Low voltage driver scheme for interferometric modulators

A display comprising a plurality of electromechanical display elements, the display comprising:

• an array of electromechanical display elements;
• and
• driver circuitry configured to perform an actuation operation on an electromechanical device within the array, wherein each actuation operation performed on the electromechanical device comprises:
• applying a release voltage across the electromechanical device, wherein the release voltage remains between a positive release voltage of said electromechanical device and a negative release voltage of said electromechanical device;
• and
• applying an address voltage across the electromechanical device, wherein the address voltage is either greater than a positive actuation voltage of said electromechanical device or less than a negative actuation voltage of said electromechanical device

A method of driving an electromechanical device in an array of electromechanical devices, the electromechanical device comprising a first electrode in electrical communication with a segment line spaced apart from a second electrode in electrical communication with a common line, the method comprising:

• applying a segment voltage on the segment line, wherein the segment voltage varies between a maximum voltage and a minimum voltage, and wherein a difference between the maximum voltage and the minimum voltage is less than a width of a hysteresis window of the electromechanical device;
• applying a reset voltage on the common line, wherein the reset voltage is configured to place the electromechanical device in an unactuated state;
• and
• applying an overdrive voltage on the common line, wherein the overdrive voltage is configured to cause the electromechanical device to actuate based upon the state of the segment voltage.

A display device, comprising:

• an array of electromechanical devices, the array comprising a plurality of common lines and a plurality of segment lines, each electromechanical device comprising a first electrode in electrical communication with a common line spaced apart from a second electrode in electrical communication with a segment line;
• and
• driver circuitry configured to apply high segment voltage and a low segment voltage on segment lines, and configured to apply release voltages and address voltages on common lines, wherein the driver circuitry is configured to simultaneously apply a release voltage along a first common line and an address voltage along a second common line;
• wherein the high and low segment voltages are selected such that the release voltages release electromechanical devices located along a common line regardless of the applied segment voltage, and the address voltages cause actuation of certain electromechanical devices along a common line dependent upon the applied segment voltage.

A method of balancing charges within an array of electromechanical devices, the array comprising a plurality of segment lines and a plurality of common lines, the method comprising:

• performing a write operation on said common line, wherein performing a write operation comprises:
• selecting a polarity for said write operation based at least in part on charge-balancing criteria;
• performing a reset operation by applying a reset voltage across a common line, the reset voltage placing each of the electromechanical devices along a common line in an unactuated state;
• applying a hold voltage of said selected polarity across said common line, wherein the hold voltage does not cause any of the electromechanical devices along said common line to actuate;
• and
• simultaneously applying an overdrive voltage of said selected polarity across said common line and a plurality of segment voltages across said segment lines, wherein the segment voltages vary between a first polarity and a second polarity, and wherein said overdrive voltage causes the actuation of an electromechanical device when the polarity of the overdrive voltage and the polarity of the corresponding segment voltage are not the same.