General Description
The MAX6950/MAX6951 are compact common-cathode
display drivers that interface microprocessors to individ-
ual 7-segment numeric LED digits, bar graph, or discrete
LEDs through an SPI™-, QSPI™-, MICROWIRE™-com-
patible serial interface. The supply voltage can be as low
as 2.7V.
The MAX6950 drives up to five 7-segment digits or 40
discrete LEDs. The MAX6951 drives up to eight 7-seg-
ment digits or 64 discrete LEDs.
Included on-chip are hexadecimal character decoders
(0–9, A–F), multiplex scan circuitry, segment and digit
drivers, and a static RAM that stores each digit. The
user may select hexadecimal decoding or no-decode
for each digit to allow any mix of 7-segment digits, bar
graph, or discrete LEDs to be driven. The segment cur-
rent for the LEDs is set by an internal digital brightness
control. The segment drivers are slew-rate limited to
reduce EMI.
Individual digits may be addressed and updated with-
out rewriting the entire display. The devices include a
low-power shutdown mode, digital brightness control, a
scan-limit register that allows the user to display from
one to eight digits, segment blinking that can be syn-
chronized across drivers, and a test mode that forces
all LEDs on.
Applications
Set-Top Boxes
Panel Meters
White Goods
Bar Graphs and Matrix Displays
Industrial Controllers and Instrumentation
Professional Audio Equipment
Medical Equipment
Features
♦ High-speed 26MHz SPI-, QSPI-, MICROWIRE-
Compatible Serial Interface
♦ +2.7V to +5.5V Operation
♦ Individual LED Segment Control
♦ Segment Blinking Control that Can Be
Synchronized Across Multiple Drivers
♦ Hexadecimal Decode/No-Decode Digit Selection
♦ Digital Brightness Control
♦ Display Blanked on Power-Up
♦ Drives Common-Cathode LED Digits
♦ Multiplex Clock Syncronizable to External Clock
♦ Slew-Rate Limited Segment Drivers for Low EMI
♦ 75µA Low-Power Shutdown (Data Retained)
♦ Small 16-Pin QSOP Package
MAX6950/MAX6951
Serially Interfaced, +2.7V to +5.5V,
5- and 8-Digit LED Display Drivers
________________________________________________________________ Maxim Integrated Products 1