LED lighting drive technology market application pattern
With the diversification of lighting needs, LED lighting has been widely developed in various usage scenarios due to its stable and efficient characteristics. Among them, the continuous update and iteration of LED lighting driver chip technology and manufacturing process has become the key device for the continuous development of lighting products. According to the statistics of the LED Research Institute (GGII), the output value of China's LED lighting market has increased from 301.7 billion yuan in 2016 to 526.9 billion yuan in 2020, with an average annual compound growth rate of 14.95%. It is estimated that the scale of China's LED lighting market will reach 582.5 billion yuan in 2021.
In the following, the general LED lighting chip and the smart chip will be described, and the technical status and market application pattern of these two types of lighting driver chips will be introduced.
1. Universal driver chip technology: integration, reliability and reduced interference to the power grid.
In the early stage of the development of general-purpose driver chip technology, only constant lighting and simple protection functions were generally required. With the development of lighting needs, the general driver chip technology is no longer satisfied with the basic LED lighting needs, but is gradually developing towards how to better improve chip integration, system reliability, and reduce interference to the power grid.
Indicators such as constant current accuracy in historical development have become the necessary criteria for the eligibility of general-purpose driver chips, while the technical challenges faced by various manufacturers and indicators to measure the advanced nature of chips point to chip integration, reliability, and reducing interference to power grids and other research directions that require more investment in scientific and technological personnel and R&D energy.
2. Intelligent driver chip technology: PWM/analog dimming, low power consumption and high compatibility.
Intelligent lighting is the intelligence of lighting. The brightness, color temperature, and color of LED lights are adjusted through the LED lighting driver chip interface, and intelligent modules such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are integrated to realize intelligent control of lighting equipment.
LED dimming method
At present, LED dimming methods on the market are classified according to different technologies and different protocols. In conclusion, LED dimming methods can be divided into intelligent programmable, MCU-controlled intelligent dimming technology and mechanical dimming, which cannot be controlled by MCU. SCR dimming and manual switch dimming. Various dimming methods are produced according to needs in different periods, so their applicable objects and ranges are also different.
Thyristor dimming is dimming using thyristor cutting technology, which is a kind of mechanical dimming. This dimming method can be traced back to the era of incandescent lamps and is the earliest dimming method adopted by LED lamps. The low cost advantage has dominated the lighting industry for many years. However, there are also certain defects. Before the thyristor rectifier device is turned on, the voltage increases sharply, which easily causes the LC filter to oscillate, thereby causing audible noise and stroboscopic problems.
Manual switch dimming/color-cutting uses the switch on the wall to switch on and off within a specified time to achieve the purpose of dimming/color-cutting. This technology was first used in CFL energy-saving lamps, and later extended to LED lighting. The control chip completes constant current drive and switch dimming control at the same time. The method is simple but can only be manually adjusted according to the preset brightness cycle.
Smart Dimming Technology
Different from general lighting or ordinary dimming, intelligent dimming technology must integrate Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared, radar, voice control and other intelligent modules, and conduct mobile APP, Bluetooth, etc. , Infrared remote control remote adjustment.
There are three main ways of intelligent dimming technology, one is PWM cut-off dimming method (Philips patent), which is simple to implement and has good dimming depth, but cannot solve the stroboscopic problem; the other is analog level dimming, this technology can realize stroboscopic dimming, but the dimming depth cannot be made high; the third is the PWM to analog dimming method, that is, through the circuit design technology of the chip, the externally input PWM dimming signal is converted inside the chip to simulate dimming, solve the problem of strobe and insufficient dimming depth at the same time.
In addition to intelligent dimming technology, downstream manufacturers have put forward higher and higher requirements on whether intelligent driver chips can ensure low power consumption and high compatibility of intelligent products in view of the characteristics of intelligent products.