The LM3914 is an integrated circuit (IC), designed by

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer which specialized in analog devices and subsystems, formerly with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The company produced power management integrated circuits, display dr ...

in the late 1970s, used to operate displays that visually show the

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of an

analog signal An analog signal or analogue signal (see spelling differences) is any continuous signal representing some other quantity, i.e., ''analogous'' to another quantity. For example, in an analog audio signal, the instantaneous signal voltage vari ...

. It can drive up to 10

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but i ...

s, or vacuum fluorescent displays on its outputs. The linear scaling of the output thresholds makes the device usable, for example, as a voltmeter. In the basic configuration it provides a ten step scale which is expandable to over 100 segments with other LM3914 ICs in series.

Features

The LM3914 / LM3915 / LM3916 are identical except for the ten resistor divider inside each part. * LM3914 - linear steps, scaled by a resistor divider consisting of ten 1000 ohm resistors.LM3914 Datasheet; National Semiconductors; 1988.
/ref> * LM3915 - 3 dB

logarithmic Logarithmic can refer to: * Logarithm, a transcendental function in mathematics * Logarithmic scale, the use of the logarithmic function to describe measurements * Logarithmic spiral, * Logarithmic growth * Logarithmic distribution, a discrete pr ...

steps, scaled by a resistor divider consisting of 6630, 4690, 3310, 2340, 1660, 1170, 830, 590, 410, 1000 ohm resistors.LM3915 Datasheet; National Semiconductors; 1988.
/ref> * LM3916 - VU-meter steps, scaled by a resistor divider consisting of 1087, 970, 864, 769, 1298, 1031, 819, 923, 1531, 708 ohm resistors.LM3916 Datasheet; National Semiconductors; 1988.
/ref> All the devices in this group operate with a range of voltages from 3-25 V, can drive

and VFD displays. They can provide a regulated output current between 2-30 mA to directly drive displays. Internally, each device contains ten

comparators In electronics, a comparator is a device that compares two voltages or currents and outputs a digital signal indicating which is larger. It has two analog input terminals V_+ and V_- and one binary digital output V_\text. The output is ideally ...

and a resistor scaling network, as well as a 1.25 volt reference source. As the input voltage increases, each comparator turns on. The device can be configured for either a bar-graph mode, where all lower-output terminals switch on, or "dot" mode in which only one output goes on. R. M. Marston ''Audio IC Users Handbook'' Newnes, 1997 , pp. 177-192 The device is packaged in an 18 pin

dual in-line package In microelectronics, a dual in-line package (DIP or DIL), is an electronic component package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The package may be through-hole mounted to a printed circuit board ( ...

or in a surface mount leadless chip carrier.

References

{{Reflist

External links

LM3914 Datasheet
- Texas Instruments Display drivers Linear integrated circuits

Features

See also

References

External links