Date: 06/12/2010

High voltage electroluminescent lamp driver IC for laptop keyboard backlighting

Supertex, Inc. has introduced the HV816, a dimmable, low noise, electroluminescent (EL) lamp driver designed to drive large area EL lamps used in backlighting keyboards of notebooks, netbooks, and electronic organizers, as well as advertising display signs.

HV816 can produce 360 Volt peak to peak output voltage by operating from an input voltage of 2.7V to 5.5V, which is ideally suitable for 3.3V and 5V systems, and using a single cell lithium battery.
HV816 provides independent lamp and converter frequency settings and adjustable output rise and fall time. It uses a minimum number of external components to minimize the PC board area.

"By using an EL lamp and the HV816, manufacturers can develop thin, dimmable backlit keyboards for notebook and netbook computers that consume less power and offer more uniform brightness without hot spots when compared to other backlighting solutions," states Hernan DeGuzman, Vice President of Marketing for Supertex. "This IC has split supply capability for improved efficiency and prolonged battery life and works with input voltages as low as 2.7 volts."

Package: QFN-16 (HV816K6-G) and SOW-16 (HV816SG-G), RoHS compliant
Availability:
HV816K6-G: Now
HV816SG-G: in 3-4 weeks
Price: US$2.07 each for HV816K6-G and US$2.63 each for HV816SGG in 1K quantities.

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