The invention provides a surface illuminator capable of achieving high display quality by employing an array of discrete light sources constituted by a plurality of LEDs and a liquid crystal display having the same. The surface illuminator includes an LED module which is a plurality of LEDs alternately and discretely provided along a light entrance surface and a color irregularity correcting resistor which is connected in parallel with a predetermined LED at an end of the LED module and which provides a bypass for a current supplied to the LED.