Method and apparatus for detecting preferred color and liquid crystal display device using the same

An apparatus for detecting a preferred color, the apparatus comprising:

• a color coordinate converter which converts image data of an input pixel into a color coordinate;
• a hue/chroma calculator which calculates a hue value and a chroma value of the pixel using output data of the color coordinate converter;
• a first detector which compares the hue value of the input pixel with hue reference values and detects a first preferred-color pixel;
• and
• a second detector which performs a best linear estimation (BLE) operation with respect to the first preferred-color pixel and detects a second preferred-color pixel,
• wherein the second detector:
• calculates a preferred-color discrimination constant by a matrix product of an input matrix composed of characteristic data of the first preferred-color pixel and a weight vector matrix composed of weight vectors of the preferred color;
• compares the calculated preferred-color discrimination constant with a reference value of the preferred-color discrimination constant, outputs a second preferred-color detection signal if the preferred-color discrimination constant is included in a range of the reference value of the preferred-color discrimination constant, and outputs the non-preferred-color detection signal if the preferred-color discrimination constant is not included in the range of the reference value of the preferred-color discrimination constant.