Pixel driving method and associated display device

This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 104104283, filed Feb. 9, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The disclosure provides a pixel driving method and an associated display device.

Recently, the large-sized display panel and the high resolution image become a main trend of the display market. When the size of the display panel dramatically increasing, it would raise the difficulty and the cost of the circuit process which using the normal circuit design specification. Therefore, how to reach the high resolution on the large-sized display panel and meantime controlling the cost and decreasing the complexity of the circuit process is one of the urgent issues that need to be solved.

The disclosure provides a pixel driving method for a color display panel and an associated display device.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a pixel driving method applied in a display panel is provided. The display panel comprises a plurality of pixel blocks that each of which comprises a first pixel, a second pixel, a third pixel and a fourth pixel, wherein the first pixel and the second pixel are arranged sequentially along a first direction, the third pixel and the fourth pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the first pixel and the third pixel are arranged sequentially along a second direction, the first pixel, the second pixel, the third pixel and the fourth pixel respectively comprises a plurality of sub-pixels, the sub-pixels in the first pixel and the sub-pixels in the second pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the first pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the first pixel and the sub-pixels in the third pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the first pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the second pixel and the sub-pixels in the fourth pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the second pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the third pixel and the sub-pixels in the fourth pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the third pixel have the same color. The pixel driving method comprises: a first image comprising a plurality of image points that each of which is corresponding to a display color is received; a first sub-image and a second sub-image are generated according to the first image, wherein the first sub-image displays a part of the image points through the pixel blocks, and the second sub-image displays another part of the image points through the pixel blocks; and at least one of the first sub-image and the second sub-image is displayed on the display panel.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a display device is provided. The display device comprises a display panel and a pixel driving circuit. The display panel comprises a plurality of pixel blocks that each of which comprises a first pixel, a second pixel, a third pixel and a fourth pixel, wherein the first pixel and the second pixel are arranged sequentially along a first direction, the third pixel and the fourth pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the first pixel and the third pixel are arranged sequentially along a second direction, the first pixel, the second pixel, the third pixel and the fourth pixel respectively comprises a plurality of sub-pixels, the sub-pixels in the first pixel and the sub-pixels in the second pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the first pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the first pixel and the sub-pixels in the third pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the first pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the second pixel and the sub-pixels in the fourth pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the second pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the third pixel and the sub-pixels in the fourth pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the third pixel have the same color. The pixel driving circuit is coupled to the display panel and configured to receive a first image, generate a first sub-image and a second sub-image according to the first image, and display at least one of the first sub-image and the second sub-image on the display panel; wherein the first image comprises a plurality of image points that each of which is corresponding to a display color, the first sub-image displays a part of the image points through the pixel blocks, and the second sub-image displays another part of the image points through the pixel blocks; wherein the first pixel comprises a first sub-pixel, a second sub-pixel, a third sub-pixel and a fourth sub-pixel, the second pixel comprises a fifth sub-pixel a sixth sub-pixel a seventh sub-pixel and an eighth sub-pixel, the third pixel comprises a ninth sub-pixel, a tenth sub-pixel, an eleventh sub-pixel and a twelfth sub-pixel, the fourth pixel comprises a thirteenth sub-pixel, a fourteenth sub-pixel, a fifteenth sub-pixel and a sixteenth sub-pixel; wherein the first sub-pixel, the second sub-pixel, the fifth sub-pixel and the sixth sub-pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the third sub-pixel, the fourth sub-pixel, the seventh sub-pixel and the eighth sub-pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the ninth sub-pixel, the tenth sub-pixel, the thirteenth sub-pixel and the fourteenth sub-pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the eleventh sub-pixel, the twelfth sub-pixel, the fifteenth sub-pixel and the sixteenth sub-pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the first sub-pixel, third sub-pixel, ninth sub-pixel and the eleventh sub-pixel are arranged sequentially along the second direction; and wherein the first sub-pixel, the sixth sub-pixel, the eleventh sub-pixel and the sixteenth sub-pixel have the same color; the second sub-pixel, the third sub-pixel, the fifth sub-pixel, the eighth sub-pixel, the ninth sub-pixel, the twelfth sub-pixel, the fourteenth sub-pixel and the fifteenth sub-pixel have the same color; the fourth sub-pixel, the seventh sub-pixel, the tenth sub-pixel and the thirteenth sub-pixel have the same color.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a pixel driving circuit is provided. The pixel driving circuit comprises an image processor and a driver. The image processor receives a first image, and generates a first sub-image and a second sub-image according to the first image, wherein the first image comprises a plurality of image points that each of which is corresponding to a display color. The driver is coupled to the image processor, and outputs at least one of the first sub-image and the second sub-image, wherein the first sub-image and the second sub-image are applied in a display panel comprising a plurality of pixel blocks, the first sub-image displays a part of the image points through the pixel blocks, the second sub-image displays another part of the image points through the pixel blocks, each of the pixel bocks comprises a first pixel, a second pixel, a third pixel and a fourth pixel, the first pixel and the second pixel are arranged sequentially along a first direction, the third pixel and the fourth pixel are arranged sequentially along the first direction, the first pixel and the third pixel are arranged sequentially along a second direction, the first pixel, the second pixel, the third pixel and the fourth pixel respectively comprises a plurality of sub-pixels, the sub-pixels in the first pixel and the sub-pixels in the second pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the first pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the first pixel and the sub-pixels in the third pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the first pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the second pixel and the sub-pixels in the fourth pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the second pixel have the same color, the sub-pixels in the third pixel and the sub-pixels in the fourth pixel that are adjacent to the sub-pixels in the third pixel have the same color.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary pixel arrangement of the display panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a pixel driving method applied in the display panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of generating the first sub-image and the second sub-image according to the image.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of the first sub-image according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a re-arranged pixel defined by 7-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6B illustrates another example of a re-arranged pixel defined by 7-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a re-arranged pixel defined by T-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7B illustrates another example of a re-arranged pixel defined by T-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a pixel driving method of an embodiment according to FIG. 3 .

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a pixel driving method of another embodiment according to FIG. 3 .

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a pixel driving method of another embodiment according to FIG. 3 .

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

Below, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings so as to be easily realized by a person having ordinary knowledge in the art. The inventive concept may be embodied in various forms without being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Descriptions of well-known parts are omitted for clarity, and like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

The disclosure provides a method of outputting a high-resolution image by an existing driving circuit that has lower resolution and without increases the number of pins.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The display device 100 may display frames in response to signals of images I sent from a host 10 . The display device 100 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) display or any type of display. The display device 100 can be used in E-books, mobile phones, tablet computers, televisions, notebook computers, digital picture frames, navigation systems or any other products having display functions.

The display device 100 mainly includes a pixel driving circuit 104 and a display panel 102 . In an embodiment, the pixel driving circuit 104 includes an image processor 106 and a driver 108 . The image processor 106 is configured to receive the image I and generate a first sub-image SI 1 and a second sub-image 512 according to the image I. In an embodiment, the image processor 106 can be integrated into the host 210 and not in the pixel driving circuit 104 . The image I may be a frame of image data to be displayed, which includes a plurality of image points that each of which is corresponding to one display color (e.g., one pixel data).

The driver 108 , coupled to the image processor 106 , is used to output at least one of the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image 512 . The resolution of the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image 512 may be lower than that of the image I. By re-arranging and re-defining the sub-pixels of the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image 512 , the display panel 102 can then use the first sub-image SI 1 and/or the second sub-image 512 to display a higher-resolution image that is close to the image I, thereby lowering the hardware requirements for the display device 100 .

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary pixel arrangement of the display panel 102 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The display panel 102 includes a plurality of pixel blocks PB that each of which includes 2×2 pixels, that is, pixels P 1 , P 2 , P 3 and P 4 . The pixels P 1 -P 4 are arranged in a 2×2 matrix. As shown in FIG. 2 , the pixels P 1 and P 2 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 (e.g., a horizontal direction or an arbitrary direction axis), the pixels P 3 and P 4 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 , and the pixels P 1 and P 3 are arranged sequentially along another direction D 2 (e.g., a vertical direction or another direction axis).

The pixels P 1 , P 2 P 3 and P 4 respectively include a matrix of 2×2 sub-pixels. As shown in FIG. 2 , the pixel P 1 includes sub-pixels SP 1 -SP 4 , the pixel P 2 includes sub-pixels SP 5 -SP 8 , the pixel P 3 includes sub-pixels SP 9 -SP 12 , and the pixel P 4 includes sub-pixels SP 13 -SP 16 , wherein the sub-pixels SP 1 , SP 2 , SP 5 and SP 6 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 , the sub-pixels SP 3 , SP 4 , SP 7 and SP 8 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 , the sub-pixels SP 9 , SP 10 , SP 13 and SP 14 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 , the sub-pixels SP 11 , SP 12 , SP 15 and SP 16 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 , and the sub-pixels SP 1 , SP 3 , SP 9 and SP 11 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 2 .

In an embodiment, sub-pixels in different pixels but adjacent to each other have the same color. As shown in FIG. 2 , the sub-pixel SP 2 (or SP 4 ) of pixel P 1 is adjacent to the sub-pixel SP 5 (or SP 7 ) of pixel P 2 , and both of them (SP 2 and SP 5 ; SP 4 and SP 7 ) have the same color. Similarly, the sub-pixel SP 3 (or SP 4 ) of pixel P 1 is adjacent to the sub-pixel SP 9 (or SP 10 ) of pixel P 3 , and both of them (SP 3 and SP 9 ; SP 4 and SP 10 ) have the same color; the sub-pixel SP 7 (or SP 8 ) of pixel P 2 is adjacent to the sub-pixel SP 13 (or SP 14 ) of pixel P 4 , and both of them (SP 7 and SP 13 ; SP 8 and SP 14 ) have the same color; and the sub-pixel SP 10 (or SP 12 ) of pixel P 3 is adjacent to the sub-pixel SP 13 (or SP 15 ) of pixel P 4 , and both of them (SP 10 and SP 13 ; SP 12 and SP 15 ) have the same color. In an embodiment, two sub-pixels adjacent to each other but in different pixels can be provided with color filters with the same color so that these two sub-pixels may show the same color.

With the abovementioned configuration, in one pixel block PB, the sub-pixels SP 1 , SP 6 , SP 11 and SP 16 may have the same color, e.g., a first color; the sub-pixels SP 2 , SP 3 , SP 5 , SP 8 , SP 9 , SP 12 , SP 14 and SP 15 may also have the same color, e.g., a second color; and the sub-pixels SP 4 , SP 7 , SP 10 and SP 13 may have the same color, e.g., a third color, wherein the first, second and third colors may comprise a red color, a blue color and a green color, or can be any combination of them, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4 . FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a pixel driving method applied in the display panel 102 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of generating the first sub-image SP 1 and the second sub-image SP 2 according to the image I.

At step S 303 , the display device 100 receives an image I that includes, for example, a plurality of image points that each of which corresponds to a display color.

At step S 304 , the pixel driving circuit 104 generates the first sub-image SP 1 and the second sub-image SP 2 according to the image I, wherein the first sub-image SP 1 is to show a part of the image points through the pixel block PB, while the second sub-image SP 2 is to show another part of the image points through the pixel block PB.

At step S 306 , the display panel 102 displays at least one of the first sub-image SP 1 and the second sub-image SP 2 to present the image I.

As shown in FIG. 4 , after the display device 100 receives the image points IP 1 - 1 P 9 of the image I, the pixel driving circuit 104 may separate these image points IP 1 - 1 P 9 into two groups to form the first sub-image SP 1 and the second sub-image SP 2 . The image points IP 1 - 1 P 9 are arranged in a 3×3 matrix, that is, the image points IP 1 - 1 P 3 , the image points IP 4 - 1 P 6 and the image points IP 7 - 1 P 9 are arranged sequentially along the direction D 1 , respectively, and the image points IP 1 , IP 4 and IP 7 are arranged sequentially along another direction D 2 .

In the example, the first sub-image SI 1 is configured to show the image points IP 1 , IP 3 , IP 7 and IP 9 through the pixel block PB shown in FIG. 2 , while the second sub-image SI 2 is configured to show the image points IP 2 , IP 4 , IP 6 and IP 8 through the pixel block PB. By showing the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image 512 alternatively, or adopting any other kind of display schedule for these two sub-images, it can use less number of pixels (e.g., four pixels, P 1 -P 4 ) to present the image I with higher resolution (e.g., corresponding to 9 pixel data). For example, with the proposed method of the disclosure, a display panel of 1280×800 resolution can be used to present an image of 1920×1200 resolution. In such instance, the horizontal and vertical resolution could increase about 1.5 times. Understandably, the above examples are just for illustrating, not intended to limit the disclosure.

In some embodiments, the ways to generate the first sub-image SP 1 and the second sub-image SP 2 can be implemented by the following steps. To simplify the illustration, below, the number of pixel block PB is exemplified by one, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

For example, steps to generate the first sub-image SI 1 may include:

displaying the image point IP 1 by the pixel P 1 ;

displaying the image point IP 3 by the pixel P 2 ;

displaying the image point IP 7 by the pixel P 3 ; and

displaying the image point IP 9 by the pixel P 4 .

The rationale behind the setting of the image points is that the image points IP 1 , IP 3 , IP 7 and IP 9 are respectively located at the upper-left, upper-right, lower-left and lower-right corners of the image I, and these image points IP 1 -IP 4 has the same relative position relationship with that of the pixels P 1 -P 4 . Thus, the pixels P 1 , P 2 , P 3 and P 4 are respectively used to display the image points IP 1 , IP 3 , IP 7 and IP 9 .

On the other hand, steps to generate the second sub-image SI 2 may include:

arranging sub-pixels in the pixels P 1 and P 2 to define a first re-arranged pixel to display the image point IP 2 ;

arranging sub-pixels in the pixels P 1 and P 3 to define a second re-arranged pixel to display the image point IP 4 ;

arranging sub-pixels in the pixels P 2 and P 4 to define a third re-arranged pixel to display the image point IP 6 ; and

arranging sub-pixels in the pixels P 3 and P 4 to define a fourth re-arranged pixel to display the image point IP 8 .

The reason behind the setting of the image points is that since the image points IP 2 , IP 4 , IP 6 and IP 8 are respectively located at the top, left, right and bottom sides of the image I, the pixels P 1 and P 2 , which are on the top side of the pixel block PB, can be used to define the image point IP 2 , the pixels P 1 and P 3 , which are on the left side of the pixel block PB, can be used to define the image point IP 4 , the pixels P 2 and P 4 , which are on the right side of the pixel block PB, can be used to define the image point IP 6 , and the pixels P 3 and P 4 , which are on the bottom side of the pixel block PB, can be used to define the image point IP 8 , such that the image I can be correctly displayed.

Each of the first, second, third and fourth re-arranged pixels may be defined by a 7-shaped arrangement or a T-shaped arrangement of the sub-pixels. For example, to define a first re-arranged pixel having a 7-shaped sub-pixel arrangement, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a first string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 1 and P 2 along the direction D 1 , and combine the first sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along another direction D 2 and adjacent to one end of the first sub-pixel string. Also, to define a second re-arranged pixel with the 7-shaped sub-pixel arrangement, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a second string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 1 and P 3 along the direction D 2 , and combine the second sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along the direction D 1 and is adjacent to one end of the second sub-pixel string. Again, to define a third re-arranged pixel having the 7-shaped sub-pixel arrangement, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a third string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 2 and P 4 along the direction D 2 , and combine the third sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along the direction D 1 and is adjacent to one end of the third sub-pixel string. And, to define a fourth re-arranged pixel having the 7-shaped sub-pixel arrangement, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a fourth string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 3 and P 4 along the direction D 1 , and combine the fourth sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along the direction D 2 and is adjacent to one end of the fourth sub-pixel string.

In another example, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a first string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 1 and P 2 along the direction D 1 , and combine the first sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along another direction D 2 and adjacent to the middle sub-pixel of the first sub-pixel string to define a first re-arranged pixel having a T-shaped sub-pixel arrangement. Similarly, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a second string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 1 and P 3 along the direction D 2 , and combine the second sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along the direction D 1 and adjacent to the middle sub-pixel of the second sub-pixel string to define a second re-arranged pixel having the T-shaped sub-pixel arrangement. The pixel driving circuit 104 may also select a third string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 2 and P 4 along the direction D 2 , and combine the third sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along the direction D 1 and is adjacent to the middle sub-pixel of the third sub-pixel string to define a third re-arranged pixel having the T-shaped sub-pixel arrangement. And, the pixel driving circuit 104 may select a fourth string of sub-pixels from the pixels P 3 and P 4 along the direction D 1 , and combine the fourth sub-pixel string with a sub-pixel which is arranged along the direction D 2 and is adjacent to the middle sub-pixel of the fourth sub-pixel string to define a fourth re-arranged pixel having the T-shaped sub-pixel arrangement.

Understandably, the present disclosure is not limited to the above examples. In some embodiments, the correspondence between the pixels/sub-pixels in a sub-image and the image points can be adjusted and modified according to the relative positions of the image points of the image.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of the first sub-image SI 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The first sub-image SI 1 described herein is exemplified by one pixel block PB. As shown in FIG. 5 , the image point IP 1 is defined by the pixel P 1 , the image point IP 3 is defined by the pixel P 2 , the image point IP 7 is defined by the pixel P 3 , and the image point IP 9 is defined by the pixel P 4 . As mentioned earlier, the locations of the pixels P 1 -P 4 in the pixel block PB are corresponding to locations of the image points IP 1 , IP 3 , IP 7 and IP 9 in the image I.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a re-arranged pixel defined by 7-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6A , in the pixels P 1 and P 2 , the string of sub-pixels SP 1 -SP 2 and SP 5 extended along the direction D 1 is combined with the sub-pixel SP 7 , which is arranged along the direction D 2 and is adjacent to the sub-pixel SP 5 , to form a 7-shaped arrangement. Such arrangement is for first re-arranged pixel RP 1 (because such arrangement is located on the top side of the pixel block PB), and can be used to display the image point IP 2 . Based on the similar design strategy, the sub-pixels SP 3 , SP 4 , SP 9 and SP 11 can be used to form a second re-arranged pixel RP 2 with 7-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 4 (because such arrangement is located on the left side of the pixel block PB); the sub-pixels SP 6 , SP 8 , SP 13 and SP 14 can be used to form a third re-arranged pixel RP 3 with 7-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 6 (because such arrangement is located on the right side of the pixel block PB); and, the sub-pixels SP 10 , SP 12 , SP 15 and SP 16 can be used to form a fourth re-arranged pixel RP 4 with 7-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 8 (because such arrangement is located on the bottom side of the pixel block PB).

FIG. 6B illustrates another example of a re-arranged pixel defined by 7-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6B , in the pixels P 1 and P 2 , the string of sub-pixels SP 2 -SP 5 and SP 6 extended along the direction D 1 is combined with the sub-pixel SP 4 , which is arranged along the direction D 2 and is adjacent to the sub-pixel SP 2 , to form a 7-shaped arrangement. Such arrangement is for the first re-arranged pixel RP 1 ′ to display the image point IP 2 (because such arrangement is located on the top side of the pixel block PB). Based on the similar design strategy, the sub-pixels SP 1 , SP 3 , SP 9 and SP 10 can be used to form a second re-arranged pixel RP 2 ′ with 7-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 4 (because such arrangement is located on the left side of the pixel block PB); the sub-pixels SP 7 , SP 8 , SP 14 and SP 16 can be used to form a third re-arranged pixel RP 3 ′ with 7-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 6 (because such arrangement is located on the right side of the pixel block PB); and, the sub-pixels SP 11 , SP 12 , SP 13 and SP 15 can be used to form a fourth re-arranged pixel RP 4 ′ with 7-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 8 (because such arrangement is located on the bottom side of the pixel block PB).

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a re-arranged pixel defined by T-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7A , in the pixels P 1 and P 2 , the string of sub-pixels SP 1 -SP 2 and SP 5 extended along the direction D 1 is combined with the sub-pixel SP 4 , which is arranged along the direction D 2 and is adjacent to the middle sub-pixel (SP 2 ) of the sub-pixel string, to form a T-shaped arrangement. Such arrangement is for the first re-arranged pixel RP 1 ″ to display the image point IP 2 (because such arrangement is located on the top side of the pixel block PB). Based on the similar design strategy, the sub-pixels SP 3 , SP 9 , SP 10 and SP 11 can be used to form a second re-arranged pixel RP 2 ″ with T-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 4 (because such arrangement is located on the left side of the pixel block PB); the sub-pixels SP 6 , SP 7 , SP 8 and SP 14 can be used to form a third re-arranged pixel RP 3 ″ with T-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 6 (because such arrangement is located on the right side of the pixel block PB); and, the sub-pixels SP 12 , SP 13 , SP 15 and SP 16 can be used to form a fourth re-arranged pixel RP 4 ″ with T-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 8 (because such arrangement is located on the bottom side of the pixel block PB).

FIG. 7B illustrates another example of a re-arranged pixel defined by T-shaped arrangement of sub-pixels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7B , in the pixels P 1 and P 2 , the string of sub-pixels SP 2 SP 5 and SP 6 extended along the direction D 1 is combined with the sub-pixel SP 7 , which is arranged along the direction D 2 and is adjacent to the middle sub-pixel (SP 5 ) of the sub-pixel string, to form a T-shaped arrangement. Such arrangement is for the first re-arranged pixel RP 1 ′″ to display the image point IP 2 (because such arrangement is located on the top side of the pixel block PB). Based on the similar design strategy, the sub-pixels SP 1 , SP 3 , SP 4 and SP 9 can be used to form a second re-arranged pixel RP 2 ′″ with T-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 4 (because such arrangement is located on the left side of the pixel block PB); the sub-pixels SP 8 , SP 13 , SP 14 and SP 16 can be used to form a third re-arranged pixel RP 3 ′″ with T-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 6 (because such arrangement is located on the right side of the pixel block PB); and, the sub-pixels SP 10 , SP 11 , SP 12 and SP 15 can be used to form a fourth re-arranged pixel RP 4 ′″ with T-shaped arrangement to display the image point IP 8 (because such arrangement is located on the bottom side of the pixel block PB).

For some embodiments, there are two types of methods to present images I on the display panel 102 according to the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 . One is displaying these sub-images sequentially, and the other one is displaying these sub-images after combining them. FIGS. 8 to 11 are exemplary driving waveforms with in terms of time-division displaying according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 8 , an exemplary driving waveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In this example, the driver 108 sequentially displays the first sub-image SI 1 in a first time period t 1 and the second sub-image 512 in a second time period t 2 . The lengths of the first time period t 1 and the second time period t 2 are the same. Such driving mechanism can be regarded as a fixed frequency driving, wherein the driving frequency may be, for example, 120 Hz.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the driver 108 sequentially displays the first sub-image SI 1 in the first time period t 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 in the second time period t 2 , wherein the length of the first time period t 1 is larger than that of the second time period t 2 . Such driving mechanism can be regarded as a non-fixed frequency driving. In another embodiment, the length of the first time period t 1 may be smaller than that of the second time period t 2 .

In the abovementioned embodiments, sum of the lengths of the first and second time periods t 1 and t 2 are equal to the display time of the image I. In addition, the display frequency of the first sub-image SI 1 or the second sub-image SI 2 can be twice as long as the display frequency of the image I, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the driver 108 displays the first sub-image SI 1 for a first image (e.g., an image corresponding to the current frame) in the first time period and displays the second sub-image SI 2 for a second image (e.g., an image corresponding to the next frame) in the second time period t 2 , and so on. The lengths of the first and second time periods t 1 and t 2 are equal, and hence such driving mechanism can be regarded as a fixed frequency driving, for example with a driving frequency of 60 HZ. That is, the length of the first time period t 1 or the second time period t 2 is equal to the display time of an image I. Understandably, for a situation of less changing of the image content, even though the driving method of the embodiment of FIG. 10 is adopted, which does not show the second sub-image SI 2 of the first image and the first sub-image SI 1 of the second image, the whole image content still can be smoothly displayed due to the persistence of vision of the human eye.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary driving waveform according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the driver 108 may display the mixture of the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image 512 with the display frequency of the image I. The way of mixing these sub-images can be implemented by averaging the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 point to point. For example, the information of the mixed image can be obtained by averaging the sum of the sub-pixel SP 1 of the first sub-image SI 1 and the sub-pixel SP 1 of the second sub-image 512 . In another embodiment of the disclosure, the mixing method can be implemented with the weighted average of the sub-images according to the image content.

According to the embodiment of sequentially displaying the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image 512 , it could be understood that by rapidly switching the images, the content of the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 can be mixed due to the persistence of vision on the human eyes, such that the human eye may get the image information. Besides, the way of driving the images can be determined by the image content and switched between the above embodiments. In addition, the whole image can be divided into several areas according to the image content, wherein the areas can be displayed with different driving methods. The disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a pixel driving method of an embodiment according to FIG. 3 . Referring to FIG. 12 , after step S 302 , the image processor 106 may smoothen the image I, as shown in step S 1204 . For example, the image I may be smoothed by Gaussian kernel or by sampling each pixel of the image I with different weighted values to increase the smoothing effect. This step may distribute the information of the central pixel (e.g., IP 5 shown in FIG. 4 ) of the image I to the adjacent pixels so that the flicker issue can be decreased when displaying the following images. Besides, the image processor 106 may resize the image I before making the pixel arrangement so that the size of resized image can be closer to that of the display panel, thereby avoiding image distortions or image deformation. Furthermore, after step S 304 , the image processor 106 may sharpen the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 , as shown in the step S 1208 . This step may improve the details of the display images.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a pixel driving method of another embodiment according to FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 13 , after step S 300 , the image processor 106 may calculate the image dynamic characteristics of the received image I and obtain an image dynamic parameter accordingly, as shown in step S 1304 . Then, in step S 1306 , the image processor 106 may determine whether the image dynamic parameter is larger than a threshold or not. If the image dynamic parameter is larger than the threshold, the procedure may proceed to step S 1308 , at which the image processor 106 may down-sample the received image I and then go to step 1310 to display the down-sampled image I on the display panel 102 . For example, suppose that the received image I is a rapidly dynamic video. The image processor 106 may determine whether the image dynamic parameter of the image I is larger than a threshold or not. If so, the image processor 106 may down-sample the received image I to transfer it into an image with lower-resolution that compliances with the display panel 102 . Hence, during the playback of a rapidly dynamic video, non-smooth playback issue can be avoided. On the other hand, if the image dynamic parameter is smaller than the threshold, the procedure may proceed to step S 304 shown in FIG. 3 , at which the image processor 106 may generate the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 according to the image I. Then, in step S 306 , the display panel 102 may display the image I according to the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 .

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a pixel driving method of another embodiment according to FIG. 3 . Referring to FIG. 14 , after step S 302 , the image processor 106 may calculate characteristics of the image content of the received image I, as shown in the step S 1404 . Then, at step S 1406 , the image processor 106 determines whether the image content contains amount of details according to the calculated characteristics of the image content. If yes, the procedure may skip step S 1204 , and does not perform smoothing operation on the image I. If not, the procedure may proceed to step S 1204 to smoothen the image I. The purpose of the step is that when the image content contains a number of details or texts, an image smoothing operation may cause the lost of the image details of the image I, such that the display quality is decreased. Then, after step S 304 , the image processor 106 may determine whether the image sharpness level is larger than a threshold or not at step S 1408 . If not, the procedure may skip step S 1208 . If yes, then the procedure may proceeds to step S 1208 to sharpen the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 . The purpose of this step is that when an image is smooth, it would not need to sharpen this image because such sharpness operation may convert the smooth image into a high contrast image and hence produce incorrect boundary lines on it. Finally, at step S 306 , the display panel 102 may display the image according to the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 , that is, the display panel 102 may display at least one of the first sub-image SI 1 and the second sub-image SI 2 with a plurality of pixel blocks PB.

As described above, the pixel driving method of the present disclosure may display image content with higher resolution on a display panel with lower resolution without changing the pin design of the driving circuits. The present disclosure also provides a plurality of ways of pixel arrangements and driving waveforms. Such pixel arrangements and/or driving waveforms can be arranged according to the image content to achieve better display performance.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.