Controller Chip Helps Bring Graphics To Cell Phone LCDs

Designed for next-generation Web-enabled cellular phones, the MQ-2074 Smart LCD controller chip supports screens with 65,536 colors and offers graphics acceleration to meet the requirements of handling and displaying data on cell phones. The result is said to be sharper graphics, richer colors, and better performance for data-intensive applications, allowing users to view e-mails, web sites, calendars, and appointment lists on their cell phones. The chip supports 176 x 160 screen resolution, 16-bit per pixel color, and graphics acceleration features, such as rectangle drawing mode and monochrome-to-color expansion. The IC interfaces to a wide range of flat panel screen types, including active matrix (TFT) LCDs, PWMs, and FRC single-scan and dual-scan STNs. And it also features an embedded display frame-buffer with 56 KB of SRAM and a high-bandwidth 64-bit internal bus. Under typical operating conditions, the controller chip consumes just 0.6 mW of power and features automatic power down on bus interface pads when there is no bus activity. In a 8 x 8-mm chip-scale package, the chip costs less than $5 each/100,000. Samples are available with volume production scheduled for September.