Extending backlight life

[DDresselhaus]

We are planning on using a Newhaven 4.3" TFT display on a piece of indoor industrial equipment.  We would like the display to run 24/7 for 10 years.  I noticed that the backlight has a LED half-life of only 20,000hrs or just over 2 years until the display is at half brightness.  What options are there to achieve the reliability we are looking for?  How can we extend the life?

Reduce average current using PWM?
Reduce drive current?
Dim the display to 25% brightness during idle (16 hrs dim 8 hrs full)
Use a different display
 
Please recommend a solution.

Thank you.

[Michael_L]

The backlight's LED half-life is actually 50,000hrs, or just over 5 years.  Yes, you are correct with your suggestions.  You may dim the backlight to extend the lifetime.  This can be done by either limiting the current using a resistor(s) or a current limited source, or by pulse width modulation (more common).