Backlight generation with local dimming for liquid crystal panel having arbitrary shape

A method for controlling a liquid crystal (LC) panel and a backlight panel to display a rectangular raw image, the backlight panel being used for illuminating the LC panel, the LC panel having a display area arbitrary in shape, a light-emitting area of the backlight panel being partitioned into a plurality of zones individually controllable for providing local dimming to the LC panel, the plurality of zones defining a grid used for partitioning the display area into a plurality of display regions such that an individual display region is illuminated by a corresponding zone of the backlight panel, the method comprising the steps of:

• determining a number of pixels on the individual display region;
• receiving a plurality of pixel data of a portion of the image located on the corresponding zone;
• computing a plurality of pixel brightness levels of the image portion according to the plurality of pixel data;
• determining a dimming factor used in generating backlight for the corresponding zone according to the plurality of pixel brightness levels and the number of pixels on the individual display region in an absence of boundary information of the display area, thereby allowing local dimming to be provided without a need for such boundary information;
• controlling the corresponding zone to generate backlight with the dimming factor;
• computing a plurality of modified pixel data of the image portion from the plurality of pixel data according to at least the dimming factor;
• and
• sending the plurality of modified pixel data to the LC panel for displaying the image portion on the individual display region.