Patent ID: 7282870

Claim:
A driving apparatus for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) comprising: an oscillator for oscillating at a frequency based on a tuning resistor and a tuning capacitor; a pulse width modulation (PWM) driver for dividing a signal outputted from the oscillator by a predetermined rate, and adjusting an on/off duty rate of the divided signal in response to a PWM control signal which controls brightness to generate a switching control signal; an inverter for inverting direct current into alternating current of a predetermined frequency, the inverter including a plurality of switching devices of a half bridge structure which switch on and off alternately in response to the switching control signal outputted from the PWM driver; a resonance circuit for outputting the alternating current outputted from the inverter as a lamp driving voltage; a feedback circuit for detecting an extinction of the lamp through the feedback of a voltage applied to the lamp and according to the extinction detection, outputting a current control signal; and a current controller for controlling a current amount flowing in the tuning capacitor of the oscillator in response to an extinction detection signal of the feedback circuit so that a higher tuning capacitor current flows through the lamp in an ignited condition than in an extinguished condition.