iWatt announces world’s first 64 channel LED backlight driver chip for LCD-TVs

LOS GATOS, USA: iWatt Inc., a leader in digital power IC products and technology, has announced its iW7040, the world’s first 64 channel LED backlight IC.

The iW7040 reduces direct backlit LCD-TV costs by $10-$15 per TV and makes it easier for TV manufacturers to achieve Energy Star 5.0 requirements by reducing power consumption 5-10 watts per TV. The cost and power consumption improvements are based on comparing to products that were previously the best in class.

The new iW7040 provides similarly compelling advantages when used in segmented edge backlight solutions. This is a key milestone as iWatt focuses its strategic direction on power ICs for AC-DC and DC-DC applications.

In order to fund its IC businesses for the foreseeable future, iWatt today announced the IKOR power module division has been sold to Integrated Device Technology Inc.

“The sale of IKOR will allow iWatt to fund the rapid development of new products in 3 major growth markets, LED Lighting, LCD-TV Backlighting and AC-DC ICs for cell phone chargers and network adapters,” said Ron Edgerton, President and CEO of iWatt.

“March was a record month for revenue and units shipped. Q1’10 revenue increased over 70 percent as compared to Q1’09 and the remainder of 2010 is projected to continue rapid growth. We are expanding our Asia Design Support Center which will be moving into a new building to accommodate our growth in 2010 and beyond,” Edgerton added.

iWatt is a leader in the emerging Solid State LED lighting market. The company’s iW36XX series AC/DC PWM controller ICs are the first LED driver ICs for 5W-40W luminaires with primary side regulation that eliminates the need for an opto-coupler and related components thereby reducing BOM cost, enabling the smallest form factor and significantly improving MTBF. iWatt’s dimmable LED driver ICs automatically detect dimmer type and operate seamlessly with existing wall dimmers available worldwide.

iWatt’s AC/DC ICs for handset wall chargers and network adapters are leaders in delivering efficient power solutions. iWatt’s suite of AC/DC ICs offer the lowest BOM cost, the highest performance and the smallest form factor while exceeding all industry standards for energy rating and efficiency.

The iW1696C is the only IC that can meet the upcoming USB3.0 specs for Universal Chargers and is available today. An iWatt IC is used in the world’s first zero stand-by power cell phone charger that is slated for shipment by a major telecom operator in North America.

As part of its entry into the LCD-TV Power Management marketplace, iWatt plans to release several platform products for LED backlight and power supply over the next 12 months. The initial platform product, iW7040 is the world’s first 64 channel LED backlight IC for LCD-TVs.

Customers can significantly reduce BOM cost while minimizing wasted power by up to 60 percent. Superior TV image quality is achieved due to efficient LCD display system power management. The iW7040 helps the LCD-TV achieve the lowest wattage possible today thereby exceeding all worldwide TV energy standards and enables TV manufacturers to achieve the forthcoming Energy Star v5.0 compliant power efficiency today.