1. General description
The PCA8546 is a peripheral device which generates the drive signals for any multiplexed
LCD containing up to four backplanes, and up to 176 elements. The PCA8546 is
compatible with most microcontrollers and communicates via the two-line bidirectional
I
2
C-bus (PCA8546A) or a three line unidirectional SPI-bus (PCA8546B). Communication
overheads are minimized using a display RAM with auto-incremented addressing.
For a selection of NXP LCD segment drivers, see Table 38 on page 53
.
2. Features and benefits
AEC-Q100 grade 3 compliant for automotive applications
Single-chip 176 elements LCD controller and driver
Wide range for digital power supply: from 1.8 V to 5.5 V
LCD supply range from 2.5 V up to 9 V
LCD and logic supplies may be separated
Low power consumption
Four backplanes and selectable display bias configuration
On-chip RAM for display data storage
400 kHz I
2
C-bus interface (PCA8546A)
5 MHz SPI-bus interface (PCA8546B)
Programmable frame frequency in the range of 60 Hz to 300 Hz in steps of about
10 Hz; factory calibrated
176 segments driven allowing:
up to 22 7-segment alphanumeric characters
up to 11 14-segment alphanumeric characters
any graphics of up to 176 elements
Manufactured in silicon gate CMOS process
Extended operating temperature range up to 95 C
3. Applications
Climate control
Car radio
Dashboard display
PCA8546
4 x 44 automotive LCD driver
Rev. 1 — 13 November 2013 Product data sheet
