- NXP Semiconductors NV
- NEXT Mobility
LEDs have become an essential device for man-machine interfaces, but there are many factors that must be considered when creating a highly usable LED display: how many LEDs should be displayed? what brightness level should be set? how can power savings be achieved? how can the number of wiring be reduced?
NXP's LED DRIVER have a wide lineup that meets these customer requirements and are used in a variety of applications around the world.
Electrical characteristics of LEDs
Check the electrical characteristics when lighting an LED. Generally, the LED datasheet will contain the following information:
| DESCRIPTION | SYMBOL | CONDITION | MIN | TYP | MAX | UNIT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luminous Intensity | IV | IF=1mA | 1.6 | 4 | 4.3 | mcd |
The most important value is brightness (Luminous Intensity). In this example, we will consider how to control an LED to shine at 4mcd.
Lighting an LED using a constant current POWER SUPPLIES
In the previous example, the LED will glow at 4mcd when a current of 1mA is applied. In this case, if you use a constant current power POWER SUPPLIES (POWER SUPPLIES that keeps the current constant according to the load) and set the output current to 1mA, you can make the LED glow at 4mcd.
* Created using NEXTY as electrical characteristics of a general LED
Lighting an LED using a constant voltage POWER SUPPLIES
On the other hand, to make an LED shine at the desired brightness using a constant-voltage POWER SUPPLIES, it is necessary to adjust the current. To do this, RESISTORS is inserted in series. This type of resistor is specifically called a current-limiting resistor. In this case, we want to flow 1mA, and from the table above, the voltage (voltage drop) generated across the LED when 1mA flows is 1.8V (Typ). If we try to connect an LED with a 1.8V voltage drop to a 5V constant-voltage POWER SUPPLIES, the voltage will not balance as is, so we need to insert RESISTORS to make the total 5V. To achieve 5V overall, we need a remaining 3.2V. To create a 3.2V voltage drop at 1mA, Ohm's Law dictates that a 3.2kohm resistor should be inserted, causing 1mA to flow through the LED, which will emit 4mcd.
As you can see, various techniques are required to light up a single LED, but by using LED DRIVER, you can leave these techniques to the IC.
NXP LED DRIVER Products
NXP offers a wide range of LED DRIVER, including:
- Automotive LED DRIVER
・ LED DRIVER for headlamps
・ LED DRIVER for displays
-LED DRIVER for industrial equipment
・ LED DRIVER for displays
This time, we will be introducing LED DRIVER specifically for in-vehicle displays.
Features of NXP LED DRIVER for automotive displays
NXP's LED DRIVER have the following features:
- Control multiple LEDs simultaneously
- LED blinking and dimming control
- Highly accurate PWM control for dimming
- Color Mixing
- Fm+ compatible I2C bus compatible, SPI bus compatible
- Realization of constant voltage or constant current control of LED
- LED control independent of MCU
Representative LED DRIVER products
We offer a wide variety of automotive LED DRIVER products to meet the needs of as many customers as possible, but we would like to introduce two representative product numbers.
- 16bit constant voltage control LED DRIVER PCA9635PW/Q900
- 16-bit constant current control LED DRIVER PCA9955BTW/Q900
The PCA9635PW/Q900 is a constant voltage 16-bit LED DRIVER. Each TERMINALS is open-drain controlled, so the LED can be controlled at a voltage higher than the IC's POWER SUPPLIES voltage. The lighting pattern can be intelligently controlled from an MCU via I2C, making it ideal for implementing functions such as displaying patterns only on the LED when the system is in sleep mode.
The PCA9955BTW/Q900 is a constant current type 16-bit LED DRIVER. Constant current control is performed on each TERMINALS, so even multiple LEDs connected in series can be dimmed with high precision. This also allows intelligent control of the lighting pattern from an MCU via I2C.
NXP also offers the following automotive-compatible LED DRIVER IC products:
- PCA9955B Constant Current 16bit I²C (Current 256 levels, PWM 256 levels control)
- PCA9958 constant current 24bit SPI (current 256 levels, PWM 256 levels control)
- PCA9635 Constant Voltage 16bit I²C (PWM256 step control)
- PCA9685 Constant Voltage 16bit I²C (PWM4096 step control)
Summary
In addition to the products we have introduced, we can also introduce more suitable LED DRIVER products. If you are interested in our products, please Inquiry Nexty Electronics.
Related Info
LED DRIVER Related Links: [Selection Guide] LED Drivers Selector Guide
NXP offers a wide range of LED DRIVER products, please see our selection guide here.
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