National Semiconductor intros LED driver with industry's best dimming performance

SANTA CLARA, USA: National Semiconductor Corp. has introduced a new LED driver with the industry's best phase-based dimming performance for high-brightness light-emitting diode (LED) applications.

The LM3450 LED driver integrates active power factor correction (PFC) and phase dimming decoding to provide uniform, flicker-free illumination across a wide, programmable dimming range. A member of National's PowerWise energy-efficient product family, the LM3450 is well-suited for use in high-performance, phase dimmable, 10 Watt to 100 Watt LED fixtures.

Residential and commercial lighting applications that interface with phase-based dimmers require circuitry that can correctly decode a phase-chopped waveform to provide proper dimming of the LEDs.

Dimmable LED drivers available today do not always meet the minimum current requirement for forward phase or TRIAC-based dimmers, causing the dimmer to shut off or "misfire" during operation. This causes inaccurate decoding of the phase angle resulting in flicker, particularly at very low dimming levels. To compensate, today's drivers reduce the LED dimming range or continuously burn power to keep the dimmer from misfiring.

National Semiconductor has taken a unique approach to solving this issue with its new LM3450 LED driver that integrates hold circuitry to dynamically adjust the current through the phase dimmer. The dynamic hold circuitry, coupled with a programmable, intelligent dimming decoder, ensures smooth, consistent illumination across the full dimming range.

This combination of features provides the most efficient and uniform dimming performance in the industry. The LM3450 LED driver also provides active power factor correction, ensuring a high power factor that complies with residential and commercial Energy Star® standards.