Display device and method of compensating for deterioration thereof, and mobile terminal including the display device

A method of compensating for deterioration of a display device, the method comprising:

• driving pixels in a first pixel area and pixels in a second pixel area by writing display pattern data to the pixels in the first and second pixel areas while a display panel is folded;
• driving an optical device disposed in a sensing area opposite the first pixel area and the second pixel area to measure a luminance value of the first pixel area and a luminance value of the second pixel area to determine a luminance difference between the luminance value of the first pixel area and the luminance value of the second pixel area;
• deriving a compensation value based on the luminance difference between the luminance value of the first pixel area and the luminance value of the second pixel area;
• and
• updating digital gamma data for pixels in at least one of the first pixel area and the second pixel area using the compensation value.

A mobile terminal, comprising:

• a display panel including a first pixel area, a second pixel area, and a third pixel area;
• a first optical device overlapping the third pixel area, the first optical device facing at least a portion of the first pixel area and at least a portion of the second pixel area when the display panel is in a folded state;
• and
• a luminance difference compensation circuit configured to compensate a luminance difference between a luminance value of the first pixel area and a luminance value of the second pixel area,
• wherein the first optical device is configured to measure the luminance value of the first pixel area and the luminance value of the second pixel area, and transmit the luminance value of the first pixel area and the luminance value of the second pixel area.