Advantages in current.
With one channel, driver current 4.8A is needed.
All the drivers that I met are very hot at 4.8A
When you work on 2 channels you need 2.4A current. 2.4A is a lot of good and simple drivers. They are compact and efficient. Therefore, there is no heating.
Now working with XHP70.2 has become much easier.
It is enough to take a cheap driver that issues 2.4A and add a second channel on top.
Yes, you can use modern step-down synchronous drivers with integrated power elements.
And if you need a very cheap way, you can use inexpensive сhinese drivers such as qx9920 and others.
I don’t think I understand the benefit of a 2 channel buck driver. Does this mean it has 2 sets of components like inductor and FET? Is there really a size advantage to using two 2.4A-capable drivers versus one 4.8A-capable driver?
There is a benefit.
Verified
With a current of 2.4 A, inexpensive, small-sized power elements can be used. The load on the elements is distributed evenly. At a current of 4.8A, special measures are needed to remove heat from the power elements, which leads to an increase in size and price.
Try to make a driver for a 4.8A LED.
Then you will understand
One of the less obvious benefits is the fact that the losses are proportional to the current squared. As a result, it is very likely that a pair of 2.4 amp drivers will have smaller losses than a single 4.8 amp driver.
2 x 2.4 x 2.4=11.52
4.8 x 4.8 =23.4
So such a ‘twin’ driver would in theory have only about half the losses of a single larger driver. Less heat, less wasted energy, longer run time.
Well that is assuming two identical circuits with identical resistance components. Of course more large inductors and FETs is better but we don’t have unlimited space.
It sounds like heat dissipation is improved with multiple small components compared with single larger components, possibly because of the higher surface area to volume ratio of the small components.
There may be other advantages to a MCPCB like this… for a mounted light, you could make the light “directional” by dimming one channel and brightening the other - like for a stationary vehicle light that still “turns” with the vehicle, or “points” up or down with the terrain… possibly with a cross fader or stacked pot.
This driver is implemented on MAX16820
I tried these drivers. At 5A, they work only for a very short time. All power elements are very hot.
In this version of 17mm, this driver can be operated with currents up to 2.5A
In my version do not use specialized chips with the ability to synchronize. No need to shift the phase 180 ° .
I used two simple non-complex Buck drivers. Project price matters