Product category:
Power Supply ICs and Controllers
News Release from: Micrel | Subject: MIC4826 and MIC4827
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 27 November 2001
Electroluminescent drivers generate high
volts
Micrel has released its first electroluminescent (EL) lamp driver ICs, the MIC4826 and MIC4827.
Micrel has released its first electroluminescent (EL) lamp driver ICs, the MIC4826 and MIC4827 EL lamps are becoming the solution of choice for providing backlight to LCD panels and keypads used in cellular phones, PDAs, pagers, and remote controls
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 5 Dec 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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LEDs have traditionally been used to provide the backlight in these portable applications.
However, EL panels provide a much more uniform brightness in a flatter area while consuming less power, thereby saving battery life.
A high-voltage AC waveform is needed to light-up EL panels, but typically only a low voltage battery is available as the power source.
The MIC4826/7 solve this design challenge.
The ICs converts a 1.8-5.5V DC input voltage to a high voltage AC signal that drives the EL lamp.
The MIC4826 generates 160V and the MIC4827 generates 180V peak-to-peak AC output voltage.
The MIC4827 is intended for applications which require the maximum EL brightness.
Their 1.8 to 5.5V input voltage ranges make the MIC4826/7 capable of operating directly from two-cell Alkaline/NiCad/NiMH or single-cell Li-ion batteries.
Competing solutions have a narrower input voltage range, requiring more complex split-supply approaches to be taken.
The MIC4826/7 give designers a lot of flexibility without sacrificing board space.
Both the boost convertor oscillator frequency and the EL lamp frequency are independently adjustable via external resistors.
This feature lets designers tune efficiency versus brightness for a given EL lamp size.
Many competing solutions offer only a fixed ratio of boost frequency versus EL lamp frequency.
Board space is kept to a minimum as the MIC4826/7 are housed in a small MSOP-8 package, and require only six external passive components.
The MIC4826BMM and MIC4827BMM are available in MSOP-8 packages.
The MIC4826 is priced at $1.18, and the MIC4827 is priced at $1.28 when purchased in 1000-piece quantities.
Samples are available from stock.
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