초록 ▼

A liquid crystal display (LCD) and a driving method thereof, which synchronize a panel with an inverter to prevent backlights from being turned off during a display mode change. The LCD includes a signal converter to convert selectively input analogue video signals into digital video signals accordi

A liquid crystal display (LCD) and a driving method thereof, which synchronize a panel with an inverter to prevent backlights from being turned off during a display mode change. The LCD includes a signal converter to convert selectively input analogue video signals into digital video signals according to a predetermined sampling clock, a scaler to sample the digital video signals output from the signal converter at a preset resolution according to a predetermined sampling clock and to extract a horizontal synchronization signal from the sampled digital video signals, an inverter to drive backlights in synchronization with the horizontal synchronization signal extracted by the scaler, a panel driver to receive the sampled digital video signals in a predetermined signal format and to display the received signals on a liquid crystal panel, and a controller to detect the horizontal synchronization signal from the input video signals to determine a display mode, to output sampling clock signals to the signal converter and the scaler according to the display mode, and to generate inverter on/off signals whenever the display mode is changed.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A liquid crystal display, having a liquid crystal panel and backlights, comprising: a signal converter to convert selectively input analogue video signals into digital video signals in synchronization with a first predetermined sampling clock signal;a scaler to sample the digital video signals at

1. A liquid crystal display, having a liquid crystal panel and backlights, comprising: a signal converter to convert selectively input analogue video signals into digital video signals in synchronization with a first predetermined sampling clock signal;a scaler to sample the digital video signals at a panel resolution in synchronization with a second predetermined sampling clock signal, and to extract a horizontal synchronization signal from the sampled digital video signals;a panel driver to display the digital video signals on the liquid crystal panel;a controller to detect the extracted horizontal synchronization signal from the digital video signals to determine a display mode, to output the first and second predetermined sampling clock signals to the signal converter and the scaler, respectively, according to the determined display mode, and to generate inverter on and off signals whenever the horizontal synchronization signal is transiently changed; anda backlight driver to drive the backlights in synchronization with the detected horizontal synchronization signal, the backlight driver including a pulse width modulator to generate pulse width modulation signals, which are synchronized with the horizontal synchronization signal, and to turn the pulse width modulation signals on or off according to the on and off signals generated by the controller, and a switching transformer to switch a power supply on or off according to the pulse width modulation signals,wherein enable signals for the pulse width modulator and the panel driver are synchronized with the horizontal synchronization signal extracted by the scaler,wherein the backlights comprise a radiator lamp which radiates light using the power supplied by the switching transformer,wherein when the pulse width modulation signals are turned off, the switching transformer switches a power on to the radiator lamp, whereby the radiator lamp is prevented from being disabled as a result of the display mode change. 2. The liquid crystal display of claim 1, wherein the controller generates and outputs the off signals to the backlight driver when the horizontal synchronization signal is changed. 3. A method in which a controller controls backlights in a liquid crystal display, comprising: controlling a backlight driver to drive the backlights in synchronization with a first horizontal synchronization signal in a digital video signal when video signals are input;determining whether a user has changed a display mode;inputting an off signal to the backlight driver, if the first horizontal synchronization signal is transiently changed, to control the backlight driver to not drive the backlights;checking whether the first horizontal synchronization signal change is completed;inputting an backlight driver on signal to the backlight driver if the first horizontal synchronization signal change is completed so as to control the backlight driver to drive the backlights in synchronization with a second horizontal synchronization signal;generating the backlight driver off signal until the second horizontal synchronization signal is detected; andturning the backlight driver on or off according to the backlight driver on and off signals,wherein the backlight driver includes a pulse width modulator to generate pulse width modulation signals, which are synchronized with the first and second horizontal synchronization signals, and to turn the pulse width modulation signals on or off according to the on and off signals generated by the controller, and a switching transformer to switch a power supply on or off according to the pulse width modulation signals, enable signals for the pulse width modulator being synchronized with the first horizontal synchronization signal,the backlights use the power supplied by the switching transformer, andwhen the backlight driver is turned off during a display mode change when the pulse width modulation signals are turned off, the switching transformer switches a power on to the radiator lamp, whereby the backlights are prevented from being disabled as a result of the display mode change. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising repeating the checking if the first horizontal synchronization signal change is not completed. 5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising initially skipping the determining, the inputting the backlight driver off signal, and the checking operations if the user has not changed the first horizontal synchronization signal. 6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining comprises recognizing key signals as first horizontal synchronization signal change signals if the video signals are those of a PC and are displayed when the user inputs the key signals to change the video signals. 7. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining comprises determining whether a display mode is changed from a PC to that of a DTV. 8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the checking lasts until the second horizontal synchronization signal is generated. 9. The method according to claim 3, wherein the checking comprises determining whether the second horizontal synchronization signal exists in the video signals. 10. A liquid crystal display, having a liquid crystal panel and backlights, comprising: a signal converter to convert a video signal into a digital video signal in synchronization with a first sampling clock signal;a scaler to sample the digital video signal at a panel resolution in synchronization with a second sampling clock signal, and to extract a first synchronization signal therefrom;a panel driver to display the digital video signals on the liquid crystal panel;a controller to detect the synchronization signal from the digital video signal to determine a display mode, to output the first and second sampling clock signals to the signal converter and the scaler, respectively, according to the determined display mode, and to generate on and off signals whenever the synchronization signal is transiently changed; anda backlight driver to drive the backlights in synchronization with a second synchronization signal and being turned on or off according to the on/off signals input from the controller, the backlight driver including a pulse width modulator to generate pulse width modulation signals, which are synchronized with the horizontal synchronization signals, and to turn the pulse width modulation signals on or off according to the on and off signals generated by the controller, and a switching transformer to switch a power supply on or off according to the pulse width modulation signals,wherein enable signals for the pulse width modulator and the panel driver are synchronized with the first horizontal synchronization signal extracted by the scaler,wherein the controller generates the off signals until the second synchronization signal is detected, andwherein when the pulse width modulation signals are turned off, the switching transformer switches a power on to the backlights, whereby the backlights are prevented from being disabled as a result of the display mode change. 11. The liquid crystal display according to claim 10, wherein the controller determines a display mode. 12. The liquid crystal display according to claim 11, wherein the controller outputs the first and second sampling clock signals to the signal converter and the scaler, respectively, according to the determined display mode. 13. The liquid crystal display according to claim 10, wherein the backlights comprise a lamp to radiate light using the power supplied by the switching transformer. 14. The liquid crystal display according to claim 10, wherein the controller generates and outputs off signals to the backlight driver when the display mode is changed, and continues generating and outputting off signals until the second synchronization signal is detected.