Liquid crystal display and method of fabricating the same having particular data signal transmission lines

Abstract

A liquid crystal display includes gate lines, data lines intersecting with the gate lines to define sub-pixels, and a transmission part including transmission lines connected with the data lines to transmit data signals, where at least one pair of the transmission lines are arranged to cross each other, some of the transmission lines cross each other so that a sequence of data signals applied to the data lines can be changed, any of the transmission lines is opened at a crossing point of the transmission lines and the opened portion is connected by a separate conductor, thereby insulating the transmission lines crossing each other from each other, and an additional process for connecting the opened portion is not needed, thereby simplifying a fabrication process for the liquid crystal display.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

narrow wide line width.

Hereinafter, a method of fabricating an LCD having the above construction will be described. FIGS. 7A through 10A are cross-sectional views taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 1, indicated generally by the reference numerals 700, 800, 900 and 1000, respectively, and FIGS. 7B through 10B are cross-sectional views taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 1, indicated generally by the reference numerals 750, 850, 950 and 1050, respectively. The cross-sectional views 700, 800, 900 and 1000 taken along the line A-A′, and the cross-sectional views 750, 850, 950 and 1050 taken along the line B-B′, illustrate a method of fabricating an LCD according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, a gate line 20 and a gate insulating layer 21 covering the gate line 20 are formed on a substrate 10. The substrate 10 can be an insulator substrate, such as a transparent glass substrate or a transparent plastic substrate. The gate line 20 is formed by depositing a metal film using a sputtering, and patterning the deposited metal film. The gate insulating layer 21 can be formed by a chemical vapor deposition using silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx).

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, a data line 30 and transmission lines 40 are formed on the gate insulating layer 21. The data line 30 and the transmission lines 40 connected with the data line 30 are substantially simultaneously formed by depositing and patterning a metal film on an entire surface of the gate insulating layer 21. The transmission lines 40 include an opened transmission line 40a, of which a predetermined portion is opened, and a non-opened transmission line 40b, of which a corresponding predetermined portion is not opened. In a first transmission part 81 of FIG. 1, any of one pair of transmission lines that cross each other is opened at a crossing point, and in a second transmission part 82 of FIG. 1, any of one pair of transmission lines that do not cross each other is opened at a predetermined portion thereof.

A semiconductor layer of an amorphous silicon layer is formed at a crossing point between the gate line 20 and the data line 30 before the data line 30 and the like are formed. In addition, a gate electrode extending from the gate line 20 and a source electrode extending from the data line 30 are formed below and above the semiconductor layer, respectively, so that a thin film transistor is completed.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, a passivation layer 31 is deposited on an entire surface of the resultant substrate 10 to cover the data line 30 and the transmission lines 40. The passivation layer 31 can be formed by a chemical vapor deposition using silicon nitride or the like, much like the gate insulating layer 21. The passivation layer 31 is then patterned by a photolithography process to form a contact hole 32 at a predetermined portion thereof. The contact hole 32 is used to electrically connect a pixel electrode 50 formed on the passivation layer 31 in a subsequent process with the thin film transistor. In addition to the above contact hole, another contact hole used as a path for electrically connecting the opened portion of the transmission lines 40 is formed during the above patterning process.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, a transparent conductive layer 50′ is deposited on the passivation layer 31 using IZO or the like. The transparent conductive layer 50′ is filled in the contact hole 32 and is directly contacted with an upper surface of the opened transmission line 40a.

Thereafter, the transparent conductive layer 50′ is patterned to form a conductor 45 connecting the pixel electrode 50 and a conductor 45 connecting the opened portion of the opened transmission line 40a, so that the resultant substrates shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B are completed. The pixel electrode 50 is formed every sub-pixel such that the sub-pixel is separated from an adjacent sub-pixel thereto, and is connected with the thin film transistor through the contact hole. In addition, the transparent conductive layer 50′ is partially remained on the opened portion of the opened transmission line 40a such that the opened portion is electrically connected. To connect the opened portion using the conductor 45 that is different from the IZO or the like, a further process to deposit and pattern a separate metal film is needed before or after the pixel electrode 50 is formed.

An exemplary method of fabricating the LCD according to the present disclosure has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Since the above method is one of a variety of methods for fabricating the LCD shown in FIG. 1A, the LCD may be fabricated by alternate methods. Preferably, the fabrication method according to the present disclosure uses the same material as that of the pixel electrode so as to form the conductor for connecting the opened portion of the transmission line such that the opened portion is connected while the pixel electrode is formed, thereby simplifying the fabrication method.

As described above according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, in an LCD having four color sub-pixels, a data signal having the alternate positive polarity and negative polarity can be uniformly applied to sub-pixels with the same color by using transmission lines crossing each other. Accordingly, the picture quality can be prevented from being lowered due to a concentration of the same polarities on a specific portion.

In addition, in forming the transmission lines crossing each other, any of the transmission lines is opened at a crossing point, and the opened portion is electrically connected during the formation of the pixel electrode. Thereby, an additional process for connecting the opened portion is not needed, so that the fabrication process is simplified.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art that various modifications and variations can be made in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers all such modifications and variations that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal display comprising:

a plurality of gate lines formed on a substrate;

a plurality of data lines formed on the substrate and intersecting with the gate lines to define a plurality of sub-pixels; and

a transmission part including a plurality of transmission lines connected with the data lines to transmit a data signal, at least one pair of the transmission lines being arranged to cross each other.

2. The liquid crystal display of claim 1, wherein the transmission part comprises a first transmission part including at least one pair of the transmission lines crossing each other and a second transmission part including at least one pair of the transmission lines that do not cross each other.

3. The liquid crystal display of claim 2, wherein the sub-pixels comprise two or more sub-pixels constituting a main pixel, and the first transmission part and the second transmission part are alternatively arranged in each main pixel in a gate line direction.

4. The liquid crystal display of claim 3, further comprising a passivation layer covering the data lines and the transmission part, and a pixel electrode on the passivation layer corresponding to each sub-pixel.

5. The liquid crystal display of claim 4, wherein any of one pair of the transmission lines of the first transmission part is partially opened at a crossing point of the transmission lines, further comprising a first conductor connecting the opened portion on the passivation layer.

6. The liquid crystal display of claim 5, wherein the first conductor comprises a same material as that of the pixel electrode.

7. The liquid crystal display of claim 5. wherein any of one pair of the transmission lines of the second transmission part is partially opened at not a crossing point of the transmission lines, further comprising a second conductor connecting the opened portion on the passivation layer.

8. The liquid crystal display of claim 7, wherein the first conductor has a same resistance value as that of the second conductor.

9. The liquid crystal display of claim 7, wherein the first and second conductors comprise a same material as that of the pixel electrode.

10. The liquid crystal display of claim 3, further comprising a data driver generating data signals, wherein the data signals are applied to the data lines in a changed sequence by the transmission lines crossing each other.

11. The liquid crystal display of claim 10, wherein the main pixel comprises 1 by 4 sub-pixels arranged in the gate line direction.

12. The liquid crystal display of claim 10, wherein the main pixel comprises 2 by 2 sub-pixels arranged in the gate line direction and a data line direction.

13. The liquid crystal display of claim 10, wherein the main pixel comprises the four sub-pixels expressing red, green, blue and white colors, respectively.

14. A method of fabricating a liquid crystal display, the method comprising:

forming a plurality of gate lines on a substrate;

forming a plurality of data lines crossing the gate lines on the substrate; and

forming a plurality of transmission line connected with the data lines, at least one pair of the transmission lines being arranged to cross each other.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmission lines comprise at least one pair of transmission lines crossing each other and at least one pair of transmission lines that do not cross each other.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the data lines and the transmission lines are substantially simultaneously formed by depositing and patterning a metal film.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

forming an insulating layer on the data lines and the transmission lines;

depositing a transparent conductive layer on the insulating layer; and

patterning the deposited transparent conductive layer to form a pixel electrode.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the metal film is patterned so any of one pair of the transmission lines crossing each other is partially opened at a crossing point of the pair of the transmission lines, and the transparent conductive layer is patterned so the opened portion is connected.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the transparent conductive layer is substantially simultaneously patterned when the pixel electrode is formed.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the metal film is patterned so any of one pair of the transmission lines that do not cross each other is partially opened, and the transparent conductive layer is substantially simultaneously patterned when the pixel electrode is formed to connect the opened portion.

21. A display device comprising:

a substrate including a display area and a peripheral area which surrounds at least a portion of the display area;

a plurality of main pixels disposed in the display area, each of the plurality of main pixels including at least 2n sub-pixels, wherein n is an integer greater than one;

a data driver which supplies polarity signals to the plurality of main pixels; and

a transmission member disposed between the data driver and the plurality of main pixels, wherein the transmission member receives a first arrangement of polarity signals from the data driver and outputs a second arrangement of polarity signals, wherein the first arrangement of polarity signals is different from the second arrangement of polarity signals,

wherein a polarity of the polarity signals applied to same-colored sub-pixels of two adjacent main pixels in a row direction are opposite from each other.

22. The display device of claim 21, wherein the plurality of main pixels comprises a first main pixel connected to the first transmission part and a second main pixel connected to the second transmission part.

23. The display device of claim 22, wherein a first sub-pixel of the first main pixel has a first color and a first sub-pixel of the second main pixel has the first color, and

wherein a polarity of the first sub-pixel of the first main pixel and a polarity of the first sub-pixel of the second main pixel are different from each other.

24. The display device of claim 23, wherein each main pixel comprises four sub-pixels,

wherein each sub-pixel of the four sub-pixels of each main pixel comprises one of the first color, a second color, a third color, and a fourth color,

wherein each sub-pixel of the four sub-pixels of each main pixel has a different color, and

wherein the first color, the second color, the third color and the fourth color are different from one another.

25. The display device of claim 24, wherein each main pixel of the plurality of main pixels comprises four sub-pixels arranged in the row direction

26. The display device of claim 25, wherein a polarity sequence of sub-pixels in the first main pixel and the second main pixel comprises (+)(−)(+)(−)(−)(+)(−)(+)in a first frame.

27. The display device of claim 26, wherein a polarity sequence of sub-pixels in the first main pixel and the second main pixel comprises (−)(+)(−)(+)(+)(−)(+)(−) in a frame which is subsequent to the first frame.

28. The display device of claim 26, wherein the first transmission part comprises a first transmission line of the at least one pair of transmission lines which cross each other has an opened portion disposed therein,

wherein the first transmission line further comprises a first conductor disposed in the opened portion.

29. The display device of claim 28, wherein the first transmission line has a width which is different than a width of a second transmission line of the at least one pair of transmission lines which do not cross each other.

30. The display device of claim 28, wherein the first conductor comprises at least one of indium zinc oxide and indium tin oxide.

31. The display device of claim 21, wherein the plurality of gate lines comprise a multi-layered structure including at least two metal layers, and wherein at least two of the at least two metal layers have different physical properties from each other.

32. The display device of claim 31, wherein the plurality of data lines comprise a multi-layered structure including at least two metal layers, and wherein at least two of the at least two metal layers have different physical properties from each other.

33. The display device of claim 21, wherein the plurality of gate lines comprise at least one of chromium, aluminum, copper, molybdenum and alloys thereof.

34. The display device of claim 33, wherein the plurality of data lines comprise at least one of chromium, aluminum, copper, molybdenum and alloys thereof.

35. The display device of claim 21, wherein the first arrangement of polarity signals comprises an arrangement of (+)(−)(+)(−)(+)(−)(+)(−) polarity signals and the second arrangement of polarity signals comprises an arrangement of (+)(−)(+)(−)(−)(+)(−)(+) polarity signals.

36. The display device of claim 21, wherein the first arrangement of polarity signals comprises an arrangement of (−)(+)(−)(+)(−)(+)(−)(+) polarity signals and the second arrangement of polarity signals comprises an arrangement of (−)(+)(−)(+)(+)(−)(+)(−) polarity signals.

37. A display device comprising:

a plurality of main pixels, each of the plurality of main pixels including 2n sub-pixels, wherein n is an integer greater than one;

a plurality of gate lines disposed on a substrate, wherein the plurality of gate lines extends in a first direction;

a plurality of data lines crossing the plurality of gate lines;

a transmission part which receives data signals and supplies the data signals to the plurality of data lines;

wherein the transmission part comprises:

a first transmission line which includes an opened portion disposed therein;

a first conductor disposed in the opened portion of the first transmission line; and

a second transmission line which extends through the opened portion of the first transmission line.

38. The display device of claim 37, wherein the transmission part further comprises:

a third transmission line which includes an opened portion disposed therein,

a fourth transmission line disposed substantially parallel to the third transmission line; and

a second conductor disposed in the opened portion in the third transmission line.

39. The display device of claim 37, wherein at least one of a shape and a material of the second conductor is selected such that electrical characteristics of the second conductor and the third transmission line together are substantially equal to electrical characteristics of the first conductor and the first transmission line together.

40. The display device of claim 39, wherein the electrical characteristics comprise a resistance.

41. The display device of claim 37, wherein the plurality of main pixels comprises a first main pixel connected to the first transmission part and a second main pixel connected to the second transmission part, and wherein a polarity of the first main pixel and a polarity of the second main pixel are symmetrically opposite to each other.

42. The display device of claim 41, wherein when the first main pixel has a polarity sequence of (+)(−)(+)(−), the second main pixel has a polarity sequence of (−)(+)(−)(+).

43. The display device of claim 42, wherein each main pixel includes four sub-pixels,

wherein each sub-pixel of the four sub-pixels of each main pixel comprises one of a first color, a second color, a third color, and a fourth color,

wherein each sub-pixel of the four sub-pixels of each main pixel has a different color, and

wherein the first color, the second color, the third color and the fourth color are different from one another.

44. The display device of claim 43, wherein the first transmission part and the second transmission part are repetitively arranged in the first direction with respect to each main pixel.

45. The display device of claim 44, wherein the first main pixel and the second main pixel are repetitively arranged in the first direction corresponding to the first transmission part and the second transmission part.

46. The display device of claim 45, wherein a first sub-pixel of the first main pixel has the first color and a first sub-pixel of the second main pixel has the first color, and

wherein a polarity of the first sub-pixel of the first main pixel and a polarity of the first sub-pixel of the second main pixel are different from each other.

47. The display device of claim 46, wherein each main pixel of the plurality of main pixels comprises four sub-pixels arranged in the first direction.

48. The display device of claim 37, wherein the first transmission line comprises a first terminal and a second terminal spaced apart from the first terminal by the opened portion, and

wherein the first conductor disposed in the opened portion of the first transmission line connects the first terminal and the second terminal.

49. The display device of claim 37, wherein the plurality of data lines comprise a multi-layered structure including at least two metal layers, and wherein at least two of the at least two metal layers have different physical properties from each other.

50. The display device of claim 49, wherein the plurality of data lines comprise at least one of chromium, aluminum, copper, molybdenum and alloys thereof.

51. The display device of claim 50, wherein the plurality of data lines comprise a multi-layered structure including at least two metal layers, and wherein at least two of the at least two metal layers have different physical properties from each other.

52. The display device of claim 51, wherein the plurality of data lines comprise at least one of chromium, aluminum, copper, molybdenum and alloys thereof.

53. A display device comprising:

a plurality of main pixels, each of the plurality of main pixels including 2n sub-pixels, wherein n is an integer greater than one;

a plurality of gate lines disposed on a substrate, wherein the plurality of gate lines extends in a first direction;

a plurality of data lines crossing the plurality of gate lines;

a transmission part which receives data signals and supplies the data signals to the plurality of data lines;

wherein the transmission part comprises:

a first transmission part which comprises:

a first transmission line; and

a second transmission line which crosses the first transmission line, and

a second transmission part disposed adjacent to the first transmission part in the first direction, wherein the second transmission part comprises:

a third transmission line; and

wherein a width of the first transmission line is selected such that electrical characteristics of the first transmission line are substantially equal to electrical characteristics of the third transmission line.

54. The display device of claim 53, wherein the second transmission part further comprises:

a fourth transmission line disposed substantially parallel to the third transmission line,

wherein the first transmission line has a wider width than a width of the third transmission line and a wider width than the fourth transmission line.

55. The display device of claim 53, wherein the electrical characteristics comprise a resistance.

56. The display device of claim 53, wherein at least one of the plurality of data lines and the plurality of gate lines comprise a multi-layered structure including at least two metal layers, and wherein at least two of the at least two metal layers have different physical properties from each other.

57. The display device of claim 56, wherein at least one of the plurality of data lines and the plurality of the gate lines comprise at least one of chromium, aluminum, copper, molybdenum and alloys thereof.

58. A method of driving a display device including a plurality of main pixels, each main pixel of the plurality of main pixels having a plurality of 2n sub-pixels, wherein n is an integer greater than one, and a plurality of signal lines which extends in a first direction and is connected to the plurality of sub-pixels, the method comprising:

receiving first data signals from a data driver, wherein the first data signals are arranged in a first arrangement;

transforming the first data signals into second data signals having a second arrangement different than the first arrangement; and

transmitting the second data signals to the plurality of signal lines.

59. The method of driving a display device of claim 58, wherein the first data signals include a first data portion and a second data portion sequentially arranged in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction,

wherein the second data signals include a third data portion and a fourth data portion sequentially arranged in the second direction, the third data portion and the fourth data portion corresponding to the first data portion and the second data portion, respectively,

wherein the third data portion includes data signals arranged in the first arrangement,

wherein the fourth data portion includes at least one pair of sequentially ordered data signals, and

wherein each data signal within the at least one pair of sequentially ordered data signals is transposed with respect to the second data portion of the first data signals.

60. The method of driving the display device of claim 59, wherein the third data portion of the second data signals includes only 2 data signals transmitted to a single main pixel of the plurality of main pixels.

61. The method of driving the display device of claim 59, wherein the third data portion of the second data signals includes 2n data signals transmitted to a single main pixel of the plurality of main pixels.

62. The method of driving the display device of claim 58, wherein the plurality of main pixels comprises a first main pixel connected to the first transmission part and a second main pixel connected to the second transmission part.

63. The method of driving the display device of claim 62, wherein a first sub-pixel of the first main pixel has a first color and a first sub-pixel of the second main pixel has the first color, and

wherein a polarity of the first sub-pixel of the first main pixel and a polarity of the first sub-pixel of the second main pixel are different from each other.

64. The method of driving the display device of claim 63, wherein each main pixel includes four sub-pixels,

wherein each sub-pixel of the four sub-pixels of each main pixel comprises one of the first color, a second color, a third color, and a fourth color,

wherein each sub-pixel of the four sub-pixels of each main pixel has a different color, and

wherein the first color, the second color, the third color and the fourth color are different from one another.

65. The method of driving the display device of claim 64, wherein each main pixel of the plurality of main pixels comprises four sub-pixels arranged in the first direction.

66. The method of driving the display device of claim 65, wherein a polarity sequence of sub-pixels in the first main pixel and the second main pixel comprises (+)(−)(+)(−)(−)(+)(−)(+)in a first frame.

67. The method of driving the display device of claim 66, wherein a polarity sequence of sub-pixels in the first main pixel and the second main pixel comprises (−)(+)(−)(+) (+)(−)(+)(−) in a frame which is subsequent to the first frame.

68. The method of driving the display device of claim 66, wherein the first transmission part comprises a first transmission line of the at least one pair of transmission lines which cross each other has an opened portion disposed therein,

wherein the first transmission line further comprises a first conductor disposed in the opened portion.

69. The method of driving the display device of claim 68, wherein the first conductor comprises at least one of indium zinc oxide and indium tin oxide.

70. A display device comprising:

a plurality of main pixels, each main pixel of the plurality of main pixels having a plurality of 2n sub-pixels, wherein n is an integer greater than one;

a data driver which outputs a plurality of first data signals;

a plurality of signal lines which extends in a first direction and is connected to the plurality of main pixels; and

a transmission control member connected to the data driver, wherein the transmission control member receives first data signals from the data driver, wherein the first data signals are arranged in a first arrangement, and transforms the first data signals into second data signals having a second arrangement which is different than the first arrangement, and transmits the second data signals to the plurality of signal lines.

71. The display device of claim 70, wherein the first data signals include a first data portion and a second data portion sequentially arranged in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction,

wherein the second data signals include a third data portion and a fourth data portion sequentially arranged in the second direction, the third data portion and the fourth data portion corresponding to the first data portion and the second data portion, respectively,

wherein the third data portion includes data signals arranged in the first arrangement,

wherein the fourth data portion includes at least one pair of sequentially ordered data signals, and

wherein each data signal within the at least one pair of sequentially ordered data signals is transposed with respect to the second data portion of the first data signals.