Organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of driving the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016148564-A1
Application number	US-201514675228-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Nov 21, 2014
Publication date	May 26, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a plurality of pixels, each including: an organic light emitting diode (OLED); a driving transistor; and a first node therebetween; a sensor for sensing a first current from the driving transistor when a first reference voltage is applied to the first node and sensing a second current from the driving transistor when a second reference voltage is applied to the first node, when a first source data signal, corresponding to a first gray level, is transferred to a corresponding one of the pixels; a driving current determiner for generating characteristic information of the driving transistor based on the first and the second currents and determining a driving current of the driving transistor, corresponding to the first gray level, based on the characteristic information of the driving transistor and current-voltage information of the OLED, which is stored in the memory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An organic light-emitting display apparatus comprising:
a plurality of pixels, each comprising:
an organic light-emitting diode (OLED); and
a driving transistor configured to supply a driving current to the OLED via a first node;
a sensor configured to:
sense a first current flowing from the driving transistor in a state in which a first reference voltage is applied to the first node; and
sense a second current flowing from the driving transistor in a state in which a second reference voltage is applied to the first node,
when a first source data signal, corresponding to a first gray level, is transferred to the a corresponding one of the pixels;
a memory configured to store current-voltage information of the OLED; and a driving current determiner configured to:
generate characteristic information of the driving transistor based on:
the first current when the first reference voltage is applied; and
the second current when the second reference voltage is applied; and

determine a driving current of the driving transistor, corresponding to the first gray level, based on the characteristic information of the driving transistor and the current-voltage information of the OLED.

2 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the sensor is configured to sense a third current flowing from the driving transistor in a state in which a third reference voltage is applied to the first node, when a second source data signal, corresponding to a second gray level that is different from the first gray level, is transferred to the corresponding one of the pixels, and wherein the driving current determiner is configured to determine a driving current of the driving transistor, corresponding to the second gray level, based on the third current when the third reference voltage is applied, the characteristic information of the driving transistor, and the current-voltage information of the OLED.

3 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic information of the driving transistor comprises:
a channel-length modulation parameter when the driving transistor operates in a saturated region.

4 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises:
a reference voltage generator configured to generate the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage which are to be applied to the first node; and a current sensor configured to sense the first current and the second current.

5 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the driving current determiner is configured to:
determine a voltage of the first node when the first source data signal is transferred to the corresponding one of the pixels; and determine the driving current when the first source data signal is transferred to the corresponding one of the pixels, based on the characteristic information of the driving transistor and the current-voltage information of the OLED.

6 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a power supply configured to supply a first power voltage (ELVDD) and a second power voltage (ELVSS) to the plurality of pixels, wherein a difference between the first power voltage and a voltage of the first node determines a source-drain voltage of the driving transistor, and wherein a difference between the voltage of the first node and the second power voltage determines a voltage across the OLED.

7 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensing driver configured to generate and output a first sensing signal and a second sensing signal to a sensing line connected to the corresponding one of the pixels, wherein the sensor is configured to apply the first reference voltage to the first node and senses the first current in response to the first sensing signal, and to apply the second reference voltage to the first node and senses the second current in response to the second sensing signal.

8 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the sensor senses an emission current flowing through the OLED in the state in which a reference voltage is applied to the first node, and wherein the organic light-emitting display apparatus further comprises a characteristic information generator configured to generate the current-voltage information of the OLED based on the emission current in the state in which the reference voltage is applied and to store the generated current-voltage information in the memory.

9 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the corresponding one of the pixels is connected to:
a scan line configured to transfer a scan signal; a gate line configured to transfer a gate signal; a data line configured to transfer an image data signal and the first source data signal; and a sensing line configured to transfer a sensing signal.

10 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the sensor is configured to receive the first current and the second current via the data line.

11 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:
a data driver for supplying the image data signal and the first source data signal to the corresponding one of the pixels; and a switching unit for selectively connecting the data line to any one of the data driver and the sensor.

12 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the switching unit comprises:
a first selection switch which is connected between the data driver and the data line, the first selection switch being configured to transfer the image data signal and the first source data signal from the data driver to the corresponding one of the pixels in a turned-on state; and a second selection switch which is connected between the sensor and the data line, the second selection switch being configured to transfer the first current and the second current, output from the driving transistor, to the sensor in a turned-on state.

13 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 9 , wherein each of the pixels comprises:
a switching transistor configured to transfer the image data signal in response to the scan signal; the driving transistor configured to output the driving current according to the image data signal via the first node; a connection transistor configured to selectively connect the driving transistor and the OLED in response to the gate signal; and a sensing transistor configured to transfer the first current and the second current, output from the driving transistor, to the sensor in response to the sensing signal.

14 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 13 ,
wherein the scan signal has a gate-on voltage level of the switching transistor when the first source data signal and the image data signal are transferred to the corresponding one of the pixels.

15 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 13 ,
wherein the gate signal has a gate-off voltage level of the connection transistor when the first current and the second current are sensed by the sensor.

16 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 13 ,
wherein the sensing signal has a gate-on voltage level of the sensing transistor when the first current and the second current are sensed by the sensor.

17 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the corresponding one of the pixels is connected to:

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Cheolmin
• Kang Hyungryul
• Lee Jungyu
• Chae Sebyung

Classifications

• G09G2320/043

  Preventing or counteracting the effects of ageing · CPC title

• G09G2320/0295

  by monitoring each display pixel · CPC title

• G09G2300/0861

  with additional control of the display period without amending the charge stored in a pixel memory, e.g. by means of additional select electrodes · CPC title

• G09G3/3233 Primary

  with pixel circuitry controlling the current through the light-emitting element · CPC title

• G09G3/3258

  with pixel circuitry controlling the voltage across the light-emitting element · CPC title