National Semiconductor Corp. has announced its new point-to-point differential signaling digital interface architecture and chipset for LCD TVs. The PPDS™ architecture enables cinema-quality display performance and smaller bezels, and can support LCD TVs up to 90 in. in diagonal, the company reports. The architecture reportedly simplifies the design of the intra-panel interconnect, which reduces the number of column driver input signals by up to 50 percent. National is working with TV designers and technology partners to drive adoption of the PPDS architecture as a standard for LCD TVs.

The architecture combines a physical layer interface with high-level protocol, which reduces the overall required printed circuit board size. Capable of delivering more than one billion colors to the display for 30-bit color, the architecture is designed to drive large panels up to 90 in. at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 lines.

The company has also developed a new timing controller and column driver to support the PPDS architecture. The FPD80200 timing controller uses the industry standard FPD-Link input to receive video data and a unique PPDS interface output for communication with the column drivers. The FPD48084 column driver receives data via the PPDS interface and uses a linear DAC to convert the incoming data to the appropriate output voltage.

Contact: www.national.com.