A hybrid phase-in method mitigates the flicker and rolling artifact based on screen change detection or the combination of screen change detection and image spatial analysis. It applies, for example, to solutions that involve backlight and pixel modulation including global dimming and local dimming. If it is full screen change, then no phase-in is needed and the backlight and pixel change can be applied instantly. If it is partial screen change, then content type and spatial image analysis may be used to decide whether to use phase-in or not. The spatial image analysis concept provides additional useful information besides the image brightness analysis for display backlight power saving solutions to make better tradeoffs between power saving and visual quality.