New Mixed-Signal LCD Controller Lowers Cost of Flat Panel Display Monitors; System-Level IC Will Help Expand Market for Flat Panel Displays to Desktop PCs.SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 1998--NeoParadigm Labs, Inc., (NPL 1. NPL - New Programming Language. IBM's original (temporary) name for PL/I, changed due to conflict with England's "National Physical Laboratory." MPL and MPPL were considered before settling on PL/I. Sammet 1969, p.542. 2. ) today announced the NP119 mixed-signal controller for flat-panel TFT (Thin Film Transistor) The term typically refers to active matrix screens on laptop computers. Active matrix LCD provides a sharper screen display and broader viewing angle than does passive matrix. See LCD and thin film. TFT - Thin Film transistor Liquid Crystal Display liquid crystal display (LCD) Optoelectronic device used in displays for watches, calculators, notebook computers, and other electronic devices. Current passed through specific portions of the liquid crystal solution causes the crystals to align, blocking the passage of light. (LCD) monitors. A system-level IC, the NP119 integrates all the circuits of a complete display controller, including triple 6 bit 80Msps A/D converters, intelligent multi-mode detection, video resolution scaling, and direct drive of all major brands of TFT LCD panels. The NP119 has been designed for highest system flexibility at the lowest system bill of materials The list of components that make up a system. For example, a bill of materials for a house would include the cement block, lumber, shingles, doors, windows, plumbing, electric, heating and so on. (BOM) cost of under $49, to enable the most cost-effective solution in the market at no performance or feature penalty. "Until now, the high price of FPD (1) (Flat Panel Display) See LCD, plasma display, EL display, FED and flat panel display. (2) (Field Programmable Device) An umbrella term for all chips that can be programmed by the customer including SPLDs, CPLDs and FPGAs. See PLD. monitors has restricted them mainly to niche markets despite their advantages over CRTs," said Bettina Briz, vice president of marketing at NPL. "The NP119 will help greatly expand the market by enabling manufacturers to reduce the price of FPD monitors to the point where they are truly viable display options for PCs everywhere." "We designed the NP119 to be compatible with existing analog graphic adapters," said Briz, "because we believe that the advantages of flat panel displays are so compelling, users will replace existing CRTs, in addition to flat panel displays being the display of choice for new PC systems. "End users will simply unplug their old CRT (1) (C RunTime) See runtime library. (2) (Cathode Ray Tube) A vacuum tube used as a display screen in a computer monitor or TV. The viewing end of the tube is coated with phosphors, which emit light when struck by electrons. and plug a new FPD monitor into the analog RGB (Red Green Blue) The computer's native color space, which is the color system for capturing and displaying images. RGB was derived from our own perception of color because human eyes are sensitive to red, green and blue (see trichromaticity). connector on the back of the PC." Multiple Built-in Functions The NP119 achieves the lowest system BOM by careful system attention to the critical areas of conversion between analog input and TFT output. The three main blocks of this conversion are the input timing detection, the signal-mapping block, and the video scaling logic. Input timing detection has not only to recognize the sync signals from the graphic adapter, but detect the proper video resolution being displayed. NPL has developed an intelligent algorithm that supports 24 bit true color video resolutions from 640x350 through 1024x768 and vertical refresh rates up to 75Hz. The sync algorithm similarly establishes the baseline pixel clock for the TFT LCD panel, as well, and can be programmed to support panel resolutions that include 1024x768, 800x600, 720x400, 640x480 and 640x350. The signal-mapping block is a fully integrated method for precise adjustment of video contrast and color temperature. One of nine settings is possible through four control pins. The NP119 has a unique output scaling algorithm which performs full-screen expansion of the input video to the output screen resolution without the need of an external frame buffer, leading to an overall savings of about 15-20 percent in the bill of materials (BOM) for an FPD monitor. Chip Compatible with Wide Range of Products An externally configured 8 KB ROM makes the NP119 a very versatile controller, maximizing the chip's ability to support multiple TFT LCD panels and graphic adapters. A simple protocol, running over the 6-wire serial interface allows the display manufacturer to control the chip from a low-cost 8-bit microcontroller, making firmware development easy, and shortening the system development cycle. Since the NP119's sync algorithm performs mode detection, it requires only ten additional control registers for full system flexibility. As a result, implementing all the LCD control functions through on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. display (OSD (1) (On-Screen Display) An on-screen control panel for adjusting monitors and TVs. The OSD is used for contrast, brightness, horizontal and vertical positioning and other monitor adjustments. ) is straightforward, allowing display manufacturers to simplify production tooling and procedures. Manufacturers can build a complete LCD display based on the NP119 simply by adding a CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. , an FPD, two phase lock loop (PLL PLL - phase-locked loop ) analog components, 8 KB ROM, a video mixer/preamplifier, and an optional OSD. Evaluation Kits Let Customers Try Out NP119 NPL's NP119 Evaluation Kit allows display manufacturers to try out the NP119 and see for themselves how quickly they can build a high-quality, cost-effective LCD monitor. This complete reference system includes an evaluation board with the NP119, a bill of material, PCB PCB: see polychlorinated biphenyl. PCB in full polychlorinated biphenyl Any of a class of highly stable organic compounds prepared by the reaction of chlorine with biphenyl, a two-ring compound. schematics, Gerber files, and embedded software for the ROM used in the design. Price and Availability The NP119 TFT LCD controller from NPL is available now for sampling and in full production quantities. Volume pricing is $30 per unit in quantities of 10,000. The complete NP119 Evaluation Kit is available for $395. The product is available through NPL's sales representative, Premier Technical Sales, in the United States, through distributors Ryosho and Macnica in Japan, and through NPL's direct sales office in the United States, Japan and Taiwan. About NPL NeoParadigm Labs, Inc., (NPL), a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. founded in December 1995, supplies complex system-level ICs to the electronics industry. Its integrated product development processes and systems-level expertise offer total turnkey solutions for the communications and consumer markets in a fraction of the time of traditional IC houses. NPL is headquartered in San Jose, and has sales offices in Taiwan and Japan. For more information about NeoParadigm Labs, call 408/432-0900 or visit its web site at www.neoparadigm.com. |
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