Brightness control drive circuit for a current-driven display device

A current-driven display device (10) includes sub-pixel drive circuits (12, 12', 12") with integral photo-sensitive circuits (30) that modify the respective sub-pixel drive currents as a function of the locally sensed ambient light level. The photo-sensitive circuit (30) may include a photo-transistor (32) or photo-resistor (38) connected in the output circuit of a drive transistor (20) used to control the on-off state of a respective sub-pixel element (14), or the photo-sensitive circuit (30) may include a photo-resistor (40) that adjusts a control voltage or current supplied to an input circuit of the drive transistor (20). In any event, the photo-sensitive circuits (30) individually and independently adjust the drive current, and hence the luminance, of each sub-pixel element (14) based on the locally sensed ambient light level to locally and dynamically compensate for changes in ambient light impinging on the display device (10).