Surface light source, method of driving the same, and backlight unit having the same

摘要

A surface light source includes a plate type light source body having a sealed discharging space formed therein, a plate type electrode unit having a plurality of regions adjacent to at least one major surface of the light source body, and a multiple voltage applying unit operable to apply voltages independently to each of the plurality of regions. In this way, brightness of the surface light source can be controlled independently in each of the plurality of regions and a local dimming for a surface light source can be realized.