Patents by Inventor Hidehiko Shoji

Hidehiko Shoji has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20120293508
    Abstract: In a plasma display apparatus capable of displaying an image for stereoscopic view, the image display quality is enhanced. For this purpose, the plasma display apparatus includes a driver circuit and a timing generation circuit. The driver circuit drives the plasma display panel in a manner such that a field for the right eye and a field for the left eye are alternately repeated, each field is formed of an all-cell initializing subfield and a selective initializing subfield, and the top subfield of each field is the all-cell initializing subfield. The timing generation circuit generates shutter opening/closing timing signals. The timing generation circuit generates the shutter opening/closing timing signals such that both timing signal for opening/closing the right eye shutter and timing signal for opening/closing the left eye shutter are set to OFF in the all-cell initializing period of the fields for the right eye and for the left eye.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2010
    Publication date: November 22, 2012
    Inventors: Yuya Shiozaki, Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji, Mitsuhiro Ishizuka, Shigeo Kigo
  • Publication number: 20120287105
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of driving a plasma display apparatus, which allows a high-luminance large-sized panel to have stable address discharge, with increase in power consumption suppressed. In the method, one field is divided into a plurality of subfields, each of which having an address period and a sustain period. A ramp voltage is applied to the scan electrodes in the end of the sustain period. The ramp voltage increases from a base potential toward a predetermined voltage, after reaching the predetermined voltage, the ramp voltage is maintained at the voltage for a predetermined period of time and decreases to the base potential. Besides, when the number of the sustain pulses is not greater than a predetermined threshold in a subfield, the predetermined period of time of an immediately after subfield is determined to be longer than the predetermined period of time of other subfields.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Kanai, Hidehiko Shoji, Naoyuki Tomioka, Takahiko Origuchi
  • Publication number: 20120280963
    Abstract: The present invention allows a plasma display apparatus having a high-luminance panel to decrease initializing bright points that easily occur just after power-on of the apparatus, enhancing the quality of display image. The panel has discharge cells, each of which including a data electrode, and a display electrode pair formed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. In the driving method of the panel, one field period is formed of subfields, each of which including an initializing period for generating initializing discharge in the discharge cells, an address period for applying scan pulses to the scan electrodes and applying address pulses to the data electrodes, and a sustain period for applying sustain pulses to the data electrode pairs. In the structure above, a predetermined period after power-off of the apparatus has no generation of the address pulses, the scan pulses, and the sustain pulses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Keiji Akamatsu, Yuichi Sakai, Minoru Takeda, Hidehiko Shoji, Naoyuki Tomioka
  • Publication number: 20120281029
    Abstract: The plasma display apparatus suppresses addressing failure, enhancing stability of address discharge, and therefore, enhancing quality of display image on the panel. The present invention attains above through the followings: preparing display combination sets each of which having difference in number of combinations; determining whether or not magnitude of image signals, except for a predetermined color image signal, is greater than a threshold; and according to the determination above, selecting a set for the predetermined color image signal from the display combination sets. A display combination set used for the predetermined color image signal when the image signals except for the predetermined color image signal have magnitude not less than the threshold is smaller in number of combinations than that used for the predetermined color image signal when the image signals except for the predetermined color image signal have magnitude smaller than the threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hirofumi Honda, Hidehiko Shoji, Naoyuki Tomioka, Kazuhiro Kanai
  • Publication number: 20120280954
    Abstract: Stable address discharge is caused even in a plasma display panel where the definition is enhanced and the screen is enlarged. For this purpose, in a driving method of a plasma display panel, the image display region of the panel is divided into a plurality of partial display regions each of which includes a plurality of consecutively arranged scan electrodes. In each partial display region, a sequential address operation of sequentially applying scan pulses to the scan electrodes based on the arranging sequence of the scan electrodes on the panel is performed in the address period. To the scan electrode to which a scan pulse is to be firstly applied in the address period, a scan pulse of which the pulse width is set longer than that of the scan pulse to be applied to the other scan electrodes is applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Naoyuki Tomioka, Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji
  • Patent number: 8294635
    Abstract: A stable address discharge is generated and number of unlit cells is decreased without heightening the voltage necessary for generating an address discharge. For this purpose, the device includes a plasma display panel and a driving circuit for driving the plasma display panel, in which the driving circuit drives the plasma display panel having a sub-field group formed of two or more continuous sub-fields for controlling addressing provided in one field period, so as not to generate sustain discharge in the discharge cell not causing sustain discharge and also in the subsequent sub-fields, the discharge cell is initialized by applying a ramp waveform voltage descending gently to the scan electrode, the lowest voltage of the ramp waveform voltage of the sub-field included in the sub-field group is made different from the lowest voltage of the ramp waveform voltage of the sub-field not included in the sub-field group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji
  • Patent number: 8294636
    Abstract: A scan electrode driving circuit applies a rising ramp waveform voltage to scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) to generate a first setup discharge in a first period within a setup period, applies a dropping ramp waveform voltage to the scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) to generate a second setup discharge in a second period following the first period within the setup period, and applies a positive rectangular waveform voltage (Va) and a negative rectangular waveform voltage (Va) to the scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) in a third period following the second period within the setup period. A data electrode driving circuit applies a positive rectangular waveform voltage (Vd) to data electrodes (D1 to Dm) in a period after application of the positive rectangular waveform voltage (Vs) to the scan electrodes (SCN to SCNn) and before application of the negative rectangular waveform voltage (Va) to the scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) in the third period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Maeda, Hidehiko Shoji
  • Publication number: 20120200616
    Abstract: Crosstalk between right-eye images and left-eye images is suppressed, and high-quality 3D images are displayed. For this purpose, a driving method of a plasma display apparatus is provided. The plasma display apparatus has a plasma display panel and a driver circuit for driving the panel. In this driving method, right-eye images and left-eye images are alternately displayed on the panel by alternately repeating right-eye fields, each of which has a plurality of subfields and displays a right-eye image signal, and left-eye fields, each of which has a plurality of subfields and displays a left-eye image signal. Each subfield has an address period for performing an address operation and a sustain period for performing a sustain operation. In a discharge cell where gradation of a predetermined threshold or higher is displayed, the address operation is prohibited in the subfield disposed last in the field.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Yuya Shiozaki, Shigeo Kigo, Hidehiko Shoji, Mitsuhiro Ishizuka
  • Publication number: 20120200564
    Abstract: A high-quality stereoscopic image is displayed by suppressing crosstalk between an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye and stabilizing an address discharge. For this purpose, in the method for driving the plasma display apparatus, an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye are alternately displayed on the plasma display panel by alternately repeating a field for the right eye and a field for the left eye. In each of the field for the right eye and the field for the left eye, the subfield having the smallest luminance weight is placed first, the subfield having the largest luminance weight is placed next, and the other subfields are placed thereafter so as to have luminance weights sequentially decreasing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Yuya Shiozaki, Shigeo Kigo, Hidehiko Shoji, Mitsuhiro Ishizuka
  • Patent number: 8228265
    Abstract: A first ramp waveform rising from a first potential (Vi1) to a second potential (Vi2) is applied to a plurality of scan electrodes (SC) in a first half period of a setup period, and a third ramp waveform rising from a fifth potential (a ground potential) to a sixth potential (Vi5, Vi5?) is applied to a plurality of sustain electrodes (SU) in a period, which is shorter than the first half period, within the first half period. A second ramp waveform dropping from a third potential (Vi3) to a fourth potential (Vi4) is applied to the plurality of scan electrodes (SC) in the second half period following the first half period, and a fourth ramp waveform dropping from a seventh potential (Ve) to an eighth potential (Vi6, Vi6?) is applied to the plurality of sustain electrodes (SU) in a period, which is shorter than the second half period, within the second half period. Then, a peak value of the third ramp waveform and a peak value of the fourth ramp waveform are changed based on a state of a plasma display panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji
  • Patent number: 8199072
    Abstract: A scan electrode driving circuit applies a rising ramp waveform voltage to scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) to generate a first setup discharge in a first period within a setup period, applies a dropping ramp waveform voltage to the scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) to generate a second setup discharge in a second period following the first period within the setup period, and applies a first positive rectangular waveform voltage (Vs), a negative rectangular waveform voltage (Va), a second positive rectangular waveform voltage (Vs) and a dropping ramp waveform voltage to the scan electrodes (SCN1 to SCNn) in a third period following the second period within the setup period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Maeda, Hidehiko Shoji
  • Publication number: 20120113165
    Abstract: A stable address discharge is caused by preventing an increase in the scan pulse voltage (amplitude) necessary for causing a stable address discharge, and thereby achieves high image display quality. For this purpose, the following operations are performed. The image display area of a plasma display panel is divided into a plurality of regions. In each region, the rate of the number of discharge cells to be lit with respect to the number of all discharge cells in each region is detected, as a partial light-emitting rate of each region, and the partial light-emitting rate is detected in each subfield. The region having the maximum partial light-emitting rate is detected and set as a first region. The regions adjacent to the first region are set as second regions, and a predetermined offset value is added to the partial light-emitting rates of the second regions so as to provide corrected partial light-emitting rates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2010
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji, Naoyuki Tomioka
  • Publication number: 20120105516
    Abstract: An image display region is divided into a plurality of partial display regions, the scan electrodes included in each partial display region are classified into two scan electrode groups: a scan electrode group formed of the odd-numbered scan electrodes; and a scan electrode group formed of the even-numbered scan electrodes. Scan pulses are sequentially applied to one scan electrode group, and then scan pulses are sequentially applied to the other scan electrode group. The pulse width of the scan pulses applied to the first through predetermined-number-th scan electrodes belonging to the one scan electrode group is set to be longer than the pulse width of the scan pulses applied to the remaining scan electrodes belonging to the one scan electrode group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2010
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hidehiko Shoji, Takahiko Origuchi, Naoyuki Tomioka, Takateru Sawada
  • Publication number: 20120092394
    Abstract: A stable address discharge is caused by preventing an increase in the necessary scan pulse voltage (amplitude), and thereby achieves high image display quality. For this purpose, the image display area of a plasma display panel is divided into a plurality of regions, and a partial light-emitting rate is detected in each region. The partial light-emitting rate in a current subfield is set as a first partial light-emitting rate. The partial light-emitting rate used for magnitude comparison between the partial light-emitting rates in a subfield identical with the current subfield in a field immediately preceding the field to which the current subfield belongs to is set as a second partial light-emitting rate. The absolute value of the difference between the first partial light-emitting rate and the second partial light-emitting rate is calculated in each region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2010
    Publication date: April 19, 2012
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hidehiko Shoji, Takahiko Origuchi, Naoyuki Tomioka
  • Patent number: 8154542
    Abstract: In a plasma-display-panel driving method, a field period is divided into a plurality of sub fields, each of which has an address period for allowing discharge cells to selectively generate an address discharge and a sustain period for allowing the discharge cells having generated the address discharge to generate a sustain discharge by a number of times corresponding to a brightness weight. In the sustain period, a period for setting display electrode pairs to the base potential is disposed between the sustain pulse for causing the final sustain discharge in the sustain period and the previous sustain pulse. In a time interval corresponding to the lighting ratio of the discharge cells in the sub field after applying to the display electrode pairs a voltage for generating the final sustain discharge, a voltage for reducing the potential difference between electrodes of the display electrode pairs is applied to the display electrode pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hidehiko Shoji, Takahiko Origuchi, Mitsuo Ueda
  • Patent number: 8098217
    Abstract: Any of first and second sub-field configurations is selected. In the first sub-field configuration, a width of a write pulse of a sub-field with a lowest display luminance is not more than widths of write pulses of the other sub-fields. In the second sub-field configuration, the width of the write pulse of the sub-field with the lowest display luminance is larger than the widths of the write pulses of the other sub-fields. When the first sub-field configuration is selected, a voltage applied to a sustain electrode in a write period of the sub-field with the lowest display luminance is set higher than a voltage applied to the sustain electrode in write periods of the other sub-fields. When the second sub-field configuration is selected, the voltage applied to the sustain electrode in the write period of the sub-field with the lowest display luminance is set to be the same as the voltage applied to the sustain electrode in the write period of any of the other sub-fields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hidehiko Shoji, Takahiko Origuchi
  • Publication number: 20120001882
    Abstract: In a two-phase driving operation that is performed in at least a sub-field having a largest luminance weight, a first ramp waveform that drops from a first potential to a second potential is applied to a plurality of first scan electrodes, a second ramp waveform that drops from a third potential that is higher than the first potential to a fourth potential that is higher than the second potential is applied to a plurality of second scan electrodes in a setup period, and a scan pulse is sequentially applied to the plurality of first scan electrodes, and then a scan pulse is sequentially applied to the plurality of second scan electrodes in a write period. The two-phase driving operation is employed to prevent a discharge failure during a write discharge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2008
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji, Hideki Nakata
  • Patent number: 8081144
    Abstract: A plasma display panel is driven by providing a plurality of subfields within one field period, the subfield having an initializing period in which the initializing discharge is generated in a discharge cell by applying a ramp-waveform voltage that is gradually descending to a scan electrode, an address period in which an address discharge is generated in the discharge cell by applying a scan pulse voltage to the scan electrode, and a sustain period in which sustain discharges by the number of times corresponding to the luminance weight are generated in the selected discharge cell. The lowest voltage is set of the descending ramp-waveform voltage in the subfield where the luminance weight is the smallest lower than the same voltage in the subfield where the luminance weight is the largest, and a voltage is kept for a prescribed period after the descending ramp-waveform voltage reaches the lowest voltage in the subfield where the luminance weight is the smallest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji, Mitsuo Ueda
  • Patent number: 8068069
    Abstract: Plural subfields are provided in one single field period, where each subfield has an initialization period during which a gradient waveform voltage gently falling is applied to a scan electrode to generate initializing discharge in a discharge cell; a writing period during which a scan pulse voltage is applied to a scan electrode to generate writing discharge in a discharge cell; and a sustain period during which sustain discharge is generated in a discharge cell selected, by the number of times corresponding to a luminance weight. The lowest voltage of a falling gradient waveform voltage in a subfield with the smallest luminance weight is set so as to be lower than that with the largest luminance weight. A method of driving a plasma display panel is provided that generates stable writing discharge without increasing voltage required for generating writing discharge even for a large-screen, high-luminance panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji, Mitsuo Ueda
  • Publication number: 20110157138
    Abstract: A scan electrode driving circuit performs an address operation by applying a scan pulse to scan electrodes in address periods. The partial light-emitting rate detecting circuit divides the plasma display panel display area into a plurality of regions, and detects a rate of the number of discharge cells to be lit with respect to the number of all the discharge cells in each region, as a partial light-emitting rate, in each subfield. The scan electrode driving circuit performs a first initializing operation in the initializing periods, and a second initializing operation in the address periods. The scan electrode driving circuit performs the address operation on the region having the highest partial light-emitting rate detected in the partial light-emitting rate detecting circuit, immediately after the first initializing operation, and on the region having the second highest partial light-emitting rate immediately after the second initializing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2009
    Publication date: June 30, 2011
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Origuchi, Hidehiko Shoji, Tomoyuki Saito