The correlation between the optical performance of the reflective polarizer, which is a key optical component for the brightness enhancement of the liquid crystal display (LCD), and the configuration of optical sheets was investigated in a direct-lit CCFL (cold-cathode fluorescent lamp) backlight. The optical gain of the reflective polarizer, the polarization state of the light emitted from each film, and the loss factor for the polarization conversion process occurring in the lower part of the backlight were determined using a phenomenological approach for the polarization recycling process. The present study suggests that the correlation between the optical performance of the brightness enhancement films and the backlight configuration should be carefully considered in the optimization of the backlight structure.