阅读说明：本技术 显示装置及其驱动方法 (Display device and driving method thereof ) 是由 文明国 弓世旼 张海钟 于 2019-07-11 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种显示装置及其驱动方法,所述显示装置包括：显示面板；多个数据驱动IC,其被配置成向显示面板的数据线提供数据电压；以及控制器,其被配置成重新布置从外部设备接收的视频数据并且将区域视频数据发送至多个数据驱动IC,以接收在视频数据中包括的重要信息区域的坐标并预先存储重要信息区域的视频数据,以基于坐标计算用于检查区域视频数据中的错误的校验和,以将坐标和校验和发送至多个数据驱动IC并且接收关于校验和的比较结果的反馈,以及当基于反馈的结果确认发生故障的数据驱动IC时以将由该数据驱动IC显示的重要信息区域的视频数据更新成正常数据驱动IC的区域视频数据并输出该区域视频数据。(The invention discloses a display device and a driving method thereof, the display device includes: a display panel; a plurality of data driving ICs configured to supply data voltages to data lines of the display panel; and a controller configured to rearrange video data received from an external device and transmit area video data to the plurality of data driving ICs, to receive coordinates of an important information area included in the video data and previously store video data of the important information area, to calculate a checksum for checking an error in the area video data based on the coordinates, to transmit the coordinates and the checksum to the plurality of data driving ICs and to receive feedback on a comparison result of the checksum, and to update video data of the important information area displayed by the data driving ICs to area video data of a normal data driving IC and output the area video data when a failed data driving IC is confirmed based on a result of the feedback.)

1. A display device, comprising:

a display panel;

a plurality of data driving ICs configured to supply data voltages to data lines of the display panel; and

a controller configured to rearrange video data received from an external device and transmit area video data to the plurality of data driving ICs, receive coordinates of an important information area included in the video data and previously store the video data of the important information area, calculate a checksum for checking an error in the area video data based on the coordinates, transmit the coordinates and the checksum to the plurality of data driving ICs and receive feedback on a comparison result of the checksum, and when a failed data driving IC is confirmed based on a result of the feedback, update the video data of the important information area displayed by the data driving IC to area video data of a normal data driving IC and output the area video data.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises:

a checksum storage unit configured to calculate the checksum and store the checksum along with the coordinates;

a failure determination unit configured to transmit the coordinates and the checksums to the plurality of data drive ICs, receive feedback on whether the checksums coincide with each other, and determine a failed data drive IC based on a result of the feedback;

an indicator manager configured to store video data of an important information area displayed by the plurality of data driving ICs and provide video data of an important information area displayed by a failed data driving IC; and

and a video data processor configured to update the video data of the important information area displayed by the failed data driving IC to the area video data of the normal data driving IC and output the area video data.

3. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the video data processor resizes the video data of the important information area to a size displayable in an area displayed by the normal data driving IC.

4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the controller receives feedback on the reception results of the control data and the rearranged video data from the plurality of data drive ICs, and updates the video data of the important information area displayed by the data drive IC to area video data of a normal data drive IC and outputs the area video data when the data drive IC in which a failure occurs in data reception is confirmed based on the result of the feedback.

5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the controller and the plurality of data drive ICs transmit and receive the checksum, and the controller receives a LOCK signal LOCK fed back from the plurality of data drive ICs.

6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the controller and the plurality of data driving ICs transmit and receive the checksum through an I2C interface.

7. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the important information area is an indicator indicating a warning lamp of a vehicle.

8. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display panel includes display regions segmented in a horizontal direction, and the plurality of data driving ICs correspond to the segmented display regions, respectively, and supply the data voltages to the corresponding data lines.

9. The display device according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of data drive ICs determine whether the coordinates and the checksum received from the controller coincide with the corresponding coordinates and the checksum of the data voltage supplied to the data line, and feed back the result of the determination.

10. A driving method of a display device, the display device comprising: a display panel; a plurality of data driving ICs configured to supply data voltages to data lines of the display panel; and a controller configured to rearrange video data received from an external device and transmit area video data to the plurality of data driving ICs, the driving method including:

receiving coordinates of an important information area included in video data;

storing the video data of the important information area;

calculating a checksum for checking for errors in the regional video data based on the coordinates;

transmitting the coordinates and the checksum to the plurality of data drive ICs and receiving feedback on a comparison result of the checksum; and

when the failed data driving IC is confirmed based on the result of the feedback, the video data of the important information area displayed by the data driving IC is updated to the area video data of the normal data driving IC and the area video data is output.

11. The driving method according to claim 10, further comprising:

receiving feedback on a reception result of the control data and the rearranged video data from the plurality of data driving ICs; and is

When the failed data driving IC is confirmed based on the result of the feedback, the video data of the important information area displayed by the data driving IC is updated to the area video data of the normal data driving IC and the area video data is output.

12. The driving method according to claim 10, wherein updating the video data of the important information area displayed by the failed data driving IC to the area video data of the normal data driving IC and outputting the area video data when the failed data driving IC is confirmed based on the result of the feedback comprises: the video data of the important information area is resized to a size displayable in an area displayed by the normal data driving IC and the video data of the area is updated.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a display device and a driving method thereof.

Background

An active matrix type display device displays an image using a thin film transistor (hereinafter, referred to as a "TFT") as a switching element. Such a display device can be designed to be small and light, and thus is widely used for various applications providing visual information as well as TVs and monitors. Meters for displaying information about the travel of vehicles have also been changed from analog display devices that provide information using pins to digital display devices.

These display devices generally include a panel for displaying an image, a gate driving IC, a data driving IC, and a timing controller.

The timing controller supplies video data, a clock for video data sampling, and a control signal for controlling the data driving ICs to one or more data driving ICs. The data driving IC converts digital video data input from the timing controller into analog data voltages and supplies the analog data voltages to data lines of the display panel. When some of these components fail, a normal image cannot be displayed on the area corresponding thereto.

Since the display device for a vehicle displays state information of the vehicle directly related to safety, such as fuel information, battery information, and door open/close states, if such important information is not displayed, normal driving may not be performed and safety of a driver may be threatened.

The present invention provides a display device capable of moving important information among information displayed in a certain region of the display device to a displayable region and displaying the important information in the displayable region when the certain region cannot be normally displayed, and a driving method thereof.

Disclosure of Invention

A display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a display panel; a plurality of data driving ICs configured to supply data voltages to data lines of the display panel; and a controller configured to rearrange video data received from an external device and transmit area video data to the plurality of data driving ICs, to receive coordinates of an important information area included in the video data and to store video data of the important information area in advance, to calculate a checksum for checking an error in the area video data based on the coordinates, to transmit the coordinate checksum to the data driving ICs and to receive feedback on a comparison result of the checksum, and to update video data of the important information area displayed by the data driving ICs to area video data of normal data driving ICs and output the video data when it is confirmed that the failed data driving ICs have occurred based on the feedback result.

A driving method of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method of driving a display device including: a display panel; a plurality of data driving ICs configured to supply data voltages to data lines of the display panel; and a controller configured to rearrange video data received from an external device and transmit area video data to the plurality of data driving ICs, the driving method including: receiving coordinates of an important information area included in the video data; storing video data of the important information area; calculating a checksum for checking for errors in the regional video data based on the coordinates; transmitting the coordinates and the checksum to the data driving IC and receiving feedback on a comparison result of the checksum; and updating the video data of the important information area displayed by the data driving IC to the area video data of the normal data driving IC and outputting the video data when it is confirmed that the data driving IC has failed based on the feedback result.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state where a certain component of the display device of fig. 1 is malfunctioning;

fig. 3 is a control block diagram for describing a configuration of the controller of fig. 1;

fig. 4 is a control flowchart illustrating a driving method of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a diagram showing a screen composition provided by the display device according to the present invention;

fig. 6 shows a configuration of an interface between a controller and a data drive IC according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 illustrates a configuration of an interface between a controller and a data driving IC according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 8 to 10 are diagrams for describing a screen display method of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The advantages, features and methods for accomplishing the same will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and is implemented in various forms, and the embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art. The invention is defined by the scope of the claims.

Shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, numbers, and the like, which are shown in the drawings to describe embodiments of the present invention, are exemplary and thus are not limited to the details shown in the drawings. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. It will be further understood that when the terms "comprising," having, "and" including "are used in this specification, other elements may be added, unless" only. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, elements described in the singular are intended to comprise a plurality of elements.

In interpreting the components, unless explicitly described otherwise, the components are to be interpreted as including the error range.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "on" or "under" another element, it can be "directly on" or under the other element or intervening elements may also be present.

In the following description of the embodiments, "first" and "second" are used to describe various components, but these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element from another. Therefore, the first component mentioned in the following description may be the second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, if a detailed description of known technologies related to the present invention will unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display panel PNL, a controller 100, and one or more data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

The display panel PNL may include a plurality of pixels formed at pixel areas defined by intersections of a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines. The display panel PNL may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), and an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED).

The controller 100 receives external timing signals such as vertical/horizontal synchronization signals Vsync and Hsync, an external data enable signal DE and a main clock CLK, and video data from an external system through an interface such as a Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) interface. The controller 100 generates control signals for the operation of the gate driving IC and the data driving IC based on external timing signals, rearranges video data, and transmits the video data to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

In addition, the controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention receives the coordinates of the important information area from the system and calculates a checksum C/S for checking whether the video data has an error based on the received coordinates of the important information area. When the display device displays information about the vehicle, the important information area may be an indicator indicating that a safety control device is turned off, a temperature warning, an anti-lock brake system (ABS), insufficient oil pressure, or the like.

The controller 100 transmits the coordinates of the pointer and the checksum C/S to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. Then, the controller 100 receives feedback on whether the video data has an error from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through an I2C interface or the like. Further, the controller 100 may receive feedback on whether communication has failed from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. The controller 100 may determine the data driving IC related to the display of the communication failure or the abnormal image based on the feedback result. The controller 100 may transmit information about the indicator displayed by the abnormally operated data driving IC to the normally operated data driving IC.

The data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 convert input video data received from the controller 100 into positive/negative analog video data voltages and supply the positive/negative analog video data voltages to data lines of the display panel PNL. The first data driving IC DIC #1 may supply a data voltage to the data lines of the first display area a1, the second data driving IC DIC #2 may supply a data voltage to the data lines of the second display area a2, and the third data driving IC DIC #3 may supply a data voltage to the data lines of the third display area A3. Therefore, when some of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 malfunction, an abnormal image is displayed or an image is not displayed in the display area corresponding thereto.

The data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 according to the embodiment of the present invention feed back to the controller 100 whether communication with the controller 100 is failed. In addition, the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 receive the coordinates of the pointer and the checksum C/S from the controller 100. The data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 check whether the coordinates of the pointer and the checksum C/S provided by the controller 100 are identical to the checksum C/S of the video data displayed by the data driving ICs and feed back the video data to the controller 100 whether there is an error.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a certain component of the display apparatus of fig. 1 has failed and illustrates a case in which the third data driving IC DIC #3 has failed.

Referring to fig. 2, since the third data driving IC DIC #3 supplies data voltages to the data lines of the third display area A3, an abnormal image or no image is displayed (failed) in the third display area A3 when the third data driving IC DIC #3 has failed.

The third display area A3 may include an indicator T _ A3, which is a warning lamp indicating a vehicle state. The indicator T _ a3 may indicate shutdown of the safety control device, temperature warning, anti-lock brake system, insufficient oil pressure, etc.

The controller 100 rearranges video data input from an external system so that the video data can be transmitted to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. The external system also provides coordinates indicating the position of the pointer. When the controller 100 rearranges the video data, the controller 100 calculates a checksum C/S of the video data based on coordinates of the pointer for each of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. The controller 100 stores the calculated checksum C/S and the video data of the pointer in advance. The controller 100 transmits the rearranged video data, the coordinates of the indicator, and the checksum C/S to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, and then receives feedback on whether the communication has failed and whether the video data has an error from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

The controller 100 may recognize that the third data drive IC DIC #3 has failed according to the feedback result. The controller 100 adds the video data of the indicator T _ A3 displayed in the third display area A3 to the video data supplied to the second data driving IC DIC # 2. Accordingly, the second data driving IC DIC #2 may additionally display the indicator T _ A3 displayed in the third display region A3 in the second display region a 2.

As described above, when a portion of the display panel PNL malfunctions and thus an indicator cannot be displayed therein, the indicator may be moved and displayed in the displayable area, so that the indicator may be continuously provided to the driver.

Fig. 3 is a control block diagram for describing the configuration of the controller 100 of fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 3, the controller 100 includes: an LVDS receiver 110 that receives video data (R/G/B data) and control signals DE, Vsync, and Hsync from an external system; a coordinate receiver 120 that receives coordinate information indicating a position of the pointer; a gate signal generator 112; a checksum storage unit 122; a failure determination unit 134; an indicator manager 132; the EPI transmitter 136; and a video data processor 130 selecting a display position of the indicator and displaying the indicator according to whether any one of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 has failed.

The LVDS receiver 110 receives the video data (R/G/B data) and the control signals DE, Vsync, and Hsync through the LVDS interface. The LVDS receiver 110 transmits the control signals DE, Vsync, and Hsync received from an external system to the gate signal generator 112 and transmits video data (R/G/B data) and the control signals DE to the video data processor 130.

The gate signal generator 112 generates a gate control signal based on the received control signals DE, Vsync and then Hsync, and outputs the gate control signal to the gate drive IC of the display panel PNL.

The video data processor 130 may be connected to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 using an embedded clock point-to-point interface (hereinafter, referred to as "EPI") protocol. The EPI protocol does not connect an additional pair of clock lines between the EPI transmitter 136 and the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. The video data processor 130 transmits the EPI data signals to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through the data line pair. The EPI data signal is obtained by converting the clock training pattern, the control data, and the video data into a differential signal pair, and the video data processor 130 may serially transmit the EPI data signal to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through the data line pair. Although the video data processor 130 may be connected to the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 using the EPI protocol as described above, various protocols for allowing bidirectional communication may be used, and the present invention is not limited to a specific method.

When the video data processor 130 of the present invention rearranges the video data so as to transmit the video data to the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, the video data processor 130 copies only the video data of the pointer displayed with respect to each of the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 and stores the copied video data in the pointer manager 132. In this way, only video data that needs to be displayed can be stored to save system memory and increase processing speed.

The coordinate receiver 120 receives coordinates of the pointer provided by the external system. The coordinate receiver 120 receives coordinates of the pointer from the external system through the I2C interface and transfers the coordinates to the checksum storage unit 122.

The checksum storage unit 122 calculates and stores a checksum C/S through which an error in the video data can be checked based on the coordinates of the pointer. Here, a checksum value of a region of each of the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 is calculated.

The failure determination unit 134 transmits the checksums C/S to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, and receives comparison results regarding the checksums C/S from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. Here, the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 may determine whether the checksum C/S received from the malfunction determining unit 134 coincides with the checksum C/S of the video data supplied to the data lines and feed back the determination result OK/NG to the malfunction determining unit 134. The data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 may feed back to the failure determination unit 134 whether signal transmission/reception to/from the EPI transmitter 136 has failed.

The malfunction determining unit 134 may determine the data driving ICs that have malfunctioned based on the checksum determination result and whether signal transmission/reception fed back from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 has malfunctioned. The failure determination unit 134 transmits information about the failed data drive IC to the indicator manager 132. Further, when a signal transmission/reception failure is fed back from the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, the failure determination unit 134 also transmits information about the data drive ICs that have failed to the indicator manager 132.

The indicator manager 132 supplies video data of an indicator displayed by the data driver IC determined to have failed among the video data of the previously stored indicators to the video data processor 130.

The video data processor 130 updates the video data of the pointer received from the pointer manager 132 to the video data of the normally operating data driving ICs and transmits the video data to the normally operating data driving ICs. When the video data processor 130 adds an indication image of another area to the data driving IC in normal operation, the video data processor 130 generates video data so that the updated indicator is displayed in an area other than the indication area displayed by the data driving IC in normal operation. Further, if the area to which the pointer is to be added is smaller than the size of the pointer, the size of the pointer may be adjusted such that the size thereof is reduced and then updated.

Fig. 4 is a control flowchart illustrating a driving method of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 4, a driving method of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may be divided into a process performed in the controller 100 and a process performed in the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

When the controller 100 confirms that a part of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 has failed, the controller 100 controls an instruction image of the data driving ICs to be displayed in the display area of the normal operation data driving ICs.

Video data of the indicators displayed by the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 are stored in the indicator manager 132 of the controller 100 (S110).

The checksum storage unit 122 calculates and stores a checksum C/S by which an error in the indication image can be checked in the data-driven ICDIC #1 to DIC #3, and transmits the calculated checksum C/S to the failure determination unit 134 (S120). The checksum storage unit 122 calculates a checksum C/S by which an error in video data can be checked in the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 based on coordinates of the pointer received from the external system.

The failure determination unit 134 transmits the checksums C/S and the coordinates of the indicators to the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 (S130).

Thereafter, the malfunction determining unit 134 receives the checksum comparison results from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, and determines whether any one of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 has malfunctioned (S140). When determining that a specific data drive IC has failed, the failure determination unit 134 provides information about the data drive IC that has failed to the indicator manager 132.

The indicator manager 132 provides the video data processor 130 with an indication image corresponding to the data driving IC that has failed. Then, the video data processor 130 may update the indication image corresponding to the data driving IC having failed to the video data of the data driving IC operating normally (S150).

Meanwhile, the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 may feed back the video data receiving channel malfunction and the indication image display malfunction to the malfunction determining unit 134.

The data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 receive the coordinates of the indicator and the checksum C/S from the failure determination unit 134 (S210).

Each of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 compares the checksum C/S at the coordinates of the video data supplied to the data line with the checksum C/S and the coordinates received from the malfunction determining unit 134 (S220).

Each of the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 feeds back a comparison result indicating whether the checksums C/S coincide with each Other (OK) or do not coincide with each other (NG) to the malfunction determining unit 134 (S230).

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a screen composition provided by the display device according to the present invention.

The display device may be installed in a vehicle and display the meter panel 300. The meter panel 300 may display vehicle-related information including vehicle state information indicating a state of the vehicle and vehicle travel information related to vehicle travel.

The dashboard 300 may include a speedometer 320 that indicates operating speed and a tech meter 310 that indicates RPM. Further, the dashboard 300 may include indicators T _ a1 and T _ A3 indicating that the safety control device is off, a temperature warning, an anti-lock brake system (ABS), insufficient oil pressure, a brake alarm, a door open, a battery alarm, no seat belt, etc.

The meter panel 300 may be displayed by a plurality of data driving ICs. In the case of the embodiment of fig. 5, the first data driving IC DIC #1 supplies data voltages to the data lines of the first display area a1, the second data driving IC DIC #2 supplies data voltages to the data lines of the second display area a2, and the third data driving IC DIC #3 supplies data voltages to the data lines of the third display area A3 according to three data driving IC display screens. Indicators T _ a1 and T _ A3 are displayed in the first display region a1 and the third display region A3, respectively.

Fig. 6 and 7 illustrate configurations of interfaces suitable for signal transmission and reception between the controller 100 and the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits the coordinates of the indicator and the checksum C/S to the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, and then receives feedback on the presence or absence of data transmission failure and the checksum comparison result from the data drive IDs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. Therefore, it is required to be able to perform bidirectional communication between the controller 100 and the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. Various interfaces allowing bidirectional communication may be used as communication interfaces between the controller 100 and the data-driven ICDIC #1 to DIC #3, and two or more types of interfaces may be combined and used.

Fig. 6 illustrates a configuration of interfaces between a controller and data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 6, the controller 100 may transmit/receive signals to/from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 using a B low voltage differential signaling (B-LVDS) interface. The controller 100 may receive the checksum comparison result using the LOCK signal LOCK fed back from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

The controller 100 rearranges video data received from an external system and then transmits the rearranged video data to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through the B-LVDS interface.

The data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 convert input video data received from the controller 100 into positive/negative analog video data voltages and supply the positive/negative analog video data voltages to data lines of the display panel PNL. The first data driving IC DIC #1 may supply the data voltages to the data lines of the first display area a1 displaying the speedometer 320 and the indicator T _ a1, the second data driving IC DIC #2 may supply the data voltages to the data lines of the second display area a2 displaying the vehicle MENU and the vehicle forward direction, and the third data driving IC DIC #3 may supply the data voltages to the data lines of the third display area A3 displaying the speedometer 310 and the indicator T _ A3.

In addition, the controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits the coordinates of the pointer and the checksum C/S to the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through the B-LVDS interface. Thereafter, the controller 100 may receive the checksum comparison result using the LOCK signal LOCK fed back from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

Fig. 7 illustrates a configuration of interfaces between a controller and data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 7, signals may be transmitted and received between the controller 100 and the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 using an I2C interface.

The controller 100 transmits the coordinates of the pointer and the checksum C/S to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through the I2C interface. Thereafter, the controller 100 may receive checksum comparison results fed back from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 through the I2C interface.

Fig. 8 to 10 are diagrams for describing a screen display method of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a meter panel of a display device to which a conventional technique is applied. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a meter panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 10 is a diagram showing a meter panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 8, the display device is installed in a vehicle and may display a meter panel 300 including vehicle-related information. The controller 100 of the display device receives a timing signal and video data from an external system such as a vehicle system. The controller 100 generates control signals for the operation of the gate driving IC and the data driving IC based on the received timing signals, rearranges video data, and then transmits the control signals and the video data to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3.

The first data driving IC DIC #1 supplies a data voltage to the data lines of the first display area a1, the second data driving IC DIC #2 supplies a data voltage to the data lines of the second display area a2, and the third data driving IC DIC #3 supplies a data voltage to the data lines of the third display area A3 to display the instrument panel 300.

The dashboard 300 includes a speedometer 320 that indicates operating speed and a tech meter 310 that indicates RPM. Further, the dashboard 300 may include indicators T _ a1 and T _ A3 indicating that the safety control device is off, a temperature warning, an anti-lock brake system (ABS), insufficient oil pressure, a brake alarm, a door open, a battery alarm, no seat belt, etc.

The meter panel 300 may be displayed by a plurality of data driving ICs. In the case of the embodiment of fig. 5, the first data driving IC DIC #1 may supply data voltages to data lines of the first display area a1 displaying the speedometer 320 and the indicator T _ a1, the second data driving IC DIC #2 may supply data voltages to data lines of the second display area a2 displaying the vehicle MENU and the vehicle forward direction, and the third data driving IC DIC #3 may supply data voltages to data lines of the third display area A3 displaying the tech meter 310 and the indicator T _ A3, according to three data driving IC display screens.

When some of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 malfunction, an abnormal image is displayed or an image is not displayed in the display area corresponding thereto. When the third data driving IC DIC #3 has failed, an abnormal image is displayed or an image is not displayed in the third display area a 3. Therefore, no image is displayed in the area of the meter panel 300 corresponding to the third display area A3, and thus the indicator T _ A3 included in the third display area A3 cannot be checked. When some of the data drive ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 malfunction in the conventional display apparatus, as described above, an indication of a screen area corresponding to the data drive IC that has malfunctioned cannot be checked.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a meter panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention stores video data of the indicators in advance and calculates a checksum C/S for checking whether the indicators displayed according to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 have failed. The controller 100 transmits the coordinates of the rearranged video data/indicators and the checksum C/S to the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC # 3. Thereafter, the controller 100 receives feedback on the communication state and whether the video data has an error from the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3, and determines the data driving ICs that have failed. Further, when the controller 100 receives feedback on the failure of the reception of the video data, the controller 100 may also determine that a failed data driving IC has occurred.

When the third data driving IC DIC #3 malfunctions, the controller updates the pre-stored video data of the indicator T _ A3 included in the third display area A3 to the video data of the first data driving IC DIC # 1.

Therefore, although the meter screen 300 displays only the first display region a1 and the second display region a2, the pointer T _ A3 included in the third display region A3 is moved to the first display region a1 and displayed in the first display region a 1. Therefore, even when some of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 malfunction, the corresponding indicators may be checked through another display area of the normal display.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a meter panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 10, the first data drive IC DIC #1 may operate normally, and the second and third data drive ICs DIC #2 and DIC #3 may malfunction.

In this case, the meter panel 300 displays only the first display region a1, and the second display region a2 and the third display region A3 display an abnormal image or no image.

The controller 100 may update the pre-stored video data of the indicator T _ A3 included in the third display area A3 to the video data of the first data drive IC DIC # 1. When the indicator T _ A3 is larger than the displayable region of the first display region a1, the controller 100 may resize the video data of the indicator T _ A3 and update the resized video data to the video data of the first data drive IC DIC # 1.

Therefore, although the meter screen 300 displays only the first display region a1, the pointer T _ A3 included in the second display region a2 and the third display region A3 is reduced to a size that can be displayed in the first display region a1, moves to and displays in the first display region. Therefore, even when some of the data driving ICs DIC #1 to DIC #3 malfunction, the corresponding indicators may be checked through another display area of the normal display.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description that various modifications and changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the detailed description of the specification, but should be determined by the claims.

According to the display device and the driving method thereof of the present invention, when a certain data driving IC malfunctions, important information included in a display area of the data driving IC that has malfunctioned can be moved to another displayable area and displayed in the other displayable area. In addition, according to the display device and the driving method thereof of the present invention, it is possible to check whether video data being displayed has an error and a physical channel failure of the data driving IC. Therefore, when the present invention is applied to a display device that displays a vehicle instrument, even when some areas of the display panel PNL have failed and thus cannot display an indicator, it is possible to move an indicator corresponding to important information to a displayable area and display the indicator in the displayable area.