STMicroelectronics, a provider of power semiconductors, has unveiled a family of ICs to power the AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic LED) and super AMOLED displays that enable today’s advanced handheld devices to deliver high-quality web and video experiences on the move.
The new IC family, STOD03A, consolidates all the display module’s power requirements in a single chip, by providing the needed positive and negative supply voltages from a single chip, the company said.
With six external components needed to complete the power-supply circuitry, the STOD03A uses highly efficient synchronous operation for both voltage outputs, achieving up to 85% overall efficiency for longer overall battery life.
Other power-saving features include automatic pulse-skipping operation for low power consumption at light loads, and a true shutdown mode drawing less than one microamp activated through the enable pin (EN).
AMOLED technology enables sharp images for mobile multimedia devices such as 3G smartphones and digital-still cameras.
These devices do not use backlighting, and so offer key advantages over active-matrix LCDs, in terms of power saving and extremely low profile, the company said.
