Microsemi Delivers New LED Driver for LCD Televisions

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, today announced a new, revolutionary non-dissipative LED backlight driver for LCD TV applications. The LX27901 features a proprietary non-dissipative architecture that dramatically increases power efficiency while enhancing backlight performance and lowering total solution cost. It is also the first device of its type to provide LED driving capabilities in televisions based on the LCD Integrated Power Supply (LIPS) architecture, which combines a television's main power supply together with the LED driver on one lower cost and higher efficiency printed circuit board. 

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"The LX27901 continues on our long tradition of innovation in high-performance display lighting solutions, delivering power-efficiency improvements in the 7 to 9 percent range," said Amir Asvadi, vice president and general manager of the Analog Mixed Signal Group at Microsemi. "This impressive reduction in energy consumption, coupled with the ability to reduce component counts and bill-of-material costs, is driving growth for LIPS-based LCD TVs. With the LX27901, we are poised to capitalize on opportunities in this dynamic market segment."

According to Display Search, more than 200 million LCD TVs ship each year, the majority of which will use LED technology.

"Advanced features such as non-dissipative current balancing of multiple LED strings, the ability to use one transformer design for a wide range of panel sizes and Microsemi's proprietary ACU_BRITE algorithm for enhancing dimming accuracy have led our largest customer to design the LX27901 into multiple TV models for 2012," said J.W. Suh, President of South Korean electronics distributor Bescom Global.

About the LX27901

Key features include three selectable drive modes, Microsemi's patented ACU_BRITE^™ algorithm to provide high-accuracy, high-efficiency dimming over a wide operating range, synchronous regulation to reduce the number of power conversion stages and accurate current matching through Microsemi's unique non-dissipative balancing technology. Additional features include:

• 0.8A source & sink drive capacity
• On chip 5.25V regulator
• Direct connection to input voltage up to 27V
• User selectable dimming mode control
• Robust protection during abnormal open and short LED conditions
• Compensated external and internal PWM dimming operation
• Dedicated fault indication
• LED current and voltage monitoring
• RoHS compliant and halogen free

Energy efficiency is crucial in LCD TV applications as efficiency requirements driven by government entities become more stringent, as exemplified by the EnergyStar 5 standard from the US DOE. Traditional solutions utilize an input of 24VDC together with a DC-DC regulator to boost voltage and a current source to control the current/brightness for each LED string. While functional, this multi-stage architecture is highly inefficient.

The LX27901 utilizes Microsemi's EcoBrite^™ technology, combining the TV power supply and LED driver into a single efficient unit, eliminating the need for a DC-DC boost regulator. EcoBrite also eliminates the need for a dissipative current source due to its patented reactive LED string balancing feature. In addition, the company's ACU_BRITE dimming technology provides non-dissipative and highly accurate dimming even at very low current levels.

Packaging and Availability

The LX27901 is offered in a plastic 16-pin small-outline integrated circuit (SOIC) surface mounted package. Samples are available now and production quantities available with a 12 week lead time.

About Microsemi

Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor solutions for: aerospace, defense and security; enterprise and communications; and medical, industrial and alternative energy markets. Products include high-performance, high-reliability analog and RF devices, mixed-signal and RF integrated circuits, customizable SoCs, FPGAs, and complete subsystems. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif., and has approximately 3,000 employees globally. Learn more at www.microsemi.com.

Microsemi and the Microsemi logo are registered trademarks or service marks of Microsemi Corporation and/or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks and service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Any statements set forth in this news release that are not entirely historical and factual in nature, including without limitation statements related to its new LX27901, and its potential effects on future business, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as rapidly changing technology and product obsolescence, potential cost increases, variations in customer order preferences, weakness or competitive pricing environment of the marketplace, uncertain demand for and acceptance of the company's products, adverse circumstances in any of our end markets, results of in-process or planned development or marketing and promotional campaigns, difficulties foreseeing future demand, potential non-realization of expected orders or non-realization of backlog, product returns, product liability, and other potential unexpected business and economic conditions or adverse changes in current or expected industry conditions, difficulties and costs of protecting patents and other proprietary rights, inventory obsolescence and difficulties regarding customer qualification of products. In addition to these factors and any other factors mentioned elsewhere in this news release, the reader should refer as well to the factors, uncertainties or risks identified in the company's most recent Form 10-K and all subsequent Form 10-Q reports filed by Microsemi with the SEC. Additional risk factors may be identified from time to time in Microsemi's future filings. The forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and Microsemi does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Microsemi Corporation