Over-driving apparatus and method thereof

1 . An apparatus for use with a display device having pixels, comprising:

a storage unit to store a gray value of a pixel for a first frame; and

an over-driving generation unit, coupled to the storage unit, to obtain an over-driving gray value of the pixel for a second frame to be displayed by the display device, the second frame subsequent to the first frame,

wherein the over-driving gray value is different from a target gray value of the pixel for the second frame, and

wherein the over-driving gray value is obtained by the over-driving generation unit according to at least the gray value of the pixel for the first frame, the target gray value of the pixel for the second frame, and a gray value of the pixel for a third frame that is prior to the first frame.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a static lookup table and a dynamic lookup table, wherein the over-driving generation unit accesses the static lookup table to obtain a static gray value, and the over-driving generation unit accesses the dynamic lookup table to obtain a dynamic gray value, and

wherein the over-driving generation unit compares the gray value for the first frame with the gray value for the third frame to select one of the static gray value and the dynamic gray value as the over-driving gray value.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises:

a comparison unit to compare the gray values for the first frame and third frame, and to output a comparison result value based on the comparing; and

a selection unit to obtain the static gray value from the static lookup table according to the gray value for the first frame and the target gray value for the second frame, and to obtain the dynamic gray value from the dynamic lookup table according to the gray value of the first frame and the target gray value of the second frame,

the selection unit to select one of the static gray value and the dynamic gray value according to the comparison result value.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the comparison result value has a first value in response to the gray values for the first frame and third frame differing by less than a predefined threshold, and the comparison result value has a second value in response to the gray values for the first frame and third frame not differing by less than the predefined threshold.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a static lookup table and a compensation lookup table, wherein the over-driving generation unit accesses the static lookup table to obtain a static gray value, and the over-driving generation unit accesses the compensation lookup table to obtain a compensation gray value, and

wherein the over-driving generation unit compares the gray value for the first frame with the gray value for the third frame to select whether the compensation gray value is combined with the static gray value to compute the over-driving gray value.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises:

a comparison unit to compare the gray values for the first frame and third frame, and to output a comparison result value based on the comparing; and

a selection unit to obtain the static gray value from the static lookup table according to the gray value for the first frame and the target gray value for the second frame, and to obtain the compensation gray value from the compensation lookup table according to the gray values for the first frame and the second frame,

the selection unit to output the static gray value as the over-driving gray value when the comparison result value has a first value, and to sum the static gray value with the compensation gray value when the comparison result value has a second value.

7 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the comparison result value has a first value in response to the gray values for the first frame and third frame differing by less than a predefined threshold, and the comparison result value has a second value in response to the gray values for the first frame and third frame not differing by less than the predefined threshold.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a three-dimensional lookup table, wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises a comparison unit to compare the gray values for the first frame and third frame, and to output a comparison result value based on the comparing,

wherein the over-driving generation unit accesses the three-dimensional lookup table to obtain the over-driving gray value from a location of the three-dimensional table corresponding to the gray value of the pixel for the first frame, the target gray value of the pixel for the second frame, and the comparison result value.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the comparison result value is a value generated by determining a gray value range corresponding to a gray value difference between the gray values of the pixel for the first frame and the third frame.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a three-dimensional lookup table, wherein the over-driving generation unit accesses the three-dimensional lookup table to obtain the over-driving gray value from a location of the three-dimensional table corresponding to the gray value of the pixel for the first frame, the target gray value of the pixel for the second frame, and a gray value of the pixel for the third frame.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a static lookup table and a three-dimensional compensation lookup table, wherein the over-driving generation unit accesses the static lookup table to obtain a static gray value, and the over-driving generation unit accesses the compensation lookup table to obtain a compensation gray value to combine with the static gray value to compute the over-driving gray value.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises:

a comparison unit to compare the gray values for the first frame and third frame, and to output a comparison result value based on the comparing; and

a selection unit to obtain the static gray value from the static lookup table according to the gray value for the first frame and the target gray value for the second frame, and to obtain the compensation gray value from the three-dimensional compensation lookup table according to the gray value for the first frame, the target gray value for the second frame, and the comparison result value.

13 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises:

a selection unit to obtain the static gray value from the static lookup table according to the gray value for the first frame and the target gray value for the second frame, and to obtain the compensation gray value from the three-dimensional compensation lookup table according to the gray value for the first frame, the target gray value for the second frame, and the gray value for the third frame.

14 . An over-driving apparatus, for use with a liquid crystal display, for receiving a plurality of pixel gray values of a pixel in a plurality of frames and outputting a plurality of over-driving gray values accordingly, the over-driving apparatus comprising:

a storage unit for storing the pixel gray values; and

an over-driving generation unit, coupled to the storage unit, for outputting an over-driving gray value of the pixel in a particular frame according to the pixel gray values of the pixel in at least three of the plurality of frames, the at least three frames including the particular frame.

15 . The over-driving apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the over-driving generation unit outputs the over-driving gray value according to the pixel gray values of the pixel in the at least three frames by accessing a three-dimensional over-driving lookup table.

16 . The over-driving apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises:

a static over-driving unit to output a static over-driving gray value by accessing a static over-driving lookup table according to the pixel gray values of the pixel in the particular frame and in a second frame that is prior to the particular frame;

a dynamic compensation unit to obtain a dynamic compensation gray value to compensate the static over-driving gray value and output the over-driving gray value by accessing a three-dimensional dynamic compensation lookup table according to the pixel gray values of the pixel in the particular frame, the second frame, and a third frame that is prior to the second frame.

17 . The over-driving apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the over-driving generation unit comprises:

a static over-driving unit to output a static over-driving gray value by accessing a static over-driving lookup table according to the pixel gray values of the pixel in the particular frame and in a second frame that is prior to the particular frame;

a dynamic compensation unit to obtain a dynamic gray value by accessing a second over-driving lookup table, the dynamic gray value to substitute for the static over-driving gray value or to compensate the static over-driving gray value for generating the over-driving gray value.

18 . A method for use with a display device, comprising:

providing pixel gray values of a pixel for a plurality of frames, the plurality of frames comprising first, second, and third frames, the second frame prior to the first frame, and the third frame prior to the second frame; and

generating an over-driving gray value of the pixel for the first frame according to at least the pixel gray values of the pixel in first, second, and third frames, wherein the over-driving gray value for the first frame is different from the pixel gray value of the pixel for the first frame.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

accessing a static lookup table to obtain a static gray value;

accessing a dynamic lookup table to obtain a dynamic gray value; and

comparing the pixel gray value for the second frame with the pixel gray value for the third frame to select one of the static gray value and the dynamic gray value as the over-driving gray value.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein generating the over-driving gray value further comprises:

producing a comparison result value based on comparing the pixel gray values for the second frame and third frame,

wherein the static gray value is obtained from the static lookup table according to the pixel gray values for the first frame and second frame, and the dynamic gray value is obtained from the dynamic lookup table according to the pixel gray values for the first frame and the second frame,

wherein one of the static gray value and the dynamic gray value is selected according to the comparison result value as the over-driving gray value.

21 . The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

accessing a static lookup table to obtain a static gray value;

accessing a compensation lookup table to obtain a compensation gray value; and

comparing the pixel gray value for the second frame with the pixel gray value for the third frame to select whether the compensation gray value is combined with the static gray value to compute the over-driving gray value.

22 . The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

comparing the pixel gray values for the second frame and third frame, and outputting a comparison result value based on the comparing; and

accessing a three-dimensional lookup table to obtain the over-driving gray value from a location of the three-dimensional table corresponding to the pixel gray values of the pixel for the first and second frames and the comparison result value.

23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein outputting the comparison result value comprises generating the comparison result value by determining a gray value range corresponding to a gray value difference between the pixel gray values of the pixel for the second frame and the third frame.

24 . The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

accessing a three-dimensional lookup table to obtain the over-driving gray value from a location of the three-dimensional table corresponding to the pixel gray values of the pixel for the first, second, and third frames.

25 . The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

accessing a static lookup table to obtain a static gray value; and

accessing a compensation lookup table to obtain a compensation gray value to combine with the static gray value to compute the over-driving gray value.

26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the compensation lookup table comprises a three-dimensional compensation lookup table, and wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

comparing the pixel gray values for the second frame and third frame, and outputting a comparison result value based on the comparing;

obtaining the static gray value from the static lookup table according to the pixel gray values of the first and second frames; and

obtaining the compensation gray value from the three-dimensional compensation lookup table according to the pixel gray values for the first and second frames and the comparison result value.

27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the compensation lookup table comprises a three-dimensional compensation lookup table, and wherein generating the over-driving gray value comprises:

obtaining the static gray value from the static lookup table according to the pixel gray values for the first and second frames;

obtaining the compensation gray value from the three-dimensional compensation lookup table according to the pixel gray values for the first, second, and third frames.