A method for driving a simple matrix type display device includes the steps of: applying a data voltage corresponding to values obtained by an orthogonal transform of input data to the data electrodes; applying a scanning voltage to the scanning electrodes, the scanning voltage corresponding to an orthogonal function used for the orthogonal transform; and reproducing the input data by an orthogonal inverse transform of the data voltage on the display panel, wherein the step of applying the scanning voltage includes the steps of: applying a scanning selection pulse signal having at least two levels to the scanning electrodes as a scanning voltage; and fixing the scanning selection pulse signal to an unselected level during a first period, a second period, or both of the first and second periods, the first period being defined as a period from the beginning of the data output until a predetermined time later in a data voltage output period, and the second period being defined as a period from a predetermined short time before the completion of the data output until the completion of the data output in the data voltage output period.