March 11, 2010 (Plano, TX) - Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc (TAOS), the world's leading supplier of digital ambient light sensors to the smartphone and HDTV markets, today announced the first members of its next generation digital ambient light sensor (ALS) and proximity detection family that is designed to provide consumer electronics manufacturers with greater freedom to produce sleeker, more appealing and innovative product designs. These latest TAOS devices eliminate the need to use clear glass/plastic in front of the sensor or drill holes/slots into the display, bezel or frame in order for light to reach the sensor.
Specifically designed to operate behind darkened glass or other translucent materials, the TSL2771 device family provides both ambient light sensing and proximity detection in a single device that consumes far less power than currently available comparable solutions. Proximity detection is ideally suited for touch screen smartphones to automatically turn off the display or control other user functions and can also be used in laptops, desktop computers and monitors to conserve energy or maintain information privacy when the user is not present. Other emerging applications for proximity sensing technology include touchless display controls activation and management as well as human gesture detection.
"The need for ambient light sensors to operate behind darkened glass or other translucent materials has emerged as a critical requirement in today's consumer electronic products," said Carlo Strippoli, TAOS vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Consumers have become increasingly sophisticated and manufacturers need a way to be able to deliver sleeker, more compelling designs while still being able to deliver the benefits of improved picture quality and reduced energy consumption that digital ambient light sensors provide. Our next generation of high sensitivity digital ambient light and proximity devices - the latest addition to the TAOS, Inc Display Management Solutions portfolio - delivers in both areas to help consumer electronics manufacturers design more appealing 'green' products."
The TSL2771 Ambient Light Sensor and Proximity Detection device family incorporates an IR LED current-limited driver, analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), interrupt capability, multiple I2C interface voltage options and flexible programming allowing it to be configured into many different applications. As darkened glass or translucent materials can be transparent to IR wavelengths while attenuating visible light by 100 times or more, the device utilizes TAOS' patented dual-photodiode architecture that allows the sensor system to compensate for the increased IR component. When combined with the ability to adjust the analog gain settings up to 128X, the device excels in challenging low-light level applications.
"Power consumption is another key advantage to the TSL2771 device family," said Kerry Glover, TAOS, Inc applications manager. "In many of the portable applications, battery life is very critical. Traditional proximity detection methods require a significant amount of power. With the new TAOS architecture, as few as one IR pulse is required for presence detection. This can provide 10x in power savings over traditional analog or other digital solutions."
In applications requiring longer distance detection, an external driver can be utilized to boost the power such that a person can be detected in front of a monitor. A unique state machine allows the device to go into a lower power wait state, thereby only having the high power external detection running a very small portion of the time. For applications requiring only ambient light sensing, this next generation of TAOS devices also includes the TSL2580/81 high-sensitivity ambient light sensors. To accelerate time-to-market and reduce design-in effort, TAOS provides support for software device drivers and/or C-reference code as well as Evaluation Modules (EVMs).
TAOS TSL2581
Photo: Company
