According to one embodiment, an image display apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel, a backlight, a luminance distribution calculation unit, an error calculation unit, and an emission intensity update unit. The backlight includes a plurality of light sources which emit light. The luminance distribution calculation unit calculates a predicted value for an intensity distribution of light entering the liquid crystal panel if each of the light sources is lit with an emission intensity. The error calculation unit obtains a brightness of a display image which is realized if the each of the light sources is lit with the emission intensity, and the error calculation unit calculates an error between the obtained brightness and an ideal brightness of the display image corresponding to the input video signal. The emission intensity update unit updates the emission intensity of the each of the light sources to reduce the error.