A display apparatus, comprising: a display section; and a backlight unit, comprising: a backlight including a plurality of light-emitting devices that are arranged side by side in a matrix, wherein the light-emitting devices in each row of the matrix form a respective light-emitting section such that the backlight comprises a plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1-BL20) succeeding each other along a first direction, and wherein the respective light-emitting devices of each of plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) are respectively arranged side by side along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a controller for controlling a light emission operation of the backlight, wherein the controller is configured to: control a first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) to emit light with gradually changing luminance along the first direction in a first sub-frame period such that the gradually changing luminance along the first direction in the first sub-frame period is the highest around a center of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1-BL20) and decreases towards the ends of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20), wherein the light-emitting sections of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) immediately succeed each other along the first direction, and wherein the first sub-frame period is one of a plurality of sub-frame periods composing a frame period; control the light-emitting sections of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) that are not included in the first subset to not emit light in the first sub-frame period; and control each of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) to perform its light emission operation in synchronization with line-sequential scanning in the display section. a display section; and a backlight unit, comprising: a backlight including a plurality of light-emitting devices that are arranged side by side in a matrix, wherein the light-emitting devices in each row of the matrix form a respective light-emitting section such that the backlight comprises a plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1-BL20) succeeding each other along a first direction, and wherein the respective light-emitting devices of each of plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) are respectively arranged side by side along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a controller for controlling a light emission operation of the backlight, wherein the controller is configured to: control a first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) to emit light with gradually changing luminance along the first direction in a first sub-frame period such that the gradually changing luminance along the first direction in the first sub-frame period is the highest around a center of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1-BL20) and decreases towards the ends of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20), wherein the light-emitting sections of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) immediately succeed each other along the first direction, and wherein the first sub-frame period is one of a plurality of sub-frame periods composing a frame period; control the light-emitting sections of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) that are not included in the first subset to not emit light in the first sub-frame period; and control each of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) to perform its light emission operation in synchronization with line-sequential scanning in the display section. control a first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) to emit light with gradually changing luminance along the first direction in a first sub-frame period such that the gradually changing luminance along the first direction in the first sub-frame period is the highest around a center of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1-BL20) and decreases towards the ends of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20), wherein the light-emitting sections of the first subset of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) immediately succeed each other along the first direction, and wherein the first sub-frame period is one of a plurality of sub-frame periods composing a frame period; control the light-emitting sections of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) that are not included in the first subset to not emit light in the first sub-frame period; and control each of the plurality of light-emitting sections (BL1- BL20) to perform its light emission operation in synchronization with line-sequential scanning in the display section.