DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/6/2025 & 1/9/2025 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-10, 12-13, & 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 20210375214), in view of Gandhi et al. (US 20240096275).
As to claim 1, Kim teaches a driving method of a display device [abstract & fig. 1] that changes a power voltage step by step (second input driving voltage vlin2) [figs. 1-3 & 6a-6c & para. 92-98].
Kim does not explicitly teach displaying an image with a maximum luminance corresponding to the DBV, the driving method comprising:
sensing a first DBV where a step occurs in the power voltage;
setting an offset for the DBV based on the first DBV;
correcting gamma voltage values based on the DBV based on the offset; and
generating a data voltage based on the corrected gamma voltage values.
Gandhi teaches the concept of a driving method of a display device [abstract] that changes a power voltage step by step (variable elvdd with steps) [fig. 4 & para. 32-36] based on a display brightness value (DBV) (elvdd-vs-dbv profile) [figs. 1a-2 & 4 & para. 32-36 & 18-20] and displays an image with a maximum luminance corresponding to the DBV (provide optical brightness corresponding to elvdd, elvdd-vs-dbv profile) [fig. 2], the driving method comprising:
sensing a first DBV where a step occurs in the power voltage (a fist tap of a step) [figs. 1a-2 & 4 & para. 32];
setting an offset for the DBV based on the first DBV (a second tap offset from the first tap of the step) [figs. 1a-2 & 4 & para. 32];
correcting gamma voltage values based on the DBV based on the offset (gamma 2.2, based on, interpolation of tap points) [para. 32, 36, 18-20]; and
generating a data voltage based on the corrected gamma voltage values [para. 29, 32, & 6].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the driving method of Kim, such that the display device changes a power voltage step by step based on a display brightness value (DBV) and displays an image with a maximum luminance corresponding to the DBV, the driving method comprising: sensing a first DBV where a step occurs in the power voltage; setting an offset for the DBV based on the first DBV; correcting gamma voltage values based on the DBV based on the offset; and generating a data voltage based on the corrected gamma voltage values, as taught by Gandhi, to improve image quality, as taught by Gandhi [para. 9].
As to claim 2, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 1, further comprising:
setting a voltage level of the power voltage using a lookup table stored in a memory (lut) [Gandhi: para. 34],
wherein the lookup table comprises information on voltage levels of the power voltage based on one or more DBVs within a DBV range (profile, taps utilized for interpolation points) [Gandhi: para 32-37 & 18-20].
As to claim 3, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 2, wherein the sensing the first DBV comprises:
determining a voltage level at each step of the power voltage by interpolating voltage levels in the lookup table (profile, taps utilized for interpolation points) [Gandhi: para 32-37 & 18-20], and
determining the first DBV based on the voltage level at the each step (determine first tap) [Gandhi: para. 32-37].
As to claim 4, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 1, wherein the setting the offset comprises:
setting a first offset for the first DBV corresponding to a starting point of the step [Gandhi: fig. 4 & para. 32], and
setting a second offset for a second DBV corresponding to an ending point of the step [Gandhi: fig. 4 & para. 32].
As to claim 5, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 4, wherein:
the first offset is set such that luminance of the display device is lowered within a correction range (left of first tap, utilizing a lower elvdd voltage, see left of tap3 in figure 4) [Gandhi: fig. 4 & para. 32 & para. 20-22], and
the second offset is set such that the luminance is higher within the correction range (right of second tap, utilizing a higher elvdd voltage, see right of tap2 in figure 4) [Gandhi: fig. 4 & para. 32 & para. 20-22].
As to claim 6, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 5, further comprising setting the correction range to be the same at each of the steps of the power voltage (utilizing one voltage for the interpolation range, see between tap 3 and tap 2 of figure 4) [Gandhi: fig. 4 & para. 32 & 20-22].
As to claim 9, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 5, wherein setting the offset for the DBV is based on the first offset and the second offset (tap points) [Gandhi: fig. 4 & para. 32 & 20-22].
As to claim 10, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 9, wherein:
the gamma lookup table comprises information on gamma voltages based on one or more DBVs within the DBV range and is stored in a memory [Gandhi: para. 34 & 36], and
the correcting the gamma voltage values comprises:
interpolating the gamma voltages based on the one or more DBVs and obtaining, based on the interpolating, the gamma voltage values based on the DBV (interpolation corresponding to gamma 2.2) [Gandhi: para. 32-36 & 18-22], and
reflecting the offset in the gamma voltage values based on the DBV [Gandhi: para. 32-36 & 18-22].
As to claim 12, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 1, wherein:
the display device comprises a light emitting element [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26], and
the driving method comprises applying the power voltage to a cathode electrode of the light emitting element [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26].
As to claim 13, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 1, wherein:
the display device comprises a light emitting element [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26] and a driving transistor [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26] connected to an anode electrode of the light emitting element, and
the driving method comprises applying the power voltage to the anode electrode of the light emitting element [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26].
As to claim 15, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches driving method of claim 1, wherein:
the display device comprises a scan driver that drives a display panel (scan driver 400) [Kim: figs. 2-3 & para. 96], and
the driving method comprises providing the power voltage to the scan driver (second input driving voltage VLIN2) [Kim: figs. 2-3 & para. 96].
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim, in view of Gandhi, and further in view of Pyo et al. (US 20230005438).
As to claim 14, Kim as modified by Gandhi teaches the driving method of claim 1, wherein:
the display device comprises a light emitting element [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26] and a driving transistor [Kim: fig. 2 & Gandhi: para. 26] connected to an anode electrode of the light emitting element.
Kim as modified by Gandhi does not explicitly teach the driving method comprises applying the power voltage to a gate electrode of the driving transistor.
Pyo teaches the concept of a driving method of a display device [abstract & figs. 1-2a], wherein the display device comprises a light emitting element (light emission element EL) [fig. 2 & para. 74] and a driving transistor (first transistor tr1) [fig. 2 & para. 74] connected to an anode electrode of the light emitting element; and the driving method comprises applying a power voltage (high power voltage elvdd) [fig. 2 & para. 74] to a gate electrode of the driving transistor (vg of first transistor tr1) [fig. 2].
Because Kim, Gandhi, & Pyo are in the same field of endeavor, i.e., method of driving OLED display devices, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to simply substitute the driving transistor of the display device of Kim as modified by Gandhi, with a driving transistor that utilizes applying the power voltage to a gate electrode of the driving transistor, as taught by Pyo, for the purposes of achieving the predictable result of displaying an image.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-25 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Gandhi teaches the concept of a driving method of a display device [abstract] that changes a power voltage step by step (variable elvdd with steps) [fig. 4 & para. 32-36] based on a display brightness value (DBV) (elvdd-vs-dbv profile) [figs. 1a-2 & 4 & para. 32-36 & 18-20] and displays an image with a maximum luminance corresponding to the DBV (provide optical brightness corresponding to elvdd, elvdd-vs-dbv profile) [fig. 2], the driving method comprising:
sensing a first DBV where a step occurs in the power voltage (a fist tap of a step) [figs. 1a-2 & 4 & para. 32];
setting an offset for the DBV based on the first DBV (a second tap offset from the first tap of the step) [figs. 1a-2 & 4 & para. 32];
correcting gamma voltage values based on the DBV based on the offset (gamma 2.2, based on, interpolation of tap points) [para. 32, 36, 18-20]; and
generating a data voltage based on the corrected gamma voltage values [para. 29, 32, & 6].
As to claim 16, the prior art fails to teach or suggest, “a power supply unit configured to provide a power voltage to the display panel and change the power voltage step by step based on a display brightness value (DBV),
wherein:
the display panel is configured to display an image with maximum luminance corresponding to the DBV,
the data driver is configured to correct gamma voltage values in a first DBV where a step occurs in the power voltage and generate a data voltage based on the corrected gamma voltage values, and
the data voltage for a first grayscale:
changes linearly based on the DBV in the DBV section where the power voltage is maintained constant, and
changes non-linearly or a discontinuously in:
the DBV section where the step of the power voltage occurs, or
the first DBV”, as claimed.
As to claim 21, the prior art fails to teach or suggest, “a power supply unit configured to provide a power voltage to the display panel and change the power voltage step by step based on a display brightness value (DBV),
wherein:
the display panel is configured to display an image with maximum luminance corresponding to the DBV,
the data driver is configured to correct gamma voltage values in a first DBV where a step occurs in the power voltage and generate a data voltage based on the corrected gamma voltage values, and
the data voltage for a first grayscale:
changes linearly based on the DBV in the DBV section where the power voltage is maintained constant, and
changes non-linearly or a discontinuously in:
the DBV section where the step of the power voltage occurs, or
the first DBV”, as claimed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 7-8 & 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aflatooni et al. (US 20160284275).
Gu et al. (US 20160365037).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID TUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-3385. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday; 10:00AM - 6:00PM.
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/DAVID TUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2622
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