Custom LCD backlight for discontinued CCFL LCD displays

It is not an uncommon occurrence in the world of LCD display modules. You place your PO for 250 monochrome graphic 320×240 CCFL(Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) displays, only to discover that LCD displays with CCFL backlights have been discontinued. What is worse than CCFL’s being discontinued, is that there is no drop in equivalent. This means you will need to redesign your product for a new display. But wait; there may be a solution for you.

We design and build custom LCD backlights

The common replacement to CCFL backlights is an LED (light-emitting diode) backlight. The standard, off the shelf, LED backlight is not a drop in equivalent to the CCFL, be we can design and build you a custom LCD backlight that will work in its place. This customization will require a one-time NRE (tooling fee). But the tooling fee for a custom LCD backlight could be many times smaller than the cost for you to completely re-tool your product.\

Below is a photo of a CCFL backlight:    

One major difference between the CCFL and LED is that CCFL is driven by AC current and LED is DC current. We would need to add a circuit on to your custom LCD backlight to convert your AC power to DC. One major advantage of switching from AC to DC is the elimination of any noise issue from the CCFL backlight.

(image below is of a LED)

CCFL backlights, and its close cousin the EL (Electroluminescence) backlight, both operate on AC power and generate noise. These noise issues can cause problems with compliance. This is especially true with aviation and medical types of products.

What is the first step to build a custom LCD backlight?

The first step for us to build your custom LCD backlight is to send us the data sheet for your previous LCD. We can design a display to fit into the same dimensions. If you do not have the data sheet, which is common in many cases, we offer a reverse engineering service to create the data sheet. Once we generate your data sheet for your custom LCD backlight, we can then build your samples in as little as six to eight weeks.

What is the next step to replace my discontinued CCFL backlight?

Give us a call at 480-503-4295 or contact us on our webform.