Electrode shunt in plasma channel
AssigneeTektronix, Inc.
InventorsKevin J. Ilcisin, John S. Moore
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for reducing cross-talk across the width of a pixel, cross-talk along the length of a channel, flicker, and/or image sticking in a display system by providing (a) an electrical circuit (resistor 102, switch 108) for bringing a reference electrode (30') and a row electrode (62') in a channel (20') to the same potential before the gaseous medium in the channel loses an ability to redistribute charge and (b) an electrical circuit (driver 104 and/or driver 26) operable to bring or to clamp one or both of those electrodes to a predetermined electrical potential. Corresponding methods are also provided.
Claims25
A method of operating an addressable electro-optic system having multiple light pattern data storage elements and including plural nonoverlapping first electrodes that extend in a first direction, a substrate having plural nonintersecting channels that extend along a major surface thereof in a second direction, each of the channels containing an ionizable gaseous medium and having one of plural second electrodes and one of plural reference electrodes extending along a substantial portion of the length of the channel, the first electrodes and the channels disposed face-to-face and spaced-apart with the first direction transverse to the second direction to define overlapping regions of the first electrodes and the channels, a layer of material having electro-optic properties positioned between the first electrodes and the substrate, the layer of electro-optic material and the overlapping regions defining plural light pattern data storage elements that selectively store an image field representing typically nonuniform light pattern information carried by the first electrodes, the method comprising the steps of, for each channel in an image field:
- providing first electrical signals to the first electrodes;
- providing for a discharge time second electrical signals between the second electrode and the reference electrode, the second electrical signals causing a discharge in the gaseous medium and thereby imparting to the gaseous medium a discharge time ability to redistribute electrical charge among surfaces exposed to the gaseous medium, the first and second signals cooperating during the discharge time to change the electro-optical properties of the regions of the layer associated with the storage elements, the second electrical signals further providing in one or more excited states an excited quantity of the gaseous medium, the excited quantity sufficient after the discharge time has elapsed to provide the gaseous medium with a temporary ability to redistribute charge to make the interior of the channel free of electric fields;
- and
- bringing the second electrode and the reference electrode to the same electrical potential after the discharge time has elapsed but before the gaseous medium has lost the temporary ability to redistribute charge.
An addressable electro-optic system having multiple light pattern data storage elements for forming an image, comprising:
- a first substrate supporting on a major surface thereof plural nonoverlapping first electrodes that extend in a first direction;
- a second substrate having plural nonintersecting channels that extend along a major surface thereof in a second direction, each of the channels containing an ionizable gaseous medium and having one of plural second electrodes and one of plural reference electrodes extending along a substantial portion of the length of the channel;
- the first and second substrates disposed face-to-face and spaced-apart with the first direction transverse to the second direction to define overlapping regions of the first electrodes and the channels;
- a layer of material having electro-optic properties positioned between the first and second substrates, the layer of electro-optic material and the overlapping regions defining plural light pattern data storage elements that selectively store an image field representing typically nonuniform light pattern information carried by the first electrodes;
- first means for providing first electrical signals to the first electrodes;
- second means for providing for a discharge time second electrical signals between the second electrode and the reference electrode in each channel in an image field, the second electrical signals causing a discharge in the gaseous medium and thereby imparting to the gaseous medium a discharge time ability to redistribute charge among surfaces exposed to the gaseous medium, the first and second electrical signals cooperating during the discharge time to change the electro-optical properties of the regions of the layer associated with the storage elements, the second electrical signals further providing in one or more excited states an excited quantity of the gaseous medium, the excited quantity sufficient after the discharge time has elapsed to provide the gaseous medium with a temporary ability to redistribute charge to make the interior of the channel free of electric fields;
- third means for bringing the second electrode and the third electrode in each channel to the same electrical potential after the discharge time has elapsed but before the ionizable gaseous medium has lost the temporary ability to redistribute charge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.