Local dimming control with 2-line addressing

An apparatus for displaying images, comprising:

• a display panel comprising plural pixels for displaying the images;
• a light-emitting diode (LED) backlight divided into a plurality of zones arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) array of rows and columns;
• and
• a control unit configured to couple a compensated video data to the display panel and a dimming data to the LED backlight;
• wherein:
• the plurality of zones of the LED backlight is driven by row enable signals and column driving signals based on the dimming data;
• an individual column driving signal is arranged to drive two rows of zones;
• a first row enable signal for driving a first row of the two rows of zones comprises a first enable pulse in a frame period, and a second row enable signal for driving a second row of the two rows of zones comprises a second enable pulse in the frame period, wherein the first enable pulse and the second enable pulse are at least partially overlapped in time for reducing a pulse current of the LED backlight;
• the first enable pulse comprises a first pulse width portion and an overlapping pulse width portion, the overlapping pulse width portion being a pulse width portion that the first and second enable pulses overlap in time;
• the second enable pulse comprises a second pulse width portion and the overlapping pulse width portion;
• the first row enable signal is formed by positioning the first pulse width portion immediately before the overlapping pulse width portion in time, and the second row enable signal is formed by positioning the second pulse width portion immediately after the overlapping pulse width portion in time, thereby allowing the first and second row enable signals to be independently configured to drive the two rows of zones with different brightness while enabling the lifetime of the LED backlight to be enhanced;
• the first row is configured to be driven by a first LED driving current during the first pulse width portion and the second row is configured to be driven by the first LED driving current during the second pulse width portion;
• the two rows of zones are configured to be simultaneously driven by a second LED driving current during the overlapping pulse width portion;
• the second LED driving current is lower than the first LED driving current;
• and
• the two rows of zones are paired up for reducing the second LED driving current and configured to be driven without overlapping in time with other rows of zones.