Sensor enables accurate colour and brightness management of smartphone OLED displays

Mouser now stocks the TCS3720 colour, proximity, and ambient light sensor (ALS) from ams OSRAM.

The device features ambient light, colour (RGB) sensing, and proximity detection with two advanced emitter drivers integrated within a compact 3.34mm x 1.36mm x 0.6mm OLGA package. The ambient light/colour sensing function provides four concurrent ambient light sensing channels (Red, Green, Blue, and Clear). A UV/IR blocking filter covers the RGB and Clear channels. The architecture accurately measures ambient light while calculating illuminance and colour temperature to manage display appearance.

The device is ideal for smartphone display screens that operate at a high refresh rate with high-frequency PWM brightness control and have low transmissivity. These display features produce extremely challenging operating conditions for a behind OLED ALS/proximity sensor: high speed shortens the blanking time in which the device can measure optical signals, while low transmissivity attenuates the signal reaching the sensor's photodiodes. In typical implementations, the device can reliably support a proximity sensing range of up to 5cm while providing colour and illuminance measurements for granular optimisation of the phone display's brightness and colour balance.