NXP LCD Drivers Webinar

Alvin Tan Senior Regional Marketing Manager, South Asia Pacific

2011
To Introduce NXPs LCD Driver Portfolio
Segment drivers
Character drivers
Graphic or Dot-Matrix drivers
To Explain Theory of LCD Driver
TN Cell Characteristics
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Driving Scheme for TN Cell
Overview of Driving Scheme
To introduce Chip-On- Glass (COG) and Benefits
Available Tools & Support
Objectives for this Seminar
2
NXP LCD Driver Portfolio
LCD Segment Drivers
LCD Character Drivers
LCD Graphic Drivers
3
LCD Driver Key Values
Segment Driver
High segment count
Support for high segment count with one single device
for cost-optimized solutions
60 x 4, 80 x 4, 160 x 4, 60 x 8,
Automotive Qualification
AEC-Q100 compliant automotive qualification ensuring
highest reliability. Non AEC-Q100 parts benefit from experience gained
Character Driver
Icon Row
Separate icon row for versatile usage
Graphic Drivers
Niche resolution
Resolution that not common in the market
34 x 128, 65 x 133, 80 x 128
4
LCD segment driver
I
2
C Bus
sequencer
bias voltage generator
RAM
control
logic
backplane
driver
segment
driver
Features
Wide range of segment outputs
On-chip RAM
Low power consumption
No external components
Wide power supply range
On-chip LCD bias voltage generation
LCD Segment Drivers
Portfolio Overview
Key products
PCF85162 4 x 32 segments
PCF85176 4 x 40 segments
PCF85134 4 x 60 segments
PCF85133 4 x 80 segments
PCF85132 4 x 160 segments
PCF8537 8 x 44 segments
PCA9620 8 x 60 segments
5
LCD Segment Drivers
Selection Matrix
6
NXP LCD Driver Portfolio
LCD Segment Drivers
LCD Character Drivers
LCD Graphic Drivers
7
LCD character driver
I
2
C Bus /
4/8bit parallel
character
RAM
control
logic
character
ROM
display
RAM
sequencer
bias voltage generator
row
driver
column
driver
Features
On-chip character generator
On-chip temperature compensation
On-chip character ROM and RAM
Low power consumption
Minimum of external components
On-chip LCD bias voltage generation
Cursor support
Key products
PCF2113 2 line by 12 characters + 120 icons
PCF2119 2 line by 16 characters + 160 icons
LCD Character Drivers
Portfolio Overview
Charge
Pump
8
CWG LCD Character Drivers
Selection Matrix
Note: 240 characters in ROM; 16 characters in RAM; character size: 5 x 8 dots or 5 x 7 dots + cursor
9
LCD Driver Portfolio
LCD Segment Drivers
LCD Character Drivers
LCD Graphic Drivers
10
Key products
PCF8531 34 x 128 small 4 x 20 chars of text, full graphic
PCF8811 80 x 128 large universal display
Features
Wide range of mux rates to optimize
power and display size
On-chip generation of LCD bias voltages
Low number of external components
Low power consumption
Temperature compensation
LCD graphic driver
Serial /
parallel /
I
2
C Interface
control
logic
display
RAM
sequencer
bias voltage generator
row
driver
column
driver
LCD Graphic Drivers
Portfolio Overview
Charge
Pump
11
LCD Graphic Drivers
Selection Matrix
12
PCF8534A automotive 6x40 LCD Driver with I
2
C Interface
High-Lights
240 segment drive
Simple mux 1:4
AEC-Q100 automotive compliant
Key Features
Bias voltage generation
Wide power supply range from 1.8V
to 5.5V
Wide VLCD range from 2.5V to
6.5V
I2C interface ( 400kHz )
Cascadable up to 3,840 segments
LQFP80, U for COB application
Applications
Dash boards
Climate Control
Industrial Displays
PCA8534A
13
PCF85132 Mux 1:4 COG 640-Segment Driver
In addition second set of
Backplanes
High-Lights
640 segment drive
Simple mux 1:4
Programmable frame frequency
Duplicated Backplane pads on each side of the chip
AEC-Q100 automotive compliant is also available
Key Features
Bias voltage generation
Wide power supply range from 1.8V to 5.5V
Wide VLCD range from 2.5V to 6.5V
I2C interface ( 400kHz )
Cascadalibity
Die with gold bumps for COG applications
Applications
Dash boards
Climate Control
Industrial Displays
14
PCF85132 160 x 4 LCD Driver with I
2
C Interface
Example: Workout Equipment Application
488 segments driven with one single IC
15
LCD Driver Rationale
Package aspects: LCD driver for >64 segments requires >16 outputs:
adding LCD function to C asks for high pin count package (cost not proportional)
C with small LCD driver on board is cost effective
Voltage requirements: V
op
for LCD typical 3 9V, depending of multiplex rate and type
of liquid crystal; this is in hard contrast to modern C with typical V
DD
of 3.3 or 2.5V
Power aspects: in portable equipment the C is put to power down, sleep or hibernation
mode, but the display has to stay on to indicate status; with an external LCD driver this
can be done without any bus interference problems.
Module integration: With an external LCD driver, display and control functions can be
physically placed on the optimal location e.g LCD driver (module) on front panel, C on
main board. LCD module can be engineered in a compact way including also backlight,
protection glass, etc.
Microcontroller with integrated LCD Driver vs. MCU with external LCD Driver
16
LCD Driver Theory
Introduction
TN cell Characteristics
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
Overview of Driving Schemes
17
The most common type of Liquid Crystal used in
display technology is Nematic. In Nematic Liquid
Crystal, the long rod-like molecules align themselves
spontaneously parallel, which gives the material
anisotropic optical and electrical properties, that is, it
has different properties in different directions.
TN Effect
optical axis
18
TN in Operation II
a b
incident light
segment: transparent opaque
polarizer, direction of
polarization
cell glass
molecule orientation
segment electrode, direction
of surface treatment
Glass thickness: 0.55, 0.7, 1.1mm
Liquid Crystal: 6m, 9 m
Polarizer foil: typical 0.1mm
ITO: ~0.1 m
19
Different Cell Types I
4 different LCD-cell types are popular:
TN: Twisted Nematic, 90
0
twist
used for low mux-rates up to 1:8
STN: Super Twisted Nematic, 270
0
twist
used for high mux-rates 1:8 and up
DSTN: Double STN, the twist is reversed
to compensate the color shift
FSTN: Foil compensated STN the foil
compensates the color shift
20
u u
Different Cell Types II
90
0
TN
270
0
STN
Polarizer
Glass
ITO
Light
direction
appearance:
gray / black yellow / green
gray / blue
21
Different Cell Types III
DSTN
270
0
FSTN
Polarizer
Glass
ITO
Light
direction
appearance:
270
0
270
0
u u
compensation
foil
22
Display types
Two different display modes are possible: positive and negative image.
Positive image is achieved when the 2 polarizer directions differ by 90
For negative image, the 2 polarizers must have the same orientation
positive mode
negative mode
23
LCD
LCD LCD
transmissive reflective transflective
mirror
Illumination Methods
24
LCD Driver Theory
Introduction
TN cell Characteristics
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
Overview of Driving Schemes
25
TN cell Characteristics
T/T
0
1
0
V
th
AV V
sat
Display off Display on
Brightness
V
RMS
(V)
Transmission - Voltage characteristic
26
TN cell Characteristics
Important parameters
Threshold voltage V
th
RMS voltage for 10% relative transmission
Saturation Voltage V
sat
RMS voltage for 90% relative transmission
27
TN cell Characteristics
Important parameters
TV curve of a normally black display
V
RMS
T
OFF
ON
100%
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

t
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
V
th
10%
V
sat
90%
Threshold voltage V
th
RMS voltage for 10% relative transmission
Saturation Voltage V
sat
RMS voltage for 90% relative transmission
28
TN cell Characteristics
Important parameters
Steepness S
measure for the slope of the curve between threshold and saturation
voltage
% 100 ) 1 ( [%] =
th
sat
V
V
S
29
TN cell Characteristics
Important parameters
Switching time Tsw
T
swON
defines the time it takes in order to reach from 10%
transmission to 90% transmission when increasing the RMS voltage
from V
th
to V
sat
T
swOFF
defines the time it takes in order to reach from 90%
transmission to 10% transmission when decreasing the RMS voltage
from V
sat
to V
th
30
TN cell Characteristics
Important parameters
Cell Power
f C V P
cell cell cell
=
2
2
1
) (
th
V
d
A
cell
with C =
2
) (
2
2
th
d
A
V
V
cell
V
f
k f P
th
cell
=
k represents the constants. P
cell
proportional with
2
th
V
f
31
TN cell Characteristics
Important parameters
Cell Power
f C V P
cell cell cell
=
2
2
1
) (
th
V
d
A
cell
with C =
2
) (
2
2
th
d
A
V
V
cell
V
f
k f P
th
cell
=
P
cell
total cell power
V
cell
voltage the cells driven by
C
cell
total cell capacitance
f frequency of the driving signal
32
TN cell Characteristics
Dependencies
TV curve (V
th
)
frequency dependent
temperature dependent
Switching time
temperature dependent
Cell power
frequency dependent
33
LCD Driver Theory
Introduction
TN cell Characteristics
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
Overview of Driving Schemes
34
Driving Scheme Characteristics
RMS voltage generation
Matrix Addressing
V
row
V
col
dt V V
T
V
T
row col RMS
}
=
0
2
) (
1
35
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Important Parameters
ON driving voltage V
ON
Max. RMS voltage that can be generated with a certain driving
scheme and a given bias system
OFF driving voltage V
OFF
Min. RMS voltage that can be generated with a certain driving scheme
and a given bias system
36
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Important Parameters
bias voltage ratio a
Ratio between the row and column bias voltage levels
in Alt & Pleshko (one row at a time) driving
bias voltage range V
LCD
Max. bias voltage minus min. bias voltage
) 2 (
2
2
a N a p
N
ON LCD
V a V
+ +
=
d
s
V
V
a =
OFF
a N a
a N a
ON
V V =
+
+ +
2
2
2
2
Important Parameters Formulas
Bias voltage ratio
ON driving voltage
Bias voltage range
37
LCD Driver Theory
Introduction
TN cell Characteristics
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
Overview of Driving Schemes
38
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
TV curve of a normally black display
V
RMS
T
OFF
ON
100%
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

t
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
V
th
10%
V
sat
90%
ON and OFF Driving Voltages
V
OFF
V
ON
39
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
Important parameters
Contrast Ratio
Steepness S (in case of optimum contrast)
OFF
ON
V
V
CR = contrast optimum for
th
sat
V
V
=
% 100 ) 1 ( [%] =
OFF
ON
V
V
S
40
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
TN dependency compensation
Temperature dependent OFF driving voltage
Compensates for V
th
drifts due to temperature variations
Temperature dependent frame frequency
Compensates for switching time changes due to temperature
variations
Allows to reduce power consumption by having always the lowest
acceptable frame frequency
41
LCD Driver Theory
Introduction
TN cell Characteristics
Driving Scheme Characteristics
Driving Scheme meets TN cell
Overview of Driving Schemes
42
Direct drive
Segments
Common/
Back plane
Number of interconnections: N+1
43
Direct drive
The wave forms BP and
Sn are generated in the
LCD driver. The electric
field state_n is
experienced by the
segment (pixel).
BP
state 1
Sn+1
Sn
state 2
T
frame
LCD
segments
segment on
segment off
44
Multiplexed drive
Com1 Com2
Segments
Back-planes
Number of interconnections: N/2 +2
45
Multiplexed drive
BP0
BP1
state 1
Sn+1
Sn
state 2
T
frame
LCD
segments
segment on
segment off
The wave forms BPn
and Sn are generated in
the LCD driver. The
electric field state_n is
experienced by the
segment (pixel).
46
Interconnects
The number of interconnections to the
LCD cell can be calculated as:
S = total number of segment (pixels)
M = multiplex rate
N= S/M + M
e.g. 160 segments
1:4 multiplex
N = 44
47
DC Compensation
DC-compensation
The liquid crystal properties deteriorate if a DC-field is applied:
100s mV: show off a burn-in effect (off pixels are visible)
1000s mV: start to decompose the liquid crystal
DC-compensation techniques:
Pulse inversion
Frame inversion
48
DC-Compensation Techniques
Pulse inversion
Frame inversion
49
Multiplexing Voltages
To generate the different signals for row and column outputs,
staggered square waves are used. The number of levels can be
optimized for each multiplex rate. This intermediate voltages are
referred to as bias voltages. They can be evenly spaced, for minimal
operation voltage V
op
.
V
op
is the peak-to-peak voltage of the signals. V
th
is the threshold
voltage, a physical parameter of the liquid crystal. V
op
can now be
calculated for a needed mux-rate.
The viscosity of the liquid crystal increases with lower temperatures.
Therefore the V
op
must be enlarged, to achieve identical twist of the
molecules. A typical figure of the temperature coefficient is -15mV/ C.
50
Typical Bias Voltage Generation Architecture
Vref
vdd
vss
phi0 phi0 phi1 phi1
phi0 phi1
QPrun
Charge Pump
Control Logic
vss
Vop
Vlcd_out
Vlcd_in
Charge Pump Vlcd Monitor
Bias Level
Generator
Rito
Rito
Cvlcd
Row
&
Col
Muxes
Display
Sequencer
BiasCtrl
RowCtrl
ColData
BiasLevels RamCtrl
LCD
Display
Rows
Cols
Vlcd
Vlcd_mon
Vlcd_sense
Rito
Display
RAM
I/O
interface
local
oscillator
frame
Vcol_on
Vcol_off
Vrow_unsel
Vrow_sel
vlcd
Vrow
N&P
N&P
sel
sel
Vcol
on
N&P
on
N&P
V6
V1
V2
V5
V1
V6
V3
V4
V1
V2
V3
V4
V5
V6
R
R
nR
R
R
51
Chip On Glass ( COG )
Principle
Technology
Manufacturing
52
Principle of Chip On Glass
Comparison: Conventional vs. Chip On Glass
only 1
IC
chip
1
2
3
4
5 LCD
PCB
COG
53
Chip On Glass Technology
chip
gold-bumps
17m height
conductive
glue
ITO
glass
LCD cell
epoxy
underfill
The chip is attached to the extended glass ledge of
the display module
silver dot
54
Chip is
delivered with
Gold bumps
Chip On Glass Manufacturing
55
Chip On Glass Manufacturing
Flip the chip
56
anisotropic
conductive film
LCD cell
LCD driver
Chip On Glass Manufacturing
57
pressure
UV light
FF
Chip On Glass Manufacturing
F
Pressure
UV light
58
COG module
completed
Chip On Glass Manufacturing
59
Chip On Glass Benefits
Cost effective
No package
Dies with gold bumps
No package qualification
Very high yield:
~97%
High reliability
No package mounting and soldering on PCB
High quality
Reduced resistance
Reduced coupling
60
Evaluation Kits
&
Support
61
OM10088 Segment Driver Demo Board
PCF8562 Demo Board
Low cost 2-chip solution for LCD User
Interface
Flexible layout supports 3 microcontroller
options
10 pin HVSON to 28 pin PLCC package
1KB to 8KB internal Flash memory
8-character alphanumeric LCD
I2C based LCD driver with 128 segment
support
Powered by a single 3V coin cell battery
Two miniature push-buttons for user control
Reprogrammable by user via 10-pin ICP
header
62
OM6290 LCD Driver Demo Board
Block Diagram
PCF8531 PCF2119 PCF8576D
Text +
Icons
module
Graphic
module
PCA9633
LPC2148
(ARM7)
I
2
C USB
LED back
light control
Source of display cells and display modules
available on dedicated OM6290 website.
Software stacks in C can be downloaded from the
same NXP web site:
http://www.standardics.nxp.com/support/boards/lcd.demo.board
Type OM6290
12NC 9352 861 74598
Order Can be ordered from NXP eSample store
63
LCD Internet Pages and Application Notes
LCD Internet Pages
Main page
http://www.ics.nxp.com/products/lcd.drivers/
Application Notes
AN10170
Design Guidelines for COG modules with NXP monochrome LCD drivers
http://www.ics.nxp.com/support/documents/interface/pdf/an10170.pdf
64
Summary
Three families of LCD drivers :
Segment, Character and Graphic or Dot-Matrix
Advantages of using a dedicated LCD driver
LCD Driver Theory
Chip-On-Glass (COG) Technology
65
66