A power conversion circuit senses an output voltage to detect shorted lamp
conditions in a backlight system. The power conversion circuit can drive
at least one fluorescent lamp. A voltage sensing feedback circuit, such as
a capacitive voltage divider or a resistive voltage divider, senses the
output voltage at an output of the power conversion circuit and generates
a voltage feedback signal for a shorted lamp detector. The shorted lamp
detector reliably detects a shorted lamp condition of one fluorescent lamp
in a multi-lamp configuration or detects a short circuit condition of the
output voltage line coupling the output voltage of the power conversion
circuit to the fluorescent lamps.
