TWI661191B - Display panel inspection device and method for the inspection of display panels - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a display panel inspection device that appropriately performs lighting inspection on a display panel having a curved portion on its outer periphery.

The display panel inspection device of the present invention is provided with: a mounting table 11 for mounting the display panel P; a camera 12; an optical system 13 for adjusting the optical path length; and an image synthesis condition setting means 171b based on the flat face P1 and the curved part P2 The mark parallel to the boundary is displayed on the display panel P, and the direct and indirect images included in the image captured by the camera 12 appear separately. The image synthesis conditions for synthesizing the direct image and the indirect image are set. The image is taken by the camera 12 without the optical system 13, the indirect image is taken by the camera 13 through the optical system 13, and the image synthesis means 171 c is based on the setting method of the image synthesis conditions In the image composition conditions set in 171b, the direct image and the indirect image included in the image captured by the camera 12 are synthesized while the display panel P is fully lit.

Description

Display panel inspection device and display panel inspection method

The invention relates to a display panel inspection device for inspecting a display panel.

Display panels such as liquid crystal display panels or organic EL (organic electroluminescence) display panels (hereinafter referred to as panels or display panels), or display devices (e.g., monitors, personal computers, mobile terminals (flat panels) with assembled display panels) Terminals, smartphones, mobile phones, etc.) are inspected for the appearance or lighting status of the display panel during manufacturing or before shipment. Conventionally, in the inspection of the appearance or lighting state of a display panel, the following method has been performed: an image of a display panel belonging to the object to be inspected using an imaging means such as a camera, and the inspection is performed based on the captured image.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology related to an image quality inspection device. The image quality inspection device is provided in a state in which all pixels of a liquid crystal display panel are in a display operation (hereinafter also referred to as a lighting state). The upper CCD camera images the horizontally arranged liquid crystal display panel belonging to the inspection object, and obtains a flat image of the liquid crystal display panel, and Image processing is performed on the planar image to specifically point out defective pixels with insufficient brightness.

Patent Document 2 discloses a technology related to an appearance inspection device. The appearance inspection device is configured such that a reflector is disposed on the side of a liquid crystal display panel that is a horizontal arrangement that belongs to the object to be inspected. The light is reflected toward a television camera disposed above to photograph the plane and side of the subject.

[Prior technical literature] [Patent Literature]

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-67154

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-3488

There is a case where the display surface to be inspected is a curved display panel. In particular, since the organic EL panel system can have flexibility, there has been conventionally a display device that assembles the organic EL panel in a state where the organic EL panel is partially or entirely bent.

In the inspection of the display state of the display panel in the bent state (hereinafter, also referred to as the lighting inspection), when a camera is used to photograph the entire panel in the full-pixel lighting state, the image of the bent portion may change. It is not clear or cannot be displayed. For example, in a plan view of a rectangle, only a peripheral edge portion of a group of opposite sides will be convexly bent toward the back side, and a flat display panel between the two bent portions is used as the inspection object. In the state where all the pixels of the display panel are lit, as in the inspection device described in Patent Document 1, when the entire panel is photographed with a camera disposed at a position opposite to the center of the panel to obtain a captured image, each pixel of the peripheral curved portion The angle between the normal direction and the camera direction becomes larger toward the edge of the panel. In general, the normal direction of the brightness of each pixel is the largest, and as the angle from the normal direction becomes larger, the brightness system becomes smaller, so the more the curved portion goes to the edge side, the smaller the brightness becomes. Furthermore, when the angle between the normal direction of each pixel and the direction of the camera becomes larger, the width of the image of the pixel being photographed becomes narrower and less clear, and there may be cases where it is obscured by the part on the front side and cannot be displayed. Therefore, there may be a case where a sharp image cannot be obtained at the curved portion of the periphery, and the lighting inspection cannot be performed properly.

Therefore, in the appearance inspection device described in Patent Document 2, it is considered that a reflector is disposed on the side of the curved portion of the display panel belonging to the inspection object, and the light from the side of the display panel is reflected toward the camera side. A method of recording a flat image and a side image using the same camera. However, at this time, there is a gap between the length of the light path in the plane image captured directly from the camera and the side image captured through the reflector. Therefore, when it is impossible to fall within the range of the depth of field of the camera, it is necessary to make the flat image photography and the side The image shooting is focused to take pictures, so there may be a problem that the inspection takes time.

Furthermore, at this time, the curved portion is repeatedly photographed in both the planar image and the side image. The images of these curved portions may include portions that cannot obtain sufficient brightness required for inspection based on the reasons described above. That is, there are insufficiently bright portions on both sides of the flat image It is also possible to produce insufficient brightness on one or both sides of the side image. Therefore, when performing the lighting inspection, it is considered that the position (address) of each pixel of the captured image cannot be specified easily.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a display panel inspection device capable of appropriately performing lighting inspection on a display panel having a curved portion on its outer periphery.

In order to achieve the above object, a first feature of the display panel inspection device of the present invention includes a mounting table on which a display panel is mounted, the display panel having a flat portion belonging to the object to be inspected and at least one side of the flat portion being bent at an outer periphery. The curved portion; the imaging means is provided facing the flat portion of the display panel; the optical system is provided on the display panel so as not to block the light path emitted from the display panel and directly reaching the light of the imaging means And the side of the space between the imaging means and the length of the correction optical path is the same as the length of the optical path emitted from the display panel and directly reaching the imaging means. The length of the light path when the light reaches the aforementioned imaging means is converted into the length of the light path in the air; the means for setting the image synthesis conditions are displayed on the display panel based on the mark parallel to the boundary between the flat portion and the curved portion. Direct images and indirect images included in the images captured by the aforementioned imaging methods The image forming conditions for synthesizing the direct image and the indirect image are set based on the foregoing marks that appear separately from each other. The direct image is a person captured by the imaging means without the optical system. The indirect image is Those who are photographed by the aforementioned imaging means through the aforementioned optical system; and the image synthesis means are included in the state where the display panel is fully lit in accordance with the image synthesis conditions set by the aforementioned image synthesis condition setting means, Direct images and indirect images of the images captured by the aforementioned imaging means are synthesized.

The second feature of the display panel inspection device of the present invention is further provided with: an inspection means, which specifically points out an image portion corresponding to each pixel of the display panel in an image synthesized by the aforementioned image synthesis means, and based on the respective images Part of the brightness to check the presence of defects in the panel pixels.

The third feature of the display panel inspection device of the present invention is further provided with a marker setting means for setting the marker to be displayed at a position of the display panel.

A fourth feature of the display panel inspection device of the present invention is that the marker setting means sets the marker to a position above a predetermined brightness for each of the direct image and the indirect image.

A fifth feature of the display panel inspection device of the present invention is that the marker setting means reads the indirect image in line units parallel to the boundary between the flat portion and the curved portion, and sets the area with the predetermined brightness or higher as a settable area. A fixed area, and temporarily set the mark at a position within the settable area. When the temporarily set mark is displayed on the display panel, when the mark appearing on the direct image is above the predetermined brightness, the foregoing is used. Temporarily set the marker to set the position.

The sixth feature of the display panel inspection device of the present invention is that the mark setting means temporarily sets a position in the settable area, and sets the position in the settable area in parallel with the boundary between the flat portion and the curved portion. Position of a predetermined ratio from one side to the other.

In order to achieve the above object, a first feature of the display panel inspection method of the present invention is: The direct image captured by the imaging means provided on the upper side and the image captured by the optical system provided on the side are used to check whether the flat part belongs to the object under inspection and at least one side of the flat part is curved. The method for a display panel of a curved portion includes an image synthesis condition setting step based on an image captured by the imaging means in a state where a mark parallel to an interface between the flat portion and the curved portion is displayed on a display panel. To set the conditions for synthesizing direct and indirect images; the image synthesis step is based on the image captured by the aforementioned imaging means while the display panel is fully lit, and according to the image synthesis set by the aforementioned image synthesis condition setting step Conditional synthesis of direct and indirect images; and The inspection step is to specifically point out the image portion corresponding to each pixel of the aforementioned display panel in the composite image synthesized by the aforementioned image synthesis step, and check the presence or absence of defects of the panel pixels according to the brightness of each image portion.

According to the display panel inspection device and the display panel inspection method of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately perform a lighting inspection on a display panel having a curved portion on the outer periphery.

1‧‧‧Display panel inspection device

11‧‧‧mounting table

12‧‧‧camera (camera means)

13‧‧‧ Optical System

13a‧‧‧Mirror

13b‧‧‧ 稜鏡

15‧‧‧ Panel drive signal generator

16‧‧‧ Panel Power Supply

17‧‧‧Inspection of processing equipment

19‧‧‧ Input Department

20‧‧‧Output Department

20a‧‧‧Operation Monitor

20b‧‧‧Video Monitor

171‧‧‧Processing Department

171a‧‧‧Mark setting method

171b‧‧‧Image synthesis condition setting means

171c‧‧‧Image synthesis means

171d‧‧‧ Inspection means

171e‧‧‧External machine control means

172‧‧‧Memory Department

173‧‧‧External Network Department

G1, G2, G3, K1‧‧‧ camera image

G11, G21, G31, K11‧‧‧ Direct images

G12, G13, G22, G23, G32, G33, K12, K13, K121, K131‧‧‧ indirect images

K1‧‧‧ camera image

K2, K3, K4 ‧‧‧ composite image

P‧‧‧Display Panel

P1‧‧‧Plane Department

P2, P3 ‧‧‧ Bending part

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display panel inspection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a display panel placed on the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of an inspection processing device provided in the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the display mark setting process in the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a marker setting process using a captured image captured by a camera provided in the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the image composition condition setting process of the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart of the processing content of the image synthesis processing and inspection processing.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating processing contents of image synthesis condition setting processing, image synthesis processing, and inspection processing of the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Through the drawings, the same or equivalent parts or components are marked with the same or equivalent symbols. However, the scheme is schematic and should be noted that it is different from the actual state. In addition, the drawings also include portions whose relationship or ratio is different from each other.

In addition, the embodiment shown below is an example of a device or the like that embodies the technical idea of the present invention. The technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the materials, shapes, structures, arrangements, and the like of each constituent part. The technical idea of the present invention can implement various changes in the scope of patent application.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the display panel inspection device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display panel inspection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view showing a display panel placed on the display panel inspection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a partial plan view, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A.

(Overall Structure of Display Panel Inspection Device)

As shown in FIG. 1, the display panel inspection apparatus 1 of the first embodiment includes a mounting table 11 on which the display panel P belonging to the inspection object is mounted and fixed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display panel P placed on the mounting table 11 includes a flat portion P1 and curved portions P2 and P3 that are bent on opposite sides of the outer periphery of the flat portion P1. In the case where the display panel P is assumed to extend flat, panel pixels are arranged in a matrix in the X1-X2 direction and the Y1-Y2 direction with one vertex of one of the curved portions P2 of the display panel P as an origin.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a camera 12 as an imaging means is disposed above the center (Z1 direction) of the flat portion P1 of the display panel P, facing the flat portion P1 of the display panel P. The camera 12 is a camera image that can obtain a display state by using a digital image by taking a picture of the display panel P on which the image is displayed. For example, a CCD camera can be used. The camera 12 is fixed by a camera fixing mechanism (not shown).

An optical system 13 composed of reflecting mirrors 13a and 13b is provided in such a manner that the curved portions P2, P3, and flat portions P1 of the display panel P can be imaged by the camera 12 at the same time. The reflecting mirrors 13a and 13b are provided on the side of the space between the display panel P and the camera 12 so as not to block the light path of the light emitted from the display panel P and directly reaching the camera 12.

The brightness of the light radiated from each pixel of the display panel P is maximum in the normal direction of each pixel, and the brightness becomes smaller as it is tilted from the normal direction. Therefore, the vertical direction of the light emitted from each panel pixel of the flat portion P1 is vertical. The brightness above the direction (Z1 direction) will increase, and it will decrease as you tilt from the Z1 direction. In addition, the light emitted from each panel pixel of the curved portions P2 and P3 has a large brightness in a normal direction of a plane where the panel pixels are connected. As the light is inclined from the normal direction, the brightness decreases. In addition, the bent portions P2 and P3 are bent toward the Z2 direction with the Y1-Y2 direction as an axis. Therefore, the normal direction of the junction plane of the panel pixels of the bent portion P2 is toward the edge pixels, and the more the pixels from the Z1 direction toward the X2 The direction is inclined, and the normal direction of the plane of contact between the panel pixels of the curved portion P3 is the pixel toward the edge side, the more it is inclined from the Z1 direction to the X1 direction.

Therefore, the light that directly reaches the camera 12 without going from the flat portion P1 through the optical system 13 is that the brightness of the light from the center is large. Although the brightness tends to be lower toward the surroundings, the display panel P is considered. By appropriately arranging the position of the camera such as the viewing angle of the camera, the performance of the camera 12, and the like, the entire plane portion P1 can be clearly imaged. However, the light from the curved portions P2 and P3 directly reaching the camera 12 without passing through the optical system 13 becomes larger as the tilt from the normal direction of the plane to the edge is increased, so the brightness is increased toward the edge. It will suddenly become smaller and you cannot record clearly.

On the other hand, a part of the light emitted from the flat portion P1 and the curved portions P2 and P3 of the display panel P reaches the camera 12 through the optical system 13. That is, a part of the light emitted from the curved portions P2, P3, and the flat portion P1 of the display panel P and reaching the reflection mirror 13a is reflected to the 稜鏡 13b and penetrates the 稜鏡 13b to reach the camera 12.稜鏡 13b is the light arranged mainly on the side of the display panel P is reflected by the mirror 13a The light reaches the light path of the camera, and is composed of a light penetrating member such as glass.

Light travels through glass faster than it travels through air. That is, the optical path length in glass becomes shorter when it is converted to the optical path length in air.

Therefore, the reflecting mirrors 13a and 稜鏡 13b are emitted from the display panel P, reflected by the reflecting mirror 13a and incident on the light to 稜鏡 13b, and the corrected optical path is converted by converting the length of the optical path up to the camera 12 into the optical path length in the air. The length of the light path is set such that the length is the same as the length of the light path that exits from the center of the display panel P and reaches the camera 12 directly. Thereby, the in-focus surfaces of the planar portion P1 and the curved portions P2 and P3 are aligned with each other and captured by the camera 12, thereby obtaining a captured image of the planar portion P1 and the curved portions P2 and P3.

Therefore, the light reaching the camera 12 through the optical system 13 has a tendency that the brightness of the portion irradiated in the direction normal to the plane of the panel pixels of the curved portions P2 and P3 is larger, and the brightness tends to decrease toward the surroundings. However, by appropriately setting the position or angle of the mirror 13a, the panel pixels including the extreme ends of the curved portions P2 and P3 (the panel pixels arranged at both ends in the X1-X2 direction toward the Y1-Y2 direction), the curved portion P2 will be captured as clearly as possible. However, the light from the flat portion P1 side of the curved portions P2, P3, or the flat portion P1 to the camera 12 via the optical system 13 is caused by the inclination of the normal direction of each panel pixel to increase, and as it goes to the center side (X1 direction in the curved portion P2, X2 direction in the curved portion P3) will become larger, so as it goes to the center side, the brightness will suddenly decrease and it will not be clear. Clearly record video.

As described above, in the planar image (hereinafter also referred to as a direct image) directly captured by the camera 12 without passing through the optical system 13, the curved portions P2 and P3 sides at both ends are not clear, and indirectly via the optical system 13. The side image (hereinafter also referred to as an indirect image) captured by the camera 12 is not clear on the plane portion P1 side. In addition, the unclear parts of these direct images and indirect images are recorded relatively clearly in the other image, respectively.

The display panel inspection device 1 includes a panel drive signal generator 15, a panel power supply 16, an inspection processing device 17, an input unit 19, and an output unit 20.

The panel drive signal generator 15 displays an inspection screen and the like on the display panel P in accordance with an instruction from the inspection processing device 17.

The panel power supply 16 supplies power to the display panel P.

The input unit 19 inputs information such as operation or data of the display panel inspection device 1 in a manner of a mouse or a keyboard, and supplies the information to the inspection processing device 17.

The output unit 20 displays a screen or the like in accordance with an instruction from the inspection processing device 17, and includes an operation monitor 20a and a video monitor 20b. The operation monitor 20a is a screen that displays the operation of the display panel inspection device 1 or its constituent parts (camera 12, panel drive signal generator 15, panel power supply 16), various settings, data input, and operation Status display, etc. The image monitor 20 b displays an image captured by the camera 12 or images the image using the inspection processing device 17. Processed images, etc.

The inspection processing device 17 may be constituted by a general-purpose computer such as a PC (personal computer) to control an external device such as a camera 12 or a panel drive signal generator 15, a panel power supply 16, or the like during inspection to generate The processing of the screen displayed on the display panel, or the processing of the image captured by the camera 12, or the processing for specifying the defective pixel based on the image processed by the image processing.

FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram illustrating the configuration of the inspection processing device 17 included in the display panel inspection device 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inspection processing device 17 is provided with a processing unit 171 as a functional block realized by a program and a CPU that executes various processes according to the program. The processing unit 171 is connected to a storage unit 172 for storing various data. The data stored in the memory unit 172 includes a memory area functioning as a work area, various programs for realizing the processing unit 171, photographed image data captured by the camera 12, and an image processed by the image processed by the processing unit 171. Data, screen data displayed on the display panel during inspection determined by the processing unit 171, various data calculated to specifically indicate defective pixels, and data used to control various external devices. The storage unit 172 is implemented by a storage medium such as a memory or a hard disk. The processing unit 171 is connected to an external network unit 173 for connecting to various external devices. External devices such as the input unit 19, the output unit 20, the camera 12, the panel drive signal generator 15, and the panel power supply 16 are connected to the external network unit 173 to transmit or receive data.

The processing section 171 of the inspection processing device 17 virtually executes a calculation program such as an execution program or various data stored in the memory section 172 and a CPU executed by the execution program, and virtually constructs a marker setting means 171a and an image. Composition condition setting means 171b, image composition means 171c, inspection means 171d, and external device control means 171e.

As described above, the direct image and the indirect image have a part of repeated photography. That is, in the direct image, a portion of the flat portion P1 and the curved portion P2 will be captured, and in the indirect image, a portion of the curved portion P2 and the flat portion P1 will be captured.

However, as described above, the curved portion P2 and P3 of the direct image and the portion of the planar portion P1 or the planar portion P1 side of the indirect image include areas where the amount of light required to perform the lighting inspection is insufficient (unclear Area). Therefore, although it is necessary to use the image on the side of the clear display for synthesis, since the two sides in the X1-X2 direction of the direct image are not clear, the address of each pixel (from the origin) cannot be specified in the direct image. Pixel coordinates), it is difficult to synthesize indirect images correctly. Therefore, the markers displayed on both the direct image and the indirect image are displayed on the display panel, and based on the information when the image is synthesized based on the markers, a cut-out area in the captured image or a condition for image synthesis is generated. Then, by synthesizing the images according to the conditions, a composite image composed of an overall clear image can be obtained. As for the mark, a straight line display parallel to the boundary between the flat surface P1 and the curved portions P2 and P3 can be used, and it is preferably displayed by a row of panel pixels. In addition, the mark is preferably a continuous linear shape, but may be an intermittent linear shape.

Therefore, the marker setting means 171a sets conditions such as the position of the marker to be displayed on the display panel, using the image composition conditions for synthesizing the direct image and the indirect image captured by the camera 12 as a setting reference. Conditions such as the position of the set mark are memorized in the memory unit 172.

The image synthesizing condition setting means 171b is based on a mark displayed on the display panel as a reference, and sets an image area to be used for the synthesis of the captured direct image and indirect image, or sets a method of synthesizing the direct image and the indirect image. The set image area or composition method is stored in the memory unit 172 as an image composition condition.

The image synthesizing means 171c synthesizes a direct image and an indirect image according to the image synthesizing conditions set by the image synthesizing condition setting means 171b. At this time, correction of the shape distortion of the indirect image or brightness adjustment of the direct image and the indirect image is performed. The created composite image is memorized in the memory unit 172.

The inspection means 171d refers to the image synthesized by the image synthesizing means 171c to specify a pixel corresponding to a portion of each panel pixel, and requires the brightness of each pixel based on the pixel. In addition, the inspection means 171d determines the presence or absence of a defective pixel or specifies the address of the defective pixel according to the required brightness of each pixel. The determination result of the presence or absence of the defective pixel or the address of the defective pixel specified is stored in the storage unit 172.

The external device control means 171e performs processing of information input from the input unit 19 and processing of an output screen of the output unit 20. and, The control signals for controlling the panel power supply 16 or the panel driving signal generator 15 and the camera 12 are sent out, and the signals or image data sent from these devices are processed. The image data is stored in the memory 172.

Next, the function of the display panel inspection device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The display panel inspection device 1 belonging to the first embodiment of the present invention mainly performs mark setting processing, image composition condition setting processing, image composition processing, and inspection processing. Therefore, each process will be described in detail below.

≪Mark setting processing≫

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the processing content of the display mark setting process in the display panel inspection device 1 belonging to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a marker setting process using a captured image captured by the camera 12. According to the instruction of the inspection processing device 17, when the panel driving signal generator 15 causes the display panel P of the non-defective pixel to complete the lighting inspection to light up any one of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). In the case of a linear mark of one color (any one of the three primary colors of pixels), an example of a portion of a captured image captured by the camera 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the captured image includes a direct image emitted from the display panel P and not captured by the camera 12 through the optical system 13, and a direct image emitted from the display panel P and passed through the optical system 13 by the camera The two images are connected between the two images. In the explanatory diagram shown in FIG. 5, only the upper left portion is displayed in the captured image, the left portion of the indirect image is displayed on the upper side, and the upper left portion of the front image is displayed on the lower side. For indirect images, a mark described later is used. The indirect image of the captured image obtained in step S105 of the setting process, and the direct image is the direct image of the captured image obtained in step S115.

First, the display panel P of the non-defective pixel is fixed on the mounting table 11. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, according to a user operation of the input unit 19, when the marker setting process is performed, the marker setting means 171a first sets an address as a line address (step S101). Wherein, the line address refers to the address of the panel pixels of the display panel P in the scanning direction (X1 direction) when the pixel located at one vertex of the curved portion P2 of the display panel P is the origin (1, 1). The line addresses (1,1) to (1, n) (n is the number of pixels in the Y1 direction) are line addresses of 1 address.

Next, the flag setting means 171a is lifted before the panel power supply 16 is turned on and the display panel P is supplied with power, and the control panel drives the signal generator 15 to cause the set line address (hereinafter also referred to as (Line mark) is displayed (step S103). In addition, in this embodiment, the line marks display any one of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) (any of the three primary colors of pixels), and the other part of the display panel P (background ) Is set to black (pixels are off).

Then, the marker setting means 171a captures a captured image G1 by capturing the display panel P with the camera 12 (step S105). At this time, in the captured image G1, one indirect image G12 is displayed on the upper side, the other indirect image G13 is displayed on the lower side, and the direct image G11 is displayed in the center.

Next, the mark setting means 171a determines the obtained photograph. Whether or not the line marks in the image image G1 are connected to the image G12 can be identified to such an extent that each pixel can be identified. This determination is made here to determine whether the image portion of the line mark is greater than a predetermined brightness (step S107).

When the brightness of the image portion of the line mark of the indirect image G12 is greater than a predetermined brightness (step S107; YES), the line mark is judged to be recognizable in the indirect image G12, and the mark setting means 171a moves the line address toward the X1 direction. It is incremented by 1 unit (step S109), and the process proceeds to step S103.

On the other hand, when the brightness of the image portion of the line mark of the indirect image G12 does not reach a predetermined brightness (step S107; No), its line mark is judged as being incapable of being recognized in the indirect image G12, and the processing is shifted to step S111.

Next, the marker setting means 171a temporarily sets the line address for the total increment of the incremented number by a predetermined ratio in step S109 to an appropriate position for the line marker (step S111). The predetermined ratio is set to 1/2 (unconditionally rounded up if not excluded), but an appropriate ratio may be set in advance in consideration of the shape of the bent portion and the like. Specifically, when the total number of increments is 52 as an example, as shown in FIG. 5, the line mark of the line address of 1 address is set to L1 (line address (1, 1) To (1, n)), and the line mark of the line address (line address of 53 address) determined when it becomes less than the predetermined brightness in step S107 is set to L3 (line address (53, 1) to ( 53, n)). In addition, since the number of increments from L1 to L3 is 52, the marker setting means 171a is a line marker L2 of the 26-line address (the 27-address line address) which is incremented by 1/2 to 52. ((27,1) to (27, n)) is temporarily set as the target Keep it in place. In addition, the area surrounded by L1 and L3 is settable.

In this way, the processes of steps S103 to S109 are repeatedly performed until the process proceeds to step S111, that is, the panel address and the line address are incremented and the panel display and imaging are performed repeatedly until the predetermined brightness is reached, thereby indirectly The position of the line mark that cannot be recognized is specified in the image G12, and the line address of the line mark that can be fully recognized on the way is temporarily set based on the position of the line mark.

Next, the mark setting means 171a drives the signal generator 15 of the console, and lights the line mark temporarily setting the line address L2 as an appropriate position (step S112). At this time, the color of the line mark and the background is the same as that in step S103.

Next, the display panel P is captured by the camera 12 to obtain a captured image G2 (step S115). The shooting conditions (position, setting of the camera 12, position of the display panel P, lighting, etc.) of the captured image G2 are the same as when the captured image G1 is captured. In the captured image G2, one indirect image G22 is displayed on the upper side, the other indirect image G23 is displayed on the lower side, and the direct image G21 is displayed in the center.

Next, the marker setting means 171a determines whether or not the line marker L2 in the direct image G21 is recognizable to the extent that each pixel can be recognized. This determination is made based on whether the image portion of the line mark L2 in the direct image G21 is equal to or greater than a predetermined brightness (step S117).

When it is determined that the brightness of the line marker displayed on the direct image G21 is greater than a predetermined value (step S117; YES), it can be estimated that the The line marks of line addresses temporarily set in any of the image and the direct image are fully recognizable in terms of performing lighting inspection. Therefore, the mark setting means 171a recognizes that the temporarily set line address is an appropriate line address for the line mark, and sets it formally, and stores it in the memory unit 172 (step S119).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the brightness of the line marker displayed on the direct image G21 is less than a predetermined value (step S117; No), it can be estimated that the line marker of the temporarily set line address cannot be detected in the direct Sufficient brightness required for performing lighting inspection in the image, or an error occurred for other reasons. Therefore, the flag setting means 171a causes an error display to appear on the output unit 20 (step S121).

In addition, in step S117, when it is determined that the brightness of the line marker displayed on the direct image G21 has not reached a predetermined threshold value (No), the error display is displayed on the output unit 20 (step S121), but it is not limited to this. For example, the position where the line address temporarily set in the range of "L1" to "L3" is shifted toward the plane portion P1 side (X1 direction) (for example, a position shifted by 1 pixel or a few pixels) may be used as the position The line address is temporarily set and returns to step S112. With this, it is possible to repeatedly perform steps S112 to S121 while setting the line address of a recognizable line mark on both the indirect image and the direct image. In addition, even if the process is performed a predetermined number of times, when the brightness above the predetermined threshold cannot be obtained in the direct image G21, there is a possibility of other reasons, so the error display may be performed.

In addition, in the captured image acquisition processing of steps S105 and S115, although both the direct image and the indirect image are acquired, they may be acquired. By acquiring only the indirect image of the displayed wired marker in step S105 and acquiring only the direct image in step 115, the processing time is shortened.

In addition, the setting of the line mark of the indirect image described above is only for one indirect image G22, but the same process can be used to set the line address of the line mark for the other indirect image G23, and it is based on one The line address of the line mark of the indirect image G22 is set at a symmetrical position.

By performing the above marker setting processing, it is possible to appropriately set the line address of the line marker that can be well recognized in both the direct image and the indirect image.

≪Image synthesis condition setting processing≫

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the image composition condition setting process in the display panel inspection device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 (a) is an explanatory diagram for explaining the image composition condition setting processing. In addition, in the figure showing the captured image G3 in FIG. 8 (a), the small white circles show images of panel pixels in a non-lighted state, and the small black circles show images of panel pixels in a lit state as a mark. , But it does not faithfully depict the actual number of pixels, and is a schematic diagram recorded to greatly reduce the number of pixels. First, the display panel P to be inspected is fixed on the mounting table 11. Here, the display panel P mounted on the mounting table 11 is a display panel with the same specifications as the display panel fixed to the mounting table 11 in the marking setting process, and is an uninspected person. As shown in FIG. 6, the image composition condition setting means 171 b is used when the panel power supply 16 is turned on and the display panel P is supplied with power. The control panel drives the signal generator 15 in such a manner that the line marker of the line address that is formally set in the marker setting process is lit (step S201). At this time, the color of the marker is displayed in any one of the three primary colors, and the background color is regarded as "black" (non-lit).

Next, the image composition condition setting means 171b acquires a captured image G3 by capturing the image with the camera 12 in a state where the line marker is lit (step S203). In this case, the shooting conditions are the same as in the marker setting process. As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the captured image G3 includes: a direct image G31 captured by the camera 12 without passing through the optical system 13; and an indirect image G32 captured by the camera 12 through the optical system 13. , G33. In the captured image G3, similarly to the captured images G1 and G2 obtained by the marker setting process, one indirect image G32 is displayed on the upper side, the other indirect image G33 is displayed on the lower side, and the direct image G31 is displayed in the center. . Furthermore, in the captured image G3, the line marks appear in both the direct image G31 and the indirect images G32 and G33. In addition, with respect to the interim image G32 of the captured image G3, the image correction for correcting the shape distortion into a rectangle is performed using the central portion of the direct image G31 as a reference.

Next, the image synthesis condition setting means 171b recognizes the line markers for each of the direct image G31 and the indirect image G32 from the obtained captured image G3, and specifically specifies the position of the line-marked captured image G3 and stores them in the Memory Department 172. The specific designation of the position can be specified in the form of the address of the pixel unit from the reference point of the camera image G3 (here, the upper left vertex of the camera image G3) (step S205).

Next, the image composition condition setting means 171b binarizes the captured image G3 obtained in step S203 and extracts edges, and recognizes the contour lines of the direct image G31 and the indirect image G32, and specifically points out the contour image of the captured image G3. And store it in the memory section 172. As for the specific indication of the position, it can be specified in the form of the address of the pixel unit of the reference point from the above-mentioned camera image G3. As for the specified contour lines, in the direct image G31, there are two contour lines at both ends in the Y1-Y2 direction enclosed by two line marks, and in the indirect image G32, the curved portions in the X1-X2 direction. The contour line at the outer end of P2 and the two contour lines at both ends in the Y1-Y2 direction enclosed by the contour line and the line mark. Also, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the range on the captured image G3 of the direct image G31 area (direct image capture area) surrounded by the line mark and the contour line is specifically pointed out, and the indirect image G32 is derived from the line. The area on the captured image G3 of the area (indirect image capture area) surrounded by the marker and the outline is stored in the storage unit 172 (step S207). The range of the specified interception areas can be displayed at the address of the pixel unit from the reference point of the camera image G3 mentioned above. In addition, the direct image capture area and indirect image capture area also include the image portion of the wired marker. In the explanatory diagram shown in FIG. 8 (a), in the indirect images G32 and G33, the part outside the dotted line (the side of the panel end) is an indirect image capture area. In the direct image G31, the ratio is The inner part of the upper and lower dotted lines becomes the direct image capture area.

Next, the on-camera image marked with the line of the direct image G31 and the indirect image G32 specified in the processing of step S205 The position on G3 and the range on the captured image G3 of the direct image capture area and the indirect image capture area specified by the processing of step S206 are used as a reference to set the synthesis conditions of the direct image and the indirect image (step S209). In this embodiment, for the direct image G31 in the captured image G3, an image captured by the indirect image capture area is superimposed to synthesize an image, and a method of setting image synthesis conditions at this time will be described. In addition, the image captured in the indirect image capture area is also referred to as "captured indirect image", and the image captured in the direct image capture area is referred to as "captured direct image".

The image synthesis condition setting means 171b stores the range of the captured image 31 of the indirect image capture area specified in step S207 as one of the image synthesis conditions (hereinafter also referred to as an image capture condition) and stores it in the memory unit 172. In addition, the position of the captured image G3 when the indirect image is captured and moved so that the position of the line marker in the image is consistent with the position of the line marker in the direct image G31 in the captured image G3 is taken as the image synthesis condition. One (hereinafter also referred to as a video moving condition) is stored in the storage unit 172. This processing is performed on the two indirect images G32 and G33, respectively. Here, the position of the movement destination where the indirect image is intercepted as the image synthesis condition is specified. The position of the reference point (for example, the upper left vertex) of the image is determined by using the reference point (for example, the upper left vertex) of the captured image G3 as The address of the pixel unit of the origin is displayed, and the address of the pixel unit with the reference point (such as the upper left vertex) of the indirect image capture region as the origin may also be used for display. In addition, the area deleted from the captured image G3 is also stored in the memory as one of the image synthesis conditions (hereinafter also referred to as an image deletion condition). 172. As for the method of specifying the deletion area, it is the range that can be displayed at the address of the pixel unit using the reference point (such as the upper left vertex) of each image (camera image G3, direct image capture, and indirect image capture) as the origin. Specify within. In addition, the portion where each image is overlapped can be specified by displaying the image (the image to be placed on the upper side) that is set as the effective side. Here, in the direct image G31, although the line-marked portion and a portion outside the line-marked portion are deleted ranges, since it is a portion that is completely overlapped by capturing an indirect image, it is cut by The indirect image side is designated as valid and the image composition conditions are set. In the indirect images G32 and G33, a portion outside the indirect image capture area (a portion further inside than the line mark) is a deleted range.

In addition, the method of setting the image synthesis conditions is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to make the captured image G3 of the captured direct image and the captured indirect image moved when the line markers of the captured direct image and the captured indirect image are consistent. Each video position is stored in the storage unit 172 as a video synthesis condition. The deletion area that is the condition for image synthesis at this time can be specified as the effective image when overlapping is taken as the indirect image, and the direct image G31 outside the direct image interception area and the indirect image G32 and G33 between the indirect image interception area can be specified as deleted region.

≪Image synthesis and inspection processing≫

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing content of image synthesis and inspection in the display panel inspection device 1 of the first embodiment of the present invention. Figures 8 (b) to (f) are explanatory diagrams explaining the processing contents of image synthesis and inspection. In addition, in The images showing the camera images K1 and the composite images K2 and K3 in Figs. 8 (b) to (d) show the images of the pixels in which the small white circles are lit, but the actual number of pixels is not faithfully recorded. Rather, it is a schematic diagram in which the number of pixels is greatly reduced. Here, the display panel P mounted on the mounting table 11 is maintained in a state when it is fixed on the mounting table 11 by using the above-mentioned image synthesis condition setting processing, and a lighting inspection is performed in this inspection processing.

As shown in FIG. 7, the image synthesizing means 171c is driven by the panel driving signal generator 15 to display in any one of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) colors (any of the three primary color pixels). The entire panel P (the curved portion P2 and the flat portion P1) is turned on (step S301).

Next, the image synthesizing means 171c captures the entire illuminated display panel P by the camera 12 and acquires a captured image K1 (step S303). Here, the shooting conditions are the same as in the case of the image synthesis condition setting process. As shown in FIG. 8 (b), the captured image K1 includes a direct image K11 captured by the camera 12 without passing through the optical system 13, and an indirect image captured by the camera 12 through the optical system 13. K12, K13. In the captured image K1, similarly to the captured image G3 obtained by the image composition condition setting process, an indirect image K12 is displayed on the upper side, an indirect image K13 is displayed on the other side, and a direct image K11 is displayed in the center. . The display panel P is maintained in a state where it is fixed to the mounting table 11 by using image synthesis condition setting processing. Since the shooting conditions are also the same as the image synthesis condition setting processing, the size of the camera image K1 and the direct image K11 of the camera image K1 are connected. The positions of the images K12 and K13 are the same as those of the captured image G3. In the direct image K11 includes the image of the curved portion P2 and a part of the plane portion P1, and the indirect images K12 and K13 also include the image of the curved portion P2 and a part of the plane portion P1.

Next, the image synthesizing means 171c performs image correction on the acquired captured image K1 before synthesizing the direct image K11 and the indirect image K12 (step S305). Specifically, it is used to correct the distortion of the shape of the indirect image formed by the rectangle as a rectangle, or when the direct image and the indirect image are combined, the brightness or color is adjusted in a way that does not produce an interface. Level correction. These distortion corrections and level corrections are performed based on the center of the direct image.

Next, the image synthesizing means 171c generates a composite image K2 obtained by cutting the direct image K11 and the indirect images K12 and K13 according to the image synthesis conditions stored in the memory 172, and generates only the display panel P from the composite image K2. The synthesized image K3 of the image (step S307). The image synthesis processing performed according to the image synthesis conditions is specifically to firstly connect the images K12 and K13 between the camera images K1, and to intercept the images of the indirect image interception area according to the image interception conditions to obtain the intercepted indirect images K121 and K131. In the explanatory diagram shown in FIG. 8 (b), the parts of the indirect images K12 and K13 that are closer to the two outer sides (panel end sides) than the dotted line are the intercepted indirect images K121 and K131. Then, the captured indirect images K121 and K131 are moved according to the image movement conditions. Then, the unnecessary image part is deleted according to the image deletion condition to obtain the composite image K2 shown in FIG. 8 (c). And, in the composite image K2, only the image portion of the display panel P is intercepted to obtain the composite image K3 shown in FIG. 8 (d).

Then, the inspection means 171d binarizes the generated composite image (step S309). Specifically, the inspection means 171d is to binarize each pixel of the composite image according to whether the brightness exceeds a predetermined threshold (step S309) to generate peak information (step S311). The processing of the binarization and peak information generation will be described.

The pixels of the display panel P and the pixels of the composite image are not limited to a one-to-one correspondence, and generally the pixels of the composite image become thinner. Since each pixel of the composite image K3 shown in FIG. 8 (c) contains brightness information, the inspection means 171d is based on whether or not the brightness of each pixel of the composite image is greater than that shown in FIG. 8 (e). A composite image K4 obtained by binarizing a predetermined threshold value. The threshold value can be set to a value capable of distinguishing a portion of the panel pixel having light emission from a portion of the panel pixel having no light emission. By this binarization process, in the composite image K4, there are scattered portions where a plurality of pixels having a threshold value or more are concentrated. Hereinafter, pixels above the threshold are referred to as ON pixels, pixels below the threshold are referred to as OFF pixels, and a portion where the ON pixels are concentrated is referred to as an ON pixel group. In addition, when there is no ON pixel group in the place where there should be pixels due to the defect of the pixel, a plurality of OFF pixels are selected according to the arrangement status or size of the surrounding ON pixel group and set to correspond to the location. Pixel OFF pixel group. Hereinafter, the ON pixel group and the OFF pixel group are collectively referred to as a pixel position pixel group. After all the pixel positions and pixel groups are specified, it is confirmed that the arrangement (the number of rows and columns) is consistent with the arrangement (the number of rows and columns) of pixels belonging to known information as the specifications of the display panel P. When the arrangement is consistent, a process for setting the brightness of the pixel group at each pixel position is performed. Brightness value of each pixel It is known from the composite image K3 before the binarization process. Therefore, the maximum luminance value of the plurality of pixels constituting each pixel position pixel group is set as the peak luminance value of the pixel position pixel group. Thereby, peak information in which a peak luminance value is set in a pixel group at each pixel position is generated.

Next, the inspection means 171d judges the presence or absence of the defective pixel and extracts the address of the defective pixel based on the peak information (step S313). First, based on the peak information generated in step S311, it is determined whether there is no pixel position pixel group having a peak luminance value that does not reach a predetermined threshold. As far as the threshold is concerned, a peak brightness value that can determine the good and bad of the panel pixels is set in advance. The inspection means 171d determines that there are no defective pixels on the display panel P when the peak luminance value is greater than or equal to the threshold value in all the pixel position pixel groups. When there is a pixel position pixel group having a peak luminance value that does not reach a predetermined threshold, it is determined that there are defective pixels in the display panel P, and the number of defective pixels is also determined. When it is determined that a defective pixel is present, a process for specifying the address of the defective pixel is performed. The process of specifying the address of the defective pixel will be described with reference to FIG. 8 (f).

FIG. 8 (f) is an explanatory diagram for specifying the address of a defective pixel when it is determined that there is a defective pixel in the composite image K4 corresponding to the binarized peak information. Calculate the number of rows (y) up to the first row and the number of rows up to the first row in the pixel position pixel group arrangement starting from the pixel position pixel group that is determined to be the defective pixel whose peak brightness value does not reach the threshold. (x) to specify the defective pixel address (x, y). When there are a plurality of pixel positions and pixel groups determined as defective pixels, Do the processing. The addresses of the defective pixels specified in the above manner are stored in the memory unit 172.

In addition, in the above example, after specifying the pixel position pixel group whose peak luminance value does not reach the threshold, the corresponding pixel address is obtained, but the corresponding pixel group of each pixel position can also be obtained when generating the peak information. The pixel address is used to know the pixel address when the pixel group of the pixel position whose peak luminance value does not reach the threshold is specified.

As described above, the display panel inspection device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention includes: a mounting table 11 on which a display panel P is mounted. The display panel P has a plane portion P1 belonging to the inspection object, and the plane The curved portion P2 that is curved at least on one side of the outer periphery of the portion P1; the camera 12 is disposed opposite to the flat portion P1 of the display panel P; the optical system 13 is not shielded from the flat portion P1 and directly reaches the camera 12 The way of the light path is set on the side of the space between the display panel P and the camera 12, and the length of the corrected light path is consistent with the length of the light path that is emitted from the display panel P and directly reaches the camera 12. The length of the light path emitted by the display panel P and incorporating the light reaching the camera 12 is obtained by converting the length of the light path in the air; the image synthesis condition setting means 171b is displayed based on the mark parallel to the boundary between the flat face P1 and the curved portion P2. In the state of the display panel P, the direct image and the indirect image included in the image captured by the camera 12 are set to be used to synthesize the direct image and the indirect image. According to the image synthesis conditions of the image, the direct image is taken by the camera 12 without the optical system 13, and the indirect image is taken by the camera through the optical system 13 by means of imaging; And the image synthesizing means 171c is a direct image and an indirect image included in the image captured by the camera 12 in a state where the display panel P is fully lit in accordance with the image synthesizing conditions set by the image synthesizing condition setting means 171b. Be synthesized.

Therefore, in the direct image and the indirect image, an area having sufficient brightness required for performing the lighting inspection can be synthesized, and the lighting inspection can be performed based on the synthesized image. Accordingly, the display panel P having the curved portion P2 on the outer periphery can be appropriately subjected to the lighting inspection.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where a display panel having a curved portion on two opposite sides is described, but it is not limited to this, and it can also be applied to a display panel provided with curved portions on one side or three or more sides, for example.

In addition, with regard to the above-mentioned mark setting processing, it is not necessary to perform the processing every time when the display panels of the same specification are inspected. Therefore, when inspecting a plurality of display panels of the same specification, the display panel to be inspected is fixed to the mounting table whenever At 11:00, image synthesis condition setting processing, image synthesis processing, and inspection processing can be performed.

Claims (7)

A display panel inspection device includes: a mounting table for mounting a display panel, the display panel having a flat portion belonging to the object to be inspected, and a bent portion bent on at least one side of an outer periphery of the flat portion; The planar portion of the display panel is oppositely disposed; the optical system is provided in a space between the display panel and the imaging means in such a manner as not to obscure the light path emitted from the display panel and directly reaching the imaging means. To the side and make the length of the correction optical path consistent with the length of the light path emitted from the display panel and directly reaching the imaging means, and the length of the correction optical path is the length of the light path from the light emitted from the display panel and incorporated into the imaging means. It is obtained by converting the length of the optical path in the air; the means for setting the image synthesis conditions are included in the image captured by the imaging means in a state where the mark parallel to the boundary between the flat portion and the curved portion is displayed on the display panel. The aforementioned markers appearing in the direct image and the indirect image, respectively, are set to The image synthesis conditions of the foregoing direct image and the aforementioned indirect image are obtained. The direct image is captured by the aforementioned imaging means without being used by the aforementioned optical system. The indirect image is acquired by the aforementioned imaging system through the aforementioned optical system. Cameraman; image synthesis means is based on the image synthesis conditions set by the aforementioned image synthesis condition setting means, and in a state where the display panel is fully lit, direct images and images included in the images captured by the aforementioned imaging means are included. Indirect images are synthesized. The display panel inspection device according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein, in the image synthesized by the aforementioned image synthesis means, an image portion corresponding to each pixel of the foregoing display panel is specified, and according to the image portion of each image portion, Brightness to check for defects in the panel pixels. The display panel inspection device described in item 1 of the scope of patent application is further provided with mark setting means for setting the position where the mark is displayed on the display panel. According to the display panel inspection device described in item 3 of the scope of the patent application, the marker setting means sets the marker to a position above a predetermined brightness for each of the direct image and the indirect image. The display panel inspection device according to item 4 of the scope of patent application, wherein the mark setting means reads the indirect image in line units parallel to the boundary between the flat portion and the curved portion and converts the indirect image above the predetermined brightness. The area is a settable area, and the mark is temporarily set at a position within the settable area. When the mark set temporarily is displayed on the display panel, the mark appearing on the direct image is above the predetermined brightness. Next, the position is set using the previously set flag. The display panel inspection device according to item 5 of the scope of patent application, wherein the mark setting means is to temporarily set a position in the settable area, and set the position within the settable area and the plane portion and the bent portion. Where the boundary is parallel to a predetermined ratio from one side to the other. A method for inspecting a display panel is to inspect a plane portion belonging to an object to be inspected and to inspect the plane portion belonging to the object under inspection based on a direct image captured by an imaging means provided above and an image captured by an optical system disposed on a side. A method for a display panel of a bent portion bent at least on one side of the outer periphery, the method comprising: an image synthesis condition setting step based on displaying a mark parallel to the boundary between the flat portion and the bent portion on a display panel in a state of a display panel; The image captured by the foregoing imaging means sets the conditions for synthesizing the direct image and the indirect image; the image synthesis step is based on the image captured by the foregoing imaging means while the display panel is fully lit, and is synthesized according to the foregoing image. The image synthesis conditions set in the condition setting step synthesize the direct image and the indirect image; and the inspection step is to specifically point out the image corresponding to each pixel of the display panel in the synthesized image synthesized by the foregoing image synthesis step And check the panel image based on the brightness of each image part The presence or absence of defects.