element and the third sensing element and a difference value between the first distance and the second distance, and
the image division unit divides the second image using a second cutting line calculated from the difference value between the first distance and the second distance.

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ryu Ji-Hun
• Baek Kwanghyun
• Baek Jongin
• Seo Suyul
• Jo Jaehyung
• Jin Sungho

Classifications

• G01J2001/446

  Photodiode · CPC title

• G01J1/44

  Electric circuits {(for command of an exposure part G03B7/02)} · CPC title

• G06F2203/04102

  Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper · CPC title

• G09F9/301 Primary

  flexible foldable or roll-able electronic displays, e.g. thin LCD, OLED · CPC title

• G09G3/32

  semiconductive, e.g. using light-emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title