Patents by Inventor Michiru Senda

Michiru Senda 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: 20240038194
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a drive circuit and a display device that do not cause insufficient writing of signal lines. A drive circuit includes a gradation voltage generation unit that generates a plurality of gradation voltages that can be supplied to a signal line, and a voltage selector that selects, from among the plurality of gradation voltages, whether to supply a gradation voltage of the same voltage level as an assumed gradation voltage to a signal line or to supply a gradation voltage close to the assumed gradation voltage to a signal line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Inventors: NAOTO MUNEMURA, MICHIRU SENDA
  • Patent number: 11386830
    Abstract: A display apparatus includes an addition section, a conversion section, and a control section. The addition section adds a dither signal to a digital image signal for each of a plurality of color components, the digital image signal being generated on a basis of each of the plurality of color components different from each other, and inputted in predetermined order for each sub-frame included in a frame. The conversion section performs digital to analog conversion of converting the digital image signal to which the dither signal is added into an analog image signal. The control section controls a pattern of the dither signal, at each predetermined cycle including a plurality of the sub-frames, depending on the order in which the digital image signal for each of the color components is inputted, within the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michiru Senda, Tomoro Yoshinaga
  • Publication number: 20200279520
    Abstract: [Object] To enable an image to be displayed in a more suitable manner, in a case where color sequential drive is adopted. [Solution] A display apparatus includes: an addition section that adds a dither signal to a digital image signal for each of a plurality of color components, the digital image signal being generated on a basis of each of the plurality of color components different from each other, and inputted in predetermined order for each sub-frame included in a frame; a conversion section that performs digital to analog conversion of converting the digital image signal to which the dither signal is added into an analog image signal; and a control section that controls a pattern of the dither signal, at each predetermined cycle including a plurality of the sub-frames, depending on the order in which the digital image signal for each of the color components is inputted, within the frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Publication date: September 3, 2020
    Inventors: MICHIRU SENDA, TOMORO YOSHINAGA
  • Patent number: 9786712
    Abstract: There is provided a radiation image pickup unit including: a plurality of pixels each configured to generate a signal charge based on a radiation; a device substrate including a photoelectric conversion element for each pixel; a wavelength conversion layer provided on a light incident side of the device substrate, and configured to convert a wavelength of the radiation into other wavelength; and a partition wall separating the wavelength conversion layer for each pixel. The radiation image pickup unit is configured to allow a gap between the wavelength conversion layer and the device substrate to be equal to or larger than a threshold or equal to or smaller than the threshold, the threshold being preset based on a spatial frequency of an image pickup target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinji Fujimoto, Hironori Kikkawa, Yasuhiro Yamada, Michiru Senda
  • Patent number: 9621822
    Abstract: There is included: a light receiving device configured to receive light and convert the received light into a light detection signal; a pixel transistor connected to the light receiving device and configured to control connection between the light receiving device and a signal line; a low-pass filter configured to be applied with respect to the light detection signal; an A-D converter configured to convert an output signal of the low-pass filter into digital data; and a sequencer configured to, prior to causing the A-D converter to operate to output the digital data, control the pixel transistor to be in an ON state and thereby maintain the light receiving device to be connected to the signal line, in a state in which the low-pass filter is caused to function effectively with respect to the light detection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michiru Senda, Shinichi Watanabe, Daisuke Kawazoe, Yuichiro Minami
  • Patent number: 9405406
    Abstract: An image pickup device capable of stably detecting an object irrespective of use conditions while reducing manufacturing costs is provided. When illumination light from a backlight is emitted to a proximity object from an I/O display panel, an electric charge is accumulated in image pickup pixels in accordance with total light amount, including reflected light originating from the backlight and external environment light. Moreover, when the illumination light is not emitted, a discharging electric charge is released from the image pickup pixels in accordance with the amount of environment light. Thereby, an environment light component is subtracted from an image pickup signal obtained from each of the image pickup pixels, so object information about the proximity object is obtained without influence of the environment light. Moreover, in a light reception drive circuit, fewer frame memories for producing a picked-up image from the image pickup signal are necessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Tsutomu Harada, Yoshiharu Nakajima, Michiru Senda, Kazunori Yamaguchi, Mitsuru Tateuchi, Ryoichi Tsuzaki, Toshikazu Maekawa
  • Publication number: 20160163763
    Abstract: There is provided a radiation image pickup unit including: a plurality of pixels each configured to generate a signal charge based on a radiation; a device substrate including a photoelectric conversion element for each pixel; a wavelength conversion layer provided on a light incident side of the device substrate, and configured to convert a wavelength of the radiation into other wavelength; and a partition wall separating the wavelength conversion layer for each pixel. The radiation image pickup unit is configured to allow a gap between the wavelength conversion layer and the device substrate to be equal to or larger than a threshold or equal to or smaller than the threshold, the threshold being preset based on a spatial frequency of an image pickup target.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 4, 2014
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Inventors: Shinji FUJIMOTO, Hironori KIKKAWA, Yasuhiro YAMADA, Michiru SENDA
  • Patent number: 9312421
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a photoelectric conversion element including: a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type provided above a substrate; a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type provided in a higher layer than the first semiconductor layer; a third semiconductor layer of a third conductivity type provided between the first and second semiconductor layers and lower in electrical conductivity than the first and second semiconductor layers; and a light-shielding layer provided between the substrate and first semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Yamada, Tsutomu Tanaka, Makoto Takatoku, Ryoichi Ito, Michiru Senda
  • Patent number: 9277153
    Abstract: Provided is an image pickup device that includes: pixels each including a photoelectric conversion element and one or more switching elements; control lines provided to perform open/close control of at least one first switching element; a buffer circuit provided for each control line, and configured to output a voltage to each control line; second switching elements each provided between corresponding one of the control lines and a power source of the corresponding buffer circuit; and a switch control circuit that is, upon image pickup driving, configured to control one of the second switching elements, provided between a defect holding line that includes an electrically short-circuited part in the plurality of control lines and the power source of the buffer circuit of the defect holding line, to be in an open state, and configured to control another one of the second switching elements to be in a closed state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Michiru Senda
  • Patent number: 9250743
    Abstract: A sensor device includes sensor elements two-dimensionally arranged and a sensor driving section driving the sensor elements. Each of the sensor elements includes a photoelectric conversion element generating electric charge according to an amount of received light, a charge storage section connected to one end of the photoelectric conversion element and storing electric charge generated by the photoelectric conversion element, a readout section reading either a voltage value resulted from the electric charge in the charge storage section or the stored electric charge, to output the read voltage value or the read electric charge and a reset section resetting the electric charge in the charge storage section through supplying a predetermined reset voltage to the charge storage section. The sensor driving section controls the reset section so that the predetermined reset voltage is continuously or intermittently supplied to the charge storage section over a period exceeding one horizontal scan period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: JAPAN DISPLAY INC.
    Inventors: Makoto Takatoku, Michiru Senda
  • Patent number: 9197824
    Abstract: An image pickup unit includes: a signal generating section generating a pulse signal that makes transitions between a first voltage and a low-noise second voltage; a voltage holding section holding a difference between a voltage of the pulse signal and a voltage of an output node; a voltage setting section that generates a pixel selection signal through setting the voltage of the output node to a third voltage in correspondence to a transition of the pulse signal from the second voltage to the first voltage, and outputs the pixel selection signal from the output node; and an image pickup section driven by the pixel selection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yuichiro Minami, Michiru Senda, Tsutomu Harada, Masayuki Katakura
  • Patent number: 9196647
    Abstract: An image pickup unit includes: an image pickup section including a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels each including a photoelectric converter device and a field-effect transistor; and a driving section reading out a signal charge with use of the transistor, the signal charge being accumulated in each of the plurality of pixels. The driving section turns off the transistor by applying an off-voltage to the transistor, the off-voltage being set in consideration of an off-leakage current between a source and a drain of the transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michiru Senda, Tsutomu Tanaka, Yasuhiro Yamada, Makoto Takatoku
  • Publication number: 20150301689
    Abstract: An image pickup device capable of stably detecting an object irrespective of use conditions while reducing manufacturing costs is provided. When illumination light from a backlight is emitted to a proximity object from an I/O display panel, an electric charge is accumulated in image pickup pixels in accordance with total light amount, including reflected light originating from the backlight and external environment light. Moreover, when the illumination light is not emitted, a discharging electric charge is released from the image pickup pixels in accordance with the amount of environment light. Thereby, an environment light component is subtracted from an image pickup signal obtained from each of the image pickup pixels, so object information about the proximity object is obtained without influence of the environment light. Moreover, in a light reception drive circuit, fewer frame memories for producing a picked-up image from the image pickup signal are necessary.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2015
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Inventors: Tsutomu Harada, Yoshiharu Nakajima, Michiru Senda, Kazunori Yamaguchi, Mitsuru Tateuchi, Ryoichi Tsuzaki, Toshikazu Maekawa
  • Publication number: 20150288890
    Abstract: There is included: a light receiving device configured to receive light and convert the received light into a light detection signal; a pixel transistor connected to the light receiving device and configured to control connection between the light receiving device and a signal line; a low-pass filter configured to be applied with respect to the light detection signal; an A-D converter configured to convert an output signal of the low-pass filter into digital data; and a sequencer configured to, prior to causing the A-D converter to operate to output the digital data, control the pixel transistor to be in an ON state and thereby maintain the light receiving device to be connected to the signal line, in a state in which the low-pass filter is caused to function effectively with respect to the light detection signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Publication date: October 8, 2015
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michiru Senda, Shinichi Watanabe, Daisuke Kawazoe, Yuichiro Minami
  • Patent number: 9152000
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display includes a plurality of pixels, each of which includes a thin film transistor (TFT), a gate line supplying a driving signal to a gate of the TFT of each pixel, a liquid crystal capacitor included in each pixel and connected to one terminal of the TFT in a corresponding pixel, a sub-capacitor line aligned in parallel to the gate line, a sub-capacitor included in each pixel and connected between one terminal of the TFT in a corresponding pixel and the sub-capacitor line, and a driving circuit having at least four voltages, selecting one of the voltages and supplying the selected voltage to the sub-capacitor line to drive the liquid crystal display in a state in which the liquid crystal capacitor is capacitively coupled to the sub-capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: SAMSUNG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Yokoyama, Michiru Senda
  • Patent number: 9129871
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a transistor including: a semiconductor layer; a first gate insulation film and a first interlayer insulation film which are provided on a specific surface side of the semiconductor layer; a first gate electrode provided at a location between the first gate insulation film and the first interlayer insulation film; an insulation film provided on the other surface side of the semiconductor layer; source and drain electrodes provided by being electrically connected to the semiconductor layer; and a shield electrode layer provided in such a way that at least portions of the shield electrode layer face edges of the first gate electrode, wherein at least one of the first gate insulation film, the first interlayer insulation film and the insulation film include a silicon-oxide film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Yamada, Ryoichi Ito, Tsutomu Tanaka, Makoto Takatoku, Michiru Senda
  • Patent number: 9063613
    Abstract: An image pickup device capable of stably detecting an object irrespective of use conditions while reducing manufacturing costs is provided. When illumination light from a backlight 15 is emitted to a proximity object from an I/O display panel 20, an electric charge for charging is accumulated in each of image pickup pixels 33 in accordance with total light amount as a summation of reflected light Lon originating from the illumination light and environment light (outside light) L0. Moreover, when the above-described illumination light is not emitted, an electric charge for discharging is released from each of the image pickup pixels 33 in accordance with light amount of the environment light L0. Thereby, a component by the environment light L0 is subtracted in an image pickup signal obtained from each of the image pickup pixels 33, so object information about the proximity object is obtainable without influence of the environment light L0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Tsutomu Harada, Yoshiharu Nakajima, Michiru Senda, Kazunori Yamaguchi, Mitsuru Tateuchi, Ryoichi Tsuzaki, Toshikazu Maekawa
  • Patent number: 9019425
    Abstract: An image pickup unit includes: an image pickup section having a plurality of pixels each including a photoelectric conversion device and a field effect transistor; and a driving section, by using the transistor, that executes read driving and reset driving on a signal charge stored in the pixel. The driving section intermittently executes the reset driving a plurality of times in a one-frame term, and executes on-operation of the transistor by applying, to the transistor over at least one resetting term in the one-frame term or over a partial term in the at least one resetting term, a second voltage that is lower than a first voltage applied in a resetting term in the one-frame term other than the at least one resetting term.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Michiru Senda, Yasuhiro Yamada
  • Patent number: 8988569
    Abstract: An image pickup unit includes: an image pickup section including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels including a photoelectric conversion device; and a drive section driving each of the pixels to perform a readout operation, a pre-reset operation, and a main reset operation in this order, the readout operation being intended to read out charge from each of the pixels as a signal, the charge being obtained from the photoelectric conversion device, and the pre-reset operation and the main reset operation being intended to reset the charge in the each of the pixels. The drive section applies a voltage to the photoelectric conversion device, the voltage being different between in the pre-reset operation and in the main reset operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yuichiro Minami, Michiru Senda, Yasuhiro Yamada
  • Patent number: 8982255
    Abstract: An image pickup unit includes: an image pickup section including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels including a photoelectric conversion device; and a driving section that includes an amplifier and drives each of the pixels to perform a read out operation intended to read out electric charge obtained by the photoelectric conversion device from the pixel as a signal with use of the amplifier, a pixel reset operation intended to reset electric charge in the pixel, and an amplifier reset operation intended to reset an operation of the amplifier. The driving section drives each of the pixels to allow one or both of end timing of the pixel reset operation and end timing of the amplifier reset operation not to be included in a predetermined power-source potential unstable period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yuichiro Minami, Michiru Senda