Led driving element, backlight device, and backlight device driving method

An LED driving element comprising:

• a rectangular LED driving element used for driving LED elements;
• a first driving terminal group arranged along the first edge, a second driving terminal group positioned along the second edge on the side opposite from said first edge, a first driving circuit connected to said first driving terminal group, a second driving circuit connected to said second driving terminal group, a first register that supplies plural driving data in parallel to said first driving circuit, a second register that supplies plural driving data in parallel to said second driving circuit, a data input terminal to which the plural driving data supplied are input in series, a data output terminal that outputs the plural driving data in series, and a switching circuit connected to said data input terminal, said first register, said second register, and said data output terminal wherein said switching circuit includes:
• a first switch circuit for connecting said data input terminal to the serial input terminal of said first register or a first data line, a second switch circuit for connecting the serial output terminal of said first register to a second data line or a third data line, a third switch circuit for connecting the serial input terminal of said second register to said second data line or first data line, and a fourth switch circuit for connecting said data output terminal to the serial output terminal of said second register or said third data line, whereby according to the connection states of said first and second, third, and fourth switch circuits, the driving data supplied to said data input terminal are transmitted serially on a first path including said data input terminal, said first register, said second register, and said data output terminal, a second path including said data input terminal, said first register, and said data output terminal, or a third path including said data input terminal, said second register, and said data output terminal.

A driving method for a backlight device having plural light-emitting elements arranged in a matrix form, a driving circuit used for driving the light-emitting elements of two adjacent rows, and a driving data supply circuit that supplies to said driving circuit the driving data used for driving the light-emitting elements in series, comprising:

• driving the light-emitting elements in one of said two adjacent rows with a first driving part, driving the light-emitting elements in another row of said two adjacent rows with a second driving part, supplying said driving data to said first driving part, with a first shift register, supplying said driving data to said second driving part, with a second shift register, supplying data to a data input terminal and outputting said driving data at a data output terminal and switching the connections between said data input terminal, said first shift register, said second shift register, and said data output terminal with a switching circuit;
• when updating the driving data for said first and second driving parts connecting said first and second shift registers in series between said data input terminal and said data output terminal with said switching circuit to supply the driving data sequentially to said first and second shift registers corresponding to a clock signal;
• when updating the driving data for said first or second driving part alone connecting said first or second shift register between said data input terminal and said data output terminal with said switching circuit to supply the driving data sequentially to said first or second shift register corresponding to a clock signal.