An electro-optical device includes an optical path shift element that changes a path of light by a first and second period including α SFs; a determining unit that determines whether or not a difference between a first gradation displayed for the first period and a second gradation displayed for the second period is larger than a threshold value; and a designation signal generating unit that generates a designation signal designating an on or off-state of the pixel for the SFs, in a case where a result of the determination is negative, the designation signal designates the on or off-state of the pixel so that the pixel displays a display gradation for the first and second period based on at least one of the first and second gradation, and each of the first, second, and display gradation is a gradation expressible by the on or off-state for the 2α SFs.