Demand for Ultra HD TVs Caught Up by Samsung Semiconductor Innovation

Samsung Electronics, Interview with Four Developers of Mini LED Driver Chip
System LSI Division Kim Kyung-taek, Kim Hyung-tae, Kang Sang-gu, Yoo Sung-jong
Adopting Matrix Concept, Developing Innovative Products
Enhancing Power Efficiency and Achieving High Contrast Ratio through Precise LED Control

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] "As we enter the era of ultra-high-definition TVs, the number of LEDs has increased by hundreds of times to achieve brighter and more detailed color expression. As the number of LEDs increased, driving chips for more precise control became necessary, prompting us to consider efficient solutions." (Kim Hyung-tae, Professional, LSI Development Office, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics)

Recently, with the new trend in the TV market focusing on ‘Mini LED TVs,’ the demand for LED driver integrated circuits (ICs) for vivid image quality and color reproduction is also increasing. Mini LED TVs have the advantage of arranging more LEDs in the same area, enabling bright and detailed color expression and allowing for thinner TVs.

Samsung Electronics is leading the technology in this field by introducing two new driving IC semiconductors (S6LP441, S6LDMB1) installed in Mini LED TVs. On the 25th, Samsung Electronics Newsroom released an interview featuring four members of the System LSI Division who participated in the development of these new products.

(From left) Kim Kyung-taek, a professional from the System LSI Business Division Marketing Team, and Kim Hyung-tae, Kang Sang-gu, and Yoo Sung-jong, professionals from the LSI Development Team, who participated in the development of Samsung Electronics' 'Mini LED Driving IC,' are introducing the 'Mini LED Driving IC' placed on their thumbs. Photo by Samsung Electronics

As the number of LEDs installed in TVs increases, more LED driver chips are required, system configurations become more complex, and precise control can become difficult. Yuseong Jong, a professional in the LSI Development Office who participated in the development, said, "To solve the complexity, we adopted the matrix concept mainly used for driving LCD TV displays," adding, "This allowed us to develop an accurate and efficient IC."

The innovation of this technology lies in separating the LED current driving chip and the controller that manages it. Very small IC chips are placed near the Mini LEDs to drive them directly, enabling more efficient use of the LED’s light emission time and minimizing wiring, which also improves power efficiency. Yoon, a professional, added, "Existing time-division driving chips had difficulty finely adjusting LED brightness at the required timing," and said, "We considered ways to efficiently increase the light emission time while reducing the number of wiring lines."

Kang Sang-gu, a professional in the LSI Development Office, emphasized the importance of ‘dimming technology,’ which finely controls the amount of light to achieve high contrast ratios. He said, "We focused on improving the performance of dimming technology that makes the night sky darker and the stars within it brighter," adding, "By selectively adjusting the amount of light only at desired points, we achieved a high contrast ratio, which also contributed to improving the TV’s HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology."

In the TV industry, expectations and demand for high-definition TVs are steadily increasing. Mini LED technology, which enables the production of clear and thin TVs, is expected to expand to various displays such as laptops and monitors. Kim Kyung-taek, a professional in the Marketing Team of the System LSI Division, said, "As the number of LEDs installed in TVs increases in the future, LED driver chips will also become smaller and more efficient," adding, "We expect this innovation to expand the application range of next-generation LED driver chips."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.