Method of local dimming of light source, light source apparatus for performing the method and display apparatus having the light source apparatus

1. A method of local dimming of a light source including a plurality of light-emitting blocks, the method comprising:

determining a dimming level of each light-emitting block of the plurality of light-emitting blocks;

calculating a compensation dimming level of a predetermined light-emitting block based on a dimming level of peripheral light-emitting blocks disposed around a periphery of the predetermined light-emitting block; and

driving the predetermined light-emitting block based on the compensation dimming level,

wherein an average dimming level is calculated based on an L×L block window (wherein L is a natural number),

wherein a central block of the L×L block window corresponds to the predetermined light-emitting block, and

the compensation dimming level Ds(c) of the predetermined light-emitting block is calculated by:

Ds

⁡

(

c

)

=

D

⁡

(

c

)

+

k

⁡

(

D

_

-

D

⁡

(

c

)

)

;

0

≤

k

≤

1

,

⁢

D

_

=

∑

i

=

1

,

i

≠

c

L

×

L

⁢

D

⁡

(

i

)

(

L

×

L

)

-

1

where D(c) represents a compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block, and D represents an average dimming level of peripheral blocks of the central block.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating the compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block further comprises using a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block employed in a previous frame.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating the compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block further comprises employing a distance-weighted value based on an interval distance between the peripheral light-emitting blocks.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein distance-weighted value increases as the interval distance decreases.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the calculating the compensation dimming level further comprises:

dividing the peripheral light-emitting blocks into a plurality of groups based on a location of the predetermined light-emitting block and the interval distance by employing an L×L block window (wherein L is a natural number) and

calculating adaptation levels of groups of the plurality of groups based on a predetermined maximum value of the adaptation level and a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein

the predetermined light-emitting block corresponds to a central block of the L×L block window,

the peripheral light-emitting blocks are divided into q groups (wherein q is a natural number), and

the adaptation levels of the groups are calculated by:

T 1 =ω 1 ×D ( g 1 )max,

T 2 =ω 2 ×D ( g 2 )max,

. . .

T Q =ω Q ×D ( g Q )max,

Tc=D ( c )

where D(g 1 )max represents a maximum dimming level of light-emitting blocks corresponding to a first group g 1 , D(g 2 )max represents a maximum dimming level of light-emitting blocks corresponding to a second group g 2 , D(gq)max represents a maximum dimming level of light-emitting blocks corresponding to a (q)-th group gq, w 1 , w 2 , . . . , wq represent distance-weighted values defined as 0<w 1 <w 2 < . . . wq<1, and Tc represents a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein an adaptation dimming level Dns(c) of the predetermined block is defined by:

Dns ( c )=Max{ T 1 ,T 2 , . . . , T Q ,T C }.

8. A light source apparatus comprising:

a light source module comprising a plurality of light-emitting blocks; and

a local dimming driving part which determines a dimming level of each light-emitting block of the plurality of light-emitting blocks, which calculates a compensation dimming level of a predetermined light-emitting block based on dimming levels of peripheral light-emitting blocks disposed around a periphery of the predetermined light-emitting block, and which drives the predetermined light-emitting block based on the compensation dimming level,

wherein an average dimming level is calculated based on an L×L block window (wherein L is a natural number),

wherein a central block of the L×L block window corresponds to the predetermined light-emitting block, and

the compensation dimming level Ds(c) of the predetermined light-emitting block is calculated by:

Ds

⁡

(

c

)

=

D

⁡

(

c

)

+

k

⁡

(

D

_

-

D

⁡

(

c

)

)

;

0

≤

k

≤

1

,

⁢

D

_

=

∑

i

=

1

,

i

≠

c

L

×

L

⁢

D

⁡

(

i

)

(

L

×

L

)

-

1

where D(c) represents a compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block, and D represents an average dimming level of peripheral blocks of the central block.

9. The light source apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the local dimming driving part comprises:

an image analyzing part which extracts a representative luminance value of the predetermined light-emitting block by analyzing an image signal corresponding to the predetermined light-emitting block;

a dimming level determining part which determines a dimming level which controls a brightness of the predetermined light-emitting block based on the representative luminance value;

a spatial compensating part which calculates the compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block based on the dimming levels of the peripheral light-emitting blocks; and

a light-emitting driving part which drives the predetermined light-emitting block based on the compensation dimming level.

10. The light source apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

a temporal compensating part which calculates the compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block based on a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block employed in a previous frame.

11. The light source apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the spatial compensating part calculates the compensation dimming level based on a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block and the average dimming level of the peripheral light-emitting blocks.

12. The light source apparatus of claim 9 , wherein

the spatial compensating part calculates a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block and the compensation dimming level,

the spatial compensating part divides the peripheral light-emitting blocks into a plurality of groups based on an interval distance from the predetermined light-emitting block, and

spatial compensating part calculates the compensation dimming level based on adaptation levels of groups of the plurality of groups based on a distance-weighted value and a maximum dimming level of the groups.

13. The light source apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the distance-weighted value increases as the interval distance decreases.

14. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel comprising a plurality of display blocks to display images on the display panel;

a light source module comprising a plurality of light-emitting blocks, each light-emitting block of the plurality of light-emitting blocks corresponding to a display block of the plurality of display blocks, and each light-emitting block comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes; and

a local dimming driving part which determines a dimming level of each light-emitting block of the plurality of light-emitting blocks, which calculates a compensation dimming level of a predetermined light-emitting block based on dimming levels of peripheral light-emitting blocks disposed around a periphery of the predetermined light-emitting block, and which drives the predetermined light-emitting block based on the compensation dimming level,

wherein an average dimming level is calculated based on an L×L block window (wherein L is a natural number),

wherein a central block of the L×L block window corresponds to the predetermined light-emitting block, and

the compensation dimming level Ds(c) of the predetermined light-emitting block is calculated by:

Ds

⁡

(

c

)

=

D

⁡

(

c

)

+

k

⁡

(

D

_

-

D

⁡

(

c

)

)

;

0

≤

k

≤

1

,

⁢

D

_

=

∑

i

=

1

,

i

≠

c

L

×

L

⁢

D

⁡

(

i

)

(

L

×

L

)

-

1

where D(c) represents a compensation dimming level of the predetermined, light-emitting block, and D represents an average dimming level of peripheral blocks of the central block.

15. The display apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the local dimming driving part comprises:

an image analyzing part which extracts a representative luminance value of the predetermined light-emitting block by analyzing an image signal corresponding to the predetermined light-emitting block;

a dimming level determining part which determines a dimming level which controls a brightness of the predetermined light-emitting block based on the representative luminance value;

a spatial compensating part which calculates the compensation dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block based on the dimming levels of the peripheral light-emitting blocks; and

a light-emitting driving part which drives the predetermined light-emitting block based on the compensation dimming level.

16. The display apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the spatial compensating part calculates the compensation dimming level based on a dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block and the average dimming level of the peripheral light-emitting blocks.

17. The display apparatus of claim 16 , wherein

the spatial compensating part calculates the dimming level of the predetermined light-emitting block and the compensation dimming level,

the spatial compensating part divides the peripheral light-emitting blocks into a plurality of groups based on an interval distance from the predetermined light-emitting block, and

the spatial compensating part calculates the compensation dimming level based on adaptation levels of groups of the plurality of groups based on a distance-weighted value and a maximum dimming level of the groups.

18. The display apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the distance-weighted value increases as the interval distance decreases.