OR-function illumination in phased bitplanes in a high dynamic range projector is provided, which can be used to reduce flicker artifacts. The projector comprises: a light source; a premod display; a prime display, the premod display configured to modulate light from the light source to illuminate the prime display; and, a computing device. The computing device drives the prime display according to a phased sequence to transition the prime display from a leading bitplane to a following bitplane. The computing device is further configured to, at least in a time period corresponding to the prime display being driven according to the phased sequence, drive adjacent pixel groups of the premod display according to an OR-function of premod versions of respective portions of each of at least the leading bitplane and the following bitplane.