Compatibility with 3” to 12” vehicle LCDs enables common designs of control board

Willich-Münchheide, Germany, September 17, 2019 – ROHM today announced the availability of the latest LED driver IC, the BD81A76EFV-M, optimized for LCD backlight in instrument cluster, center information displays and car navigation. Unlike conventional drivers with 4 channels that support LCDs up to 8”, this IC provides 6 channels of output (with 120mA per channel) that can support LCD panels of up to 10-12” class. At the same time original buck-boost control ensures compatibility with both small and large LCDs using a single driver. This makes it possible to develop a common design of LCD control board suitable for conventional panels along with the latest large-size displays.

In recent years, to improve both visibility and design in the automotive field, LCDs are being used in an increasing number of systems including instrument clusters, head-up displays and car navigation. In addition, larger screen sizes are being demanded. They require a greater number of high brightness LEDs for backlight as well as LED drivers featuring multi-channel operation and advanced dimming features that can prevent flicker effects.

In response to this increasing market need, ROHM has leveraged its industry-leading analog design technology and incorporated proprietary technologies into its LED drivers to achieve flicker-free operation and to contribute to a common control board design. The BD81A76EFV-M also allows designers to use larger LCD panels in vehicle applications.

“ROHMs new LED driver allows flexibility of design in modern display architectures and ensures backwards compatibility providing cost effectiveness”, Stefan Drouzas, Product Marketing Manager Automotive Display Products, ROHM Semiconductor GmbH.

ROHM will be committed to continuously contribute to technological innovation in the automotive sector by developing products that achieve greater optimization and energy savings in vehicle systems.

Key Features
1. Original buck-boost control supports a common control board design
The BD81A76EFV-M incorporates proprietary buck-boost control to provide greater application flexibility in LCD applications. In contrast to conventional 6channels backlight LED drivers utilizing only boost control. Although conventional LED drivers are only capable of driving 36 to 60 LEDs (6-10 LEDs/channel), ROHM’s new driver IC expands the range from 6 to 60 LEDs (1-10 LEDs/channel). This ensures the support of not only larger displays but also small and medium size panels as well using a single driver, contributing to a common design of control board.

2. Class-leading 6ch output enables compatibility with the latest 12” displays
Incorporating a constant current driver with low heat generation enables a best-in-class 6 channels LED current output of 120mA per channel. Unlike conventional 4 channels products that support LCDs up to 8”, ROHM’s new driver can accommodate larger panels in the 10-12” class. In addition, original PWM dimming technology (patent no. 2018-169705) provides a dimming ratio of 10,000:1, improving visibility and greater design flexibility for center information displays and instrument clusters.

3. Low standby current minimizes power consumption
Leveraging analog design expertise and process technologies allowed ROHM to reduce standby current consumption to just 10µA. This reduces power consumption to less than 1/3 compared with functionally equivalent products featuring a standby current of 40µA (typ.).

4. Spread spectrum function ensures high reliability, low noise operation
In addition to obtaining qualification under the international AEC-Q100 standard for automotive reliability, the BD81A76EFV-M integrates a spread spectrum function as a countermeasure against EMI that allows it to clear CISPR25 noise requirements for vehicle applications. The result is stable operation in automotive systems sensitive to noise.

Application Examples
– Car navigation  
– Center information displays (CID)  
– Cluster panels  
– Head-up displays (HUD)  
– Electronic mirrors  
– Small/medium LCDs
…and other automotive displays (up to 12”) requiring LED backlight

Availability: Now (samples), October 2019 (OEM quantities)

LED Driver IC Lineup for Automotive LCD Backlight
(see table)

About ROHM Semiconductor

ROHM Semiconductor is a global company of 398,989 million yen (3,652 billion US$) revenue per March 31th, 2019 with 22,899 employees. ROHM Semiconductor develops and manufactures a very large product range from the Ultra Low Power Microcontroller, Power Management, Standard ICs, SiC Diodes, MOSFETs and Modules, Power Transistors and Diodes, LEDs to passives components such as Resistors, Tantalum Capacitors and LED display units, thermal Printheads in state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, China and Europe.
LAPIS Semiconductor (former OKI Semiconductor), SiCrystal GmbH, Kionix are companies of ROHM Semiconductor Group.
ROHM Semiconductor Europe has its head office near Dusseldorf serving the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). For further information, please contact www.rohm.com/eu