What is LED Common Cathode technology?

After years of development, the conventional Common Anode LED display has formed a stable industrial chain. However, it also has the disadvantages of high temperature and excessive power consumption. After the emergence of Common Cathode LED display technology, it has attracted great attention from the LED display market. This can save energy by up to 75%, so what is the Common Cathode LED display technology? What are the advantages of this technology?

1. What is the Common Cathode LED display?

''Common Cathode'', refers to the Common Cathode power supply mode. In fact, it is a kind of LED display energy-saving technology，adopt the method of separately supplying power to the R, G, B (red, green, and blue) of the LED lamp, precisely distribute current and voltage for R, G, B lamps, because R, G, B (red, green, blue) lamps need the best operating voltage and current is different, In this way, the current passes through the lamp and then to the negative electrode of the IC, the positive voltage drop will be reduced, and the internal resistance of the conduction will be reduced.

2. What is the difference between Common Cathode/Common Anode LED display?

① Different power supply modes:

The Common Cathode power supply mode is that the current passes through the lamp beads first, and then to the negative electrode of the IC, so that the forward voltage drop is reduced, and the internal resistance of the conduction is also reduced. The Common Anode means that the current flows from the PCB board to the lamps, and supplies power to R, G, B (red, green, and blue) uniformly, which causes the forward voltage drop of the circuit to become larger.

②Different supply voltages:

Common Cathode, it will provide current and voltage to R, G, B (red, green, blue) respectively. The red, green and blue lamp beads have different voltage requirements. The red lamp bead voltage requirement is about 2.8V, the blue and green bead voltage is required to be about 3.8V, this way of power supply can reduce the power consumption. So the LED display will generate much less heat at work. The Common Anode, it provided to R, G, B (red, green, blue) lamp beads with a voltage higher than 3.8V, such as 5V unified power supply, but the best working voltage required for the red, green and blue lamp beads is lower than 5V, according to the power formula P=UI, With constant current, the higher the voltage, the higher the power consumption, and the more heat the LED display generates during operation.

3. Why the Common Cathode LED display has lower heat?

The special Common Cathode power supply method makes the LED display produce less heat and the temperature will be lower during the working process. Under normal circumstances, the white balance state and when playing the video, the temperature of the Common Cathode LED display is about 20℃ lower than that of the ordinary outdoor LED display. For products of the same specifications, the power consumption of the Common Cathode LED display is more than 50% lower than that of the conventional Common Anode LED display under the same brightness.

LED screen temperature is too high and power consumption is too high, has always been the key factors affecting the service life of LED screen products, and "Common Cathode LED screen" is exactly a good solution to these two problems.

4. What are the advantages of Common Cathode LED display?

①Common Cathode products adopt precise power supply control technology, based on the LED red, green and blue different photoelectric properties, equipped with a smart IC display control system and an independent private model, accurately assign different voltages to the LED and drive circuit, the power consumption of the product can save about 40% compared with similar products on the market.

②The Common Cathode LED driving method can accurately control the voltage, while reducing the power consumption, it also reduces the heat, making the LED display work more stable, and the display color is more realistic.

③The power consumption is reduced, thus greatly reducing the temperature rise of the system, effectively reduce the damage rate of the LED, improve the stability and reliability of the entire display system, and greatly extend the life of the LED display.

5. What is the development trend of Common Cathode technology?

The LED, power supply, driving IC and so on related to the Common Cathode LED display technology are not as mature as the Common Anode LED industry chain at present. In addition, the current series of Common Cathode ICs are not complete, and the overall output is not large, while the Common Anode still occupies 80% of the market.

The main reason for the slow progress of Common Cathode technology is the high production cost, which requires customized cooperation in the industrial chain such as chips and PCB.

In this era of high demand for energy conservation, there is still a long way to go to achieve comprehensive promotion and application, this requires a concerted effort from the entire industry. The Common Cathode LED display, which is the development trend of energy saving, involves the use of electricity and operating costs, Therefore, energy saving is related to the interests of LED display operators and also related to the use of national energy.

Judging from the current situation, the Common Cathode energy-saving LED display saves a lot of cost and energy during use, and it will definitely be favored by the market in the future.