Modified point spread function for efficient high dynamic range LED backlight capable of high uniformity, high contrast, and smooth gradients.

We investigate the effect of new point spread functions (PSFs) on the uniformity and contrast of high dynamic range displays that use local dimming of LEDs to yield a large dynamic range. A PSF shaped like a quadratic B-spline was hypothesized to create a uniform brightness backlight, as well as producing linear and quadratic gradients, while maintaining a very high contrast. We have found a practical optical structure to produce such a PSF, yielding a nonuniformity of only ±0.8%, while enabling a contrast ratio of 5∶1 and 33∶1 over distances of one and two unit cell spacings, respectively.