Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc

Sharp Life Science (eu) Limited

Other

Associates of Cape Cod, Incorporated

Sharp Life Science Corporation

Michael James Brownlow

Graham Andrew Cairns

Yasushi Kubota

Hajime Washio

Tong Lu

Kazuhiro Maeda

Tim Michael Smeeton

Yasuyoshi Kaise

Andrew Kay

Masahiro Adachi

Benjamin James Hadwen

Harry Garth Walton

Hidehiko Yamashita

Toshio Nomura

John Hartzell

Christopher James Brown

Patrick Zebedee

Adrian Marc Simon Jacobs

Masakazu Satoh

Jason Roderick Hector

Catherine Rosinda Marie Armida Dachs

Alison Mary Skinner

Mark Childs

Yuhichiroh Murakami

Naoki Ueda

Kazuhiko Miyata

Adnan Heganovic

Gareth John

Sunay Shah

Jeremy Lock

Jaganath Rajendra

Tim Gasser

Emmanuel Zyambo

Lloyd Lukama

A method of determining the result of an assay in a microfluidic device includes the steps of: dispensing a sample droplet onto a first portion of an electrode array of the microfluidic device; dispensing a reagent droplet onto a second portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device; controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the sample droplet and the reagent droplet into a product droplet; sensing a dynamic property of the product droplet; and determining an assay of the sample droplet based on the sensed dynamic property. The dynamic property is a physical property of the product droplet that influences a transport property of the product droplet on the electrode array. Example dynamic properties of the product droplet include the moveable state, split-able state, and viscosity based on droplet properties. The method may be used to perform an amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay.

Droplet microfluidic device and methods of sensing the result of an assay therein

A display system includes a display panel comprising a plurality of pixel circuits, and a measurement and data processing unit that is external to the display panel. Each pixel circuit includes a light-emitting device having a first terminal connected to a first voltage supply and a second terminal opposite from the first terminal; a first transistor connected between a data voltage supply line from the measurement and data processing unit and the second terminal of the light emitting device; and a second transistor connected between the second terminal of the light-emitting device and a sample line to the measurement and data processing unit. The measurement and data processing unit samples a measured voltage at the second terminal of the light-emitting device through the sample line and outputs a data voltage to the light-emitting device based on the measured voltage to compensate variations in properties of the light-emitting device.

Method of operating a pixel circuit using direct charging and that performs light-emitting device compensation

A pixel circuit compensates the threshold voltage variations of the drive transistor with an ultra-short one horizontal (1H) time, with additionally removing the possible memory effects associated with the light-emitting device and the drive transistor from the previous frame. An ultra-short 1H time (&#x3c;2 &#x3bc;s) is achieved via separation of threshold compensation of the drive transistor and data programming phases. The pixel circuit has a two-capacitor configuration, whereby a first capacitor is used for drive transistor threshold compensation, and a second capacitor is used to store the data voltage during a data pre-loading phase. Two transistors are employed to electrically connect the gate of the drive transistor to the second capacitor that stores the data voltage, wherein each transistor in this dual transistor configuration is controlled by a different control signal. A timing sequence of the different control signals is used to ensure that a mid node of the dual transistor configuration is refreshed before the data is applied to the gate of the drive transistor. An array of individual pixel circuits is controlled using a global compensation scheme in which global control signals are applied to the individual pixel circuits of the pixel array.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit with global compensation

A pixel circuit for driving a light-emitting device for a display device is operable in an initialization phase, a compensation phase, a data programming phase, and an emission phase. The one horizontal time is minimized while maintaining accurate compensation of the threshold voltage of the drive transistor, and the pixel circuit further employs a varactor to compensate for variations in the threshold voltage of the drive transistor and for parasitic capacitances that arise within the pixel circuit. A capacitance of the varactor varies with a voltage at a node Nconstituting an electrical connection during the compensation phase of the drive transistor, the light-emitting device, a storage capacitor, and the varactor. The use of the capacitance variation of the varactor accounts for a variation in the threshold voltage of the drive transistor and for parasitic capacitances in the pixel circuit. The varactor may be implemented as a thin film transistor that operates as a variable capacitor.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit using a variable capacitor

Droplet microfluidic device and methods of sensing the results of an assay therein

A pixel circuit compensates the threshold voltage variations of the drive transistor with an ultra-short one horizontal (1H) time, with additionally removing the possible memory effects associated with the light-emitting device and the drive transistor from the previous frame. An ultra-short 1H time (&#x3c;2 &#x3bc;s) is achieved via separation of threshold compensation of the drive transistor and data programming phases. The pixel circuit has a two-capacitor configuration, whereby a first capacitor is used for drive transistor threshold compensation, and a second capacitor is used to store the data voltage during a data pre-loading phase. Two transistors are employed to electrically connect the gate and source of the drive transistor to a common initialization voltage during an initialization phase to reset circuit voltages for the current frame. In this manner, no current flows through the drive transistor to the light-emitting device during the initialization phase when the light-emitting device does not emit light, which saves power. An array of individual pixel circuits is controlled using a global compensation scheme in which global control signals are applied to the individual pixel circuits of the pixel array.

A display system includes a pixel circuit and an external compensation system that is operable with the pixel circuit to compensate for differences in a property of the drive transistor and/or light-emitting device. The pixel circuit includes a drive transistor configured to control an amount of current to a light-emitting device; a second transistor having a first terminal connected to the gate of the drive transistor and a second terminal connected to a data voltage input that is supplied by the external compensation system, and a gate of the second transistor is connected to a first control signal; a third transistor having a first terminal connected to a second terminal of the drive transistor and a second terminal connected to a second voltage supply input that is supplied from the external compensation system, wherein a current flow from the second voltage supply input is measured by the external compensation system, and wherein a gate of the third transistor is connected to a second control signal; and a fourth transistor having a first terminal connected to the second terminal of the drive transistor and a second terminal connected to a third voltage supply input, wherein a gate of the fourth transistor is connected to a third control signal. The external voltage compensation system is configured to adjust the data voltage input based on the measured current flow to compensate for a variation in a property of the drive transistor and/or the light-emitting device.

TFT pixel circuit for OLED external compensation using an adjusted data voltage for component compensation

A pixel circuit for a display device operable in an initialization phase, a compensation phase, a data programming phase, and an emission phase, whereby the one horizontal time is minimized while maintaining accurate compensation of the threshold voltages of the drive transistors, and further accounting for any variations in the voltage supplies. The pixel circuit includes a first drive transistor configured to control an amount of current to a light-emitting device during an emission phase depending upon voltages applied to a gate and a first terminal of the first drive transistor; and a second drive transistor that is configured as a source follower, wherein a first terminal of the second drive transistor is connected to a first power supply line and a second terminal of the second drive transistor is connected to a first terminal of the first drive transistor. The first drive transistor is one of a p-type or n-type transistor and the second drive transistor is the other of a p-type or n-type transistor. A light-emitting device is electrically connected at a first terminal to a second terminal of the first drive transistor during the emission phase and at a second terminal to a second power supply line.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit with a source follower

A pixel circuit is operable in initialization, data programming, threshold compensation, and emission phases. The pixel circuit includes a drive transistor configured to control an amount of current to a light-emitting device during the emission phase depending upon a voltage applied to a gate of the drive transistor. A first ultra-low leakage oxide transistor is employed as a data switch device, and the data voltage is applied to the gate of the drive transistor through the first ultra-low leakage oxide transistor during the data programming phase. A second ultra-low leakage oxide transistor is employed as an initialization switch device. The second ultra-low leakage oxide transistor is in an on state during the initialization, data programming, and threshold compensation phases, and the initialization voltage is applied to the gate of the drive transistor through the second ultra-low leakage oxide transistor during the initialization phase.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit with short data programming time and low frame rate

A pixel circuit has enhanced performance by minimizing noise effects from the data and reference voltage lines. To prevent data line noise from interfering with the drive transistor gate voltage during emission, a triple gate isolation is used between the data voltage line and the gate of the drive transistor by which three transistors are connected between the data voltage line and the gate of the drive transistor. To further improve the isolation, one of the middle nodes of the triple gate farthest from the data voltage line is connected to one floating node that is connectable to a reference voltage during the threshold compensation phase. A first capacitor is used for the threshold compensation, and a second capacitor is used to scale the data voltage during programming. The threshold compensation and data programming operations are thereby independent of each other to minimize programming time.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit with short programming time

Pixel circuit using direct charging and that performs light-emitting device compensation

A pixel circuit includes a drive transistor that controls an amount of current to a light-emitting device, and a second transistor connected to the gate of the drive transistor and a second terminal of the drive transistor, such that when the second transistor is in an on state the drive transistor becomes diode-connected. A threshold voltage of the drive transistor is compensated during a compensation phase while the drive transistor is diode connected. The light-emitting device is connected between the drive transistor and at a second node to a first voltage input. The pixel circuit further includes a storage capacitor having a first plate connected to the gate of the drive transistor, and a programming capacitor having a first plate connected to a second plate of the storage capacitor, and a second plate of the programming capacitor is electrically connected to a data voltage input during a data programming phase. The second plate of the storage capacitor and the first plate of the programming capacitor are connectable to a reference voltage to perform the compensation phase independently of the programming phase, and the storage capacitor and the programming capacitor are series connected during the emission phase.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit with short one horizontal time

A pixel circuit for a display device is operable in a compensation phase, a data programming phase, and an emission phase, whereby the one horizontal time is minimized while maintaining accurate compensation of the threshold voltage of the drive transistor. The pixel circuit includes: a storage capacitor having a first plate connected to a third terminal of the drive transistor that receives a voltage input, and a second plate connected to the gate of the drive transistor; and a programming capacitor having a first plate connected to second and third transistors, and a second plate of the programming capacitor is electrically connected to a data voltage input during the data programming phase, wherein the first plate of the programming capacitor is electrically connected to the second plate of the storage capacitor when the second transistor is in an on state. The second plate of the programming capacitor further is electrically connected to a reference voltage input to perform the compensation phase, and the programming capacitor further is electrically isolated from the storage capacitor and the drive transistor by the second and third transistors during the emission phase.

A display system includes a pixel circuit and an analogue external compensation system that is operable with the pixel circuit to compensate for differences in a property of the drive transistor and/or light-emitting device. The display system includes a pixel circuit having a drive transistor configured to control an amount of current to a light-emitting, and an analogue external compensation system that is operable with the pixel circuit. The analogue external compensation system includes a current regulator that regulates a current applied to a first terminal of the pixel circuit to approximate a current supplied through the drive transistor to the light-emitting device; a current mirror that receives the current from the regulator and mirrors said current from the regulator to output a mirrored current; a current source that supplies a programming reference current; and an integrator that receives inputs of the mirrored current and the programming reference current. The integrator converts a difference between the mirrored current and the programming reference current to an adjusted data voltage that is applied to a second terminal of the pixel circuit to compensate for a variation in a property of the drive transistor and/or the light-emitting device.

Analogue external compensation system for TFT pixel OLED circuit

A pixel circuit for a display device includes a drive transistor configured to control an amount of current to a light-emitting device depending upon a voltage applied to a gate of the drive transistor; a second transistor connected to the gate of the drive transistor and a second terminal of the drive transistor such that, when the second transistor is in an on state the drive transistor becomes diode-connected such that the gate and a second terminal of the drive transistor are connected through the second transistor; a light-emitting device that is connected at a first node to the second terminal of the drive transistor and at a second node to a first voltage supply; a third transistor that is connected between an initialization voltage supply and the first node of the light-emitting device, wherein a node Nis a connection of the second terminal of the drive transistor, the first node of the light-emitting device, and the third transistor; and at least one capacitor having a first plate that is connected to the gate of the drive transistor and a second plate that is connectable to a reference voltage supply. The pixel circuit is operable in an initialization phase to initialize circuit voltages, in a compensation phase to compensate for variations in drive transistor properties, in a programming phase to program a greyscale value to the pixel circuit, and in an emission phase in which the light-emitting device emits light corresponding to the greyscale value.

TFT pixel threshold voltage compensation circuit with light-emitting device initialization

Growing community of inventors

Oxford, United Kingdom

Michael James Brownlow