Patent Publication Number: US-2023141723-A1

Title: High Resolution Dimmer Circuit

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/263,744, filed on Nov. 8, 2021. The content of the application is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is related to a dimmer circuit, and more particularly to a high resolution dimmer circuit. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Various types of displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, etc., can be implemented to electronic devices such as televisions, computers, and handheld devices. LCDs typically include a backlight to provide illumination to the liquid crystal layer, and circuitry to control the brightness and color of the pixels to render the desired image. 
     Light emitting diodes (LED) are widely used in displays due to their small size, low power consumption, high luminous efficiency, long lifespan and many other advantages. LED dimming technology mainly includes analog dimming and pulse-width modulation (PWM) dimming. 
     PWM dimming works by changing the duty cycle of the PWM current. For example, 50% brightness can be achieved by applying 100% amplitude of driving current at 50% duty cycle. Therefore, the display is not actually on at all time, but flickers at high frequency between on and off. Human eyes have persistent vision, so it would appear that the display is always on to human eyes. PWM dimming is to adjust the brightness of the display by controlling the frequency of on and off. If the display is turned on for a longer time and turned off for a shorter time in the same cycle, the overall screen would appear to be brighter. If the display is turned on for a shorter time and turned off for a longer time in the same cycle, the overall screen would appear to be darker. If the screen flickering frequency is lower than a certain frequency, it may discomfort the human eyes and cause other health issues. The analog dimming is to change the brightness of the screen by increasing or decreasing the power applied to the LED driving circuit. The brightness of the display can be adjusted only by adjusting the voltage or current. For example, applying 50% amplitude of the driving current can achieve 50% brightness. The advantage of analog dimming is that it is less burdensome for the human eyes. The disadvantage is that the brightness uniformity of the display is not as good as that of PWM dimming. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The embodiment provides a dimmer circuit for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit includes a light emitting module for emitting light according to a driving current, a first current source, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a switch, a second current source and a pulse width modulation (PWM) generator. The light emitting module includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage, and a second terminal. The first current source includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module, a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source, for generating a direct current (DC) voltage according to a DC dimming code signal to control the first current source. The switch includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module, a second terminal, and a control terminal. The second current source includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the switch and a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal. The pulse width modulation (PWM) generator is coupled to the control terminal of the switch, for generating a PWM voltage according to a PWM dimming code signal to control the second current source. The DC dimming code signal includes the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code, and the PWM dimming code signal includes the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. 
     The embodiment provides another dimmer circuit for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit includes a light emitting diode, a first current source, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a switch, a second current source and a pulse width modulation (PWM) generator. The light emitting diode includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage, and a second terminal. The first current source includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module, a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source, for generating a direct current (DC) voltage according to a DC dimming code signal to control the first current source. The switch includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module, a second terminal, and a control terminal. The second current source includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the switch and a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal. The pulse width modulation (PWM) generator is coupled to the control terminal of the switch, for generating a PWM voltage according to a PWM dimming code signal to control the second current source. The DC dimming code signal includes the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code, and the PWM dimming code signal includes the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. 
     The embodiment provides another dimmer circuit for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit includes a light emitting module for emitting light according to a driving current, a first current source, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a second current source and a controller. The light emitting module includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage, and a second terminal. The first current source includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module, a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source, for generating a direct current (DC) voltage according to a DC dimming code signal to control the first current source. The second current source includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module, a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal, and a control terminal. The controller is coupled to the control terminal of the second current source, for generating a control voltage according to a PWM dimming code signal to control the second current source. The DC dimming code signal includes the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code, and the PWM dimming code signal includes the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit of an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS.  2 A- 2 B  are diagrams of the dimming codes and the corresponding driving current of the dimmer circuit in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram of the waveforms of the DC current and the PWM current of the dimmer circuit of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit of another embodiment. 
         FIG.  5    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit of another embodiment. 
         FIG.  6    is a diagram of the PWM voltage of the dimmer circuit of  FIG.  5   . 
         FIG.  7    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit of another embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG.  1    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit  100  of an embodiment of the present invention. The dimmer circuit  100  is for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit  100  includes a light emitting module  110  for emitting light according to a driving current I LED , a first current source CS 1 , a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  120 , a switch T 1 , a second current source CS 2  and a pulse width modulation (PWM) generator  130 . The light emitting module  110  includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage Vs, and a second terminal. The first current source CS 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  110 , a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal GND, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter  120  is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source CS 1 , for generating a direct current (DC) voltage V DC  according to a DC dimming code signal DCcode to control the first current source CS 1 . The switch T 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  110 , a second terminal, and a control terminal. The second current source CS 2  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the switch T 1  and a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal GND. The PWM generator  130  is coupled to the control terminal of the switch T 1 , for generating a PWM voltage V PWM  according to a PWM dimming code signal PWMcode to control the second current source CS 2 . The DC dimming code signal DCcode includes the higher bits of the dimming code, and the higher bits include the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code. The PWM dimming code signal PWMcode includes the lower bits of the dimming code, and the lower bits include the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. In application, the light emitting module  110  may include a light emitting diode LED 1 . A first terminal of the light emitting diode LED 1  can receive the supply voltage Vs, and the second terminal can be coupled to the first terminal of the first current source CS 1 . 
     The switch T 1  can be an N-type transistor or other equivalent components. 
     The driving current I LED  for driving the light emitting diode LED 1  is controlled by the first current source CS 1  and the second current source CS 2 . The DC current I DC  and the PWM current I PWM  are added together to form the driving current I LED , and the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  is determined by the driving current I LED . The first current source CS 1  is directly controlled by the DC voltage V DC  to provide the DC current I DC . When the DC voltage V DC  increases, the DC current I DC  would also increase. As the result, the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  would also increase. The PWM voltage V PWM  can control the switch T 1 , thereby controlling the second current source CS 2  and providing the PWM current I PWM . Specifically, when the PWM voltage V PWM  is at the high level, the switch T 1  is turned on to generate the PWM current I PWM . When the PWM voltage V PWM  is at the low level, the switch T 1  is turned off and the PWM current I PWM  is turned off. In other words, the higher the duty ratio of the PWM voltage V PWM  is, the longer time the PWM current I PWM  can be turned on, which results in higher brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1 . The control method for the dimmer circuit  100  to generate the driving current I LED  according to the dimming code is described in detail in the following paragraphs. 
       FIGS.  2 A- 2 B  are diagrams of the dimming codes and the corresponding driving current I LED  of the dimmer circuit  100  in  FIG.  1   . The dimming code shown in  FIG.  2 A  is a 16-bit code, including a 12-bit DC code and a 4-bit PWM code. The DC code includes the higher 12 bits of the dimming code, which includes the most significant bit of the dimming code. The PWM code includes the lower 4 bits of the dimming code, which includes the least significant bit of the dimming code. The vertical axis shown in  FIG.  2 B  is the drive current I LED , and the horizontal axis is the period, which is divided into 16 time slots. When the dimming code is input to the dimmer circuit  100 , the DC code and the PWM code can be processed separately. For example, the dimming code  32  (binary: 0000000000100000) can be converted into a DC code equal to 2, and the dimmer circuit  100  can generate DC current I DC  of 2 mA for 16 time slots. The PWM code is equal to 0, so PWM current I PWM  is generated. The dimming code  31  (binary: 0000000000011111) can be converted into a DC code equal to 1 and a PWM code equal to 15. The dimmer circuit  100  can generate DC current I DC  of 1 mA for 16 time slots, and PWM current I PWM  of 1 mA for 15 time slots. The dimming code  18  (binary: 0000000000010010) can be converted into a DC code equal to 1 and a PWM code equal to 2. The dimmer circuit  100  can generate DC current I DC  of 1 mA for 16 time slots, and PWM current I PWM  of 1 mA for 2 time slots. Dimming code  17  (binary: 0000000000010001) can be converted into DC code equal to 1 and PWM code equal to 1. The dimmer circuit  100  can generate DC current I DC  of 1 mA for 16 time slots, and PWM current I PWM  of 1 mA for 1 time slot, and so on. The total current summed by the DC current I DC  and the PWM current I PWM  is the driving current I LED . By this way, the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  generated by the dimming code  32  is higher than that of the dimming code  31 , and the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  generated by the dimming code  18  is higher than that of the dimming code  17 . 
     The DC code can be converted into a DC dimming code signal DCcode and input to the digital-to-analog converter  120 , and the digital-to-analog converter  120  converts the DC dimming code signal DCcode into the DC voltage V DC  which can control the first current source CS 1  to provide DC current I DC . The PWM code can be converted into a PWM dimming code signal PWMcode and input to the PWM generator  130 . Then, the PWM generator  130  converts the PWM dimming code signal PWMcode into the PWM voltage V PWM . The PWM voltage V PWM  switches the switch T 1  rapidly, so that the second current source CS 2  provides a PWM current I PWM  with PWM waveform. 
       FIG.  3    is a diagram of the waveforms of the DC current I DC  and the PWM current I PWM  of the dimmer circuit  100  of  FIG.  1   . The waveform formula of the DC current I DC  is as follows: 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 DC 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Amplitude 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   
                     I 
                     
                       L 
                       ⁢ 
                       E 
                       ⁢ 
                       D 
                       ⁢ 
                       M 
                       ⁢ 
                       A 
                       ⁢ 
                       X 
                     
                   
                   
                     
                       2 
                       
                         ( 
                         DC_resolution 
                         ) 
                       
                     
                     - 
                     1 
                   
                 
                 ⨯ 
                 DC_code 
               
             
             ⁢ 
               
             
               
                 
                   DC 
                 
                 ⁢ 
                 
                       
                 
                 Hightime 
               
               = 
               
                 100 
                 ⁢ 
                 % 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Period 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     I LEDMAX  is the maximum driving current of the light emitting diode LED 1 . DC_code is the DC code value. DC_resolution is the number of bits of the DC code. In this embodiment, the DC code is 12 bits. DC Hightime is the duration of the DC current at high level. In this case, it equals to 100% of the period, and the period can be 16 time slots. 
     The waveform formula of the PWM current I PWM  is as follows: 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 PWM 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Amplitude 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   I 
                   LEDMAX 
                 
                 
                   
                     2 
                     
                       ( 
                       DC_resolution 
                       ) 
                     
                   
                   - 
                   1 
                 
               
             
             ⁢ 
               
             
               
                 PWM 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Hightime 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   
                     Peri 
                     ⁢ 
                     o 
                     ⁢ 
                     d 
                   
                   
                     2 
                     
                       ( 
                       PWM_resolution 
                       ) 
                     
                   
                 
                 ⨯ 
                 PWM_code 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     I LEDMAX  is the maximum driving current of the light emitting diode LED 1 . PWM_code is the PWM code value. PWM_resolution is the number of bits of the PWM code. DC_resolution is the number of bits of the DC code. PWM Hightime is the duration of the PWM current at high level. In this embodiment, the DC code is 12 bits and PWM code is 4 bits. The period can be 16 time slots. The waveform shown in  FIG.  3    can be obtained using the above formulas. 
     A 16-bit dimming code is considered to be high resolution (having more bits) in the field. If solely applying the analog dimming method to a 16-bit dimming code to adjust the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1 , it can easily produce uneven color. Furthermore, the circuit structure of the 16-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) requires more transistors, and the circuit area of the DAC is too large to be effectively integrated into a small-size chip. On the other hand, if solely applying the PWM dimming method to a 16-bit dimming code to adjust the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1 , it cannot effectively provide the human eyes with linear brightness perception. Although the duty cycle of the driving current can be adjusted linearly, the visual perception does not change linearly relative to brightness. The visual perception changes logarithmically. Therefore, by integrating analog dimming and PWM dimming in the embodiment, the two mechanisms can be complemented to achieve the best effect. The present invention includes, but is not limited to, 16 bits, and other numbers of bits shall fall within the scope of the present invention. 
       FIG.  4    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit  200  of an embodiment. The dimmer circuit  200  is for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit  200  includes a light emitting module  210  for emitting light according to a driving current I LED , a first current source CS 1 , a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  220 , a switch T 1 , a second current source CS 2  and a pulse width modulation (PWM) generator  230 . The light emitting module includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage Vs, and a second terminal. The first current source CS 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  210 , a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal GND, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter  220  is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source CS 1 , for generating a direct current (DC) voltage V DC  according to a DC dimming code signal DCcode to control the first current source CS 1 . The switch T 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  210 , a second terminal, and a control terminal. The second current source CS 2  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the switch T 1  and a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal GND. The PWM generator  230  is coupled to the control terminal of the switch T 1 , for generating a PWM voltage V PWM  according to a PWM dimming code signal PWMcode to control the second current source CS 2 . The DC dimming code signal DCcode includes the higher bits of the dimming code, and the higher bits include the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code. The PWM dimming code signal PWMcode includes the lower bits of the dimming code, and the lower bits include the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. The switch T 1  can be an N-type transistor or other equivalent components. The DC current I DC  and the PWM current I PWM  are summed up to form the driving current I LED , and the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  is determined by the driving current I LED . 
     The difference between the dimmer circuit  200  and the dimmer circuit  100  is that the dimmer circuit  200  includes headroom control mechanism. The light emitting module  210  may include a light emitting diode LED 1  and a headroom control transistor T 2 . The first terminal of the light emitting diode LED can receive the supply voltage Vs. The first terminal of the headroom control transistor T 2  is coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting diode LED. The second terminal is coupled to the first terminal of the first current source CS 1 , and the control terminal is for receiving a headroom control voltage Vhrc. The headroom control mechanism can control the voltage of the light emitting module  210  to a roughly fixed value or less than a threshold value to reduce power consumption. The headroom control voltage Vhrc needs to be dynamically adjusted according to the voltage at the second terminal of the light emitting module  210  to control forward voltage sliding of the light emitting diode LED 1 . 
     In other words, the headroom control voltage Vhrc is a feedback mechanism. When the PWM voltage V PWM  varies, the voltage jitter of the light emitting module  210  can be somewhat large. At this time, the dimmer circuit  200  can adjust the headroom control voltage Vhrc to cause the voltage of the light emitting module  210  maintained at a roughly fixed value. In other words, the headroom control transistor T 2  can be regarded as a variable resistor of a low dropout voltage regulator, and its resistance is adjustable by the headroom control voltage Vhrc to reduce the power consumption of the dimmer circuit  200  and prolong the lifespan of the light emitting diode LED 1 . 
       FIG.  5    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit  400  of an embodiment. The dimmer circuit  400  is for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit  400  includes a light emitting module  410  for emitting light according to a driving current I LED , a first current source CS 1 , a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  420 , a switch T 1 , a second current source CS 2  and a pulse width modulation (PWM) generator  430 . The light emitting module includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage Vs, and a second terminal. The first current source CS 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  410 , a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal GND, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter  420  is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source CS 1 , for generating a direct current (DC) voltage V DC  according to a DC dimming code signal DCcode to control the first current source CS 1 . The switch T 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  410 , a second terminal, and a control terminal. The second current source CS 2  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the switch T 1  and a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal GND. The PWM generator  430  is coupled to the control terminal of the switch T 1 , for generating a PWM voltage V PWM  according to a PWM dimming code signal PWMcode to control the second current source CS 2 . The DC dimming code signal DCcode includes the higher bits of the dimming code, and the higher bits include the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code. The PWM dimming code signal PWMcode includes the lower bits of the dimming code, and the lower bits include the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. In application, the light emitting module  410  may include a light emitting diode LED 1 . A first terminal of the light emitting diode LED 1  can receive the supply voltage Vs, and the second terminal can be coupled to the first terminal of the first current source CS 1 . The switch T 1  can be an N-type transistor or other equivalent components. The DC current I DC  and the PWM current I PWM  are summed up to form the driving current I LED , and the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  is determined by the driving current I LED . 
     The difference between the dimmer circuit  400  and the dimmer circuit  100  is that the PWM generator  430  may include a digital circuit  440 , such as a look-up table. The look-up table can be implemented as hardware, such as a read-only memory, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other forms of digital circuits. The digital circuit  440  can be used to generate dithering. By adding dithering (i.e., spread spectrum clock generation) to the PWM voltage V PWM , the quantization error and the audible frequency interference can be reduced, thereby making the dimmer circuit  400  generating more accurate brightness. The digital circuit  440  can also apply the same technique (i.e., spread spectrum clock generation) to reduce the electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by the PWM voltage V PWM . 
     The digital circuit  440  can also be used to generate phase-shift for the PWM voltage V PWM , so that the rising edges and falling edges of the PWM voltages V PWM  of a plurality of dimmer circuits  400  can be staggered. For example, a 16-channel driving device has a plurality of dimmer circuits  400  integrated into an integrated circuit. If all PWM voltages V PWM  of the plurality of dimmer circuits  400  rise or fall simultaneously, the circuit voltage would change rapidly, causing the circuit to exceed its maximum loading. 
     Adding phase-shift to the PWM voltage V PWM  can avoid the above-mentioned situation, thereby making the dimmer circuit  400  to operate more robustly. 
       FIG.  6    is a diagram of the PWM voltage V PWM  of the dimmer circuit  400  of  FIG.  5   . The upper portion of  FIG.  6    is the PWM voltage V PWM  without dithering, and the lower portion is the PWM voltage V PWM  with dithering. For example, the digital circuit  440  can apply the spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG) technique to break up the frequency spectrum of the PWM voltage V PWM . As shown in the lower portion of  FIG.  6   , both period N and period N+1 have 3+2 waveforms. This type of waveform can reduce quantization errors and audible frequency interference. In addition, the digital circuit  440  can also produce other types of waveforms in the same principle to reduce the high-frequency electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the dimmer circuit  400 . Thus, applying the digital circuit  440  to add dithering can make the driving current I LED  more robust, reducing the flickers of the light emitting diode LED 1  and producing more accurate brightness. 
     A supplemental description here is for explaining spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG). Spread spectrum clock generation technique is an application of frequency modulation. The basic principle of the spread spectrum clock generation is to slightly modulate the frequency of a signal, so that the energy of the signal is dispersed into a small controllable range. After the modulation, the peak energy of each harmonic in the spectrum would be attenuated. Therefore, the applying spread spectrum clock generation can effectively reduce the electromagnetic interference or audible frequency interference of the signal. 
       FIG.  7    is a diagram of a dimmer circuit  500  of an embodiment. The dimmer circuit  500  is for dimming according to a dimming code. The dimmer circuit  500  includes a light emitting module  510  for emitting light according to a driving current I LED , a first current source CS 1 , a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  520 , a switch T 1 , a second current source CS 2  and a controller  530 . The light emitting module includes a first terminal for receiving a supply voltage Vs, and a second terminal. The first current source CS 1  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  510 , a second terminal coupled to a ground terminal GND, and a control terminal. The digital-to-analog converter  520  is coupled to the control terminal of the first current source CS 1 , for generating a direct current (DC) voltage V DC  according to a DC dimming code signal DCcode to control the first current source CS 1 . The second current source CS 2  includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the light emitting module  510 , a second terminal coupled to the ground terminal GND, and a control terminal. The controller  530  is coupled to the control terminal of the second current source CS 2 , for generating a control voltage Vc according to a PWM dimming code signal PWMcode to control the second current source. The DC dimming code signal DCcode includes the higher bits of the dimming code, and the higher bits include the most significant bit (MSB) of the dimming code. The PWM dimming code signal PWMcode includes the lower bits of the dimming code, and the lower bits include the least significant bit (LSB) of the dimming code. In application, the light emitting module  510  may include a light emitting diode LED 1 . A first terminal of the light emitting diode LED can receive the supply voltage Vs, and the second terminal can be coupled to the first terminal of the first current source CS 1 . The DC current I DC  and the PWM current I PWM  are summed up to form the driving current I LED , and the brightness of the light emitting diode LED 1  is determined by the driving current I LED . 
     The difference between the dimmer circuit  500  and the dimmer circuit  100  is that the second current source CS 2  of the dimmer circuit  500  is an adjustable current source, and the controller  530  controls the PWM current I PWM  through the control voltage Vc. Therefore, the implementation of the dimmer circuit  500  can omit the switch T 1 . The controller  530  can also include a digital circuit, such as a look-up table or other equivalent circuit structure. The controller  530  can convert the PWM dimming code signal PWMcode into the control voltage Vc. Further, the controller  530  can also be used to generate phase-shift for the control voltage Vc, so that the rising edges and falling edges of control voltages Vc of a plurality of dimmer circuits  500  can be staggered. For example, a 16-channel driving device can have a plurality of dimmer circuits  500  integrated into an integrated circuit. If all PWM voltages V PWM  of the plurality of dimmer circuits  500  rise or fall simultaneously, the circuit voltage would change rapidly, causing the circuit to exceed its maximum loading. Adding phase-shift to the control voltage Vc can avoid the above-mentioned situation, thereby making the dimmer circuit  500  to operate more robustly. 
     Furthermore, the controller  530  can generate the control voltage Vc with different amplitudes, and control the second current source CS 2  to output the PWM current I PWM  with different amplitudes and pulse widths, so as to generate the effect of dithering. By adding dithering to the control voltage Vc, the audible frequency interference can be reduced, thereby making the dimmer circuit  500  generating more accurate brightness. The controller  530  can also apply the same technique to reduce the electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the dimmer circuit  500 , so as to make the driving current I LED  more stable, reducing flickering of the light emitting diode LED 1 . 
     In summary, the dimmer circuits of the above-mentioned various embodiments of the present invention can divide a high resolution dimming code into a DC code and a PWM code, which respectively include higher bits and lower bits of the dimming code. As described, this can simplify control variables, reduce voltage variation and reduce error rate. The layout size of the dimmer circuit can also be reduced, thus reducing the area occupied in an integrated circuit. The dimmer circuit of the embodiment can also implement a digital circuit to add dithering to suppress electromagnetic interference and other interferences, thereby improving the accuracy of brightness control. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.