Patent ID: 7911442

Claim:
A backlight unit usable in a liquid crystal display (LCD) for dynamically expanding the color gamut of the LCD, wherein the LCD has an LCD panel comprising a plurality of pixels spatially arranged in a matrix for displaying an image, comprising: a. a plurality of light emitting elements, each of the plurality of light emitting elements being capable of emitting light in a red color, a green color and a blue color individually and/or collectively and arranged for illuminating a corresponding area of the LCD panel having at least one pixel, the emitted light in a color characterized with an intensity between a maximal value and a minimal value less than the maximal value; and b. a control unit electrically coupled with the plurality of light emitting elements and configured for controlling the intensity of light emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements in response to a frame of image data applied to the plurality of pixels, wherein the control unit is configured such that (i) when the image applied to the plurality of pixels is in a red color, the intensity of light in the red color emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements is adjusted to its maximal value, while the intensities of light in the green and blue colors emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements are adjusted to their corresponding minimal value, respectively, so as to expand the red area of the color gamut of the LCD panel; (ii) when the image applied to the plurality of pixels is in a green color, the intensity of light in the green color emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements is adjusted to its maximal value, while the intensities of light in the red and blue colors emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements are adjusted to their corresponding minimal value, respectively, so as to expand the green area of the color gamut of the LCD panel; and (iii) when the image applied to the plurality of pixels is in a blue color, the intensity of light in the blue color emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements is adjusted to its maximal value, while the intensities of light in the red and green colors emitting from each of the plurality of light emitting elements are adjusted to their corresponding minimal value, respectively, so as to expand the blue area of the color gamut of the LCD panel.