Display element having groups of individually turned-on steps

Abstract

A display element corresponds to a pixel of a display. The display element includes a first electrode connected to a first addressable line of the display, and a number of second electrodes, each of which is connected to a corresponding second addressable line of the display. The display element includes a display mechanism situated between the first and the second electrodes, and which has a number of individually turned-on steps organized into a number of groups corresponding to the number of second electrodes. For each group of the individually turned-on steps, each step of the group has a turn-on voltage threshold at which the step is turned on upon a voltage applied between the first electrode and the second electrode to which the group corresponds that is equal to or greater than the turn-on voltage threshold.

1 . A display element corresponding to a pixel of a display, comprising:
 a first electrode connected to a first addressable line of the display;   a plurality of second electrodes, each second electrode connected to a corresponding second addressable line of the display; and,   a display mechanism situated between the first and the second electrodes, and having a plurality of individually turned-on steps organized into a number of groups corresponding to a number of the second electrodes,   wherein, for each group of the individually turned-on steps, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-on voltage threshold at which the step is turned on upon a voltage applied between the first electrode and the second electrode to which the group corresponds equal to or greater than the turn-on voltage threshold,   and wherein each group of the individually turned-on steps corresponds to a different color of the pixel, as one of red, green, and blue.   
   
   
       2 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein the display element is to realize a desired grayscale value by, for each group of the individually turned-on steps, applying a voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode to which the group corresponds. 
   
   
       3 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein, for each group of the individually turned-on steps, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-off voltage threshold at which the step is turned off upon a voltage applied between the first electrode and the second electrode to which the group corresponds equal to or less than the turn-off voltage threshold. 
   
   
       4 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein the display element has a left side and a right side, the groups of the individually turned-on steps and the second electrodes organized contiguously from the left side to the right side of the display element. 
   
   
       5 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein the display element has a left side and a right side, the groups of the individually turned-on steps and the second electrodes organized non-contiguously from the left side to the right side of the display element. 
   
   
       6 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein the display element has a front side and a back side, each individually turned-on step extending from the front side to the back side of the display element. 
   
   
       7 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein at least a sub-plurality of the individually turned-on steps are organized such that the individually turned-on steps of the sub-plurality have a common center. 
   
   
       8 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the groups of the individually turned-on steps is unequal in area as compared to other of the groups of the individually turned-on steps, such that at least one of the second electrodes is unequal in area as compared to other of the second electrodes. 
   
   
       9 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the second electrodes is non-rectangular in shape. 
   
   
       10 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein the display mechanism comprises:
 a post aligned bi-stable nematic (PABN) liquid crystal layer; and,   a conductive layer.   
   
   
       11 . The display element of  claim 1 , wherein the display element is a bi-stable display element. 
   
   
       12 . A display device comprising:
 a plurality of first addressable lines;   a plurality of second addressable lines;   a plurality of display elements corresponding to a plurality of pixels of the display device, each display element connected to one of the first addressable lines and a sub-plurality of the second addressable lines, such that no two of the display elements are connected to a same one of the first addressable lines and a same sub-plurality of the second addressable lines,   wherein each display element has a plurality of individually turned-on steps organized into a number of groups corresponding to a number of the sub-plurality of the second addressable lines to which the display element is connected,   wherein for each group of the individually turned-on steps of each display element, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-on voltage threshold at which the step is turned on upon a voltage applied between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds equal to or greater than the turn-on voltage threshold,   and wherein each group of the individually turned-on steps corresponds to a different color of the pixel, as one of red, green, and blue.   
   
   
       13 . The display device of  claim 12 , wherein each display element is to realize a desired grayscale value for each group of the individually turned-on steps of the display element, by applying a voltage between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds. 
   
   
       14 . The display device of  claim 12 , wherein, for each group of the individually turned-on steps of each display element, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-off voltage threshold at which the step is turned off upon a voltage applied between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds equal to or less than the turn-off voltage. 
   
   
       15 . The display device of  claim 12 , wherein the display elements are organized in rows and columns, such that over the columns of the display elements, the groups of the individually turned-on steps of the display elements alternate such that corresponding groups among the display elements are not inline with one another. 
   
   
       16 . A method comprising:
 for each display element of a plurality of display elements of a display device corresponding to a plurality of pixels of the display element,
 connecting the display element to a first addressable line of the display device and a plurality of second addressable lines of the display device, such that no two of the display elements are connected to a same first addressable line and a same plurality of second addressable lines; and, 
 providing a plurality of individually turned-on steps of the display element organized into a number of groups corresponding to a number of the plurality of second addressable lines to which the display element is connected,
 such that for each group of the individually turned-on steps of the display element, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-on voltage threshold at which the step is turned on upon a voltage applied between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds equal to or greater than the turn-on voltage threshold, 
 
   wherein each group of the individually turned-on steps corresponds to a different color of the pixel, as one of red, green, and blue.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein each display element is to realize a desired grayscale value by, for each group of the individually turned-on steps of the display element, applying a voltage between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein, for each group of the individually turned-on steps of each display element, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-off voltage threshold at which the step is turned off upon a voltage applied between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds equal to or less than the turn-off voltage.