PIXEL ARRAY
A pixel array includes a plurality of scan lines, a plurality of data lines, a first active device, a second active device, a first pixel electrode and a second pixel electrode. The first active device and the second active device are electrically connected to the corresponding scan line and data line respectively. The first pixel electrode is electrically connected to the first active device through a contact hole. The second pixel electrode is electrically connected to the second active device through the contact hole.
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This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 102140698, filed on Nov. 8, 2013. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pixel array and more particularly relates to a pixel array adapted for a thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, as the flat panel display technology matures, thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal displays become the mainstream in the market of display products due to the advantages of low power consumption, high image quality, good space utilization efficiency, no radiation, light weight, and small size, etc. According to the design of the structure of a thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display, many dielectric layers (e.g. insulating layer, flat layer, etc.) are disposed between the layer of the drain and the pixel electrode. For this reason, a contact hole is usually formed in the pixel array to achieve electrical connection between the drain and the pixel electrode so that the pixel signal can be properly transmitted from the drain to the pixel electrode.
However, the design rule for forming the contact hole in the TFT-LCD structure is affected by factors such as process equipment and factory process capability, which influence the aperture ratio. Especially in the situation that the contact hole would limit process capability, the configuration of the contact hole will affect the aperture ratio of the pixel structure of the display panel as the resolution of the product continues to improve. Therefore, the pixel array design in the TFT-LCD structure needs to be further improved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention provides a pixel array that is capable of providing higher resolution and maintaining a favorable aperture ratio with the same process capability.
The invention provides a pixel array which includes a plurality of scan lines, a plurality of data lines, a first active device, a second active device, a first pixel electrode, and a second pixel electrode. The first active device and the second active device are electrically connected to the corresponding scan line and the corresponding data line respectively. The first pixel electrode is electrically connected to the first active device through a contact hole. The second pixel electrode is electrically connected to the second active device through the contact hole.
Based on the above, in the pixel array of the invention, adjacent pixel electrodes are electrically connected to the corresponding active devices through the same contact hole. On the premise of the same process capability, the electrical connection through the common contact hole is conducive to designing a display product having higher resolution (pixel per inch, PPI) and reducing the influence that the area of the contact hole causes to the pixel array substrate.
To make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A material of the substrate 110 may be, for example, glass, quartz, or plastic. The substrate 110 is mainly used to carry the aforementioned elements.
The scan lines SL1 and SL2 are disposed on the substrate 110, and the insulating layer 130 covers the scan lines SL1 and SL2. The data lines DL1 are disposed on the insulating layer 130, wherein an extending direction of the data lines DL1 and DL2 is different from an extending direction of the scan lines SL1 and SL2. The covering layer 150 covers the data lines DL1.
The pixel structure 171 includes an active device T1 and a pixel electrode PH electrically connected to the active device TI. Likewise, the pixel structure 172 includes an active device T2 and a pixel electrode PI2 electrically connected to the active device T2. The active device T1 is driven by the corresponding scan line SL1 and is connected to the corresponding data line DL1. The active device T2 is driven by the corresponding scan line SL2 and is connected to the same data line DL1 as the active device T1. Referring to
The covering layer 150 covers the data lines DL1 and DL2 and the active devices T1 and T2, and the covering layer 150 has a contact hole W. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the contact hole W overlaps the scan lines SL1 and SL2. However, this disclosure of the invention is not intended to limit the size of the contact hole W, and the contact hole W may not overlap the scan lines SL1 and SL2. In this embodiment, materials of the insulating layer 130 and the covering layer 150 may be an inorganic material (e.g. silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride), an organic material, or a stack layer containing multiple insulating materials.
The pixel electrode PH is disposed on the covering layer 150 and is in contact with the drain Dl through the contact hole W. The pixel electrode PI2 is disposed on the covering layer 150 and is in contact with the drain D2 through the contact hole W. The pixel electrodes PI1 and PI2 do not contact each other in the contact hole W. A material of the pixel electrodes PI1 and PI2 may be a transparent conductive material, such as indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, or aluminum zonc oxide (AZO). To be more specific, the scan lines SL1 and SL2 are disposed on the same side with respect to the pixel electrode PI1 or PI2, so as to shorten a distance between the scan lines SL1 and SL2 in the Y direction, thereby electrically connecting the adjacent pixel electrodes PI1 and PI2 respectively to the corresponding drain Dl of the active device T1 and the corresponding drain D2 of the active device T2 through the single contact hole W. In comparison with the conventional pixel array structure, the pixel array of this embodiment improves the aperture ratio with fewer contact holes W.
More specifically, with reference to
More specifically, with reference to
More specifically, with reference to
Moreover, the active device T3 is electrically connected to the scan line SL1 and the data line DL2. The active device T3 includes a gate G3, a source S3, a drain D3, and a channel layer CH3. A pixel electrode PI3 is electrically connected to the active device T3, and the active device T3 is electrically connected to a capacitor Cst3. The data lines DL1 and DL2 are disposed on the same side with respect to the pixel electrode PI1 or PI3, and the scan lines SL1 and SL2 are disposed on the same side with respect to the pixel electrode PI1 or PI2, so as to shorten the distance between the data lines DL1 and DL2 in the X direction and the distance between the scan lines SL1 and SL2 in the Y direction, thereby electrically connecting the adjacent pixel electrodes PI1, PI2, PI3, and PI4 respectively to the corresponding drain Dl of the active device T1, the corresponding drain D2 of the active device T2, the corresponding drain D3 of the active device T3, and the corresponding drain D4 of the active device T4 through the single contact hole W.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the contact hole W overlaps the data lines DL1 and DL2, and as shown in
Moreover, the active device T3 is electrically connected to the scan line SL1 and the data line DL2. The active device T3 includes the gate G3, the source S3, the drain D3, and the channel layer CH3. The pixel electrode PI3 is electrically connected to the active device T3, and the active device T3 is electrically connected to the capacitor Cst3. The scan lines SL1 and SL2 are disposed on the same side with respect to the pixel electrode PH or PI2, so as to shorten the distance between the scan lines SL1 and SL2 in the Y direction, thereby electrically connecting the adjacent pixel electrodes PI1, PI2, PI3, and PI4 respectively to the corresponding drain D1 of the active device T1, the corresponding drain D2 of the active device T2, the corresponding drain D3 of the active device T3, and the corresponding drain D4 of the active device T4 through the same contact hole W.
It is worth mentioning that, in comparison with the pixel array substrate 400, the contact hole W in the pixel array substrate 500 of this embodiment does not overlap the data lines DL1 and DL2, such that the data lines DL1 and DL2 are not exposed by the contact hole W. As shown in
More specifically, with reference to
To sum up, in the pixel array of the invention, the scan lines or data lines or both, which correspond to adjacent pixel electrodes, are disposed on the same side to shorten the distance between the scan lines or data lines, thereby electrically connecting the adjacent pixel electrodes to the corresponding active devices respectively through the same contact hole. On the premise of the same process capability, the electrical connection through the common contact hole is conducive to designing a display product having higher resolution (PPI) and reducing the influence that the area of the contact hole causes to the pixel array substrate. The pixel array of the invention is applicable to a liquid crystal display, such as a twisted nematic liquid crystal display, a vertical alignment type liquid crystal display, a polymer stabilized liquid crystal display, a fringe field switching liquid crystal display, or a lateral electric field-effect type liquid crystal display, and is also applicable to an electroluminescent display, such as an organic light-emitting diode display, etc. However, application of the invention is not limited thereto. The pixel arrays disclosed in the embodiments of the invention may be applied to any display that is used with a pixel array.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the invention covers modifications and variations of this disclosure provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A pixel array, comprising:
- a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines;
- a first active device and a second active device respectively electrically connected to one of the scan lines and one of data lines corresponding thereto;
- a first pixel electrode electrically connected to the first active device through a contact hole; and
- a second pixel electrode electrically connected to the second active device through the contact hole.
2. The pixel array according to claim 1, further comprising a covering layer, wherein the covering layer has a contact hole so that the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode are respectively electrically connected to the first active device and the second active device through the contact hole.
3. The pixel array according to claim 1, wherein the first active device and the second active device are respectively electrically connected to two different scan lines, and the first active device and the second active device are electrically connected to the same data line.
4. The pixel array according to claim 3, wherein the contact hole is a single hole, and the contact hole overlaps the two scan lines.
5. The pixel array according to claim 3, wherein in the contact hole, a gap exists between the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode, and a width of the gap is about 2 to 10 micrometers.
6. The pixel array according to claim 1, wherein the first active device and the second active device are electrically connected to the same scan line, and the first active device and the second active device are respectively electrically connected to two different data lines.
7. The pixel array according to claim 6, wherein the contact hole does not overlap the two data lines.
8. The pixel array according to claim 6, wherein the contact hole overlaps the two data lines.
9. The pixel array according to claim 6, wherein in the contact hole, a gap exists between the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode, and a width of the gap is about 2 to 10 micrometers.
10. The pixel array according to claim 1, further comprising:
- a third active device electrically connected to one of the scan lines and one of the data lines corresponding thereto; and
- a third pixel electrode electrically connected to the third active device through the contact hole.
11. The pixel array according to claim 10, wherein:
- the first active device, the second active device and the third active device are respectively electrically connected to three different scan lines, and the first active device, the second active device and the third active device are electrically connected to the same data line.
12. The pixel array according to claim 10, further comprising:
- a fourth active device electrically connected to one of the scan lines and one of the data lines corresponding thereto; and
- a fourth pixel electrode electrically connected to the fourth active device through the contact hole.
13. The pixel array according to claim 12, wherein:
- the first active device and the second active device are respectively electrically connected to two different scan lines, and the first active device and the second active device are electrically connected to the same data line;
- the third active device and the fourth active device are respectively electrically connected to two different scan lines, and the third active device and the fourth active device are electrically connected to the same data line;
- the first active device and the third active device are electrically connected to the same scan line, and the first active device and the third active device are respectively electrically connected to two different data lines; and
- the second active device and the fourth active device are electrically connected to the same scan line, and the first active device and the third active device are respectively electrically connected to two different data lines.
14. The pixel array according to claim 10, wherein the contact hole is rectangular or L-shaped.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 26, 2014
Publication Date: May 14, 2015
Applicant: Au Optronics Corporation (Hsinchu)
Inventors: He-Yi Cheng (Kaohsiung City), Hsin-Chun Huang (Hsinchu County), Ching-Sheng Cheng (Kaohsiung City)
Application Number: 14/225,443
International Classification: H01L 27/12 (20060101);