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Ways to regulate UV LEDs on 4710 light engines.

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DLP4710, DLPC3439

Hi,

we're interested in the TI 4710 light engine, utilizing a 405 nm UV LED (Luminus CBM-40-UVX).

The light engine is produced by Wintech Digital (as model Pro4710)

How can I control the on/off state and brightness of this LED by using the light engines port for RS 232 communication?

Is there already a communication protocol that I can use? Preferably to run from a Raspberry Pi, but a windows computer would also work. 

As an alternative, Im  thinking about using an external LED driver to be installed directly to the UV LED module, both to power it and control intensity with Pulse Width Modulation. 

Is there any reason to think that the 4710 light engine would have any problems with being disconnected from the UV module, due to the use of external control circuitry? 

Thanks for any help 

  • Hello Edvin,

    Welcome to E2E and your interest in DLP technology.

    Please give us till next week to look into your questions and we will have a response for you.

    To clarify, are you looking at buying a whole EVM and replacing the LEDs or just buying the optical engine and creating your own electronics boards? 

    Regards,

    John

  • Hi

    John,

     

    I'm thinking of buying the optical engine (that has that specific UV LED module) and only if necessary create external circuitry to support the

    electrical supply of the LED, which needs a constant current (3,3 Volt) pulsed at atleast 1 kHz, with duty cycles from 0% up to 100% (100% will reach a current of 8 Amp).

    The question is if the light engine is OK with being disconnected from the LED module (only the thermistor cables are left as they were, so the light engine knows the temperature of the LED).

     The easiest way would be to just communicate with the engines internal LED control system through some serial connection, but that require some kind of communication protocol that I don’t have access to.  

     

    Kind regards,

    Edvin

  • Hello Edvin,

    We usually use I2C commands with a Cypress chip for communications on our EVMs. This is used with a LightCrafter or LightControl GUI. If the manufacturer made any changes then we would recommend contacting them for clarification on what communication standards their design supports.

    Do the electronics not suit your needs or are there specific concerns that they can't perform the role you intend them for?

    It should be possible to swap LEDs and run the UV LED on the same circuitry. We will have to take a detailed look into the LED though.

    Regards,

    John

  • Hi, 

    so the LightCrafter GUI has a manually adjustable setting for LED intensity (a number from 0 - 256 i believe). Then that command would be sent from a PC to the light engine via USB. Is it possible to have that same LED commands being sent from a linux-running SBC like Raspberry Pi, and what would that require in terms of serial communication protocols? 

  • Hello Edvin,

    We would need some time to see if this can be done and any possible solutions. Please give us till next week.

    Regards,

    John

  • Hello Edvin,

    While we cannot speak on the specifics of Wintech's PRO4710, it might be assumed that the DLP controller in the system is the DLPC3439 given that the DMD used is the DLP4710.

    In cases of our clientele using a DLPC3439 it is possible to control the system with a Raspberry Pi over the I2C interface. An API would need to be developed with the I2C commands found in the DLPC3439 Software Programmer's Guide. This communication is more easily achieved using a PC and USB to I2C bridge as John mentions above.

    However, this does not appear to be the case with the PRO4710 which does not appear to have easy access to the DLPC. You may consider reaching out to Wintech to explore the options for meeting the goals of your application. We are limited to discussing the functionality of the DLP chipset.

    Regarding removing the LED connection, this will prevent a DLP system from booting.

    Kind regards,

    Austin