How to choose driver IC for
LED screens for
Virtual
production
DRIVER IC FOR
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
SCREENS
There are many driver IC brands and options. amongst them we can quote:
Each brand proposes drivers for all applications: outdoor, indoor, high refresh rate request, low budget design etc.
Out of all the offerings out there and after our in house testing we have hand selected 2 brands and 1 model in each brand that work best for Virtual production LED screens application.
- MBI 5264 MOSFET MBI5986
- ICN 2065 MOSFET ICND2018
LED driver IC recommendation for maximum 64 scan time multiplexing LED display:
HDR Optimized: 16bit grayscale @4KHz refresh rate at 32 scan design or above
Superior Image: solving the 7 common problems for fine pitch LED displays
MBI5254 / MBI5754 can achieve 14 bit grayscale @4KHz refresh rate of 32 scan design
driver IC mbi
On the MBI brand we recommend: MBI5264 Here is why
- 16 channel driver IC, support up to 64 scans
- 16-bit grayscale
- Output current range 0.5mA~20mA
- HDR-Optimized (16-bit grayscale, 3840Hz refresh rate in a 32 scan design or above)
- Intelligent power saving
- Perfect for Pixel pitch 1mm~4mm
- Internal GCLK and grayscale boosting functions
- The scan doesn’t impact the refresh rate for 5264 Internal G clock even in a high scan design
- Simply saying, MBI5264 could achieve perfect display performance and high refresh rate even in a high scan number design. Test data for the
- grayscale display.
- Because it have Internal GCLK and grayscale boosting functions Scan range and grayscale ratio recommendation for MBI
- 32-64 scans: Pitch1.5~1 16bit:MBI5264
- 8-32 scans: Pitch4~Pitch1.5 16bit:MBI5264
- 1-8 scans: Pitch12~Pitch4 16bit:MBI5251
MBI Driver offering
new basics for led displays
SIX ELEMENTS
On the ICNI brand we recommend: ICN2065 (Mosfet: ICND2018) Here is why:
- ICND2065 has an embedded SRAM designed to support up to 1:64(Max.) time-multiplexing applications
- Users only need to send the whole frame data once and to store in the embedded SRAM of ICND2065, instead of sending every time when the scan line is changed.
- ICND2065 Flexible design and compatible with any grayscale
- In addition, ICND2018 is a specific power switch for scan type LED display and supports 8-channel output.
- The maximum output current is 2.5A per channel.
- High contrast/High refresh rate/Good heat dissipation/Low failure rate/dead pixels/Low greyscale
Spec of the driver IC 2065
ICN 2065 and ICND 2055 can say the same product and performance,the number of scans refreshed by ICN2065 is 1-64s,but ICND 2055 is 1-32s.Scan range and grayscale ratio recommendation for ICN2065 – Pitch 1.87- 46-64 scans: 13-bit grayscale.
- 32-45 scans: 14-bit grayscale.
- 31-16 scans: 15-bit grayscale.
- 1-15 scans: 16-bit grayscale.
There is a gama tab Gamma table to check how
- 8bits colours from the driver scan system
- Equivalent to 16bits colour transfer to Nova, colorlight or Brampton system
The lower the scan the better the picture
The higher the scan the more trouble you could face
Safest is stay bellow 1/40scan with a driver designed to handle High scan design
If your project is cost budget conscious then 64>54>32
If your project is image and performances conscious then 32>54>64
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Let’s take 16-bit grayscale, 1/32scans & 1/11 scans different scan, and 60Hz frame rate as examples for reference.
- 16-bit grayscale=65536GCLKs
- 1/32 scan=65536GCLKs= 1/GCLK*512 * 128 groups * 32 scans = Total time must be < 1/60Hz=16.67ms
- 1/11 scan=65536GCLKs= 1/GCLK*512 * 128 groups * 11 scans = Total time must be < 1/60Hz=16.67ms
- And refresh rate= groups * frame rate=128groups* 60Hz= 7680Hz
- The above-mentioned 512 is the number for each scan and the number of groups are adjusted arbitrarily by the register of ICND2065.
In general applications, as long as the refresh rate is higher than 3840Hz.
We can define it as high-refresh rate .
Power saving mode
Power saving by chip
Power saving by channel
Error detection
LED short
LED open
Rext open
Power saving mode
Flag & shutdown
Current gain
SRAM Embedded
GCLK Multiplier
DoubleEdge-trigger
Visual Optimization
Challenges in Fine Pitch LED Display
Low scan every RGB output pin controlling 11 pcs LED in a Column, for P3 or bigger pixel pitch. High scan every RGB output pin controlling 48 pcs LED in a Column, controlling more LEDs, suitable for smaller pitch.
Low scan is good for higher brightness but lead grayscale lossing, it’s not good for detail expression on the LED WALL. High scan precise design of the inner circuit allow keeping both low brightness and high grayscale, makes LED wall showing smooth and vivid pictures while camera shooting
Low scan at the same GCLK frequency has lower working efficiency. High scan at the same GCLK frequency has higher working efficiency. Refresh rate means LED display shows the number of times the information is completely displayed per second .
MBI & ICN Driver Comparison
Technical explanation
question you may ask :
If time-multiplexing, how many scans?
Which brightness?
14bit? 16bit?
Power saving
Error detection
Ghosting issue
HDR Optimized
If you have those questions please contact us and our LED engineer will be there to help.