Integrated in-plane switching

A display comprising:

• a plurality of cells, each cell comprising at least two electrodes,
• one or more stimulus regions, each stimulus region including one or more cells of the plurality of cells, and each cell coupled to receive stimulus signals during a touch sensing mode of operation and coupled to receive display data signals during a display mode of operation;
• one or more sensor regions, each sensor region including one or more cells of the plurality of cells, and each cell coupled to charge sensor circuitry during the touch sensing mode of operation and coupled to receive display data signals during the display mode of operation;
• and
• a control device for:
• charging and subsequently discharging the at least two electrodes of the one or more stimulus region and the one or more sensor regions;
• and
• after discharging, stimulating one or more of the stimulus regions, and
• sensing a plurality of mutual capacitances between the one or more stimulated stimulus regions and one or more sensor regions adjacent the one or more stimulated stimulus regions.

A touch display system, comprising:

• a display containing a plurality of cells, each cell having a driven electrode and a counter electrode;
• a stimulus region containing a first group of the plurality of cells;
• a sensor region containing a second group of the plurality of cells;
• a plurality of color data lines;
• a plurality of counter data lines;
• and
• a plurality of switching elements associated with the plurality of counter data lines and the plurality of color data lines and controlled by a control circuit to selectively connect one or more of the plurality of counter and color data lines for operating in a display mode of operation or in touch sense mode of operation;
• wherein:
• in the display mode of operation, for each of the stimulus region and the sensor region the driven electrodes of the plurality of cells is coupled to at least one of the plurality of color data lines to receive a display data voltage, and the counter electrodes of the plurality of cells is coupled to at least one of the plurality of counter data lines to ground or to a voltage different from the display data voltage;
• and
• in at least a part of the touch sense mode of operation,
• for the stimulus region, the driven and counter electrodes of the plurality of cells are coupled to receive a stimulus signal;
• and
• for the sensor region, the driven and counter electrodes are coupled to charge sensor circuitry.

A method for providing touch functionality for a display having a plurality of cells, each cell comprising at least two electrodes, the display having one or more stimulus regions, each stimulus region including one or more cells, and the display having one or more sensor regions, each sensor region including one or more cells, the stimulus regions positioned adjacent the sensor regions;

• the method comprising:
• creating a plurality of different voltage differentials between the at least two electrodes of one or more cells of the plurality of cells in each of the one or more stimulus regions and the one or more sensor regions in order to cause an image to appear at the display in each of the one or more stimulus regions and the one or more sensor regions during a display mode of operation;
• and
• sensing a plurality of mutual capacitances between one or more cells of stimulus and sensor regions in order to sense touch events at the display during a touch sensing mode of operation.

A touch enabled display comprising:

• a plurality of display pixels, each display pixel comprising a data line;
• each display pixel operable in a display mode of operation to couple the data line to display circuitry to display data on the display;
• a first group of display pixels being a touch stimulus group of pixels configured to have data lines within the first group of display pixels coupled to receive a stimulus signal during a touch sensing mode of operation;
• and
• a second group of display pixels being a charge sensor group of pixels configured to have data line within the second group of display pixels coupled to charge sensing circuitry during the touch sensing mode of operation;
• wherein:
• the touch stimulus group of pixels is disposed adjacent the charge sensor group of pixels;
• and
• the sensing circuitry is configured to sense changes in the mutual capacitance between the touch stimulus group of pixels and the adjacent charge sensor group of pixels.

A method for displaying data and sensing user input at a device comprising:

• providing a display comprising a plurality of display pixels, each display pixel comprising a data line;
• operating the display pixels in a display mode of operation to couple the data line to display circuitry to display data on the display;
• providing a first group of display pixels being a touch stimulus group of pixels having data lines within the first group of display pixels coupled to receive a stimulus signal during a touch sensing mode of operation;
• and
• providing a second group of display pixels being a charge sensor group of pixels having data lines within the second group of display pixels coupled to charge sensing circuitry during the touch sensing mode of operation;