Apparatus and method for displaying drive state of backlight in liquid crystal display device

An apparatus for displaying a drive state of a backlight in a liquid crystal display device, comprising:

• an inverter that converts an inputted DC voltage into an AC voltage of a certain level, and outputs the same to a backlight lamp;
• a drive voltage detecting unit that detects a drive voltage supplied to the backlight lamp from the inverter, and outputs a detected signal according to the detected drive voltage;
• a drive current detecting unit that detects a tube current of the backlight lamp and outputs a detected signal according to the detected tube current;
• a drive voltage control/drive state signal output unit that checks a drive state of the backlight lamp based on the two detected signals, and controls the drive voltage outputted from the inverter based on the checked result as well as outputs a drive state signal having a frequency for indicating the drive state;
• and
• a lamp drive state indicating unit that indicates in which drive state the backlight lamp is driven according to the drive state signal,
• wherein the drive voltage control/drive state signal output unit is configured to control the level of the drive voltage based on the two detected signals, and if a voltage or a current greater than a predetermined allowable level is determined to be supplied, to control the level of the drive voltage outputted to the backlight lamp from the inverter so as to be below a predetermined level;
• wherein the lamp drive state indicating unit includes a light emitting diode that indicates a variety of drives states of the backlight lamp based on flickering states in response to the frequency to a user;
• and
• wherein the lamp drive state indicating unit performs an operation to indicate in which drive state the backlight lamp is driven based on the flickering states shortly for several seconds only at an initial stage when the power is on.