DISPLAYING APPARATUS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, and more particularly, to a display apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With great advance in techniques of manufacturing opto-electronics and semiconductor devices, flat panel displays have been vigorously developed. Among the flat panel displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) characterized by low operating voltage, free of harmful radiation, light weight and small and compact size are gradually replacing conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) displays and have become mainstream display products. A surface light source of the liquid crystal display is provided by a backlight module. After passing through a liquid crystal panel, this surface light source will generate colorful and bright images to users. Nevertheless, as the users are basically looking directly at the surface light source provided by the backlight module when viewing the images on the liquid crystal display, eye fatigue would usually result.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a display apparatus that not only provides bright and colorful images, but is also suitable for displaying documents to users to read for a long period.

The display apparatus in the present invention includes a main display and an electrochromic display. The electrochromic display is disposed on a displaying surface of the main display.

Accordingly, the display apparatus in the present invention can satisfy various needs of the users by showing colorful images with high brightness and also documents for the users to read for a long period.

In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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 embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2A and Fig. 2B are schematic views of the display apparatus in Fig. 1 under a displaying state.

Fig. 2C is a schematic view of the display apparatus in Fig. 1 under another displaying state.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electrochromic display in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4A is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4B is a schematic view of the display apparatus in Fig. 4A under a displaying state.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 A and Fig. 7B are schematic views of the display apparatus in Fig. 6 under a displaying state.

Fig. 7C is a schematic view of the display apparatus in Fig. 6 under another displaying state.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 1, a display apparatus 1000 in the present embodiment includes a main display 100 and an electrochromic display 200. The electrochromic display 200 is disposed on a displaying surface 110 of the main display 100. In the present embodiment, the main display 100 is a major displaying apparatus when opening a video or document file. The main display 100 in the present embodiment may be a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescent display, a plasma display or other displays. Moreover, the main display 100 can be used to show computer data or television signals. The electrochromic display 200 in the present embodiment is accomplished with an electrochromic material in the display. When the electrochromic material is applied with an external voltage which causes a change in potential, ions passing in and out the electrochromic material will generate reversible oxidation-reduction reactions and alter light absorbing and transmitting abilities of the material so as to change a color of the material. In the meanwhile, a value of the external voltage may be used to control a depth of color changes. Moreover, under a coloration or a faded situation, the memorized coloration or faded state can be maintained after the external voltage is removed.

Fig. 2A and Fig. 2B are schematic views of the display apparatus in Fig.

1 under a displaying state. In Fig. 2A and Fig. 2B, the main display 100 is under a turned on state and the electrochromic display 200 is under a faded state (i.e. complete fades state). As the electrochromic display 200 is under the faded state (i.e. completely transparent), a user can see an image (as shown in Fig. 2A) or words (as shown in Fig. 2B) shown on the main display 100 in the back through the electrochromic display 200. Particularly, when the user desires to view photos, videos, or other images, the display apparatus 1000 including the main display 100 and the electrochromic display 200 in the present embodiment still can satisfy the user's needs.

On the other hand, Fig. 2C shows the display apparatus in Fig. 1 under another displaying state. Herein, Figs. 2A-2B and Fig. 2C are under different displaying states. In Fig. 2C, the main display 100 is under a turned off state or represents a monochromatic state (i.e. completely black), and the electrochromic display 200 is under a coloration state (i.e. some regions are under a white coloration state through the control of pixel electrodes). At this time, as the main display 100 and the electrochromic display 200 have different colors, they have a distinguishable contrast difference. Thus, the user can see a document (i.e. monochromatic document) shown on the electrochromic display 200 in the front, such as words "HAVE A NICE DAY" in Fig. 2C.

Specifically, to the display apparatus 1000 which includes the main display 100 and the electrochromic display 200 in the present embodiment, the image displayed by the electrochromic display 200 is shown by absorbing or reflecting external light beams, and not by emitting the light beam directly from the electrochromic display 200 itself. Thus, the image is suitable for a long period of reading as it is more toned-down and does not cause discomfort to eyes. In addition, when some regions of the electrochromic display 200 are transformed to be under the coloration state, as the electrochromic material of these colored regions has the memorizing property, continuous voltage is not necessary to maintain the coloration state. Hence, the coloration state is relatively stable and does not flicker to increase

discomfort of the eyes. More particularly, if electronic books that are conventionally shown on the main display 100 are alternatively displayed on the electrochromic display 200, the possible problem of eye fatigue of the user resulted from a long period of reading will be improved effectively. Besides, as the electrochromic material has the memorizing property, when the electrochromic display 200 is used to show the electronic books, power is only consumed during a change of images (i.e. flipping a page), and consequently achieves power saving performance.

Furthermore, though the main display 100 of the display apparatus 1000 shown in Fig. 2C is under the turned off state or represents the monochromatic state, a document to be read can be transformed to be shown on the electrochromic display 200 due to the distinguishable contrast difference. Hence, the electrochromic display 200 can provide a more toned-down document image which allows the user to read for a long period. As described in the above embodiment, the user can transform the document originally to be read on the main display 100 to the electrochromic display

200 in a method similar to printing, and display the document under the state shown in Fig. 2C.

In detail, the image shown on the main display 100 can be transformed with a positive or a negative method and is copied to the electrochromic display 200 to be displayed. Consequently, the specific region of the electrochromic display 200 changes to the coloration state, such that the electrochromic display 200 can replace the original main display 100 to perform the reading. It should be noted that, here, the positive means that when the image of the main display 100 is transformed and copied to the electrochromic 200 to be shown, a bright and dark state of the image shown on the electrochromic display 200 is identical to a bright and dark state of the image shown on the original main display 100. On the contrary, the negative means that when the image of the main display 100 is transformed and copied to the electrochromic 200 to be shown, the bright and dark state of the image shown on the electrochromic display 200 is contrary to the bright and dark

state of the image shown on the original main display 100. For instance, the transformation from Fig. 2B to Fig. 2C is a negative transform method.

In addition, in the state shown in Fig. 2C, when the main display 100 is a liquid crystal display or other displays utilizing backlight modules, although the main display 100 may represent black or other appropriate background colors under the turned off state, the backlight module may still be under the turned on state. However, a surface light source provided by the backlight module will not be emitted from the displaying surface 110 (labeled in Fig. 1).

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electrochromic display in Fig. 1. Referring to Fig. 3, the electrochromic display 200 of the present embodiment includes a thin film transistor substrate 210, a plurality of pixel electrodes 220, a plurality of electrochromic material blocks 230, a transparent substrate 240, an electrode layer 250, an ion storage layer 260, an electrolyte layer 270, and a seal 280. Each of the pixel electrodes 220 can be independently manipulated by a thin film transistor (not shown) of the thin film transistor substrate 210. Each of the electrochromic material blocks 230 is disposed on one pixel electrode 220. The electrode layer 250 is disposed on the transparent substrate 240, and the ion storage layer 260 is disposed on the electrode layer 250. The electrolyte layer 270 is sealed between the thin film transistor substrate 210 and the transparent substrate 240 by the seal 280. Especially, besides the electrochromic material blocks 230 which require a property of changing light absorbance and transmittance, other components in the electrochromic display 200 (such as substrate or electrode) should possess higher light transmittance so as to reveal a color change and the light transmitting properties of the electrochromic material blocks 230.

The electrochromic material blocks 230 are the major components of the color change generated by the electrochromic display 200. When coloring/fading electrochromic material blocks 230 are applied with an external voltage and result in a potential change, electrons provided by the pixel electrode 220 and ions provided by the electrolyte layer 270 enter the electrochromic material blocks 230 at the same time. As a consequence, a

reversible oxidation-reduction reaction is generated, which then changes the light absorbing and transmitting ability of the electrochromic material blocks 230 and causes their color change. In addition, the electrolyte layer 270 can deliver or provide ions needed by the coloring/fading electrochromic material blocks 230. That is, the ions can move within the electrolyte layer 270, but the electrons are forbidden to pass. The electrolyte layer 270 may be solid, liquid, or colloid. In other words, the color of the electrochromic material blocks 230 changes depending on whether the ions are moving from the electrochromic material blocks 230 to the electrolyte layer 270 or from the electrolyte layer 270 to the electrochromic material blocks 230. Moreover, an image to be shown may be arranged by manipulating the colors of the electrochromic material blocks 230 in different locations. On the other hand, the ion storage layer 260 provides ions to the electrolyte layer 270 when the electrochromic material blocks 230 are coloring/fading.

Fig. 4 A is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 4A, a display apparatus 1002 is similar to the display apparatus 1000 in Fig. 1. However, the difference is that the display apparatus 1002 further includes a touch panel 300. The electrochromic display 200 is disposed between the touch panel 300 and the main display 100. The touch panel 300 is used to sense moving tracks on the touch panel 300 generated by the user directly with fingers, a stylus, or other tools, etc. The moving tracks transform into coordination data, and the electrochromic display 200 then shows the moving tracks according to the coordination data. Hence, the user can add annotations or markings to the image shown on the main display 100, as illustrated in Fig. 4B. At this time, as the moving tracks are displayed only by the electrochromic display 200, not by directly changing original files and showing them on the main display 100, thus a completeness of the original files is maintained. In addition, since the electrochromic display 200 has the property of maintaining its coloration or faded state after the removal of external voltage, when the external voltage is removed, the moving tracks on the electrochromic display 200 will not vanish, which further achieve power

saving performance. In other words, when the electrochromic display 200 is changed from the faded state to the coloration state or from the coloration state to the faded state, the voltage change is required to proceed the state alteration. When the state remains the same, as the electrochromic material has the memorizing property, the state does not need to be maintained by the voltage, and further achieves power saving performance. Furthermore, the moving tracks can also be saved separately. The user can read the saved files when needed, and different users can each save their own markings. The touch panel 300 of the present embodiment may be a resistance touch panel, a capacitance touch panel, or other touch panels.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 5, a display apparatus 1004 is similar to the display apparatus 1002 in Fig. 4. The difference is that the touch panel 300 is disposed between the electrochromic display 200 and the main display 100. As seen from the embodiments in Fig. 4 and Fig.5, the user can add annotations or markings to the original files through the touch panel 300. Moreover, the moving tracks generated from the annotations and markings will be shown on the electrochromic display 200. Thus, the original files shown on the main display 100 will not be affected. In addition, since the electrochromic display 200 has the memorizing property, the power saving performance is achieved. On the other hand, through a cooperation of software and hardware, the moving tracks generated from the annotations and markings every time and by different people may be recorded. Thus, the utility will be further increased.

Also, in another embodiment, in the aforementioned touch panel 300, besides from using the sensed moving tracks to add annotations and markings to the original files shown on the main display 100, another sensed moving track may be transformed to a signal controlling the image of the main display 100 to perform image operation (for example, performing a step for saving the original file as a new file, closing the original file, or opening a new file on the main display 100, etc).

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 6, a display apparatus 1006 is similar to the display apparatus 1000 in Fig. 1. However, the difference is that the display apparatus 1006 further includes a liquid crystal panel 400. The liquid crystal panel 400 is disposed between the electrochromic display 200 and the main display 100. In one embodiment, the liquid crystal panel 400 may be a liquid crystal panel controlled with a single electrode to represent a transparent/monochromatic state, for example, a cholesteric liquid crystal panel.

Figs. 7A-7B and Fig. 7C are schematic views of the display apparatus in Fig. 6 under two displaying states. In the state shown in Fig. 7A and Fig. 7B, the main display 100 is under a turned on state, the liquid crystal panel 400 is under a transparent state (assuming the turned on state is a complete transparent state), and the electrochromic display 200 is a faded state (i.e. completely transparent). As the liquid crystal panel 400 and the electrochromic display 200 are under the transparent state, the user can see an image (as shown in Fig. 7A) or words (as shown in Fig. 7B) shown on the main display 100 in the back through the liquid crystal panel 400 and the electrochromic display 200. Particularly, when the user desires to view photos, videos, or other images, the display apparatus 1000 including the main display 100, the liquid crystal panel 400, and the electrochromic display 200 in the present invention still satisfies the user's needs.

Additionally, in the state shown in Fig. 7 C, the main display 100 may be under a turned on or turned off state, the liquid crystal panel 400 is under a monochromatic state to shield the main display 100 (assuming in a complete white state), the electrochromic display 200 is under a coloration state (for example, some regions are under a black coloration state through a control of pixel electrodes. Although the main display 100 may be under the turned on or the turned off state, as the liquid crystal panel 400 displays a single color through the control of a single electrode and shields the main display 100, such that the liquid crystal panel 400 and the electrochromic display 200 have

different colors and obtain distinguishable contrast difference. Hence, the user can see a document (i.e. monochromatic document) shown on the electrochromic display 200 in the front, for example, words "HAVE A NICE DAY" in Fig. 1C.

More particularly, similar to the display apparatus 1000 in Fig. 1, to the display apparatus 1006, the image shown on the electrochromic display 200 is displayed by absorbing or reflecting external light, not by emitting the light directly from the electrochromic display 200 itself. Thus, the document is more toned-down and does not cause discomfort of eyes. In addition, when some regions of the electrochromic display 200 are transformed to be under the coloration state, as the electrochromic material of these colored regions has the memorizing property, continuous voltage will not be necessary to maintain the coloration state. Hence, the coloration state is relatively stable and does not flicker to increase discomfort of the eyes. More particularly, if electronic books that are conventionally shown on the main display 100 are alternatively displayed on the electrochromic display 200, the possible problem of eye fatigue of the user resulted from a long period of reading can be improved effectively. Besides, as the electrochromic material has the memorizing property, when the electrochromic display 200 is used to display the electronic books, power is consumed only during a change of images (i.e. flipping a page), and consequently achieves power saving performance.

In further detail, when the display apparatus 1006 is under the state shown in Fig. 7C, where there is the distinguishable contrast difference between the liquid crystal panel 400 and the electrochromic display 200, the electrochromic display 200 provides the toned-down document image so as to improve the possible problem of eye fatigue of the user after a long period of reading. As described in the above embodiment, the user can transform the document originally to be read on the main display 100 to the electrochromic display 200 in a method similar to printing, and display the document under the state shown in Fig. 1C.

In detail, the image shown on the main display 100 can be transformed

with a positive or a negative method and is copied to the electrochromic display 200 to be displayed. Consequently, a specific region of the electrochromic display 200 changes to a coloration state, such that the electrochromic display 200 can replace the original main display 100 to perform the reading. Hence, not only is a more comfortable reading environment provided, but the power saving performance is also achieved. Herein, the definitions of the positive and the negative are already illustrated in embodiments of Fig. 2A-2C, and thus are not repeated herein. Moreover, in the present embodiment, a transformation from Fig. 7B to Fig. 7C is a positive transform method. In another embodiment, the transformation of Fig. 7B may also be transformed with a negative method (not shown).

Referring to Fig. 6 again, the liquid crystal panel 400 and the electrochromic display 200 of the present embodiment include three electrode substrates 10, 20, and 30, a liquid crystal layer 50, and an electrochromic display material layer 40. The liquid crystal layer 50 is disposed between the electrode substrate 20 and 30, and the electrochromic display material layer 40 is disposed between the electrode substrates 10 and 20. The use of the electrode substrates may be saved to thereby reduce costs through this design. However, the liquid crystal panel 400 and the electrochromic display 200 may also be independent elements. Here, the electrode substrates 10 and 30 each has electrode layers 12 and 32, and the electrode substrates 20 has electrode layers 22 and 24. Furthermore, the electrode layer 12 of the electrode substrate 10 is formed on a transparent substrate 14, the electrode layers 22 and 24 of the electrode substrate 20 are formed on a transparent substrate 26, and the electrode layer 32 of the electrode substrate 30 is formed on a transparent substrate 34. A material of the transparent substrates 14, 26 and 34 may be glass, plastic, or other suitable materials. Since the liquid crystal panel 400 is only used to display a single color, the electrode layers 32 and 24 may each be an entire layer of electrode and do not require an extra patterning step.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a display apparatus according to another

embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 8, a display apparatus 1008 is similar to the display apparatus 1006 in Fig. 6. The difference is that the display apparatus 1008 uses an electrochromic display 500 to replace the liquid crystal panel 400 in the display apparatus 1006, that is, an electrochromic material layer 60 is used to replace the liquid crystal layer 50 of the display apparatus 1006. Also, the display apparatus 1008 in Fig. 8 and the display apparatus 1006 in Fig. 6 have similar operation methods. Those skilled in the art can make some modifications and alterations after referring to the illustrations in Figs. 7A-7C, thus the details are not repeated herein. In the embodiment in Fig. 8, the electrochromic display 500 is used to replace the liquid crystal panel 400 of the display apparatus 1006. Thus, under the displaying states in Figs. 7A-7B and Fig. 7C, the electrochromic displays 500 are respectively under a faded state (i.e. completely transparent) and a coloration state (i.e. completely showing the single color to shield the displaying state of the main display 100). Obviously, the display apparatus 1008 in Fig. 8 and the display apparatus 1006 in Fig. 6 may also associate with the touch panel 300 in Fig. 4 or Fig. 5. Take Fig. 6 as an example, the touch panel 300 can be disposed on the electrochromic display 200, between the electrochromic display 200 and the liquid crystal panel 400, or between the liquid crystal panel 400 and the main display 100. Take Fig. 8 as an example, the touch panel 300 can be disposed on the electrochromic display 200, between the electrochromic display 200 and the electrochromic display 500, or between the electrochromic display 500 and the main display 100. Moreover, besides from using the sensed moving tracks to add annotations and markings to the original files shown on the main display 100, the disposition of the touch panel may transform another sensed moving track to the signal controlling the image of the main display 100 so as to perform image operation (for example, performing a step for saving the original file as a new file, closing the original file, or opening a new file on the main display 100, etc).

In summary, the display apparatus in the present invention not only shows colorful images with high brightness on the main display in an active

light emitting method, but also transforms the image originally to be shown on the main display to be displayed by the electrochromic display. For example, the toned-down documents allow the user to read for a long period without causing discomfort to the eyes and satisfy various demands of the user. Furthermore, the display apparatus in the present invention may combine the touch panel to provide a hand-writing function. Finally, with the memorizing property of the electrochromic display, the power saving performance may be achieved.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.