A New C C n Inverter Circuit For AMLCD Panels Results In Significantly Higher

EfficiencyAnd Brightness

Mehmet K. Nalbant
Linfinity Microelectronics
11861Western Ave.,
Garden Grove, CA 92641
Tel: (714) 898-8121
Fax: (714) 893-2570

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Abstract The paper will discuss a new CCFL
inverter that is based on a new control technique
named the Current Synchronous Zero Voltage
Switching (CS-ZVS)topology. This topology enables
the design of very eficient dimmable CCFL inverter
circuits. The fault protection features of the inverter
are comprehensive and protect against such failures
as overvoltage, overcurrent and overtemperature
conditions. When this inverter is integrated with the
LCD panels as a system, signijkant improvements in
eficiency, reliability and user safety are realized.
Introduction
One of the cenaal components in any active
matrix LCD panel is the light s o m e that is used to
generate the light necessary for its operation. This
light s o m e consists of a cold cathode fluorescent
lamp oftentimes abbreviated as CCFL.
The power supply that drives this lamp is a low
power high voltage inverter that normally operates
around 35 to 70KHz and is normally required to
control the lamp current for brightness control. The
high kquency is necessary for efficient operation
and minimization of the magnetics components used
in the inverter.
The inverter plays a derrimental role in the
reliability of the CCFL and of the panel itself. Since
a malfunctioned inverter will render an expensive
LCD panel unusable, and possibly cause fm and
safety hazards for the end user.
As a result of the efficiency improvement all of
the critical components in the new inverter circuit
run at significantly lower temperatures when
compared to inverters based on the so called ROYER
oscillator circuit. This helps to minimize color and
contrast distortion in the LCD panels.
Ernally instrument and user safety are of
paramount importance in consumer and indusmal
products. The highly integrated controller of the CS-
ZVS inverter module provides comprehensive
protection mechanisms that guard against
overcurrent, overvoltage and overtemperature
conditions, making the module virtually
indestructible.
Present Inverter Topologies
The present day inverter topologies are based on
a modified ROYER power oscillator driven by a
buck or boost switching regulator. The buck or boost
switching stage preregulate the power that is applied
to the ROYER oscillator section and also enable
dimming. Dimming is used as means of conserving
battery power if ambient light conditions so permit.
In order to better understand the reasons for
efficiency gains in CS-ZVSinverter it is important to
examine the ROYER oscillator based designs.
Figure 1 below shows the block diagram of such
designs.
I 1

--
HlOH

In most systems the two main power consuming MMMNG STAGE WAGE
components are the pmcessor board and the
backlight system. Therefore any efficiency gain in POWER STAGE 11 POWER STAGE 1 2
either subsystem has a direct impact on the operating
life of the battery. The efficiency improvement Figure 1. Typical ROYER Oscillator based
provided by the CS-ZVS inverter therefore helps to inverter design.
maximize precious battery life.
The electrical efficiency (and as a result light
output efficiency) in such a system is the product of

AMLCDs '95 133

 the two individual efficiencies of the two power
processing stages. Even if individual efficiencies are
92% the resulting total efficiency would only Qe
85%.
In a ROYER oscillator the primary winding
inductance is of relatively low value and is used as
part of the resonant network, necessitating the
insertion of a gap in the core structure of the
transformer. The lower inductance causes circulating
currents that increase the copper losses of the
winding. Also the gap in the core results in fringe
fields that produce eddy current losses in
surrounding conductive areas resulting in more
losses.
The preregulator stage in these types of circuits
consists of a hard switching buck or boost converter
that generate more EM. Normally the Operating
frequencies of the two stages are unrelated and that
m a y cause noise fdtering difficulties.
The CS-ZVSInverter Topoiogy
The CS-ZVS inverter topology was recently
developed specifically for CCFL backlighting
applications. As such it does not suffer from some of
the limitations of older inverters.
It has a single power conversion stage where
both high voltage generation and dimming takes
place. Figure 2, shows the block diagram of this
A ~ ~ ‘95
~ D 134
§
inverter. The single power stage is also evidenced
when compared to the block diagram of Figure 1.
DIMMING AND !3
HIGH VOLTAGE 0
Vdc 1N INVERTER !E
STAGE 2
1 I
POWER STAGE #l
Figure 2. Block diagram of the CS-ZVSbased
inverter
Figure 3, shows the basic schematic diagram of
the CS-ZVS inverter topology. The key elements in
the circuit are the lamp impedance matching
network components. They perform the impedance
matching and operating point stabilization functions
for the CCFLs. The circuit is operated above
resonance and that enables zero voltage switching
which results in lowered EMI and switching losses.
At initial start-up the synchronous detector
circuiny integrated in the LX1580 IC senses the
resonant current that flows through R4 and it
synchronizes the operating frequency of Q1 and Q2
to match the resonant hquency of the impedance
matching network. This enables the rapid build-up of
voltage necessary for lamp ignition. After ignition
the loaded lamp impedance matching network
r ; *m . - D3
h
current is sensed and again the synchronous detector
circuitry forces the switching 6requency of Q1 and
4 2 to settle at the maximum brighmess point.
Dimming is accomplished by desynchronizing
and incming the switching fiequency. The control
fiequency span depends on the loaded “Q“ of the
circuit,
The current being sensed across R4 is also
applied to a cycle by cycle current limit circuit. This
circuit limits the peak current value that will ever
flow through the circuit. By limiting the value of this
current an automatic limit of the maximum output
open terminal voltage is also set. The open circuit
voltage then becomes very predictable and it can be
calculated by using (1) below.
Where: V,.C, is the peak secondary open circuit
voltage, Vc.Ltkis the preset current limit threshold
intemal to the Lx1580, XO is the capacitive
impedance of the capacitor in parallel with the
primary of transformer T1,and N is the turns ratio of
T1.
The lamp current is regulated by sensing the
voltage across R3 and then converting that to an
average value for comparison with the voltage
present at the DIM input of the LX1580. The DIM
input accepts an analog voltage in the range from OV
to 25V(2.5V corresponds to full brighmess) for
brighmess control. The control relationship is linear
thus OV at this input has the capability of regulating
the lamp current down to OmA.
The Safety Protection Features Of The LX1580
The are four safety protection mechanisms in
the LX1580 these are:
1. Instantaneouscurrent limit.
2. Instantaneous overvoltage limit.
3. Time-out overvoltage protection.
4. Overtemperature protection.
The functionality of the instantaneous current
and voltage limits were described in the previous
SectionS.
The Time-out overvoltage circuit comprised of
components D3, 0, R6, and R4 conthously
monitor the voltage at the primary of T1 if this
voltage stays at overvoltage levels for more than a set
time then this information is used by the U1580 to
shut down the switching of the power stage, thus
preventing the high voltage from continuously
appearing across the output terminals. The shutdown
time is programmable up to several milliseconds.
This also helps to dramatically reduce the average
power at the input of the inverter enabling the
inverter to tolerate such faults indefinitely.
Overtemperature protection represents yet
another redundant safety mechanism that help the
inverter to shut down and safely stay shut until the
user cycles the input power. The overtemperature
limit is set to activate when critical component
t e m p e ” rise to approximately 90°C.
All these safety features make the U1580 based
inverter vim~allyindestructible. This significantly
helps when the inverter is integrated with the final
system where the above safety features result in
increased production yields and fewer failures.
Performance Gains: Efficiency
The highlight of the CS-ZVS topology is its
high efficiency. The setup of Figure 4, was used to
evaluate the performance of the new inverter and
was compared to the inverter performance in three
commercially available notebook computers.
DC DC DC
P o w r Supply Amp Meter Vdt Meter
qN= VDC bc
Sleep Control - L M C *t*
Dimmin
U0
Figure 4. Light output measurement setup
AMLCDs ‘95 135
 Table 1, shows the results of these
measurements. Light output improvements have
ranged from 17.39% to 23.69%.
The high voltage transformer represents the
largest thermal mass in the inverter, as can be seen
from the above table the temperature rise for the
CS-ZVS based design is significandy lower than of
compl, comp2 and comp3. This may help to reduce
the color and contrast distortion of the display.
There are several reasons that make the CS-ZVS
inverter more efficient than older type inverters these
are listed in Table 2.
Summary
A new CCFL inverter circuit has been presented
that shows significant light output efficiency gains
when compared to existing double power stage
dimming ROYER oscillator inverters. The integrated
circuit that controls the new inverter was specifically
Table 2
CIRCUIT ROYER OSCILLATOR
SECTION BASED DESIGN
designed for CCFL inverter circuits and several
levels of fault protection mechanisms.
Acknowledgment
Thanks are due to Brayton Hoit of Linfiity
Micrcelectronics for his patience in setting up the
computers and taking the light output measurements
frmn the LCD panels.
References
[ 11 M. K. Nalbant, “A New And Improved Control
Technique Greatly Simplifies f i e Design Of
Highly Efficient Dimming CCFE Backlight
Inverter Circuits,” Portable B y Design
Conference, February 1995.
r21 U K. Nalbant, “A New And Improved Control
Technique Greatly Simplifies The Design Of
Z V S Resonant Invertem and De/DC Power
Supplies,”IEEE, APEC‘95 Conference, March
199s.
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