Abstract: An LCD device includes self-compensated ITO patterns. Each pixel area of the LCD device comprises at least two sub-pixel areas and each sub-pixel area is formed with an electrode pattern different from other sub-pixel areas. The at least two sub-pixel areas each have at least two solid electrodes. The two solid electrodes in one sub-pixel area are corresponding to the two solid electrodes in the other sub-pixel area and designed with complimentary dimensions. If the solid electrode in one sub-pixel area has at least one larger size in a longitudinal direction than in a lateral direction, the corresponding solid electrode in the other sub-pixel area has at least one smaller size in the longitudinal direction than in the lateral direction.

Abstract: An apparatus for driving LEDs using high voltage includes two LED driving circuits and two switches controlled by a universal controller so as to connect the two LED driving circuits in two different configurations. Each LED driving circuit has an LED unit formed by a plurality of LED segments. Each LED segment has an associated bypass switch controlled by an LED controller to bypass or connect the LED segment in the LED unit. When an input voltage ranges from rectified 90 volt AC to rectified 140 volt AC, the two switches are controlled to connect the two LED driving circuits in parallel. When the input voltage ranges from rectified 180 volt AC to rectified 265 volt AC, the two switches are controlled to connect the LED segments of the LED unit in one LED driving circuit in series with the other LED driving circuit.

Abstract: An LED driving circuit comprises an LED unit having a plurality of LEDs connected in series, coupled with a voltage charging and discharging unit and powered by a rectified AC voltage of an AC input voltage. A controllable current limiting unit or a current limiting unit in association with a switch connects the LED unit to ground. The voltage charging and discharging unit has first and second diodes connected to the LED unit, and a storage capacitor to form a charging path through the first diode and a discharging path through the second diode in order to provide a steady state capacitor voltage for reducing the number of LEDs connected in series in the LED unit.

Abstract: An apparatus for driving LEDs using high voltage includes two LED driving circuits and two switches that can be turned on or off by a universal controller so as to connect the two LED driving circuits in two different configurations. When the input voltage is in a range from rectified 90 volt AC to rectified 140 volt AC, the two switches are controlled in such a way that the two LED driving circuits are connected in parallel. When the input voltage VIN is in a range from rectified 180 volt AC to rectified 265 volt AC, the two switches are controlled to connect the LED segments of the LED unit in one LED driving circuit in series with the other LED driving circuit.

Abstract: An LED-based lighting apparatus comprises a rectified AC voltage source having a rectified output connected to a storage capacitor through a switching device, a plurality of LED segments controlled by a linear driving circuit and at least one charging path connected between the LED segments and the storage capacitor. One or more controllable linear LED driving units may be connected in parallel with the storage capacitor to provide balance between reducing flicker and increasing power factor of the lighting apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises red, green and blue LED strings each having a corresponding switching circuit. Each LED string is divided into a plurality of LED segments. The three LED strings are connected in parallel or in series. Each LED string may be connected in series with a respective current source or share a common current source. A controller controls each switching circuit so that the number of LED segments connected in series in the red, green or blue LED string can be respectively controlled according to a color setting signal and the voltage level of an input voltage. A first control method is provided for controlling the apparatus having a constant input voltage and a second control method is provided for controlling the apparatus having a periodically time-varying input voltage.

Abstract: An LED-based lighting apparatus comprises a rectified AC voltage source having a rectified output connected to a storage capacitor through a switching device, a plurality of LED segments controlled by a linear driving circuit and at least one charging path connected between the LED segments and the storage capacitor. One or more controllable linear LED driving units may be connected in parallel with the storage capacitor to provide balance between reducing flicker and increasing power factor of the lighting apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus for driving LEDs using high voltage includes a plurality of LEDs divided into a plurality of LED segments connected in series with a switching voltage detector and a current limiting device. Each of the plurality of LED segments is connected in parallel with a switching device. A high input voltage supplies power to the apparatus. The switching voltage detector generates a first mode change signal when the input voltage increases and a second mode change signal when the input voltage decreases. A switch controller receives the two mode change signals and generates a plurality of switching control signals to respectively control the switching devices of the plurality of LED segments.

Abstract: A lateral electric field type liquid crystal display (LCD) device comprises a first substrate formed with a plurality of first electrodes and at least one second electrode, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates. Each first electrode comprises an array of electrode segments and every adjacent first and second electrodes have a minimum spacing smaller than a maximum spacing in between. Each second electrode is a strip electrode or also comprises an array of electrode segments. Each electrode segment is a V-shape electrode rotated with an angle or an electrode segment having at least an extruded portion and at least an intruded portion. The array of electrode segments may be a sinusoidal electrode. The first and second electrodes are oriented in parallel with or at a specific angle with respect to the data line of the lateral electric field type LCD device.

Abstract: An apparatus for driving LEDs using high voltage includes a plurality of LEDs divided into a plurality of LED segments connected in series with a switching voltage detector and a current limiting device. Each of the plurality of LED segments is connected in parallel with a switching device. A high input voltage supplies power to the apparatus. The switching voltage detector generates a first mode change signal when the input voltage increases and a second mode change signal when the input voltage decreases. A switch controller receives the two mode change signals and generates a plurality of switching control signals to respectively control the switching devices of the plurality of LED segments.

Abstract: An LED-based lighting apparatus includes a plurality of LED-based lighting segments connected in series with a current control device. Each lighting segment has at least one LED-based lighting unit connected in series. A plurality of switch controllers controlled by a switching voltage comparator unit is connected with the plurality of LED-based lighting segments to provide multiple operation modes for turning on different number of LED-based lighting segments. In one embodiment, each switch controller is connected in parallel with a corresponding segment. The switching voltage comparator unit generates a propagation signal that propagates through and controls the plurality of switch controllers. In the other embodiment, each switch controller is connected between a positive end of the corresponding segment and a current control device. The switching voltage comparator unit generates two propagation signals that propagate through and control the plurality of switch controllers.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display (LCD) device comprises a first substrate formed with a first electrode, a second substrate formed with a second electrode and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates. The LCD device includes at least one pixel area having at least one display unit. In the display unit, the first or second electrode is formed with a plurality of elongated apertures arranged in parallel and positioned outwardly one by one from the center of the display unit along at least four different directions. The plurality of elongated apertures forms solid or dotted edges around the circumference of the first or second electrode. The solid or dotted edges of the first electrode may be aligned with or extend outwardly more or less than the solid or dotted edges of the second electrode from the center of the display unit.

Abstract: An LED-based lighting apparatus is powered by multi-phase AC voltages to reduce flicker. A multi-phase AC-to-AC power generator is used to generate a plurality of AC voltages from an AC power source. The plurality of AC voltages each having a different phase are rectified by a plurality of rectifiers to provide a plurality of rectified AC voltages for a plurality of LED lighting units. Each LED lighting unit has voltage dependent brightness and reaches maximum brightness at different time due to the phase difference in the rectified AC voltage. The peak-to-peak variation in the total brightness is reduced and therefore the LED-based lighting apparatus has low flicker.

Abstract: An apparatus for driving LEDs using high voltage includes a plurality of LEDs divided into a plurality of LED segments connected in series and a plurality of three-terminal voltage controlled current limiting devices. Each of the current limiting devices is associated with one of the LED segments and has a first terminal connected to a negative end of the associated LED segment, a second terminal applied with a bias voltage and a third terminal connected to a common node. A current source is connected between the common node and ground. A power-loss reduction circuit having a plurality of LEDs controlled by an LED controlling circuit may further be inserted between the common node and the current source to reduce the power loss in the current source because of the high voltage at the common node.

Abstract: An apparatus for driving LEDs using high voltage includes a plurality of LEDs divided into a plurality of LED segments connected in series and a plurality of three-terminal voltage controlled current limiting devices. Each of the current limiting devices is associated with one of the LED segments and has a first terminal connected to a negative end of the associated LED segment, a second terminal applied with a bias voltage and a third terminal connected to a common node. A current source is connected between the common node and ground. A power-loss reduction circuit having a plurality of LEDs controlled by an LED controlling circuit may further be inserted between the common node and the current source to reduce the power loss in the current source because of the high voltage at the common node.

Abstract: A plurality of LED-based lighting units is segmented into a plurality of LED-based lighting segments connected in series. Each lighting segment has a plurality of LED-based lighting units connected in series with at least a series-connection switch, and a bypass-connection switch is connected in parallel with the series of LED-based lighting units. The total number of LED-based lighting units can be determined by a maximum voltage level of an input voltage supply and the forward voltage of the LED-based lighting unit for achieving optimal efficiency. The number of lighting segments and the number of lighting units in each lighting segment are properly chosen based on the total number of the LED-based lighting units in such away that any number up to the total number of all the LED-based lighting units can be connected in series by respectively controlling the series-connection switch and the bypass-connection switch of each LED-based lighting segment.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises red, green and blue LED strings each having a corresponding switching circuit. Each LED string is divided into a plurality of LED segments. The three LED strings are connected in parallel or in series. Each LED string may be connected in series with a respective current source or share a common current source. A controller controls each switching circuit so that the number of LED segments connected in series in the red, green or blue LED string can be respectively controlled according to a color setting signal and the voltage level of an input voltage. A first control method is provided for controlling the apparatus having a constant input voltage and a second control method is provided for controlling the apparatus having a periodically time-varying input voltage.

Abstract: A lateral electric field type liquid crystal display (LCD) device comprises a first substrate formed with a plurality of first electrodes and at least one second electrode, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates. Each first electrode comprises an array of electrode segments and every adjacent first and second electrodes have a minimum spacing smaller than a maximum spacing in between. Each second electrode is a strip electrode or also comprises an array of electrode segments. Each electrode segment is a V-shape electrode rotated with an angle or an electrode segment having at least an extruded portion and at least an intruded portion. The array of electrode segments may be a sinusoidal electrode. The first and second electrodes are oriented in parallel with or at a specific angle with respect to the data line of the lateral electric field type LCD device.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display (LCD) device comprises a first substrate formed with a first electrode, a second substrate formed with a second electrode and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates. The LCD device includes at least one pixel area having at least one display unit. In the display unit, the first or second electrode is formed with a plurality of elongated apertures arranged in parallel and positioned outwardly one by one from the center of the display unit along at least four different directions. The plurality of elongated apertures forms solid or dotted edges around the circumference of the first or second electrode. The solid or dotted edges of the first electrode may be aligned with or extend outwardly more or less than the solid or dotted edges of the second electrode from the center of the display unit.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises a plurality of controllable LED strings interposed with a plurality of switching units with each switching unit being connected between a leading controllable LED string and a trailing controllable LED string. A controller controls the switching units so that controllable LED strings are connected in a combination of series and parallel connections by connecting two adjacent leading and trailing controllable LED strings in series or parallel or by-passing the leading controllable LED string based on an automatically detected input voltage range. Each controllable LED string includes a plurality of LEDs connected in series between positive and negative ends of the controllable LED string and a plurality of controlling switches each corresponding to an LED. The number of LEDs connected in series in each controllable LED string is further adjusted by the controller as the input voltage varies with time.