Patents by Inventor Kentaroh Irie

Kentaroh Irie 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).

  • Patent number: 11270659
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display apparatus includes: a liquid crystal display panel having a first substrate, a second substrate, and a vertical alignment type liquid crystal layer; and a control circuit configured to generate a display signal voltage. The first substrate has pixel electrodes to which the display signal voltage is applied, and a first alignment film. The second substrate has a counter electrode to which a common voltage is applied, and a second alignment film. Each pixel has liquid crystal domains having different reference alignment directions defined by the first and second alignment films. The pixel electrode has slits. The control circuit is configured to generate, as the display signal voltage, a voltage obtained by adding a predetermined offset voltage to an original voltage corresponding to a gray level. The offset voltage is substantially the same for gray levels higher than or equal to a predetermined intermediate gray level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignees: SAKAI DISPLAY PRODUCTS CORPORATION, SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Ichiro Takada, Kentaroh Irie, Mitsuaki Hirata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh
  • Publication number: 20200294460
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display apparatus includes: a liquid crystal display panel having a first substrate, a second substrate, and a vertical alignment type liquid crystal layer; and a control circuit configured to generate a display signal voltage. The first substrate has pixel electrodes to which the display signal voltage is applied, and a first alignment film. The second substrate has a counter electrode to which a common voltage is applied, and a second alignment film. Each pixel has liquid crystal domains having different reference alignment directions defined by the first and second alignment films. The pixel electrode has slits. The control circuit is configured to generate, as the display signal voltage, a voltage obtained by adding a predetermined offset voltage to an original voltage corresponding to a gray level. The offset voltage is substantially the same for gray levels higher than or equal to a predetermined intermediate gray level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Publication date: September 17, 2020
    Inventors: ICHIRO TAKADA, KENTAROH IRIE, MITSUAKI HIRATA, FUMIKAZU SHIMOSHIKIRYOH
  • Publication number: 20170061912
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, each pixel includes first and second subpixels. CS bus lines connected to the respective storage capacitors of the first and second subpixels are electrically independent of each other. A CS voltage has a waveform that inverts its polarity at least once a frame, which includes a first subframe for sequentially scanning a series of odd rows and a second SF for sequentially scanning even rows that have been skipped during the first SF. A source signal voltage varies so as to have two frames or subframes with mutually opposite polarities. A CS voltage has a waveform that has quite opposite consequences on the effective voltage of a subpixel of a pixel connected to the jth scan line to be selected during the first subframe and on that of another subpixel of a pixel connected to the (j+1)th scan line to be selected during the second subframe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masae KITAYAMA, Fumikazu SHIMOSHIKIRYOH, Kentaroh IRIE, Toshihide TSUBATA, Naoshi YAMADA, Hidetoshi NAKAGAWA
  • Patent number: 9318041
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels grouped into four types of type 1, type 2, type 3, and type 4; a panel driver circuit connected to the liquid crystal panel to drive the liquid crystal panel; and a display control circuit connected to the panel driver circuit, wherein said display control circuit divides each refresh cycle of the image signal into consecutive first to fourth terms and causes the panel driver circuit to drive the liquid crystal panel to perform a halftone display by changing pixel luminance during each refresh cycle composed of the first to fourth terms, and wherein said display control circuit provides timing signals and gradation data to the panel driver circuit so that, for a given halftone to be displayed in a refresh cycle, pixels belonging to respective types in the liquid crystal panel are driven such that the halftone is generated as averaged over the first to fourth terms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masae Kawabata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie
  • Patent number: 9236004
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device adopting a time-division scheme to improve viewing angle characteristics, the occurrence of horizontal lines on a screen is suppressed. When first output gray scales are obtained for one-line data, the sum total of differences between “source voltages for a horizontal scanning period immediately before a horizontal scanning period during which a processing target line is placed in a selected state” and “source voltages determined based on the first output gray scales obtained by a gray scale value obtaining unit” for all source bus lines is determined (step S110). Then, based on the amount of CS ripple corresponding to the sum total determined at step S110, correction addition/subtraction values are obtained from a polarity-by-polarity background look-up table, for the respective picture elements included in the processing target line (step S120).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroaki Nakasu, Kentaroh Irie, Masae Kawabata
  • Patent number: 9218791
    Abstract: The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that appropriately compensates for a feed-through voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kentaroh Irie, Masae Kawabata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh
  • Patent number: 9214122
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device which carries out a single tone display with a change in pixel luminance during a single cycle composed of first to mth frame periods (m is an integer of 4 or more), includes: pixels of a first type in which when a halftone is displayed, supply of two or more kinds of data voltage during at least either the first to nth frame periods (n is an integer of 2 or more to m or less) or the (n+1)th to mth frame periods causes liquid crystal layers to produce rise responses during the first to nth frame periods and produce decay responses during the (n+1)th to mth frame periods; and pixels of a second type in which when a halftone is displayed, supply of two or more kinds of data voltage during at least either the first to nth frame periods or the (n+1)th to mth frame periods causes liquid crystal layers to produce decay responses during the first to nth frame periods and produce rise responses during the (n+1)th to mth frame periods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masae Kawabata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie
  • Patent number: 9196206
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, each pixel includes first and second subpixels. CS bus lines connected to the respective storage capacitors of the first and second subpixels are electrically independent of each other. A CS voltage has a waveform that inverts its polarity at least once a frame, which includes a first subframe for sequentially scanning a series of odd rows and a second SF for sequentially scanning even rows that have been skipped during the first SF. A source signal voltage varies so as to have two frames or subframes with mutually opposite polarities. A CS voltage has a waveform that has quite opposite consequences on the effective voltage of a subpixel of a pixel connected to the jth scan line to be selected during the first subframe and on that of another subpixel of a pixel connected to the (j+1)th scan line to be selected during the second subframe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masae Kitayama, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie, Toshihide Tsubata, Naoshi Yamada, Hidetoshi Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 9165517
    Abstract: In at least one embodiment a ripple, generated in an electric potential of data signal lines even in long-term reversal driving, is reduced and display quality is improved. In at least one example embodiment, the liquid crystal display apparatus of the present invention includes scanning signal lines and data signal lines, in which one scanning pulse is outputted to select one scanning signal line, each of the data signal lines receives data signals whose polarities are reversed per one vertical scanning period while in one horizontal scanning period, one of two data signal lines receives a data signal having a polarity and the other of the two data signal lines receives another data signal having another polarity, the two data signal lines being arranged adjacent to each other, scanning pulses are successively outputted in sets of two, and at a timing in which two scanning pulses fall, two scanning pulses rise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masae Kitayama, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie
  • Publication number: 20150170613
    Abstract: The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that appropriately compensates for a feed-through voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2015
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kentaroh IRIE, Masae KAWABATA, Fumikazu SHIMOSHIKIRYOH
  • Publication number: 20150145972
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid crystal display device with which it is possible to suppress degradation of image quality during video display or three-dimensional display without causing gradational luminance irregularities. Writing of an image to be displayed is sequentially performed from one side of a panel to the other side thereof during each frame period, and writing of a black image is sequentially performed from the one side of the panel to the other side thereof during the vertical blanking period in each frame period. A plurality of LEDs composing a backlight are divided into a plurality of segments so that a group of LEDs arrayed in a line in the direction in which scanning signal lines extend belong to the same segment. A segment lighting control circuit in a backlight control circuit controls emission intensities of the LEDs segment by segment so that the intensity of light irradiating the panel increases gradually from the one side of the panel to the other side thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2013
    Publication date: May 28, 2015
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kentaroh Irie, Masae Kawabata, Shinji Matsumoto
  • Publication number: 20150130694
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels grouped into four types of type 1, type 2, type 3, and type 4; a panel driver circuit connected to the liquid crystal panel to drive the liquid crystal panel; and a display control circuit connected to the panel driver circuit, wherein said display control circuit divides each refresh cycle of the image signal into consecutive first to fourth terms and causes the panel driver circuit to drive the liquid crystal panel to perform a halftone display by changing pixel luminance during each refresh cycle composed of the first to fourth terms, and wherein said display control circuit provides timing signals and gradation data to the panel driver circuit so that, for a given halftone to be displayed in a refresh cycle, pixels belonging to respective types in the liquid crystal panel are driven such that the halftone is generated as averaged over the first to fourth terms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2015
    Publication date: May 14, 2015
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masae KAWABATA, Fumikazu SHIMOSHIKIRYOH, Kentaroh IRIE
  • Publication number: 20150130854
    Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to implement a liquid crystal display device which is capable of a three dimensional display, with which it is possible to alleviate image quality degradation caused by crosstalk when a difference in gradation between a left eye image and a right eye image is large. Provided is a liquid-crystal display device that is capable of a three dimensional display, in which a panel drive control circuit alternately performs writing of a right-eye image and writing of a left-eye image for each frame period in order from one end to another end of a liquid crystal panel, and performs writing of either a near-black image or a black image in order from the one end to the other end of the liquid crystal panel in a vertical blanking period during each of the frame periods.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2013
    Publication date: May 14, 2015
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinji Matsumoto, Masae Kawabata, Kentaroh Irie
  • Patent number: 8994760
    Abstract: The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that appropriately compensates for a feed-through voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kentaroh Irie, Masae Kawabata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh
  • Patent number: 8976096
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid crystal display device which displays each halftone by changing the luminance of pixels during a cycle (F1-F8) composed of a first term (F1-F2), a second term (F3-F4), a third term (F5-F6), and a fourth term (F7-F8).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masae Kawabata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie
  • Patent number: 8872744
    Abstract: In at least one embodiment a ripple, generated in an electric potential of data signal lines even in long-term reversal driving, is reduced and display quality is improved. In at least one example embodiment, the liquid crystal display apparatus of the present invention includes scanning signal lines and data signal lines, in which one scanning pulse is outputted to select one scanning signal line, each of the data signal lines receives data signals whose polarities are reversed per one vertical scanning period while in one horizontal scanning period, one of two data signal lines receives a data signal having a polarity and the other of the two data signal lines receives another data signal having another polarity, the two data signal lines being arranged adjacent to each other, scanning pulses are successively outputted in sets of two, and at a timing in which two scanning pulses fall, two scanning pulses rise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masae Kitayama, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie
  • Patent number: 8830255
    Abstract: The present invention provides a display device which is arranged so that when an image is scrolled, a noise pattern does not easily overlap the image. The display device includes a display region that includes a region in which an arrangement pattern (U1) including X i-th pixels arranged next to one another in the row direction for each data color, the arrangement pattern being repeated in the row direction, the X being represented by X=A/2+A·Q, where Q is an integer of 0 or greater, and is defined for each row.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kentaroh Irie, Masae Kawabata, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh
  • Publication number: 20140139562
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device adopting a time-division scheme to improve viewing angle characteristics, the occurrence of horizontal lines on a screen is suppressed. When first output gray scales are obtained for one-line data, the sum total of differences between “source voltages for a horizontal scanning period immediately before a horizontal scanning period during which a processing target line is placed in a selected state” and “source voltages determined based on the first output gray scales obtained by a gray scale value obtaining unit” for all source bus lines is determined (step S110). Then, based on the amount of CS ripple corresponding to the sum total determined at step S110, correction addition/subtraction values are obtained from a polarity-by-polarity background look-up table, for the respective picture elements included in the processing target line (step S120).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroaki Nakasu, Kentaroh Irie, Masae Kawabata
  • Patent number: 8674919
    Abstract: Each picture element includes first and second sub-picture elements, each of which includes a liquid crystal capacitor and at least one storage capacitor. After a display voltage representing a certain grayscale level has been applied to the respective sub-picture element electrodes of the first and second sub-picture elements, a voltage difference ?V? is produced between voltages to be applied to the respective liquid crystal capacitors of the first and second sub-picture elements by way of their associated storage capacitor(s). By setting the voltage difference ?V? value of the blue and/or cyan picture element(s) to be smaller than that of the other color picture elements, shift toward the yellow range at an oblique viewing angle can be minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Kentaroh Irie, Masanori Takeuchi, Nobuyoshi Nagashima, Toshihide Tsubata
  • Patent number: 8330695
    Abstract: A plurality of groups each of which includes a plurality of scanning signal lines are sequentially selected; a polarity of the data signal electric potentials in one (first group) of sequentially-selected groups is set to be different from that of the other (second group) of the two groups; two pieces of dummy scan periods are put between (i) a horizontal scan period corresponding to a last horizontal scan in the first group and (ii) a horizontal scan period corresponding to a first horizontal scan in the second group; dummy signal electric potentials are supplied to the data signal line in the dummy scan periods; and a time period from when a scanning pulse which corresponds to the last horizontal scan in the first group becomes nonactive to when the dummy scan period is started is set to be longer than a time period from when a scanning pulse corresponding to one of consecutive two horizontal scans becomes nonactive in the first group to when a horizontal scan period corresponding to the other of the consec
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kentaroh Irie, Fumikazu Shimoshikiryoh, Masae Kawabata