Special Considerations for Automotive Applications

The automotive environment is one of the most severe in terms of shock and vibration, temperature, and humidity. Rather than conventional TAB interconnections, virtually all Sharp displays for automotive applications use Chip on Glass (COG) technology in order to withstand the shock and vibration. The displays must also be adequately bright and able to work in a wide range of ambient light levels from complete darkness to the noonday sun. Automotive manufacturers are also demanding further environmental considerations. For example, Sharp is rapidly driving toward mercury-free backlights for automotive applications. Another innovation for automotive displays is the self-heating backlight.

CCFTs have poor performance at low temperatures and have traditionally been heated in wide temperature range applications. The self-heating backlight uses a unique power supply control mechanism to rapidly bring the CCFT up to a proper operating temperature. The principal market today is for rear seat entertainment. Most of the displays being developed are quarter VGA or wide versions providing a 16:9 aspect ratio. The resulting automotive product improvements are also being made available for factory automation, Test and Measurement, and other non-automotive uses where ruggedness is a key factor.