ROHM has developed 4 channel and 6-channel LED drivers for LCD backlighting, helping to further reduce power consumption of medium and large vehicle displays

    The globally renowned semiconductor manufacturer ROHM (headquartered in Kyoto, Japan) has successfully developed 4-channel LED driver ICs "BD83A04EFV-M" and "BD83A14EFV-M" for mid size car displays, as well as 6-channel LED driver ICs "BD82A26MUF-M" for large car displays, targeting applications such as in car infotainment systems and car instrument clusters.

    In recent years, with the development of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and the increasing functionality of in car infotainment systems, the size of in car displays has been increasing. This requires LED drivers used for LCD backlighting in car displays to have higher driving efficiency, which can increase the rated output current while reducing power consumption. In addition, if the onboard display flickers, its visibility will be reduced, and the relevant applications will be in an unsafe state. Therefore, LED drivers are required to have high reliability. However, traditional LED drivers have issues such as high power consumption of the IC itself and the possibility of flickering during PWM dimming. In response, ROHM has successfully developed a low power LCD backlight LED driver that is difficult to flicker from low brightness to high brightness range by adopting its own low-power technology and seamless PWM dimming technology.

    The new product successfully reduces losses in the current control circuit of LED drivers by adopting ROHM‘s own low-power technology. Therefore, under conventional specifications (LED circuit current: 80mA/ch, power supply voltage: 12V), the overall power consumption of the IC can be reduced by about 20% compared to previous products. The use of these new products in applications equipped with medium and large car displays can help further improve the key issue of such applications - power consumption. In addition, each new product launched this time is equipped with two dimming methods: DC dimming * 1 and PWM dimming * 2, which can support multiple specifications. Moreover, the PWM dimming also adopts ROHM‘s own seamless PWM dimming technology, from low brightness range to high brightness range, without the need to switch its current feedback mode. When using ordinary PWM dimming method, the current feedback mode switching between low brightness and high brightness is the cause of flickering. This new product does not require switching of current feedback mode, thus reducing the risk of flickering and helping to improve the reliability of the application product.

    The new product has been temporarily put into mass production at a monthly production capacity of 100000 units (sample price of 900 yen per unit, excluding tax) starting from November 2022. The production base for the early stage process is ROHM Hamamatsu Co., Ltd. (Hamamatsu City, Japan), and the production base for the later stage process is ROHM Electronics Philippines, Inc. (Philippines). In addition, new products have also started to be sold in e-commerce, and can be purchased from e-commerce platforms such as Amaya360, Sekorm, Oneyac, etc.

    In the future, ROHM will continue to utilize its expertise in simulation technology and carry out product development work that helps to enhance the functionality of the new generation car cockpit and further reduce its power consumption, contributing to the development of next-generation mobile travel technology.