PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal display device with a backlight adopting an edge-light system which consumes less electric power while achieving a good image quality.SOLUTION: A backlight that the invention is applied to includes a plurality of backlight cells of an edge-light system arrayed in a matrix form, each having an LED light source and a light-guide plate for directing light from the LED light source to a display panel. The intensity of light from the backlight cell located in a peripheral portion of a screen is controlled to be smaller than the intensity of light from the backlight cell located in a central portion of the screen. The intensity of light from the backlight cell having the LED light source adjacent to a first edge of an illuminated plane of the backlight is controlled so as to be larger than the intensity of light from the backlight cell adjacent to a second edge opposed to the first edge.