48 current sources, 64 scans, common cathode matrix LED display driver

With the pixel density getting higher in narrow pixel pitch LED display or mini and micro-LED products, there are urgent demands for LED drivers to address those critical challenges. These challenges include ultra high integration to meet the strict board space limitation, ultra low power to minimize the system level power dissipation, new interface to enable high data refresh rate with low EMI impact, and excellent display performance to serve the growing needs of higher display quality.

The TLC6984 is a

highly-integrated, common cathode matrix LED display driver with 48

constant current sources and 16 scanning FETs. Besides driving 16 ×

16 and 32 × 32 RGB LED pixels as TLC6983, three TLC6984s are capable

of driving 48 × 48 RGB LED pixels and stacking four TLC6984s can

drive 64 × 64 RGB LED pixels. To achieve low-power consumption, the

device supports separated power supplies for the red, green, and

blue LEDs by its common cathode structure. Furthermore, the

operation power of the TLC6984 is significantly reduced by ultra-low

operation voltage range (Vcc down to 2.5 V) and ultra-low operation

current (Icc down to 3.6 mA).

The TLC6984 implements a

high-speed, dual-edge transmission interface to support high device

count daisy-chained and high-refresh rate while minimizing

electrical-magnetic interference (EMI). The device supports up to

25-MHz SCLK (external) and 40-MHz to 160-MHz GCLK (internal, typical

values) with different GCLK multiplier modes and frequencies.

Meanwhile, the device integrates enhanced circuits and intelligent

algorithms to solve the various display challenges in Narrow Pixel

Pitch (NPP) LED display applications and mini and micro-LED

products. These challenges include dim at the first scan line, upper

and downside ghosting, non-uniformity in low grayscale, coupling,

and caterpillar caused by open or short LEDs, which make the TLC6984

a perfect choice in such applications.

The TLC6984 also

implements LED open, weak-short, short detections and removals

during operations and can also report this information out to the

accompanying digital processor.