External compensation for a display device and method of driving the same

A display device comprising:

• a display panel including a plurality of display lines that each comprise a row of pixels, the display panel further including a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines, the display lines, wherein the display panel is operable to drive the display of the image data based on timing of display gate pulses during a sequence of frames including at least a sensing drive frame, wherein the sensing drive frame includes a vertical active period, where the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame includes a display period and a sensing period, wherein electrical characteristics of sensing target display line of the display panel are sensed during the sensing period of the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame, wherein the data lines are driven with the data signals without sensing the display lines during the display period of the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame, and wherein a vertical blanking interval occurs after the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame, wherein the display gate pulses for enabling driving of display lines by the data signals are not provided on the gate lines during the respective vertical blanking intervals;
• and
• a timing controller to supply a plurality of display clock pulses to a gate driver that cause the gate driver to sequentially select different ones of the display lines for receiving the data signals during the display period of the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame and to select a sensing target display line for sensing of the electrical characteristics during the sensing period of the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame.

A controller for a display panel having a plurality of display lines that each comprise a row of pixels, a plurality of gate lines, and a plurality of data lines, the controller comprising:

• a timing controller to control timing of a sequence of frames, the sequence of frames including a sensing drive frame and a normal drive frame, to control timing of a vertical active of the sensing drive frame and a vertical active period of the normal drive frame, to control timing of respective vertical blanking intervals occurring after the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame and after the vertical active period of the normal drive frame, to control timing of a sensing period and a display period within the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame, and to supply timing signals to a gate driver as a plurality of display clock pulses to control timing of the gate driver providing display gate pulses to the gate lines, the display clock pulses having a first timing during the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame and the display clock pulses having a second timing during the vertical active period of the normal drive frame, wherein the second timing is different than the first timing, wherein the display clock pulses during the sensing drive frame are shorter than the display clock pulses during the normal drive frame, and wherein the display lines are driven with data signals from the data lines according to timing of the display gate pulses from the gate lines to display image data during the vertical active periods and the display gate pulses for enabling driving of display lines by the data signals not provided on the gate lines during the respective vertical blanking intervals during the vertical blanking intervals, wherein electrical characteristics of a sensing target display line of the display panel are sensed during the sensing period, and wherein the data lines are driven with the data signals without sensing the display lines during the vertical active period of the normal drive frame and during the display period of the vertical active period of the sensing drive frame;
• and
• a sensing circuit to receive the electrical characteristics of the sensing target display line during the vertical active of the sensing drive frame.