
6
Designing With D355B
I. Lamp Frequency Capacitor (CLF) Selection
Selecting the appropriate value of capacitor for the low frequency oscillator (CLF) will set the output frequency of the
D355 inverter. Figure 1 graphically represents the inversely proportional relationship between the CLF capacitor
value and the oscillator frequency. In this example at V+=3.0V, LF = 1600 nF-Hz/CLF.
Figure 2: Typical Lamp Luminance vs. Lamp Frequency
Alternatively, the lamp frequency may also be controlled with an external clock signal with a 50% duty cycle. The
output lamp frequency will be the same frequency as the input clock signal. For example, if a 250Hz input clock signal
is used, the resulting lamp frequency will be 250Hz. The clock signal input voltage should not exceed V+.
The selection of the CLF value can also affect the brightness of the EL lamp because of its control of the lamp frequency
(LF). Although input voltage and lamp size can change EL lamp frequency as well, LF mainly depends on the CLF
value selected or the frequency of the input clock signal to CLF. The luminance of various sizes of
Durel 3 Blue-green
EL lamp driven by a D355B at V+ = 3.0V using the same inductor value is shown in Figure 2 with respect to lamp
frequency.
Figure 1: Typical Lamp Frequency vs. CLF Capacitor
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Lamp Frequency (Hz)
L
4in
2
EL Lamp
2in
2
EL Lamp
6in
2
EL Lamp
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
CLF (nF)
L