1454

For circuits using TTL logic or transistors, see Figure 3.

Figure 3. Circuits for TTL or transistor and darlington
transistor

It can be seen that Vce (saturation voltage) for the driver is
going to be a factor in determ ining the series lim iting resistor.
Therefore a darlington versus a single output transistor w ill
have different current lim iting resistor values to m aintain a con-
stant current through the LED .

Figure 4. Common cathode display
Figure 5. Common anode display
R s
V cc V ce V f
If
-------------------------------------- - =
V
C C
R
S
V
f
V
f
R
S
V
c c
I
f
I
f
V
C E
V
C E
TTL or
Transistor
D arling ton
Transistor
a b c d e f g
C C
a b c d e f g
C A

The purpose of this application note is to provide som e inform a-
tion on the integrated circuits presently available to drive Light
Em itting D iodes (LED ) displays and how to interface them to
the various displays.

Background

LED displays com e in various sizes (0.1to 0.8), colors (red,
high-ef ciency red, green, yellow and blue), fonts (7/9/14/16 seg-
m ent, dot-m atrix, or bargraph), and types (com m on anode, com -
m on cathode, m ulti-digit). The brightness is essentially
proportional to the current through an LED and each elem ent
w ithin a display should have the sam e current or a brightness
variation m ay be apparent. A display subsystem can be m ade up
from several elem ents.

Figure 1.

Display system

The partitioning of these elem ents are dependent on the driv-
ers used; therefore the display driver chosen is dependent on
the speci cations of the display and the application. A lso som e
types of displays require using a m ultiplexing technique
because of the internal interconnections. This is only applicable
for m ulti-digit displays.

Typical Circuits

Figure 2 show s a very basic circuit for driving an LED . The
series resistance can be easily calculated from the follow ing
form ula.

Figure 2. Basic circuit to drive an LED
D isplay
Latch
or
M em ory
D ecoder D river
M ain
System
D ata
R s
V b V f
If
------------------- =
V
B
R
S
I
F
V
f

Drivers For Light Emitting
Displays
Appnote 24

by D ave Takagishi

1455

A ppnote 24

Figure 6. Common cathode display with driver
Figure 7. Common anode display with driver
Selection

O ne factor in choosing the display and/or driver w ill be w hether
the display is a com m on cathode or com m on anode type display.
A nother factor is that different drivers go low or high or can be
w ired into different con gurations.
From Figures 6/7/8/9, it m ay appear obvious to com bine the
seven series resistors (R s) into one com m on resistor in the
com m on line. H ow ever this should not be done because of the
possible variation in Vf from segm ent to segm ent. Variation in
Vf can cause a variation in current, resulting in segm ent bright-
ness differences.
Table 1 is list of som e of the m ost com m on LED drivers avail-
able. B esides having different current drive capabilities, one
product m ay have a feature w hich m ay m ake them easier to
use in a particular application:
Serial versus parallel input data
D ata latching type drivers
B lanking
D rive ripple blanking input (rbo) w ith pulse w idth
m odulation to vary brightness
M ulti-digit drivers
C onstant current drivers
A dvantage of a constant current driver as Vf m ay not affect
brightness, im portant w ith different color LED s.
V
c c
A B C D E F G
D ata Input
7448 or Equivalent
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
V
c c
A B C D E F G
D ata Input
7447 or Equivalent
V
c c
1 2 3 4
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S
R
S

Figure 8. Open collector type driver with common
anode display
Figure 9. Open collector type driver with common
cathode display
Multiplexing

ln a m ultiplex system , the corresponding segm ent of each digit
is bussed together and driven from one segm ent drive via the
usual current lim iting resistors. The display data is presented
serially by digit to the decoder driver together w ith the appropri-
ate digit signal (Figure 10). For m ore inform ation m ultiplexing,
see A ppnote 3 (M ultiplexing LED D isplays).
O ne w ay to sim plify the design procedure for alphanum eric dis-
plays w ould be to consider Siem ens Intelligent D isplays. This
device fam ily incorporates all necessary interface control w ith
drivers and m em ory built-in w ith the display. This m eans the
designer need not be concerned about the m em ory, m ultiplex
circuitry, character generator, or drivers for these are provided
inside a m odular unit. M ore inform ation on these products is
available in Siem ens O ptoelectronics D ata B ook.
C ircuits show n in this A ppnote are for reference only and are
not the responsibility of Siem ens O ptoelectronics. Products are
continually being im proved by vendors and/or are obsoleted;
therefore consult the factory.
V
C C
R
S
A B C
R
S
R
S
7447
or
equivalent
V
C C
R
S
R
S
R
S
7449
or
equivalent

1456

A ppnote 24

Figure 10. Block diagram4 digit multiplexed display
Table 1.
Single Digit Decoder/Drivers
Part Number Manufacturer If/Segment Type Comments

7447
74247
7446
Fairchild
H itachi
M otorola
N ational
Signetics
Teledyne
Tl
40 m A C A B C D -to-7 segm ent, open coll, ripple blnkng
7448
74248
Fairchild
H itachi
M otorola
N ational
Signetics
Tl
6 m A C C B C D -to-7 segm ent, int pull-up, ripple blnkng
7449
74249
Fairchild
H itachi
M otorola
N ational
Signetics
Tl
8 m A C C B C D -to-7 segm ent, open coll, ripple blnkng
D S8857 N ational 60 m A C A B C D -to-7 segm ent, decoder, ripple blnkng
D S8858 N ational 50 m A C C B C D -to-7 segm ent, decoder, ripple blnkng
C D 4511
4511 B
M C 14511
Fairchild
N ational
M otorola
25 m A C C B C D -to-7-segm ent, latched, blnkng
D S8647
D S8648
N ational 10 m A C C 9 segm ent drivers
N E587 Signetics 50 m A C A B C D -to-7-segm ent, latched, blnkng, vari current
N E589 Signetics 50 m A C C B C D -to-7-segm ent, latched, blnkng, vari current
C A 3161E R C A 25 m A C A B C D -to-7-segm ent, constant current drivers
9368 Fairchild 20 m A C C B C D -to-7-segm ent, ripple blnkng
9374 Fairchild 15 m A C A B C D -to-7-segm ent, ripple blnkng
D ata
Storage
Segm ent
D ecoder
Segm ent
D river
D ata
Selector
D igit
D river
D igit
Selector
D igit
D river
D igit
D river
D igit
D river
O SC

1457

A ppnote 24

Table 1. (continued)
Multi-Digit Display Drivers
Part Number Manufacturer If/Segment Type Comments

SD A 2014 Siem ens 12 m A C C 2 or 4 digit, serial bcd input
SD A 2131 Siem ens 20 m A C A 16 elem ent serial input
M M 5450 N ational 25 m A C A 34 segm ent serial input, brightness control
M M 5451 N ational 25 m A C A 35 segm ent serial input, brightness control
M M 74C 912 N ational 100 m A C C 6 digit, 7 segm ent+ decim al, B C D decoder, output enble
M M 74C 911 N ational 100 m A C C 4 digit, 8 segm ents controller/segm ent/driver
M M 74917 N ational 100 m A C C 6 digit, 7 segm ents+ decim al, H ex decoder, output enble
D S8669 N ational 25 m A C A D ual B C D -to-7 segm ent decoder/driver
C A 3168E R C A 25 m A C A D ual B C D -to-7 segm ent decoder/driver
IC M 7212
IC M 7212A
IC M 7212M
IC M 7212A M
Intersil 8 m A C A 4 digit, latched, 28 segm ent drivers, brightness cntl
IC M 7218A Intersil 20 m A C A 8 digit, 8 segm ent (decoded/spcl), w /m em /drivers
IC M 7218B Intersil 10 m A C C 8 digit, 8 segm ent (decoded/spcl), w /m em /drivers
IC M 7218C Intersil 20 m A C A 8 digit, 8 segm ent (hex/bcd), w /m em /drivers
IC M 7218D Intersil 10 m A C C 8 digit, 8 segm ent (hex/bcd), w /m em /drivers
IC M 7218E Intersil 20 m A C A 8 digit, 8 segm ent (decoded/spcl), w /m em /drivers, cntls avble
TSC 700A Teledyne 11 m A C A 4 digit decoder/driver, parallel output, brightness cntl
TSC 7212A Teledyne 5 m A C A 4 digit decoder/driver, parallel output, brightness cntl
SA A 1060 Signetics 40 m A C A 16 elem ent serial in/parallel out driver

Other Drivers

XR -2000 Exar 400 m A sink 5 darlington transistors, M O S-to-LED
XR -2201
XR -2202
XR -2203
XR -2204
Exar 500 m A sink 7 darlington transistors, open collector w /diodes, TTL-to-LED ,
com patible to Sprague (U LN -xxxx)
C A 3081 R C A 100 m A sink 7 com m on em itter transistor array
C A 3082 R C A 100 m A source 7 com m on em itter transistor array
9665
9667
Fairchild 250 m A sink 7 com m on em itter darlington transistor array

Bar Graph Drivers

U A A 180 Siem ens 10 m A n.a. 12 elem ent bar driver
LM 3914 N ational 220 m A n.a. 10 elem ent dot/bar linear output driver
LM 3915 N ational 130 m A n.a. 10 elem ent dot/bar linear output driver