韩国LDI设计公司Global Technology在KOSDAQ挂牌前称其分时驱动技术可减少RGB背光驱动IC用量、目标年收入由297亿韩元增至最高600亿韩元

Global Technology aims to more than double its revenue with technology that can cut the cost of high-end liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs by as much as 50%.
“Our proprietary time-division driving technology reduces the number of driver integrated circuits (ICs) needed for red, green and blue (RGB) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lowering the cost of high-end LCD TVs,” Global Technology CEO Kim Min-sun said on Sept. 7. “We expect annual revenue of up to 60 billion won from this market alone.” That would be about twice the company’s revenue of 29.7 billion won last year.
Global TV makers have recently been increasing their use of mini LEDs. LCD TVs lag organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs in areas such as contrast ratio and black reproduction, but have advantages in achieving high brightness and scaling to larger screen sizes. TV makers are developing technologies that retain those strengths while delivering picture quality closer to OLED.
Global Technology is advancing RGB LED backlight technology by making RGB LEDs smaller, placing them more densely and dividing the backlight into finer local-dimming zones. This can improve contrast ratios and color reproduction while increasing power efficiency.
As the number of LEDs and local-dimming zones increases, however, the driver channels and circuitry needed to control them become more complex. Conventional RGB backlights use separate LED driver ICs (LDIs) to control red, green and blue LEDs. As the number of LEDs increases, more LDIs are required. LDIs account for a significant portion of backlight costs, making high-density RGB LED implementations more expensive for LCD TVs.
Global Technology’s time-division driving technology uses a single IC to drive all three red, green and blue LEDs. In theory, it can reduce the number of ICs by as much as two-thirds. The company plans to first commercialize technology that cuts the number of ICs by about half and is discussing its application with customers. Revenue from the technology is expected to begin next year.
“We have all the core technologies for TV panels, including IC design, time-division driving and ultra-small packaging,” Kim said. “Compared with competitors, our technology can drive more channels under the same channel configuration, support higher driving voltages and provide more precise resolution.”
The company is also seeking to secure its technological lead through patents. Global Technology has filed three patents in Korea related to time-division driving, which are currently under review by the Korean Intellectual Property Office. It plans to pursue related patents overseas after securing registrations in Korea.
Global Technology is an LDI design company, meaning that reducing the number of LDIs used in each TV through time-division driving could potentially hurt revenue. Kim, however, said the technology could lower the cost of high-end LCD TVs and increase sales volumes.
“As the market expands, we expect our total LDI shipments to increase as well,” he said. “We also plan to expand the technology into various markets beyond TVs, including monitors and vehicles.”
Global Technology plans to list on the KOSDAQ this month. It is conducting bookbuilding for its initial public offering (IPO) from Sept. 7-11, followed by a two-day public subscription starting Sept. 16. The company plans to raise as much as 60 billion won through the listing, with half of the proceeds to be invested in areas including wafer purchases to meet growing LDI demand.