System and method of sensing actuation and release voltages of an interferometric modulator
AssigneeIdc, LLC
InventorsMarc Mignard, Clarence Chui, Mithran C. Mathew, Jeffrey B. Sampsell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for sensing the actuation and/or release voltages of a microelectromechanical device include applying a varying voltage to the device and sensing its state and different voltage levels. In one embodiment, the device is part of a system comprising an array of interferometric modulators suitable for a display. The method can be used to compensate for temperature dependent changes in display pixel characteristics.
Claims21
A method of determining one or both of an actuation voltage and a release voltage of a microelectromechanical device, the method comprising:
- applying at least two different electric potentials to at least one electrode coupled to said device;
- detecting at least one capacitance dependent response of said device at said at least two different electric potentials;
- determining, based at least in part on said response, a state of said device at said at least two different electric potentials;
- and
- determining one or both of said actuation voltage and release voltage based at least in part on said determining a state of said device.
A display system comprising:
- an array of microelectromechanical pixels configured to present display data to a user of said display system;
- at least one additional microelectromechanical pixel that is not one of said microelectromechanical pixels configured to present display data;
- and
- a sensor, configured to sense an actuated state or a released state or both, of said at least one additional microelectromechanical pixel.
A method for compensating for shifts in one or both of the release and actuation voltage display pixels, the method comprising:
- determining the actuation and or release state of at least one pixel;
- and
- modifying driving voltage levels in response to said determining.
A method of compensating for a temperature dependence of a display device, said method comprising determining one or both of an actuation and release voltage for at least one pixel associated with said display device and modifying device operational parameters based at least in part on said determining.
A display device comprising:
- an array of microelectromechanical pixels;
- at least one test microelectromechanical pixel;
- and
- means for determining one or both of an actuation voltage and release voltage of said test microelectromechanical pixel.
A display system comprising:
- an array of microelectromechanical pixels configured to present display data to a user of said display system;
- and
- a test circuit configured to apply at least two different electric potentials to at least one electrode coupled to a microelectromechanical pixel in said array, detect at least one capacitance dependent response of said device at said at least two different electric potentials, determine based at least in part on said response, a state of said device at said at least two different electric potentials, and determine one or both of said actuation voltage and release voltage based at least in part on said determining a state of said device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.