Method of Controlling Display Characteristic and Display Apparatus Using the Same

1. A display apparatus, comprising: a display module for displaying a video signal, the display module including a display screen; an illuminance sensor for detecting an ambient illuminance with respect to said display module, the detected ambient illuminance corresponding to one of a plurality of primary display grades for controlling at least one display characteristic of said display module, the primary display grades corresponding to different sub-ranges of ambient illuminance level into which an entire range of ambient illuminance level is divided based on a speed provided from the illuminance sensor; a system controller for determining, based on the detected ambient illuminance, the primary display grade corresponding to the detected ambient illuminance, for determining a plurality of secondary display grades with respect to the determined primary display grade, and for generating a set of control values corresponding to the determined primary display grade and a final display grade of the at least one display characteristic according to a user selection from among the plurality of secondary display grades, wherein the set of control values include for each display characteristic a primary display grade control value for the determined primary display grade, wherein the at least one display characteristic includes brightness, wherein for brightness each primary display grade is associated with a different primary display grade control value, and wherein the set of the control values are based on a speed provided to the system controller by the illuminance sensor; a display characteristic controller for controlling said display module using the generated set of display characteristic control values; and an on-screen display (OSD) generator for generating OSD data for display on the display screen together with the video signal, the displayed OSD data corresponding to the plurality of secondary display grades, wherein when a control value changes with respect to a preceding control value, the OSD data correspond to values for adjusting the at least one display characteristic and informs user of instantaneous statuses of the adjusted at least one display characteristic.

2. The display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the displayed OSD includes OSD data corresponding to a prescribed amount of adjustment that corresponds to adjusted level of brightness.

3. The display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein brightness of the display module is updated periodically and wherein the displayed OSD data includes OSD data for the updated brightness of the display module.

4. The display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of levels of brightness corresponds to a plurality of primary display grades associated with the ambient illuminance and a plurality of secondary display grades associated with a prescribed amount of adjustment, and wherein the brightness of the display module is controlled by incrementing the primary display grade or incrementing the secondary display grade.

5. The display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said illuminance sensor outputs an analog ambient illuminance value based on the detected ambient illuminance.

6. The display apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising: an analog-to-digital converter for converting the detected ambient illuminance into a digital value, wherein adjusted brightness is based on the digital value.

7. The display apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the digital value is generated by sampling the analog ambient illuminance value and wherein a plurality of levels of brightness for the display module includes a primary display grade that is changed to one of a next-higher primary display grade and a next-lower primary display grade, when a boundary value between the current primary display grade and an adjacent primary display grade is passed by a predetermined value of the generated digital value.

8. The display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of levels of brightness corresponds to a plurality of primary display grades and secondary display grades, and wherein the plurality of primary display grades is sorted into a predetermined number of grades according to ambient illuminance and wherein the plurality of secondary display grades are sorted into a predetermined number of grades including at least one grade above the corresponding primary display grade and at least one grade below the corresponding primary display grade.

9. A method of controlling display characteristics in a video apparatus, the method comprising: displaying a video signal on a display module; detecting an a level of ambient illuminance with respect to the display module, the detected ambient illuminance corresponding to one of a plurality of primary display grades for controlling at least one display characteristic of the display module, the primary display grades corresponding to different sub-ranges of ambient illuminance level into which an entire range of ambient illuminance level is divided based on a speed provided from an illuminance sensor; determining, based on the detected ambient illuminance, the primary display grade corresponding to the detected ambient illuminance, determining a plurality of secondary display grades with respect to the determined primary display grade; generating a set of control values corresponding to the determined primary display grade and a final display grade of the at least one display characteristic according to a user selection from among the plurality of secondary display grades, wherein the set of control values include for each display characteristic a primary display grade control value for the determined primary display grade, wherein for brightness each primary display grade is associated with a different primary display grade control value, wherein the set of control values are based on a speed provided to a system controller by the illuminance sensor; and generating on-screen display (OSD) data for display on the display module together with the video signal, the generated OSD data corresponding to the plurality of secondary display grades, wherein when a control value changes with respect to a preceding control value, the OSD data correspond to values for adjusting the at least one display characteristic and informs user of instantaneous statuses of the adjusted at least one display characteristic.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein brightness of the display module is updated periodically and wherein the displayed OSD includes OSD data for one or more of the updated brightness of the display module.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein a plurality of levels of brightness corresponds to the plurality of primary display grades associated with the ambient illuminance and a plurality of secondary display grades associated with a prescribed amount of adjustment, and wherein the brightness of the display screen is controlled by incrementing the primary display grade or incrementing the secondary display grade.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the ambient illuminance is detected as an analog ambient illuminance value based on the detected ambient illuminance.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising: converting the detected ambient illuminance into a digital value, wherein the adjusted level of brightness is based on the digital value.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the digital value is generated by sampling the analog ambient illuminance value and wherein a plurality of levels of brightness for the display module includes a primary display grade that is changed to one of a next-higher primary display grade and a next-lower primary display grade, when a boundary value between the current primary display grade and an adjacent primary display grade is passed by a predetermined value of the generated digital value.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein a plurality of levels of brightness corresponds to the plurality of primary display grades and secondary display grades, and wherein the plurality of primary display grades is sorted into a predetermined number of grades according to ambient illuminance and wherein the plurality of secondary display grades are sorted into a predetermined number of grades including at least one grade above the corresponding primary display grade and at least one grade below the corresponding primary display grade.