Automotive chipsets support functional safety in high resolution displays

ROHM and LAPIS Semiconductor have announced the availability of chipsets designed to drive and control automotive LCDs, including larger high resolution monitors used for navigation and the instrument cluster. In recent years the adoption of LCDs in vehicles for the instrument cluster, navigation, electronic mirrors, and other systems has risen significantly, while the growing number of applications has increased the demand for larger, higher resolution displays. To achieve these needs, it is necessary to increase the number of driver and controller channels. However, this makes system configuration and operation verification more difficult, strengthening the demand for chipset solutions. In addition, in applications such as electronic mirrors where malfunctions can lead to serious accidents functional safety is required. ROHM’s new chipsets integrate a gamma correction IC, timing controller (T-CON), source driver, and gate driver for driving HD/FHD class displays (the highest resolution currently on the market), along with a power management IC (PMIC) to ensure optimum drive operation. Each IC is designed to share information as needed, achieving automotive-grade reliability and marking the first time functional safety was successfully introduced in devices for displays. Compatibility with LCDs for side mirrors and speedometers that can lead to accidents is also provided. In addition, chipset optimization allowed them to cover a wide range of specifications while at the same time integrate a fail detection function in the timing controller to verify operation, making it possible to configure high resolution LCD panels.