Modeling of CCFL using Lamp Delay and Stability Analysis of

Backlight Inverter for Large Size LCD TV

Chang-Gyun Kim1), Kyu-Chan Lee1) and Bo H. Cho2)
1) Interpower Co., Ltd.
1578-51, Silim1-dong, Gwanak-gu
Seoul, Korea 151-869
E-mail : cgkim@e-interpower.com

2) Power Electronics System Lab.

School of Electrical Engineering
Seoul National University
Seoul, Korea, 151-742

Abstract - Cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) for LCD

TVs have a special v-i characteristic, which can make the
backlight inverter system unstable. In this paper, modeling of
both the cold cathode fluorescent lamp and the backlight
inverter is performed in terms of incremental impedance in
the frequency domain. The stability analysis of the backlight
inverter and the CCFL is presented using the derived models.
It is concluded that the time delay, after which the lamp
voltage responds to the lamp current change, contributes to
the incremental impedance of the CCFL at the high
frequency region, which may cause instability of the
backlight inverter. The time delay is considered as a lamp
characteristic. The effect of the inverter design parameters on
the stability is also investigated. The lamp model and the
stability analysis results are verified from experiments with a
backlight inverter for 32-inch LCD TVs.
1. INTRODUCTION
It is a well-known fact that cold cathode fluorescent lamps
(CCFL), like most other electric discharge lamps, have a
negative incremental impedance, which can make the
inverter system unstable. In fact, instability has been
observed in experiments with CCFLs for large size LCD
TVs, even in the open loop configuration. Mathematical
representations of this phenomenon are needed to better
understand the lamps behavior and to improve the backlight
inverter design.
Several studies [1-6] have been reported in the literature to
establish mathematical models. The authors of [1] presented
a model based on the physical principles inside the gas
discharge, which is too complicated to give a clear picture of
the lamps negative incremental impedance. Francis [2]
proposed a simple differential equation which satisfactorily
describes the first order effect of the lamps behavior. Various
modifications [3,4] were made to Francis equation in order

0-7803-8975-1/05/$20.00 2005 IEEE.

to increase its accuracy. Pspice models were also developed

as a tool to optimize ballast designs [5-7]. The final forms of
the models are a set of differential equations which are
shaped to closely duplicate the measured waveforms. The
ultimate goal of the above modeling approaches is to
accurately simulate the lamps voltage and current
waveforms in the time domain.
However, those models cannot analyze the instability
phenomenon observed in experiments. The focus of lamp
and inverter modeling in this paper is to characterize its
salient feature and to investigate its requirement of a
backlight inverter from the circuit stabilitys perspective. At
high frequencies, a lamps steady-state impedance can be
considered as a resistor [8]. Thus, instead of studying a
lamps steady-state behavior, our efforts are focused on its
incremental impedance in the frequency domain, specifically
on the high frequency behavior which causes instability.
In Section 2, modeling of the CCFL incremental impedance
is performed. The incremental impedance obtained from the
derived model is compared with measurement data using
720mm/4mm CCFLs. In Section 3, the other components of
the inverter are also modeled in terms of the incremental
impedance. In Section 4, the stability analysis is performed
using the derived models. The analysis results are verified
from experiments. The effects of the design parameters on
the stability are also presented. Conclusions are summarized
in Section 5.
2. MODELING OF LAMP INCREMENTAL IMPEDANCE
2.1 Steady-state characteristics of the CCFLs
The CCFL v-i characteristic at high frequencies
approximates a resistor [8]. However, the lamp resistance is
not a constant but a function of the lamp operating current.
The experimental data of the moving operating point is
plotted in Fig.1 and Fig.2 where v, i represents the rms value

1751

for the sinewave operation. The equivalent resistance can be

approximated using two exponential functions as
RLamp [k] = 1500e

750I Lamp . rms [ A]

+ 370e

130I Lamp . rms [ A]

. (2.1)

The approximated equivalent resistance and lamp voltage

are plotted with solid lines in Fig.1 and Fig.2. There have
been two aspects to describe a lamps impedance. One is the
straight line from the origin to an operating point in Fig.1,
which has a positive v/i slope and describes a lamps steadystate behavior. Another is a curve between two operating
points, which has a negative dv/di slope and describes the
small-signal change of an operating point or its incremental
behavior.
The specifications of CCFLs used in the tests are listed in
Table 1.
TABLE 1. Specifications of CCFLs used in the experiment
Length

Outer
Diameter

720
mm

4 mm

Typ.
Current

Typ.
Voltage

Luminance

Frequency

6.2 mA

1065 [V]
7%

1570013%
cd/m2

40kHz ~
60kHz

1300

1200

VLamp.rms [V]

1100

1000

900

800

o : experiments
- : approximation

700

600

0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009

0.01

iLamp.rms [A]

Figure 1. The CCFL steady-state operating point in v-i plane

14

x 10

RLamp []

12

o : experiments
- : approximation

10

0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009

iLamp.rms [A]

Figure 2. The equivalent CCFL resistance

0.01

2.2 Derivation of the CCFL incremental impedance

To study a lamps incremental impedance, a perturbation
which is sufficiently small in magnitude is applied around an
operating point. For example, the perturbed lamp voltage and
current are
v = (V + v(t ))sin( s t ) , i = I + i(t ) sin( s t ) , (2.2)

where s is the switching angular frequency. The applied

perturbation voltage and the resulting current can be
expressed as (considering the lamp current as a phase
reference)
v(t ) = v sin( m t + m ) , i(t ) = i sin( m t ) ,
(2.3)
where m is the low modulation frequency. The incremental
impedance is defined as :
v
Z ( j m )
m .
(2.4)
i
The steady-state impedance is usually associated with a
large-signal operating point while the incremental impedance
is concerned with the small-signal perturbations of the
operating point. The above concepts are illustrated in Fig. 3,
where a CCFL is driven by a high frequency sinewave at the
fixed switching frequency. The amplitude of the sinewave is
modulated by a small-signal at the low varying frequency, m.
The incremental impedance of the lamp is defined as the
ratio of the slow varying signals which modulate the lamp
voltage and current, respectively.
At a certain modulation frequency, the lamp voltage
responds to the lamp current not immediately, but after some
time delay (Td) as shown in Fig. 3. Observation of the
experimental waveforms at various operating conditions has
shown that there is almost a constant time delay between the
lamp voltage and the lamp current. It is concluded that this
time delay contributes to the incremental impedance at high
frequencies which may cause the instability. This time delay
is considered as a lamp characteristic.
Considering the time delay, the lamp voltage of (2.3)
becomes
v(t ) = v sin( m (t Td ) + ) .
(2.5)
The steady-state equivalent lamp resistance is a function of
the lamp current as shown in Fig.2. The amplitude modulated
lamp current also causes the equivalent resistance to vary
with time. If the equivalent resistance responds to the lamp
current without a time delay, the lamp voltage valley will
occur at the same time as the lamp current peak. This means
that the equivalent resistance also has a time delay with
respect to the lamp current.
(2.6)
RLamp (t ) = R Lamp (i (t TR ))
RLamp(i) is a steady-state equivalent resistance according to

1752

the lamp current as (2.1). TR is the delay time of the

equivalent resistance with respect to the lamp current.
Considering the envelope component only, the amplitudes
of the lamp voltage and current of Fig. 3 becomes
v m (t ) = V + v(t )
(2.7)
im (t ) = I

+ i(t ) .

V m ax
V
V m in

v(t)

(2.8)

+ Td

= R Lamp (t ) im (t )

i(t)
t=

Tm
+ Td
4

(2.10)

Figure 3. Illustration of the incremental impedance under high

frequency sinewave operation

T

Vmin = RLamp I + i m + Td TR I + i m + Td (2.11)
4

Assuming Td = TR, and substituting (2.3) into (2.11), then

T
Vmin RLamp I + i sinm m I + i sinm m + Td
4

(2.12)
= R Lamp I + i I + i cos( mTd ) .
(2.13)

){

In the same manner, the voltage peak can be derived as

Vmax = RLamp I i I i cos( mTd ) .
(2.14)

){

The maximum and minimum of the lamp current (Imax and

Imin) are defined as :
I max I + i , I min I i .
(2.15)
By substituting (2.15) into (2.13) and (2.14), the minimum
and maximum of the lamp voltage becomes
Vmin = Rmin I + i cos( mTd ) ,
(2.16)

(
)
(I i cos( T )) ,

= Rmax

Vmax

(2.17)

m d

From (2.4) and (2.21), the magnitude of the incremental

impedance becomes
v
(2.22)
X Lamp.ac
i
=

+ Rmin
Rmax Rmin
R
I max
cos( mTd ) . (2.23)
I max I min
2

The phase of the incremental impedance can be obtained

directly from the time delay (Td). Therefore, the resulting
incremental impedance becomes
(2.24)
Z Lamp ( j m ) = X Lamp.ac ( mTd ) .
In Fig. 4, the derived model of the lamp incremental
impedance (Td=13sec) is plotted as a function of the
modulation frequency and compared with measurement data.
A good match is observed, thus verifying the validity of the
derived model. The lamp incremental impedance, ZLamp(s),
has a negative resistance characteristic at low frequencies. As
the modulation frequency increases, the magnitude of
ZLamp(s) increases but its phase decreases.
Magnitude of lamp Impedance [dB]

where

120

Rmax = RLamp

I min . rms

, Rmin = RLamp

I max . rms

(2.18)

Vmax Vmin = (Rmax Rmin )I (Rmax + Rmin ) i cos(mTd ) .

(2.19)
From (2.15)
=

(I max I min ) ,

110

100

From (2.16) and (2.17)

i m (t)

t =0 t =T d +T m /4

where Tm is the period of the modulation frequency.

Substitution of (2.6) and (2.8) into (2.10) gives,

Td

I m ax
I
I m in

The lamp voltage valley (Vmin) of Fig. 3 can be expressed as

Vmin = v m (t ) Tm
(2.9)
t=

v m (t)

90

80
2
10

10

10

10

Phase of lamp Impedance [deg]

200

100

(2.20)

2
Therefore, (2.19) becomes
Vmax Vmin Rmax Rmin
R + Rmin
=
I max
cos(mTd ) . (2.21)
I max I min
I max I min
2

-100
2
10

10

10

10

frequency [Hz]

o : Experiments
- : Derived Model

Figure 4. The lamp incremental impedance in frequency domain

1753

3. INCREMENTAL IMPEDANCE MODELING OF RESONANT

Fig. 5 shows the power stage and its equivalent circuit in a

full-bridge resonant backlight inverter for the CCFL. L1 is an
externally added inductor. C1 is a blocking capacitor and has
a trivial effect on the inverter operation, and therefore is
omitted in the equivalent circuit. Ls is the total inductance of
the primary side inductor and the leakage inductance of the
transformer. vs is a sinewave voltage source generated by a
DC voltage source and the switching devices. Rs is the
winding resistance of the transformer, and Cp represents an
externally added capacitor along with parasitic capacitances.
By testing the backlight inverter with the CCFL, instability
has been observed in the open loop arrangement. Lamp
voltage and current oscillate at a frequency of about 12kHz.
The incremental impedance of each component of the
equivalent circuit in Fig. 5 is derived to explain the instability.
By the fundamental frequency approximation, the parallel
capacitor voltage (vp) can be assumed to be a pure sinewave
at the switching frequency,
(3.1)
v p (t ) = V p sin ( s t ) .
The capacitor current becomes
i p (t ) = I p sin s t Td .Cp ,

( (

where
Ip

))

Lamp
VIN

CP
1:N
Transformer

The incremental impedance of Cp is defined as

Z Cp X Cp Cp ,

(3.6)

where
X Cp

Cp

V p 2 V p1
I p 2 I p1

= mTd .Cp

(3.7)
(3.8)

From (3.5) and (3.7), the magnitude of the incremental

impedance results in
1
X Cp =
.
(3.9)
C p s
From (3.4) and (3.8), the phase of the incremental
impedance is
f
Cp = m ,
(3.10)
2 fs

ip +

vs

ZCp CP

Lamp

vp
_
Zout

ZLoad

Figure 5. Power stage and its equivalent circuit of the backlight inverter
under test

Ip2

Ip1
ip(t)
Td.Cp

fs

Td .Cp =

Rs
ZLs

(3.3)

Ts
.
(3.4)
4
Considering the increments of the lamp voltage and current
as shown in Fig. 6,
(3.5)
I p 2 I p1 = C p s V p 2 V p1 .

Ls

is

(3.2)

= C p sV p ,

C1

L1

COMPONENTS

Vp2

Vp1

vp(t)

Figure 6. Illustration of Cp voltage and current waveform to derive the

incremental impedance

where fm is the modulation frequency and fs is the switching

frequency.
In a similar manner, the incremental impedance of the series
inductor (Ls) and the series resistance (Rs) can be derived.
The related voltage and current waveforms are shown in Fig.
7. The equivalent ac source (vs) is considered as a phase
reference.
v s = Vs 0
(3.11)
v p1
is1

= V p1 p
= I s1 s

= V p 2 p

, v p2
, is 2

= I s 2 s

(3.12)
(3.13)

The amplitudes of the current (Is1 and Is2) can be derived

from the impedance at the switching frequency.

1754

I s1 =

v s v p1

( s Ls )2 + Rs 2

, I s2 =

vs v p 2

( s Ls )2 + Rs 2

(3.14)

The difference between the two amplitudes of the current

becomes
1
I s 2 I s1 =
v s v p 2 v s v p1 (3.15)
( s Ls )2 + Rs 2

From the phase diagram of Fig. 8 and using the small-signal

assumption, (3.15) can be approximated as
1
I s 2 I s1
V p 2 V p1 cos Ls , (3.16)
( s Ls )2 + Rs 2

where
Ls

= p + 1 ,

V p1 sin p
.
Vs V p1 cos p

1 is the phase of vs-vp1.

The time delay (Td.Ls) of the series impedance is
=

L
fm
tan 1 s s .
(3.20)
fs
Rs
From the definition of the incremental impedance, (3.16)
and (3.20), the incremental impedance of the series
inductance and the series resistance results in
=

Z Ls

(Ls s )2 + Rs 2
cos Ls

Ls .

(3.21)

L
Ts
tan 1 s s
2
Rs

4. STABILITY ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

(3.18)

In this section, stability analysis is performed and the

experimental results are presented. The parameters of an
example design of the inverter are listed in Table 2.

(3.19)

PLamp
6.6 W

VS
vs(t)
Vp1

Vp2

Is2

Is1

TABLE 2. The parameters of inverter design example

fs
Ls
Cp
Rs
vs
vp
50
330
40
945
1030
1610

kHz
mH
pF
Vpk
Vpk

p
120
deg

The load impedance and the output impedance are defined

as shown in Fig. 5 and can be expressed as
Z Ls Z Cp
,
(4.1)
Z out =
Z Load = Z Lamp .
Z Ls + Z Cp

vp(t)

is(t)

=0 s p
Figure 7. Illustration of voltage and current waveforms to derive ZLs

Ls'

Ls

(3.17)

1 = tan 1

Td .Ls

The phase due to the time delay (Td.Ls) at the modulation

frequency becomes

Ls' Ls

vp2

1
Ls
vp1

p
vs
Figure 8. The phase diagram of the voltages related to the ZLs

The lamp current can be expressed with the impedances as

Vs (s )
I Lamp (s ) =
.
(4.2)

Z (s )

Z Load (s ) 1 + out

Z Load (s )
Fig. 9 shows the incremental impedance of each component
(ZLs, ZCp, Zout, Zload). The load impedance and the output
impedance have similar magnitudes at around 12kHz and the
phase difference is about 180, which implies the possibility
of instability. For further analysis of the instability, the
characteristic function (Tchar) is defined as
Z out (s )
Tchar (s )
.
(4.3)
Z Load (s )
The Nyquist plot of Tchar is presented in Fig. 10, which
shows that the plot encircles the (-1,0) point. That is, the
system may become unstable from the Nyquist Criteria. This
analysis explains the oscillating waveforms of the lamp
voltage and current observed in experiments.
The effects of the inverter parameters on the stability are
analyzed using the derived models and verified from
experiments. Three operating conditions are selected to
observe the effect of the switching frequency, and the
resonant components. The results are listed in Table 3.

1755

magnitude [dB]

110

difference decreases, and this helps the system become stable.

The Nyquist plot of Fig. 13(b) shows that a larger Ls
inductance at the same resonant frequency can change the
unstable system to a stable one, which can be verified from
experimental waveforms, as shown in Fig. 14.

Zout

105

ZLs

100

ZCp

95
90

ZLoad

85
2
10

10

10

10

5. CONCLUSION

phase [deg]

200

ZLoad

100

ZCp

0
-100

Zout

ZLs

-200
2
10

Modeling of both the cold cathode fluorescent lamp

(CCFL) and the backlight inverter are presented in terms of
the incremental impedance. Stability analysis is performed
using the derived models. The stability analysis in this paper
can explain the instability observed in experiments. The time
delay of the lamp voltage response to the lamp current has a
great effect on the lamp incremental impedance characteristic
and also the stability. The effects of the design parameters of
the inverter are also investigated through the stability
analysis. The derived models and stability analysis results are
verified from experiments with the CCFL and the backlight
inverter for large size LCD TVs.

10

10

10

frequency [Hz]

Figure 9. Incremental impedances of ZLs, ZCp, Zout and ZLoad

2.5

Imag

1.5

magnitude [dB]

0.5

-0.5
-14

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

Real

Zout (fs=50kHz)

110
105

Zout (fs=57kHz)

100
95

ZLoad

90
85
2
10

Figure 10. Nyquist plot of the characteristic function (Tchar)

10

10

10

200

ZLoad
phase [deg]

Table 3.
Three operating conditions (change of fs and the resonant components)
Operating
fs
Ls
Cp
Rs
Conditions
50 kHz
330 mH
40 pF
945
case 1
330 mH
40 pF
945
case 2
57 kHz
50 kHz
945
case 3
660 mH
20 pF

100

Zout (fs=57kHz)

Zout (fs=50kHz)

-100
2
10

10

10

10

frequency [Hz]

(a) Frequency domain analysis

1756

fs=50kHz
2

Imag

At a higher switching frequency (case 2), the phase of Zout

increases as shown in Fig. 11(a). This makes the system
more stable, which can be seen from the Nyquist plot of Fig.
11(b). This analysis is verified from experiments as shown in
Fig. 12, which shows instability at the switching frequency
of 50kHz and stable operation at the switching frequency of
57kHz.
When the resonant inductor has a larger inductance (case 3)
at the same resonant frequency, XLs and XCp both increase.
The magnitude of the output impedance crosses that of the
load impedance at a higher modulation frequency as shown
in Fig. 13(a). The phase of the output impedance decreases
more slowly than that of the lamp. Therefore, the phase

2.5

1.5

0.5

fs=57kHz
0

-0.5
-14

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

Real

(b) Nyquist plot

Figure 11. Frequency domain and Nyquist plot according to the
switching frequency (fs=50kHz and 57kHz)

VLamp [1kV/div]
iLamp [2.7mA/div]

VLamp [1kV/div]
iLamp [2.7mA/div]

time [50usec/div]

time [50usec/div]

(a) Ls=0.33H, Cp=40pF (case 1)

iLamp [2.7mA/div]

iLamp [2.7mA/div]

VLamp [1kV/div]

VLamp [1kV/div]

(a) fs = 50kHz (case 1)

time [50usec/div]

time [50usec/div]

(b) fs = 57kHz (case 2)

(b) Ls=0.66H, Cp=20pF (case 3)

Figure 14. Experimental waveforms according to the resonant

components (Ls, Cp) (case 1 and 3)

magnitude [dB]

Figure 12. Experimental waveforms according to the switching

frequency (fs=50kHz and 57kHz)
120

Zout (case 3 )

110

Z out (case 1 )

100

REFERENCES
ZLoad

90
80
2
10

10

10

10

200

phase [deg]

ZLoad
100

Z out (case 1 )

-100
2
10

Z out (case 3 )

10

10

10

frequency [Hz]
(a) Frequency domain analysis

Imag

2.5

case 3
(Ls=0.66H,
Cp=20pF)

case 1
(Ls=0.33H,
Cp=40pF)

1.5

0.5

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Characteristics of Fluorescent Lamps, IEEE IAS 1992, pp.
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Fluorescent Lamp Model, IEEE APEC 1996, pp. 641-647.
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[8] E. Deng and S. Cuk, Negative Incremental Impedance and
Stability of Fluorescent Lamps, IEEE APEC 1997, pp. 10501056.

-0.5
-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

Real

(b) Nyquist plot

Figure 13. Frequency domain and Nyquist plot according to the
resonant components (Ls, Cp) (case 1 and 3)

1757