Patents by Inventor Noriyuki Tanaka

Noriyuki Tanaka 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: 9812081
    Abstract: Based on a REF/NREF signal coming from a REF/NREF determination circuit, a polarity bias calculation circuit updates a polarity bias count value Nb indicating a degree of a polarity bias of an applied voltage to a liquid crystal layer, and based on this polarity bias count value Nb, a bias movement determination circuit determines a moving direction of the polarity bias. Upon receiving an OFF signal Soff instructing OFF of the power supply, a balance control circuit controls a drive unit based on a result of the determination of the polarity bias moving direction and on the polarity bias count value Nb at a point of time when the OFF signal Soff is inputted so that the polarity bias can be resolved before a power supply is turned off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Jin Miyazawa, Kouji Kumada, Noriyuki Tanaka, Tatsuhiko Suyama, Takuya Sone
  • Publication number: 20170278483
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an image display device that can determine the viewing direction of the user on the basis of user operations such as touch input, and perform gamma correction according to the viewing direction. The image display device includes: a display panel; a first touch detection part that detects a first input operation for any one of a plurality of touch detection regions provided in respective directions of the display panel; a direction determination part that determines directions corresponding to positions where the touch detection regions are provided on the basis of the first input operation; an angle data storage part that stores first angle data defined for each viewing direction of the image display device; and a gamma correction part that applies a first gamma correction value for an image displayed in the display panel on the basis of the direction and the first angle data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2015
    Publication date: September 28, 2017
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Jin MIYAZAWA, Kazuo NAKAMURA, Noriyuki TANAKA
  • Publication number: 20170263204
    Abstract: In the present invention, occurrence of abnormality such as display misalignment at the time of image update is prevented even when pause drive is performed in a display device where data signal lines are driven by a plurality of driver ICs. In a liquid crystal display device which includes a master IC (300L) and a slave IC (300R) as driver ICs and performs pause drive, upon detection of refresh start timing by a REF (Half) of the master IC (300L), the master IC (300L) transmits a refresh control signal RfC to the slave IC (300R), and upon receipt of a refresh detection signal RfD indicating refresh start timing detected by a REF (Half) of the slave IC (300R), the master IC (300L) transmits the refresh control signal RfC to the slave IC (300R) as well as starts refreshing on the left active area based on data in a 1/2 RAM (306L). Upon receipt of the refresh control signal RfC, the slave IC (300R) starts refreshing on a right active area based on data in a 1/2 RAM (306R).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2015
    Publication date: September 14, 2017
    Inventors: Noriyuki TANAKA, Kazuo NAKAMURA, Takuya SONE, Jin MIYAZAWA
  • Patent number: 9761201
    Abstract: Provided are a liquid crystal display device and a drive method thereof, capable of promptly making an afterimage, which is visually recognized at refresh time, visually unrecognizable and reducing power consumption during and after a shift to a target refresh rate. At pause drive time until a target refresh rate is reached, a refresh is performed in divided periods of a first refresh period for performing a refresh at least twice, and a second refresh period for performing a refresh while increasing the number of frames in a non-refresh period from a refresh rate at the end of the first refresh period until the refresh rate becomes the target refresh rate, and the second refresh period is finished when the refresh rate in the second refresh period reaches the target refresh rate, and the pause drive is continued at the target refresh rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Tanaka, Takuya Sone
  • Patent number: 9685129
    Abstract: A scanning line drive unit sequentially selects a plurality of scanning lines, and utilizes a drive voltage generated by the booster circuit to control the operation of a thin-film transistor. A timing control unit controls the scanning line drive unit on the basis of a display signal, which includes a horizontal synchronization signal, a vertical synchronization signal and an image signal. A reference synchronization signal is input to the booster circuit during a period in which the scanning line drive unit selects none of the plurality of scanning lines. A booster circuit generates a non-selection voltage in synchronization with the reference synchronization signal in the abovementioned period. The scanning line drive unit outputs the non-selection voltage generated by the booster circuit to the plurality of scanning lines in the abovementioned period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takuya Sone, Noriyuki Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20170162158
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device, it is determined whether or not image data inputted from the outside has changed from image data of the previous frame by comparing those image data with respect to each line. As a result, when it is determined that the image data has changed, an entire screen is not rewritten, but image data from a top of a screen as a fixed position to a last line with the image data having changed are read from a frame memory and written into a pixel formation portion. Accordingly, of the screen for one frame, a screen from a top thereof to the last line where the image change has been detected is updated, and on subsequent lines, an image of the previous frame is continuously displayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2015
    Publication date: June 8, 2017
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko SUYAMA, Norio OHMURA, Noriyuki TANAKA, Makoto YOKOYAMA
  • Patent number: 9626920
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device for performing pause driving, occurrence of flicker is effectively suppressed while an increase in power consumption is suppressed. When a frame in which an image signal (DAT) is inputted from an external portion without output of a request signal (RO) for requesting the external portion to input the image signal (DAT) is defined as a first input frame, a reversal driving control portion (10) sets the reversal driving technique in the first input frame to the column-reversal driving while setting the first input frame to a refresh frame defined as a first refresh frame, sets three frames subsequent to the first refresh frame to pause frames, sets a frame subsequent to the final pause frame to a refresh frame defined as a second refresh frame, and sets the reversal driving technique in the second refresh frame to the dot-reversal driving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko Suyama, Kouji Kumada, Norio Ohmura, Noriyuki Tanaka, Takuya Sone
  • Patent number: 9615083
    Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a display device in which the occurrence of the crosstalk can be suppressed. A display unit includes a display panel (12), a storage unit (54), a confirmation unit (56), and a correction unit (52). The display panel displays a synthetic image. The storage unit stores respective crosstalk levels set with respect to a plurality of areas (13a, 13b, 13c) that the display panel has. The confirmation unit that confirms in which one of the plurality of areas a pixel exists that displays an image that a viewer is supposed to see, among the plurality of images contained in the synthetic image. The correction unit reads the crosstalk level corresponding to the area, among the plurality of areas, in which the confirmation unit confirms the pixel displaying the image that a viewer is supposed to see exist, from the storage unit, and corrects the gray scale level data of the pixel displaying the image that a viewer is supposed to see, by using the crosstalk level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Tanaka, Takuya Sone, Kouji Kumada
  • Patent number: 9613585
    Abstract: Provided is a display device capable of switching a refresh rate while suppressing deterioration in display quality and degradation in liquid crystal. In the case of switching the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 7.5 Hz, a transition period for gradually changing the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 7.5 Hz is provided between a 60-Hz period and a 7.5-Hz period. This transition period is configured by sequentially arraying a 30-Hz period, a 20-Hz period, a 15-Hz period, a 12-Hz period and a 10-Hz period from a start point of the transition period. Hence the refresh rate gradually changes from 60 Hz to 7.5 Hz sequentially through 30 Hz, 20 Hz, 15 Hz, 12 Hz and 10 Hz. The number of positive-polarity frames and the number of negative-polarity frames are respectively 20 in the whole of the transition period, and are equal to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Tanaka, Kouji Kumada
  • Publication number: 20170094735
    Abstract: There was a problem that it was difficult for a semiconductor device in the related art to increase the switching frequency of a step-up circuit, and it was difficult to stabilize an output current and an output voltage. A semiconductor device controls a step-up circuit including an inductor and a drive transistor to drive the inductor. The semiconductor device calculates upper and lower limits which determine the variable range of an input current, based on an output current and an input voltage, controls the switch timing of the drive transistor based on the relation between the upper and lower limits and the magnitude of the input current, and at the same time, corrects the upper and lower limits to be calculated, based on the magnitude of the difference between the output current and a target output current value as an ideal value of the output current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventor: Noriyuki TANAKA
  • Patent number: 9607541
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid crystal display device capable of reliably reducing power consumption during pause drive by controlling the timing of performing refresh. When there is an image change in externally inputted RGB data, or when the number of consecutive pause frames reaches a predetermined value, if the number of immediately preceding pause frames is less than a threshold BCTH, image signal refresh is performed once, or if the number of pause frames is greater than or equal to the threshold BCTH, boost charge refresh is performed first, and then, the image signal refresh is performed. As a result, it is rendered possible to reduce flicker due to luminance reduction, and it is also rendered possible to eliminate the need to perform refresh consecutively even if the frequency of RGB data is high (e.g., 30 Hz) during pause drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Tanaka, Tatsuhiko Suyama, Takuya Sone, Norio Ohmura, Kentaroh Uemura, Kouji Kumada
  • Patent number: 9589517
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device for performing pause driving, occurrence of flicker is effectively suppressed while an increase in power consumption is suppressed. When an image change determination portion (11) detects an image change in a period from the previous refresh frame until generation of a predetermined number of times of pause frames, a reversal driving control portion (13) sets the next frame after a frame where an image change has been detected to a refresh frame where a reversal driving technique is a column-reversal driving. When the image change determination portion (11) does not detect an image change in the period from the previous refresh frame until generation of the predetermined number of times of pause frames, the reversal driving control portion (13) sets the next frame after the final pause frame to a refresh frame where a reversal driving technique is a dot-reversal driving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko Suyama, Kouji Kumada, Norio Ohmura, Noriyuki Tanaka, Takuya Sone
  • Publication number: 20160365049
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device, a drive unit is controlled in a direction of eliminating a polarity bias of a data voltage corresponding to image data at a point of time when a refresh signal for updating an image displayed on a display unit by periodical refreshment or forced refreshment is generated, and the polarity bias is obtained for each of subsequent frame periods. In this manner, not only the polarity bias after the point of time when the refresh signal is generated is obtained so that the polarity bias at the point of time when the refresh signal is generated is eliminated, but also the polarity bias is repeatedly obtained in the same way every time the refresh signal is generated, and accordingly, the polarity bias can be prevented from being increased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2014
    Publication date: December 15, 2016
    Inventors: Kentaroh UEMURA, Norio OHMURA, Tatsuhiko SUYAMA, Noriyuki TANAKA
  • Publication number: 20160307530
    Abstract: A display device (1) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: an LCD driving section (20) and an LCD controller (30) for causing an image based on an image signal to be displayed on an LCD (10); and a CPU (40) for supplying an image signal to the LCD controller (30), the LCD controller (30) being configured to supply, to the CPU (40), a control signal that instructs the CPU (40) to supply an image signal, and the CPU (40) being configured to supply an image signal in a case where the CPU (40) receives a control signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Publication date: October 20, 2016
    Inventors: Kazuki TAKAHASHI, Akizumi FUJIOKA, Taketoshi NAKANO, Toshihiro YANAGI, Kouji KUMADA, Noriyuki TANAKA
  • Publication number: 20160275893
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to prevent occurrence of abnormality such as display misalignment at the time of image update even when pause drive is performed in a display device where data signal lines are driven by a plurality of driver ICs. In a liquid crystal display device which includes a master IC (300L) and a slave IC (300R) as driver ICs and performs pause drive, upon detection of refresh start timing by a REF (Half) of the master IC (300L), the master IC (300L) transmits a refresh control signal RfC to the slave IC (300R), and starts refreshing a left active area of a display portion. Upon receipt of a refresh detection signal RfD indicating refresh start timing detected by a REF (Half) of the slave IC (300R), the master IC (300L) transmits the refresh control signal RfC to the slave IC (300R), and starts refreshing the left active area of the display portion. Upon receipt of the refresh control signal RfC, the slave IC (300R) starts refreshing a right active area of the display portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2014
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Inventors: Noriyuki TANAKA, Kazuo NAKAMURA, Takuya SONE, Jin MIYAZAWA
  • Patent number: 9443484
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device for performing pause driving, occurrence of flicker is effectively suppressed while an increase in power consumption is suppressed. A frame in which an image signal is inputted without requesting an external portion to input the image signal is set as a refresh frame by a reversal driving technique deciding portion. A pause frame counting portion counts the number of times of pause frames since the previous refresh frame as a count value. The comparison portion compares the count value with a previously set threshold. As a result, when the count value is not smaller than the threshold, the reversal driving technique deciding portion sets a reversal driving technique in the first input frame to dot-reversal driving. When the count value is smaller than the threshold, the reversal driving technique deciding portion sets a reversal driving technique in the first input frame to column-reversal driving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko Suyama, Kouji Kumada, Norio Ohmura, Noriyuki Tanaka, Takuya Sone
  • Patent number: 9418608
    Abstract: A display device (1) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: an LCD driving section (20) and an LCD controller (30) for causing an image based on an image signal to be displayed on an LCD (10); and a CPU (40) for supplying an image signal to the LCD controller (30), the LCD controller (30) being configured to supply, to the CPU (40), a control signal that instructs the CPU (40) to supply an image signal, and the CPU (40) being configured to supply an image signal in a case where the CPU (40) receives a control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuki Takahashi, Akizumi Fujioka, Taketoshi Nakano, Toshihiro Yanagi, Kouji Kumada, Noriyuki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9412317
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a display device and a method of driving it, capable of displaying images properly even upon asynchronous input of image data while taking advantages of decreased power consumption implemented by intermission driving. When there is an external input of new image data (image F) in a non-refreshing period in an intermission driving display device which performs intermittent refreshing based on the latest image data that is inputted in and read out from a frame memory, a coercive refreshing is started immediately based on the new image data (image F) (see the sixth frame period). Also, when there is an external input of image data (image G) during a refreshing period for the image F, the ongoing frame period including the refreshing of the image F is completed and immediately thereafter, a coercive refreshing based on the image data (image G) is started (see the ninth frame period).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Tanaka, Kouji Kumada
  • Publication number: 20160196789
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid crystal display device which is capable of reducing power consumption while preventing liquid crystal deterioration. The liquid crystal display device performs an intermission driving. The liquid crystal display device includes a polarity indication section, which controls a driving section included in the liquid crystal display device so that the data voltages to be written to the pixel formation portions in a first refreshing frame included in the drive period have a same polarity as of the data voltages written to the pixel formation portions in the refreshing frame immediately preceding the first refreshing frame and that the data voltage polarity is inverted for each refreshing frame during the drive period, if the drive period includes an even number of the refreshing frames.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Publication date: July 7, 2016
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko SUYAMA, Noriyuki TANAKA, Takuya SONE, Norio OHMURA, Kentaroh UEMURA, Kouji KUMADA
  • Publication number: 20160196781
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid crystal display device capable of reliably reducing power consumption during pause drive by controlling the timing of performing refresh. When there is an image change in externally inputted RGB data, or when the number of consecutive pause frames reaches a predetermined value, if the number of immediately preceding pause frames is less than a threshold BCTH, image signal refresh is performed once, or if the number of pause frames is greater than or equal to the threshold BCTH, boost charge refresh is performed first, and then, the image signal refresh is performed. As a result, it is rendered possible to reduce flicker due to luminance reduction, and it is also rendered possible to eliminate the need to perform refresh consecutively even if the frequency of RGB data is high (e.g., 30 Hz) during pause drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Publication date: July 7, 2016
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki TANAKA, Tatsuhiko SUYAMA, Takuya SONE, Norio OHMURA, Kentaroh UEMURA, Kouji KUMADA