Apparatus and method for evaluating degradation of display panel and display driver using degradation evaluation value

A method of evaluating degradation of a display panel, comprising:

• outputting a first histogram distribution vector of a reference frame having a target grayscale level;
• outputting a second histogram distribution vector of an evaluation frame displayed on a display panel in response to the target grayscale level;
• generating mutual information by using the first histogram distribution vector and the second histogram distribution vector;
• generating normalized mutual information of the mutual information;
• providing a weight into which a cognitive characteristic of a distribution of grayscales of pixels of the evaluation frame is incorporated;
• and
• outputting an evaluation value obtained by multiplying the normalized mutual information and the weight.

A display driver comprising:

• an evaluation value storage unit configured to store an evaluation value;
• and
• a degradation compensator configured to receive the evaluation value and compensate for degradation by converting display data based on the evaluation value,
• wherein the evaluation value corresponds to a value obtained by calculating normalized mutual information and a weight.