A preheat control device for modulating the voltage of a gas-discharge
lamp is disclosed, which comprises: a pulse-width modulation (PWM)
circuit, for controlling the voltage of the gas-discharge lamp while it
is operating at a preheat state; a pulse frequency modulation (PFM)
circuit, for controlling the frequency of the gas-discharge lamp while it
is operating at a steady state so as to stabilize the current flowing
through the lamp; and a timing unit, for determining a preheat period of
the gas-discharge lamp.