A system and method are provided for displaying a lower power user interface on an liquid crystal display (LCD) panel using localized backlight control. The method includes the step of identifying a subset of light emitting elements included in a backlight for the LCD panel, where the backlight includes a plurality of light emitting elements. The subset of light emitting elements consumes less power when operated individually or in combination with other subsets of light emitting elements than the total backlight with all light emitting elements simultaneously active. The method also includes the steps of activating the subset of light emitting elements to at least partially illuminate the LCD panel while at least one light emitting element is not activated, adjusting an image for a user interface based on a compensation map corresponding to the subset of light emitting elements, and displaying the adjusted image on the LCD panel.