Systems and methods for backlighting an image display by independently driving multiple backlights for the display. The display may be, for example, a LCD display panel of a portable information handling system such as a battery-powered notebook computer that employs two or more cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) for backlighting the LCD display. The multiple backlights may be independently driven, for example, using a common inverter that is capable of independently driving two or more backlight lamps, or by driving each backlight lamp with a separate inverter.