TFT LCDs DRIVER ICs and

INTERFACES
By Jack Powers, Application Engineering Manager at New Vision Display, Inc.
TFT LCDs are becoming the norm for small-to-medium size displays in a variety of products within
industrial, medical, POS and consumer applications. Compared to passive-addressed monochrome
LCDs, TFT displays offer higher contrast, wider viewing angles, faster response time and full color. And,
TFT LCDs are now on cost parity with similar size passive LCD displays.
A typical TFT LCD module product consists of a TFT LCD panel, one or more COG (chip-on-glass) driver
ICs, a backlight unit and an interface FPC. Several TFT display interface technologies coexist today.
Picking the right technology depends on the specific end-product concerns. Most often the display panel
input will dictate that choice since TFT panels are designed to be COG bonding pad compatible with a
very limited number of driver ICs. This article discusses the interfaces between TFT LCD modules and the
typical CPUs found in embedded applications.
Typical TFT interfaces are determined by the particular TFT panel size and resolution:

Up to 3.5 size with 128160 to 240320 resolution normally have SPI, parallel MPU or RGB
interface
Between 4.3 and 7 sizes with 480272 to 800480 resolution mostly have RGB interface
For mobile displays with resolution higher than 480854 normal interface is RGB, MIPI or LVDS
For 7 size and above with 1024600 and higher resolution normally have LVDS or MIPI
interface
HDMI and eDP require interface converting boards and generally are not use for small-tomedium size TFT LCDs

SPI Interface: Only the three SPI signals, a CS and a reset signal are needed. Drawbacks are the inability

to read from the display, only write. Also, the frame rate is low and unsuitable for display of video or
high resolution images.
MCU Parallel Interface: The LCD controller signals are two types: data signals and control signals. The

data signals are connected to the LCD data bus and depend on the LCD color depth (8-bit, 9-bit, 16-bit,
18-bit). The control signals are used to define the operation type (read or write), and whether the
operation involves in addressing LCD registers or the display RAM.
RGB Interface: An RGB interface is a special kind of parallel interface. This interface works for displays

without a frame buffer. The MCU is responsible for updating the display, by providing both the RGB subpixel data (16-bit, 18-bit, 24-bit) and the timing signals (HSYNC, VSYNC, DE, CLK).

LVDS Interface: LVDS interfacing has several benefits for TFT displays. It is much less susceptible to EMI

and crosstalk issues, allowing the transmitting device to be located farther from the display. Also LVDS
generally consumes less power, pin counts are lower and there are far fewer worries about signal
integrity.
MIPI-DSI Interface: High-speed serial interface commonly used on smartphones and tablets. By

standardizing this interface, components may be developed that provide higher performance, lower
power, less electromagnetic interference and fewer pins than current devices, while maintaining
compatibility across products from multiple vendors.
Modern TFT driver ICs are highly integrated chips combining the source driver, gate driver and timing
controller (TCON), as well as other functional circuits such as memory, power circuit and image
processors, into one single IC die. Some driver ICs support multiple interfaces that are selectable on the
module FPC or through initialization code firmware.
As a designer and manufacturer of custom LCD modules, New Vision Display works with customers to
select the most appropriate and cost-effective TFT display and electronic interface solution for their
particular requirement. New Vision Display has nearly 30 years of industry experience as one of the
worlds leading TFT LCD screen manufacturers. For more information, please visit
www.newvisiondisplay.com