A backlight dimming method for backlighting an LCD panel having a variable refresh rate with an LED module, the variable refresh rate having a maximum refresh rate, the LED module having at least one LED sub-zone, the LED sub-zone including a plurality of LEDs, and the method including: using a controller to generate a secondary synchronizing signal having a frequency higher than the maximum refresh rate; and using the controller to update dimming values for the at least one LED sub-zone at one or more pulses of the secondary synchronizing signal with current dimming data after the controller has received the current dimming data from a scaler.