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Volume 8 (Aug 25, 2003)
LCD Driver ICs-Keeping pace with the ever-changing mobile phone (2/2)
NEC Electronics - Providing driver ICs for mobile phone displays in the broadband era
Since the introduction of the mobile phone, NEC Electronics has consistently made advancements in the development of driver ICs for compact LCDs.. For example, we've developed LCD controller/driver ICs incorporated with a command controller for STN system LCDs. We also have a long history of responding to customer needs, for example by increasing the number of characters that can be displayed on mobile phone screens and enhancing display resolution, as well as by making the change from two-tone black and white displays to multiple color displays.
And now, as the mobile phone enters its third generation, progress is being made to increase resolution and quality. TFT LCDs, which have their strength in the arena of moving images and color, will play a major role in this, and demand will continue to increase for further evolvement of driver ICs-- the driving force behind the advances that are being made. The most important objective will be the realization of even greater energy efficiency. Through the development of an energy-efficient amplifier output circuit, NEC Electronics has made lower power consumption possible. In addition, through the adoption of a less than 0.35µm submicron hybrid (both high-voltage and low-voltage processes on a silicon) process, NEC Electronics has developed high-speed driver ICs equipped with a RAM circuit (capable of storing display data) and many other peripheral circuits.
One of these is the all-in-one type µPD161691 (Figure 3), a one-chip driver IC that consists of a source driver, gate driver and power sourcethat formerly were three separate chips. In addition, power (consumption) management of the entire IC makes it possible to realize increased energy efficiency.
This all-in-one chip driver IC will continue to evolve in the future in response to the demand for even larger screens and subdisplays. NEC Electronics will be there with its driving-force LCD technology to respond to the expectations for enhanced content in mobile phones of the new broadband era.
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