Driver-IC-1201x1201 comparison LED Display Pixel pitch and small pitch

How to choose driver IC for
LED screens for Virtual
production

Technical aspect of LED display
RED camera side view

DRIVER IC FOR
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
SCREENS

There are many driver IC brands and options. amongst them we can quote:

MBI, ICN, SM etc

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

MBI Driver offering

new basics for led displays

SIX ELEMENTS

LED driver IC recommendation for maximum 64 scan time multiplexing LED display - HDR Optimized 16bit grayscale 4KHz refresh rate at 64 scan design or above
LED driver IC recommendation for maximum 32 scan time multiplexing LED display
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 (1)
LED driver IC recommendation for maximum 64 scan time multiplexing LED display
DRIVER IC ICN

On the ICNI brand we recommend: ICN2065 (Mosfet: ICND2018) Here is why:

  • 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

      ———————————————————————————————————————–

      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 .

Driver Functions/features for LED display–Signage

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

Driver Functions/features for scantype LED display Virtual production / XR studio display

SRAM Embedded

GCLK Multiplier

DoubleEdge-trigger

Visual Optimization

Challenges in Fine Pitch LED Display

Controlling performance

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.

Brightness & grayscale

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

High refresh rate

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

MBI & ICN comparison table driver IC for LED driver recommendation for virtual production LED wall display screen and XR studio

Technical explanation

question you may ask :

Static or time-multiplexing?

If time-multiplexing, how many scans?

Current per channel

Which brightness?

Grayscale requirement

14bit? 16bit?

Specific function demand
  • 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.