Display device and method of displaying image in display device

1. A method of displaying an image in a display device, the method comprising:

determining a degree of deterioration of pixels included in a display unit based on image data of a current frame image;

determining a shift route pattern to display the current frame image along a display area of the display unit in which a first shift route pattern is selected from a plurality of shift route patterns when the degree of deterioration of the pixels is a first degree and a second shift route pattern is selected from the plurality of shift route patterns when the degree of deterioration of the pixels is a second degree larger than the first degree; and

shifting display of the current frame image based on the determined shift route pattern,

wherein the first shift route pattern includes a first shift route from a first pixel to a second pixel with N first intervening pixels,

wherein the second shift rout pattern includes a second shift route from the first pixel to the second pixel with M second intervening pixels, and

wherein N is a greater integer than M which is an integer greater than 0.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first shift route and the second shift route have different lengths.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of shift routes of each of the plurality of shift route patterns do not overlap one another along the display area of the display unit.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first shift route and the second shift route are extended along the display area of the display unit from a substantially central area of the display area to a substantially outer peripheral area of the display area.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shifting of the display of the current frame image includes shifting the display of the current frame image along the first shift route or the second shift route, and then shifting the display of the current frame image along a third shift route from the second pixel to the first pixel with third intervening pixels, and

wherein the third intervening pixels are different from the first intervening pixels or the second intervening pixels.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the degree of deterioration of the pixels includes:

grouping the pixels into pixel blocks;

generating a first accumulated stress map representing the degree of deterioration of the pixels included in the pixel blocks based on the image data; and

calculating a brightness difference between adjacently disposed pixel blocks based on a content of the first accumulated stress map.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the generating of the first accumulated stress map includes calculating an average brightness value of each of the pixel blocks, generating a stress map of the current frame image including the average brightness value, reading a second accumulated stress map of a previous frame image from a memory, and generating the first accumulated stress map by applying the stress map to the second accumulated stress map.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the calculating of the brightness difference includes determining that the degree of deterioration of the pixels positively correlates to the brightness difference.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the brightness difference is larger than a reference brightness difference, a number of shift routes of the shift route pattern is larger than a reference number.

10. A display device, comprising:

a display unit having a display area including pixels; and

a processor configured to generate image data to shift a display of a current frame image along a first shift route pattern selected from among a plurality of shift route patterns when a degree of deterioration of the pixels is a first degree and along a second shift route pattern selected from the plurality of shift route patterns when the degree of deterioration of the pixels is a second degree larger than the first degree,

wherein the first shift route pattern includes a first shift route from a first pixel to a second pixel with N first intervening pixels,

wherein the second shift route pattern includes a second shift route from the first pixel to the second pixel with M second intervening pixels, and

wherein N is a greater integer than M which is an integer greater than 0.

11. The display device of claim 10 , wherein the processor includes:

an image data generator configured to generate a first image data of the current frame image;

a shift range determiner configured to determine the degree of deterioration of the pixels based on the first image data, and to determine a shift route pattern corresponding to the determined degree of deterioration; and

an image corrector configured to correct the first image data to a second image data to shift display of the current frame image along the shift route pattern.

12. The display device of claim 11 , wherein the processor further includes a stress calculating unit configured to analyze a brightness distribution of the current frame image based on the first image data and generate a stress map.

13. The display device of claim 12 , wherein the shift range determiner is configured to determine the shift route pattern that corresponds to a brightness difference between the pixels based on the stress map.

14. The display device of claim 10 , wherein the first shift route and the second shift route are extended from a substantially central display area of the display unit to a substantially outer peripheral display area of the display unit.