EE Times Under the Hood - June 23, 2008 - (Page U30)

UTH0623DIGI_pg28_40.qxd 6/10/08 3:53 PM Page 30 under the hood: w w w. e e t i m e s . c o m D I G I T A L HOME TVs, the KDL-26S3000, last year. The next large component is the NEC D61162 MIPS-based MPEG decoder for digital TV. It has a quad CPU architecture. The main CPU is a 654-Mips processor running at 327 MHz. The second CPU has 236-Mips performance at 196 MHz. And there are two audio CPUs running at 236 Mips at 196 MHz. A second NEC component is an integrated three-host controller with a USB 2.0 transceiver in a single chip. Also on board is a Fujitsu MB91305, which is a single-chip microcontroller with a 32-bit RISC CPU and I/O for embedded controllers. Memory support comprises 2 Mbytes of flash from Fujitsu, a pair of Samsung 256-Mbit SLC NAND flash chips, a pair of Elpida 512-Mbit DDR2 memories, 128 Mbits of Samsung GDDR SDRAM and 16 Mbits of Spansion boot sector flash memory. I would guess the latter device stores all of the default startup information. A fairly standard TV tuner contains two main components. A Toshiba device serves as the demodulator, with error correction, analog-to-digital converter and some memory. A Sony part is likely the tuner chip to receive the signal. Rounding out the parts list is a Texas Instruments 10-W stereo Class D audio power amplifier. On the flip side of the board reside a RealTek Gigabit Ethernet controller and an Altera MAX 3000A-family lowcost CPLD. Finally, there’s the Sony CXD9890. This should be the digital audio processor with analog interface. If this is precisely the same part we have seen on the Sony KDL-26S3000 TV, the die is actually fabricated by TI. Seeing the boards delivers two initial impressions. First, there are a lot of components. And second, most of these components are standard offthe-shelf solutions. Both points can be attributed to the fact that this is the first OLED TV in the market, designed more as a prototype than a mass commercial product. Perhaps Sony’s engineers were focusing more on getting the screen working properly, and turned to chips and technologies they knew or could find easily, which is why there are correlations between this and the Sony KDL-26S3000. ■ • w w w. t e c h o n l i n e . c o m Again, for perspective, a typical TV measures 10 cm or more. Indeed, even the remote that controls this TV is fatter, at 10 mm—three times the thickness. However, the base that provides the TV’s functionality is notably larger than the screen itself, which makes the 3-mm measurement a bit misleading. For connectivity, there are HDMI, USB, Ethernet and two cable inputs, but no other video input sources, like composite, component or S-Video. The television can also accept Sony’s Memory Stick media cards. How does this TV, with its sharp screen made from an organic LED, actually work? Basically, instead of having a backlight, you have a layer of organic material between two conductors. When power is applied, the organic material produces a bright light. The big difference here is that the light is produced only when needed, instead of being on all the time, thus saving considerable power. Blacks are produced by not turning on the pixel, so no power is used, at least by the screen. The base, however, still consumes power, estimated at 18 to 24 W. There are two types of organic LEDs: small molecule and polymer. Sony chose the small-molecule type because it has a longer life span— about 10 years of eight-hour-a-day use—than the polymer. High tech; standard components The TV comes in two distinct pieces: the screen and the base, connected via a single arm. Taking off the back plating on the screen and removing the arm exposes the pc board. Inside is the Altera Cyclone II FPGA, built on a 90nanometer TSMC process. In conjunc- IN BRIEF The Sony XEL-1 is the first commercial OLED TV on the market. While it does not have full HD capabilities—only having a 960 x 540-pixel resolution—the picture is quite impressive, albeit rather small on an 11-inch screen.The screen itself is amazingly thin at only 3 mm, but this is only accomplished by having all of the components necessary to operate the TV in a considerably larger base, connected via ribbon cables.While not yet ready for the mainstream consumer, the TV does prove that the technology is a viable, if expensive (more than $200 per square inch of screen) alternative to LCD or plasma. tion with that is Altera’s EPC16, 16 Mbits of flash memory that serially configures the Cyclone. There is also a Thine 90-MHz 30-bit color LVDS receiver, the THC63LVD104A, along with Oki DRAM. A Fujitsu 16-bit USB controller is located here as well. This is an interesting design choice, since the USB input is in the base. Inside the base is a large heat sink covering most of the pc board. There are cooling wires running to the fan, as well as a considerable number of heat pads—one for almost every major device found on the board. The first component to look at is the Sony CXD9903. I am guessing this is the image processor that drives the picture onto the screen. It’s the same controller that Semiconductor Insights found in one of Sony’s 26-inch LCD Component focus A teardown of Sony’s XEL-1 OLED TV reveals a host of standard, off-theshelf components. The design is rather orthodox, using components similar to those in previous Sony TVs and not implementing many custom devices or optimizing the design. Sony spent most of its time working on creating a functional OLED screen rather than focusing on reinventing the wheel. One of the most interesting aspects of the teardown was the large amount of heat sinks, heat pads and fans that were implemented. It seemed a bit excessive, but could have been necessary to ensure that the screen did not discolor during operation. 30 Electronic Engineering Times, TechOnline | June 23, 2008 http://www.eetimes.com http://www.techonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Under the Hood - June 23, 2008

Under the Hood - June 23, 2008 Extreme Design: SuitSat Pushes Desigers' Limits Evolution of the Smart Phone Mature Devices get Rolly Rocking GPS: Garmin Nuvi 750 vs. HP iPaq 310 Inside the Sony OLED TV Multizone Dgital Audio Flip Ultra Camcorder - An Ode to Clean Design Robot Guitar Tunes Itself E-book is a Sight for Sore Eyes Scientific Calculator Boils Down to Two ICs $100 BOM Eludes First OLPC Laptop 45 nm: What Intel Didn't Tell You Next Step in NAND Flash Evolution Surveillance on a Shoestring Hot 3G Phone Owes Debt to Analog SecurID Fob: Single-Chip Safety Net

Under the Hood - June 23, 2008

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