In low-cost mass-produced items I often run into black blobs of what looks like resin applied directly on top of something on the PCB. What are these things exactly? I suspect this is some kind of custom IC that is layed out directly on the PCB to save on the plastic  housing/connector pins. Is this correct? If so, what is this technique called?



This is a photograph of the inside of a cheap digital multimeter. The black blob is the only non-basic piece of circuitry present, along with an op-amp (top) and a single bipolar junction transistor.

It's called chip-on-board. The die is glued to the PCB and wires are bonded from it to pads. The Pulsonix PCB software I use has it as an optional extra.

The main benefit is reduced cost, since you don't have to pay for a package.
