Dialog Semi Technology To Utilize Passive Matrix OLEDs For Mobile Device Displays

Dialog Semiconductor Plc announced its new SmartXtend™ technology that will allow the main displays of many mobile devices – particularly those offering W-QVGA and QVGA resolution – to utilize passive matrix OLED displays rather than LCD or active matrix OLEDs. The company claims that passive matrix OLEDs are available at a much lower cost compared to active matrix OLEDs while providing the same advantages in terms of video quality and performance.

The new SmartXtend™ technology, which utilizes a number of innovative design techniques including a unique multi-line addressing scheme, accurate dynamic current matching and state-of-the-art power management, will form the basis of a new family of display drivers to be developed by Dialog Semiconductor for passive matrix OLEDs. SmartXtend™ is designed to significantly extend the lifetime of passive matrix OLED displays; it is said to reduce the peak current by up to 30% and power consumption by up to 30% compared to the conventional passive matrix driving scheme.

Manoj Thanigasalam, General Manager of Dialog’s Displays System Business Unit, said, "As OLEDs increasingly replace active or passive matrix LCD displays, we believe SmartXtend™ allows Dialog to develop a roadmap of products that give mobile device manufacturers an alternative to the current trend of using active matrix OLEDS in the primary display. SmartXtend™, which is being evaluated by a number of our customers, will allow the use of lower power and lower cost passive matrix OLEDs to be extended to higher resolution main displays on mobile devices."