Liquid crystal display device having an overdriving data generator and method of driving the same

A method of driving a liquid crystal display device, comprising:

• comparing a gray level of a data signal of a present frame with a gray level of a data signal of a previous frame to output an over driving data signal using an over driving data generator, wherein the data signal has a bit number of n to form 2n gray levels of data signal, and the over driving data signal has a level number of 2n+2, wherein a 1st level of the over driving data signal is for over driving a 1st gray level of data signal, 2nd to (2n+1)th levels of the over driving data signal are for over driving 2nd to (2n−1)th gray levels of data signal, and a (2n+2)th level of the over driving data signal is for over driving a (2n)th gray level of data signal;
• supplying a gate voltage to a gate line from a gate driver;
• outputting the over driving data signal to a (n+1)-bit data drive IC, and generating level voltages having a number of (2n+1) in the (n+1)-bit data drive IC such that 2n+2 level voltages, among the 2n+1 level voltages, corresponding to the 2n+2 levels of the over driving data signal are used as over driving data voltages to be outputted to a data line from the (n+1)-bit data drive IC;
• applying the over driving data voltage corresponding to the over driving data signal to a pixel, which is connected to the gate line and the data line, of a liquid crystal panel through the data line;
• generating, by a data processing circuit, a (n+k)-bit extended frame data signal;
• and
• performing a dithering process using a dithering circuit that is between the processing circuit and the over driving data generator, wherein the dithering circuit truncates k low significant bits of the extended frame data signal, and generates a plurality of n-bit frame data signals to spatially or temporally compensate the truncation of the k low significant bits, the plurality of n-bit frame data signals being repeated during at least one frame, the n-bit frame data being input to the over driving data generator,
• wherein the 2n+1 level voltages are divided into first, second and third level groups in level order such that the second level group has 2n level voltages between the first and third level groups, the first level group has 2n−1 level voltages, and the third level group has 2n−1 level voltages, wherein one of the 2n−1 level voltages of the first level group is used as an over driving data voltage corresponding to the (2n+2)th level of the over driving data signal, wherein one of the 2n−1 level voltages of the third level group is used as an over driving data voltage corresponding to the 1st level of the over driving data signal, and wherein the 2n level voltages of the second group are used as available gray level voltages corresponding to the 2n gray levels of data signal and are used as over driving data voltages corresponding to the 2nd to (2n+1)th levels of the over driving data signal.