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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
The present invention is provided for obtaining a liquid crystal
display device and a mobile phone which exhibit the low power consumption
and do not damage the display quality. To this end, a display part
of the liquid crystal display device is divided into two regions,
wherein one region performs a display in a semi-transmission type
or in a reflection type and the other region performs a display
in a transmission type. Further, the display is performed in a state
that the liquid crystal display device is incorporated into the
mobile phone.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A liquid crystal display device characterized in that a display
part is divided into two regions, wherein one region is displayed
in a semi-transmission type or in a reflection type which enables
display by reflecting light from an observation side of the liquid
crystal display device and the other region is displayed in a transmission
type.
2. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein
the liquid crystal display device is incorporated into a mobile
phone.
3. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further
comprising a backlight.
4. A liquid crystal display device characterized in that a display
part is divided into at least a region which performs a display
of a small information quantity and a region which performs a display
of a large information quantity, the region which performs a display
of a small information quantity performs the display in a semi-transmission
type or in a reflection type and the region which performs a display
of a large information quantity performs the display in a transmission
type.
5. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein
the region which performs the display of a large information quantity
includes a black matrix and the black matrix is formed such that
the black matrix gets over a boundary between the region which performs
the display of a large information quantity and the region which
performs the display of a small information quantity.
6. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein
the region which performs the display of a large information quantity
adopts a color display and the region which performs the display
of a small information quantity adopts a monochromatic display.
7. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein
the region which performs the display of a small information quantity
displays at least one of time, a received incoming signal state
and a remaining battery quantity and the region which performs the
display of a large information quantity displays image data.
8. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein
the liquid crystal display device is incorporated into a mobile
phone.
9. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, further
comprising a backlight.
10. A mobile phone characterized in that the mobile phone includes
a liquid crystal display device and a display part of the liquid
crystal display device is divided into at least a region which performs
a display of a small information quantity and a region which performs
a display of a large information quantity, the region which performs
a display of a small information quantity performs the display in
a semi-transmission type or in a reflection type and the region
which performs a display of a large information quantity performs
the display in a transmission type.
11. A mobile phone according to claim 10, further comprising a
backlight.
12. A liquid crystal display device characterized in that a display
part is divided into a first display part and a second display part,
the first display part being a region which enables display in a
semi-transmission type or in a reflection type, and the second display
part being a region which enables display in a transmission type,
the second display part including a black matrix, the black matrix
being formed so that the black matrix extends beyond a boundary
between the first display part and the second display part.
13. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, wherein
the first display part is a region which performs a display of a
small information quantity, and the second display part is a region
which performs a display of a large information quantity.
14. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, wherein
the first display part is a region which performs monochromatic
display, and the second display part is a region which performs
color display.
15. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, wherein
the first display part displays at least one of time, a received
incoming signal state and a remaining battery quantity, and the
second display part displays image data.
16. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, further
comprising a backlight.
17. A mobile phone comprising a liquid crystal display device characterized
in that a display part is divided into a first display part and
a second display part, the first display part being a region which
enables display in a semi-transmission type or in a reflection type,
and the second display part being a region which enables display
in a transmission type, the second display part including a black
matrix, the black matrix being formed so that the black matrix extends
beyond a boundary between the first display part and the second
display part.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device
and a mobile phone, for example, a liquid crystal display device
which is incorporated into a mobile phone and a mobile phone which
incorporates a liquid crystal display device thereinto.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A mobile phone includes a display part which is constituted of
a liquid crystal display device and this display part displays pixel
data having relatively large data quantity as well as time, a received
incoming signal state, a remaining battery quantity and the like.
Then, the liquid crystal display device includes an envelope which
is made of a pair of substrates being arranged in an opposed manner
while sandwiching a liquid crystal therebetween and a display region
made of a large number of pixels which are distributed in an expanding
direction of the liquid crystal. Each pixel is designed to control
the optical transmissibility of the liquid crystal in response to
an electric field generated between a pair of electrodes incorporated
into each pixel.
In this manner, the liquid crystal display device per se does not
emit light and hence, to make the liquid crystal display device
perform the display, a backlight which makes light pass through
the liquid crystal of each pixel, a reflector which makes an external
light from sun or the like pass through the liquid crystal of each
pixel and thereafter reflect therefrom or the like is necessary.
However, in such a mobile phone, the provision of the backlight
which is made to always emit light is not favorable from the viewpoint
of achieving the low power consumption while the display of the
liquid crystal display device using only the reflector is not favorable
from the viewpoint of seeking for high quality images.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks and
it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal
display device and a mobile phone which exhibit the low power consumption
and do not deteriorate the display quality.
The summary of a typical example of inventions disclosed in the
application is explained hereinafter.
That is, according to the liquid crystal display device of the
invention, for example, in a liquid crystal display device which
is incorporated into a mobile phone, a display part is divided into
at least a region which performs a display of a small information
quantity and a region which performs a display of a large information
quantity, wherein the region which performs the display of a small
information quantity adopts a semi-transmission type or a reflection
type for performing the display and the region which performs the
display of a large information quantity adopts a transmission type
for performing the display.
In the liquid crystal display device having such a constitution,
with respect to the display of a small information quantity, it
becomes particularly unnecessary to turn on a backlight and hence,
the low power consumption can be achieved correspondingly.
In the case of a mobile phone, time, a received incoming signal
state, a remaining battery quantity and the like are displayed until
the reception of an incoming call. By displaying these portions
in a semi-transmission type or a reflection type, the power consumption
can be largely reduced. (In this case, since such a display aims
at the recognition of time, the received incoming signal state,
the remaining battery quantity and the like, it is not particularly
inconvenient even when the image quality is deteriorated to some
extent.)
Further, by displaying the transmitted image data in a transmission
type after receiving the incoming call, although the backlight consumes
the electric power, the consumption time is short and it is possible
to visualize the image data as a high-quality image.
In this manner, according to the invention, a liquid crystal display
device and a mobile phone which exhibit a relatively low power consumption
and do not damage the display quality can be obtained.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing one
embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the invention
and is also a cross-sectional view taken along a line I--I of FIG.
3.
FIG. 2 is an outer appearance view showing an embodiment of a mobile
phone into which the liquid crystal display device of the invention
is incorporated.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of an example of a liquid crystal display
device of the invention which is incorporated into a mobile phone.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line IV--IV of FIG.
3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the
present invention is explained hereinafter in conjunction with attached
drawings.
FIG. 2 is an entire structural view showing an embodiment of a
mobile phone to which a liquid crystal display device of the present
invention is applicable.
A display part 2 which is constituted of a liquid crystal display
device is provided to a front surface of a housing 1 of a mobile
phone and this display part 2 is divided into a first display part
2A which constitutes an upper portion thereof and has a relatively
small area and a second display part 2B which constitutes a lower
portion thereof and has a relatively large area.
Time, a received incoming call state, a remaining battery quantity
and the like are displayed on the first display part 2A using numerals,
symbols and the like and pixel data for transmission and reception
are displayed on the second display part 2B.
Further, although it will be explained later, the first display
part 2A performs displaying as a liquid crystal display of a semi-transmission
type and the second display part 2B performs displaying as a liquid
crystal display of a transmission type.
Then, a backlight (not shown in the drawing) is disposed at a back
surface of the liquid crystal display device which constitutes the
display part 2 and, with the use of a changeover switch 3, this
backlight is turned off when the first display part 2A is to be
displayed and is turned on when the second display part 2B is to
be displayed.
In this case, it may be constituted such that the changeover switch
3 is eliminated and instead the mobile phone per se judges whether
the display is the first display part 2A or the second display part
2B and automatically turns on or off the backlight based on the
judgement.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the liquid crystal
display device which is constituted as the above-mentioned display
part 2.
Here, this liquid crystal display device is, for example, called
a TN (Twisted Nematic) type and includes a large number of pixel
electrodes which are extended in the x direction and are arranged
in parallel in the y direction on a liquid-crystal side surface
of one of transparent substrates which are arranged in an opposed
manner by way of a liquid crystal and a large number of scanning
electrodes which are extended in the y direction and are arranged
in parallel in the x direction on a liquid-crystal side surface
of the other transparent substrate, wherein a pixel is constituted
at each crossing portion between the pixel electrode and the scanning
electrode.
A cross-sectional view taken along a line IV--IV in FIG. 3 is shown
in FIG. 4 and a cross-sectional view taken along a line I--I in
FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 1.
First of all, in FIG. 4 and FIG. 1, there is provided a transparent
substrate SUB1 which constitutes a lower substrate and counter electrodes
CT which are extended in the direction from the front of a paper
surface to the rear of a paper surface and are arranged in the direction
perpendicular to the above-mentioned direction are formed on a liquid-crystal
LC side surface of the transparent substrate SUB1.
These respective counter electrodes CT are formed of transparent
electrodes which are made of ITO (Indium-Tin-Oxide) and the voltage
which becomes the reference with respect to video signals (voltage)
supplied to pixel electrodes PX which will be explained later is
sequentially supplied to respective counter electrodes CT along
the direction parallel to the CT electrodes.
In this case, with respect to each counter electrode CT, in the
first display part 2A and the second display part 2B, although the
distance between the counter electrode CT and the neighboring counter
electrode CT is set substantially equal, the distance between the
counter electrode CT which is disposed in the inside of the first
display part 2A and is disposed close to the second display part
2B side and the counter electrode CT which is disposed in the inside
of the second display part 2B and is disposed close to the first
display part 2A side is formed in a slightly spaced-apart manner.
An orientation film (not shown in the drawing) which also covers
respective counter electrodes CT is formed on a surface of the transparent
substrate SUB1 on which respective counter electrodes CT are formed.
This orientation film is a film which directly comes into contact
with the liquid crystal LC and the initial orientation of the liquid
crystal LC is determined by rubbings formed on the surface of the
film.
On the other hand, on the liquid-crystal side surface of the transparent
substrate SUB2 which is arranged such that transparent substrate
SUB2 faces the transparent substrate SUB1 in an opposed manner by
way of the liquid crystal LC, a black matrix BM is formed at the
second display part 2B side.
This black matrix BM is configured such that apertures are formed
at central portions excluding peripheries of respective pixels so
as to define respective pixels. The black matrix BM is provided
for enhancing the contrast of the display.
Then, this black matrix BM is formed such that the black matrix
BM gets over a boundary between the first display part 2A and the
second display part 2B and is slightly extended over the first display
part 2A. The reason of this provision will be explained later.
Further, on an upper surface of the black matrix BM, color filters
FIL are formed in the direction from the front of the paper surface
to the rear of the paper surface such that the color filters FIL
respectively cover the apertures of the black matrix BM which are
arranged parallel to that direction.
The color filters FIL are made of red color (R), green color (G)
and blue color (B) and they are repeatedly formed from the left
side to the right side of the paper surface in this order.
In this manner, on the surface of the transparent substrate SUB2
on which the color filters FIL are formed, a flattened film OC which
covers the color filters FIL is formed. This flattened film OC is,
for example, made of a resin film formed by coating and is formed
such that the irregularities derived from steps generated between
the black matrix BM and the color filters FIL do not become apparent
on the surface thereof.
Further, on the surface of the flattened film OC, pixel electrodes
PX made of ITO, for example, which are extended from the left side
to the right side of the paper surface and are arranged in parallel
to the direction perpendicular to such an extension direction are
formed.
These pixel electrodes PX are designed such that they generate
an electric field between the pixel electrodes PX and the counter
electrode CT (the liquid crystal LC being disposed between the pixel
electrodes PX and the counter electrodes CT) and by supplying video
signals (voltage) to the pixel electrodes PX, the liquid crystal
LC is controlled to a light transmission quantity corresponding
to the video signals.
Further, an orientation film (not shown in the drawing) which also
covers respective pixel electrodes PX is formed on a surface of
the transparent substrate SUB2 on which respective pixel electrodes
PX are formed. This orientation film is a film which directly comes
into contact with the liquid crystal LC and the initial orientation
of the liquid crystal LC is determined by rubbings formed on the
surface of the film.
Further, at a portion corresponding to the first display part 2A
on a surface of the above-mentioned transparent substrate SUB1 which
is disposed opposite to the liquid crystal LC, a reflection film
REF is arranged and a monochromatic polarizer POL1 is formed on
the reflection film REF.
Here, the reflection film REF is made of a film which allows the
reflection and the transmission of light. With the provision of
this film, the display of the first display part 2A can be recognized
by an external light such as sun or the like even when the backlight
BL is not provided (or, even when the backlight is turned off).
Further, at a portion corresponding to the second display part
2B on a surface of the above-mentioned transparent substrate SUB1
which is disposed opposite to the liquid crystal LC, a color polarizer
POL2 is formed.
Different from the first display part 2A, this second display part
2B allows the recognition of the display thereof by making the light
emitted from the backlight BL which is arranged on a back surface
of the liquid crystal display device transmit therethrough.
Here, the polarizer POL1 formed on the first display part 2A side
and the polarizer POL2 formed on the second display part 2B side
have different constitutions and are made of different materials
and hence, a slight gap is formed between them. In this case, the
light emitted from the backlight BL is liable to be irradiated to
the first display part 2A after passing this gap as a leakage of
light.
Accordingly, as mentioned previously, the constitution in which
the black matrix BM formed on the second display part 2B side is
slightly extended over the first display part 2A side so as to shield
the leakage of light with such an extended portion is adopted.
As mentioned previously, the backlight BL is turned on or off by
the changeover switch 3 mounted on the housing 1 of the mobile phone.
For example, when a user is waiting for an incoming signal, the
backlight BL is turned off and the information displayed on the
first display part 2A, that is, time, a received incoming signal
state, a remaining battery quantity or the like can be recognized
in a monochromatic display, while after receiving the incoming signal,
image data transmitted from a counterpart or data having a relatively
large information quantity can be observed in a color display having
high quality.
Although the backlight BL is arranged such that the backlight BL
is also extended over the portion of the first display part 2A,
the present invention is not limited to such a constitution. For
example, the backlight BL may be arranged only on the portion of
the second display part 2B. In this case, it is needless to say
that the reflection film REF can be replaced with a reflector made
of metal or the like which has only a reflection function.
Further, on a surface of the transparent substrate SUB2 which is
opposite to the liquid, a monochromatic polarizer POL3 is arranged
at the first display part 2A side and a color polarizer POL4 is
arranged at the second display part 2B side, and these polarizers
POL3, POL4 are respectively coupled with the above-mentioned polarizers
POL1 or POL2 so as to visualize the behavior of molecules of the
liquid crystal LC.
Further, the above-mentioned transparent substrates SUB1 and SUB2
are adhered to each other while holding a gap therebetween which
corresponds to a layer thickness of the liquid crystal LC. In FIG.
4, MM indicates a mold member and PCB indicates a printed circuit
board.
In the above-mentioned embodiment, although the first display part
2A adopts the monochromatic display, it is needless to say that
the present invention is not limited to such a constitution and
the first display part 2A can adopt the color display in the same
manner as the second display part 2B.
Further, it is needless to say that both of the first display part
2A and the second display part 2B may adopt the monochromatic display.
According to the liquid crystal display device and the mobile phone
explained heretofore, it becomes possible to obtain the liquid crystal
display device which exhibits the low power consumption and does
not damage the display quality. |