Display systems having electrically independent regions

Abstract

A display system including a first set of conductive electrodes, a second set of conductive electrodes, and a display medium. The first set of conductive electrodes is configured to receive a selection signal. The second set of conductive electrodes is configured to interact with the first set of conductive electrodes for activating the reading or writing of display data. The second set of conductive electrodes is configured to receive a data signal and to activate the reading or writing of a target area of the display device, in response to the selection signal to the first set of conductive electrodes and the data signal to the second set of conductive electrodes. The display medium is movably coupled with the first and second sets of conductive electrodes. One or both of the first and the second sets of conductive electrodes have at least two electrically independent regions having an independent signal input for each region.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A bistable display system comprising:
 a display medium configured to display visual information;   a display activation unit movably coupled with the display medium, the display activation unit being configured to activate at least one of a reading of input data from a target area of the display medium and a writing of display data to the display medium, the display activation unit having at least two electrically independent regions having at least an independent signal input for each region; and   a display control device coupled with the display activation unit, the display control device being configured to supply at least one of the display selections and display data signals to the display activation unit.   
     
     
         24 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display medium comprises one of mono-stable and bi-stable display materials. 
     
     
         25 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display medium is remotely coupled with the display activation unit without having contact with the conductive electrodes. 
     
     
         26 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , further comprising a power supply unit configured to supply power to the bistable display system and a light source for illuminating the display medium. 
     
     
         27 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display medium has a plurality of display pixels and has at least one display area. 
     
     
         28 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display activation unit is movable relative to the display device. 
     
     
         29 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display medium is configured to sense external image input and the display activation unit is configured to detect the external image input. 
     
     
         30 . The bistable display system of  claim 29 , wherein the display medium is configured to sense the external image input via at least one of thermal, optical, magnetic, electrical, resistive, inductive, mechanical, and pressure sensing techniques. 
     
     
         31 . The bistable display system of  claim 30 , wherein the external image input comprises handwriting. 
     
     
         32 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display medium comprises one of mono-stable and bi-stable display materials. 
     
     
         33 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display medium comprises one of liquid crystal, electrophoretic, electrochromic, magnetic, and electrochemical materials. 
     
     
         34 . The bistable display system of  claim 23 , wherein the display activation unit comprises:
 a first set of conductive electrodes, the first set of conductive electrodes being configured to receive a selection signal; and   a second set of conductive electrodes configured to interact with the first set of conductive electrodes, the second set of conductive electrodes being configured to receive a data signal and to activate at least one of the reading of the input data and the writing of the display data in response to the selection signal to the first set of conductive electrodes and the data signal to the second set of conductive electrodes.   
     
     
         35 . The bistable display system of  claim 34 , wherein the display control circuitry is further configured to perform at least one of: providing at least one of a selection signal and a data signal to the display activation unit; and identifying at least one of the electrically independent regions for signal output from the display control circuitry.