Irvine, Calif. — Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) has introduced an ultra-compact, photo-IC ambient light sensor (ALS) for consumer electronics and computer display applications. The TPS859 sensor incorporates a photodiode, a current amplifier and a luminous-efficiency correction (LEC) function in a single chip.
The TPS859 sensor can be used to turn a keypad or LCD backlight on or off, or adjust the brightness according to the ambient light condition. The device is suitable for use in flat panel displays, home appliances, and portable devices such as cell phones, notebook PCs, PDAs, camcorders, digital cameras, and other equipment requiring luminosity adjustment.
The TPS859 provides ultra-high sensitivity with light current (IL) of 230 uA compared with 40 uA in the previous generation TPS852 for a nearly 6x improvement. The device also uses a new optical filtering technology, which achieves luminous efficiency near to that of the human eye. The filter is able to reduce the ratio of incandescent to fluorescent light sensitivity (IL) from 1.2 (typ.) in the TPS852 to 1.0 (typ.) for the TPS859. The combination of the 16 percent improvement in the sensitivity ratio and the six-fold increase in sensitivity makes TPS859 the most robust device in the Toshiba ALS product line, said the company.
With excellent output linearity across various light sources, the RoHS-compatible TPS859 photo-IC ALS is housed in a surface-mount package that measures 1.6 x 1.6 x 0.55 mm. The TPS859 can operate from 1.8 V to 5.5 V, which makes it well-suited for battery-powered applications.
Pricing: $0.35 each in quantities of 10,000.
Availability: Samples are available now.
Datasheet: TPS859
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., www.toshiba.com/taec.com
