Rohm targets Indian two-wheeler OEMs and Tier 1s with TFT panel-chipset solution

Rohm, the Japan-based semiconductor solution provider, has introduced panel chipset solutions targeted at the Indian two-wheeler market. The chipset has been designed to drive and control automotive LCDs, including larger, high-resolution monitors used for navigation and the instrument cluster. The expanded line-up is compatible with functional safety measures for speedometers, side mirrors and other vehicle systems, says Rohm.

The increased  use of  LCD  panels in next-generation vehicles for the instrument cluster, navigation, electronic mirrors and other systems, with larger, higher-resolution displays, calls for an increase in the number of driver and controller channels. This makes system configuration and operation verification more difficult, favouring chipset solutions. In applications such as electronic mirrors, malfunctions can lead to serious accidents and functional safety is required.

"The automotive industry in India is one of the prime drivers of the Indian economy. This industry’s R&D is an integral part of enabling manufacturing and innovations in India. ROHM introduces the latest technology in panel-safety which had huge market success in Europe and Japan. Rohm is convinced that this new automotive panel-chipset is necessary for the Indian market as it will enhance both safety and comfort,” said Daisuke Nakamura, managing director, Rohm Semiconductor India.

“Rohm Semiconductor India is working towards enabling innovations in the Indian two-wheeler market. We are now working with key Indian two-wheeler OEM and Tier 1s to customise this solution for the Indian market. A fully functional digital LCD panel can display much more useful information than the mechanical and semi-digital panels. We are working very closely with both conventional OEMs and for e-bikes to define the application in India,” said Britto Edward Victor, head, Design Center, Rohm Semiconductor India.

Rohm’s revenues from this panel-chipset solution are projected to hit US$100 million by 2021, with a CAGR of 13% with the present US$60 million.

Enabling improved safety
With the advent of the smartphone, LCD panels are now the de facto user-interface. This fundamental innovation has brought some major advantages and the users are accustomed to using this interface.

And, in recent years the adoption of LCDs in vehicles for the instrument cluster/meter, navigation, electronic-mirrors, and other systems have risen significantly, while the growing number of applications has increased the demand for larger and higher-resolution displays.

Unlike consumer-displays which may sometimes freeze, automotive panels displays vital information to the driver/rider relating to vehicle parameters (speed, engine conditions, turn indicators), and images from cameras (rear camera, side mirror cameras) whose malfunction directly impacts human safety on the roads.

To achieve these high-safety needs, it is necessary to increase the number of LCD-driver and controller channels. However, this makes system configuration and verification complex, strengthening the demand for an integrated panel chipset solution. In addition to this, applications like electronic-mirrors where malfunctions can lead to serious accidents functional safety are required.

Rohm says its new panel chipset integrates a gamma correction IC, timing controller (T-CON), source driver, and gate driver for driving HD/FHD class displays (the highest resolution currently on the market), along with a power management IC (PMIC) to ensure optimum operation. Each IC is designed to share information as needed, for the supporting functional safety in devices of displays. This chipset ensures high reliability for LCD monitors used for side mirrors and speedometers.

In addition, chipset optimisation has allowed Rohm to cover a wide range of specifications while at the same time integrate a key fail detection function in the timing controller to verify operation, making it possible to configure high-resolution LCD panels.