LCD manufacturers are moving toward LED as a light source

The company has been selling light sources to the projection TV business and now wants to move into supplying components to the LCD TV business. It makes sense. Projection TVs are dying off, and LCD manufacturers are moving toward LED as a light source. High-end manufacturers like Samsung and Sony, moreover, are looking for exotic technologies that can separate them from Polaroid, Vizio, and the other discount TV specialists. The company demonstrated a backlight for LCD TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year.

Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. a supplier of analog, mixed-signal and non-volatile memory semiconductors, has expanded its line of patented Quad-Mode fractional charge pump LED drivers with a new device optimized for portable products. The new CAT3637 addresses the requirements for high-efficiency and easy LED programming in these products, with 10 percent higher efficiency (compared to three-mode charge pumps) and a simple, 1-wire EZDim interface control.


The CAT3637 is optimized for applications with one bank of five or six identical LED channels, a typical configuration for larger LED screen portable products. The device incorporates a simplified version of Catalyst' already easy-to-use, 1-wire EZDim interface, which supports 16 output power levels, from zero to 30mA full brightness 2mA resolution steps. With efficiency levels as high as 92 percent, no added capacitors required, and a tiny 3 x 3mm, low-profile TQFN package, the Quad-Mode CAT3637 saves significant board space and costs in next-generation portable products.

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