JP2000148083A - Driving method of plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a contrast ratio by suppressing unnecessary discharge at the time of displaying an image, or speeding up the drive by suppressing a delay in discharging, and thereby to remarkably reduce flicker, roughness, etc., of an image caused by a write failure and a decrease in discharge probability of a leading pulse during a sustaining period. SOLUTION: An efficiency and contrast are remarkably improved and a very high quality PDP is realized by suppressing light emission caused by unnecessary discharge by using a stepped pulse waveform of at least two or more steps at the time of impressing an initializing pulse prior to a write period and an erase pulse after a sustaining period, also suppressing a delay in discharge by using a stepped pulse waveform of at least two or more steps for the write pulse and the sustaining pulse, and thereby suppressing a write failure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of driving a plasma display panel used for displaying images on a computer, a television and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has been desired to increase the size of image displays such as computer displays and televisions, and accordingly, plasma display panels (hereinafter abbreviated as PDPs) have become thin and lightweight displays.
Is attracting attention.

A conventional PDP generally has a configuration as shown in FIG. 5, a band-shaped scan electrode group 19a and a band-shaped sustain electrode group 19b are formed on the front substrate 11, and the electrode groups 19a and 19b are covered with a dielectric glass layer 17 made of lead glass or the like. The surface of the dielectric glass layer 17 is covered with a protective layer 18 made of a MgO vapor-deposited film or the like. A band-shaped data electrode group 14 and an insulator layer 13 made of lead glass or the like covering the surface are provided on the rear substrate 12, and a partition wall 15 is provided thereon. The front substrate 11 and the rear substrate 12 are combined so that respective electrode groups are orthogonal to each other. Partition wall 1
5 is adhered to the rear substrate 12 and is in contact with the front substrate 11. Usually 100 to 20 depending on the partition wall 15
The front substrate 11 and the rear substrate 12 face each other at an interval of about 0 μm and are sealed.

By selectively applying a voltage between the electrode groups 19a and 19b on the front substrate 11 and the data electrode group 14 on the rear substrate 12, the charge generated by the gas discharge at the intersection of the selected electrodes is reduced. By scanning the electrode that is accumulated on the dielectric glass insulating film 17 and to which a voltage is to be applied, 1
After an address operation for accumulating information of pixels for a screen, a sustain discharge operation for applying an AC pulse voltage between the electrode group 19a and the electrode group 19b on the front substrate 11 allows discharge cells selected in the address operation to be simultaneously performed. An image is displayed by emitting light. Since the discharge occurs in the space separated by the front substrate 11, the rear substrate 12, and the partition 15, the light emission does not diffuse. That is, the partition 15 has the purpose of defining the distance between the front substrate 11 and the rear substrate 12 and the purpose of performing high-resolution display.

[0005] In the case of performing color display, a phosphor 16 is applied to a peripheral portion of a discharge space which is blocked by a partition. Since the phosphor is formed by converting ultraviolet light generated by the discharge into visible light, three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are used, and the emission intensity of each is reduced. By appropriate adjustment, color display becomes possible.

As a discharge gas, in the case of a single color display, a mixed gas mainly composed of neon, which emits light in the visible region at the time of discharge, and in the case of a color display, the emission of light during discharge is in an ultraviolet region. A mixed gas centered on xenon is selected. The gas pressure assumes the use of PDP under atmospheric pressure,
Usually, the pressure inside the substrate is reduced to 2
It is set in a range from about 00 Torr to about 500 Torr. FIG. 2 shows an electrode matrix diagram of a conventional PDP.

Next, a conventional PDP driving method will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, first, an initialization pulse is applied to the scan electrode groups 19a1 to 19aN to initialize wall charges in the discharge cells of the panel. Next, a scan pulse is applied to the first electrode 19a1 of the scan electrode group 19a, and a line 1 corresponding to a discharge cell for displaying the data electrode group 44 is applied.
A write pulse is simultaneously applied to 41 to 14M to perform a write discharge to accumulate wall charges on the surface of the dielectric layer. Next, a scan pulse is simultaneously applied to the second line electrode 19a2 of the electrode group 19a, and a write pulse is simultaneously applied to the lines 141 to 14M corresponding to the discharge cells for displaying the data electrode group 14, and a write discharge is performed to perform a write discharge. Accumulates wall charges. Subsequently, similarly, a latent image for one screen is written by sequentially accumulating wall charges corresponding to cells to be displayed by continuous scanning on the surface of the dielectric layer.

Next, in order to perform a sustain discharge, the data electrode group 14 is grounded, and a sustain pulse is alternately applied to the scan electrode group 19a and the sustain electrode group 19b.
In a cell in which wall charges are accumulated on the surface of the dielectric layer, a discharge occurs when the potential on the surface of the dielectric exceeds the discharge start voltage, and a display selected by a write pulse during a sustain pulse is applied (sustain period). Main discharge of the cell is maintained. Thereafter, an incomplete discharge is generated by applying a narrow erasing pulse, and the wall charges disappear, so that erasing is performed.

As described above, in the conventional PDP driving method,
Display is performed according to a series of sequences including an initialization period, a writing period, a sustaining period, and an erasing period. When displaying a television image, in the NTSC system, an image is composed of 60 frames per second. Originally, in a plasma display panel, only two gradations of lighting or extinguishing can be expressed, and in order to display an intermediate color, the lighting time of each color of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) is time-divided. A method of dividing one frame into several subfields and expressing an intermediate color by a combination thereof is used.

FIG. 4 shows a method of dividing a subfield when 256 gradations of each color are expressed in a conventional plasma display panel. The ratio of the number of sustain pulses applied during the sustain period of each subfield is 1, 2, 4, 8, 1
Weighting is performed in binary, such as 6, 32, 64, and 128, and 265 gradations are expressed by a combination of these 8 bits.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional driving method, the entire panel emits light due to discharge generated when an initialization pulse prior to a writing period and an erasing pulse after a sustain period are applied, thereby lowering the contrast. Had the problem of causing

In addition, since the number of scanning lines on the panel increases with higher definition, the width of the scanning pulse and the writing pulse must be reduced in order to complete the scanning of all the scanning pulses within a certain writing period. For example, for high definition display such as HDTV, these pulse widths are about 1.2.
It is necessary to drive at a very high speed of 5 μs.

However, in a PDP, generally, there is a discharge delay of about several hundred ns to several μs from the application of a pulse to the emission of light by discharge, and the discharge delay is about 1.25 μs.
With a pulse width of, the discharge probability is reduced, causing an extreme deterioration in image quality due to defective writing. In order to suppress this, the voltage of the write pulse must be increased. However, the data driver for driving the write pulse has a lower withstand voltage as the driver for high-speed driving, and cannot sufficiently increase the voltage of the write pulse. It had a very big problem.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. A first object of the present invention is to improve the contrast ratio by suppressing unnecessary discharge during image display or to reduce the driving delay by suppressing discharge delay. Speed, and drastically improve screen flicker, roughness, etc. due to poor writing or a decrease in the probability of discharge in the first pulse of the sustain period.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a PDP with high definition and high image quality by increasing the luminance by improving the luminous efficiency of the PDP by reducing the reactive power of the discharge during the sustain period.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric between a pair of parallel substrates, fills a discharge gas, and forms an image by gas discharge. In a method of driving a plasma display panel for displaying, a stepped pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more stages is used.

Further, according to the present invention, prior to a writing period for applying a series of writing pulses for selecting a discharge cell,
At the time of rising of the drive pulse voltage waveform, a step-like pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more steps is used.

Further, according to the present invention, prior to a writing period for applying a series of writing pulses for selecting a discharge cell,
At the time of falling of the drive pulse voltage waveform, a step-like pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more steps is used.

Further, according to the present invention, prior to a writing period for applying a series of writing pulses for selecting a discharge cell,
At the time of rise and fall of the drive pulse voltage waveform, at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform are used.

Further, according to the present invention, prior to a writing period for applying a series of writing pulses for selecting a discharge cell,
In a driving method of a plasma display panel using at least two or more steps of a stepped pulse voltage waveform at least at the time of rising or falling of a drive pulse voltage waveform, an average value of a voltage change speed of the first and subsequent steps of the stepped pulse voltage waveform Is set to 1 V / μs or more and 9 V / μs.

Further, according to the present invention, the voltage V1 of the first step of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to Vf- with respect to the discharge starting voltage Vf.
70 ≦ V1 ≦ Vf.

Further, the present invention uses at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform at the fall of the drive pulse voltage waveform during a write period for applying a series of write pulses for selecting a discharge cell.

Further, the present invention uses at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform at the rise of the drive pulse voltage waveform during a write period for applying a series of write pulses for selecting a discharge cell.

Further, the present invention uses a step-like pulse voltage waveform having at least two or more stages at the rise and fall of a drive pulse voltage waveform during a write period for applying a series of write pulses for selecting a discharge cell. is there.

Further, in the present invention, the voltage difference between the first and second steps of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to 10 V or more and 100 V or less.

Further, the present invention uses at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform at the time of the fall of the drive pulse voltage during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse. .

Further, the present invention uses at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform at the rise of the drive pulse voltage waveform during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse.

Further, the present invention uses at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform at the rise and fall of the drive pulse voltage waveform during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse. It is.

Further, according to the present invention, the voltage of the first stage of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to a value equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage Vf-20V and Vf +
30 V or less.

Further, according to the present invention, the voltage holding time of the first stage of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to the discharge formation delay time Tdf-
It is set to be 0.2 μs or more and Tdf + 0.2 μs or less.

Further, according to the present invention, the maximum voltage Vsmax of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to a value equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage Vf and Vf + 15.
0 V or less.

Further, according to the present invention, during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse, at least at the rising of the drive pulse voltage waveform,
A two-step step-like pulse voltage waveform is used to raise the rising voltage waveform of the second step in a continuous function.

Further, according to the present invention, the first half of the drive pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse charges the geometric capacitance of the discharge cell. During the discharge time Tdise from the end of the charging period Tchg to the end of the discharge current, the applied voltage waveform is changed in a trigonometric function.

Further, according to the present invention, the first half of the driving pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse charges the geometric capacitance of the discharge cell. During the discharge time Tdise from the end of the charging period Tchg to the end of the discharge current, the applied voltage waveform is changed in a trigonometric function.

Further, according to the present invention, the rising waveform of the drive pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse is changed from the rise of the pulse to the time when the discharge current reaches the maximum value. In the discharge period Tdscp, after the applied voltage waveform is raised in a trigonometric function, the applied voltage waveform is raised in a trigonometric function in a discharge time Tdise from when the discharge current reaches the maximum value to when the discharge current ends. Things.

Further, according to the present invention, after the rising waveform of the drive pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse reaches the maximum voltage Vsmax of the pulse voltage waveform, The voltage waveform is reduced triangularly to the minimum discharge sustaining voltage Vsmin.

According to the present invention, in a method of driving a plasma display panel, a stepped pulse voltage waveform having two stages is used at least at the rise of the drive pulse voltage waveform. It is something that rises functionally.

In order to achieve the second object, the present invention provides a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric between a pair of parallel substrates, fills a discharge gas and displays an image by gas discharge. In the driving method of the plasma display panel, the rising portion of the driving waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse is the maximum discharge current from the applied voltage at the start of the discharge of each pulse. In this case, a drive waveform with a high applied voltage is used.

Further, according to the present invention, as a drive waveform in which the applied voltage at the time of the maximum discharge current is higher than the applied voltage at the start of the discharge of each pulse during the sustain period, the rising portion of the waveform has a linear slope. A drive waveform is used.

Further, in the present invention, the phase of the change of the applied voltage is made slower than the phase of the change of the discharge current value during the period from the start of the discharge current to the maximum point of the discharge current.

Further, in the present invention, a step-like pulse voltage waveform is used as the first sustain pulse applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse.

Further, according to the present invention, the maximum voltage holding time PWmax1 of the first stepped pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse is set to the second and subsequent steps. Is longer than the maximum voltage holding time PWmax2 of the stepped pulse voltage waveform by 0.1 μs or more.

In the present invention, the maximum voltage holding time PWmax of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to 0.02 μs or more and 90% or less of the pulse width PW.

Further, according to the present invention, after the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse,
At the time of rising of the drive pulse voltage waveform, a step-like pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more steps is used.

Further, according to the present invention, the voltage of the first stage of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to a value equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage Vf−50 V and Vf +
30 V or less.

Further, according to the present invention, the maximum voltage Vsmax of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is set to a value equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage Vf and Vf + 10.
0 V or less.

Further, according to the present invention, after the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse,
At the time of falling of the drive pulse voltage waveform, a step-like pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more steps is used.

According to the present invention, the voltage of the first stage of the step-like pulse voltage waveform is set to be equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage Vf and equal to or lower than Vf100V.

Further, in the present invention, the time PWer from the rise of the pulse of the stepped pulse voltage waveform to the end of the maximum voltage holding period is set to a discharge formation delay time Tdf−0.1 μs or more and Tdf + 0.1 μs or less. .

In the present invention, a fluorescent substance is provided in a part of the discharge space of the plasma display panel, the discharge gas filling pressure is 760-4000 Torr, and a step-like pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more steps is used. is there.

Further, according to the present invention, the discharge gas is helium,
A rare gas mixture containing neon, xenon, and argon is used.

According to the present invention, the discharge gas contains 5% by volume or less of xenon, 0.5% by volume or less of argon, and less than 55% by volume of helium.

[0052]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The basic structure of the PDP panel used in the present invention is the same as the conventional one. In order to examine the change in luminous efficiency due to the driving waveform, the output of the arbitrary waveform generator was amplified by a high-speed high-voltage amplifier and applied to the discharge cells of the PDP, thereby driving with various waveforms. Further, using the same principle as that of the Sawyer tower circuit used for evaluating the characteristics of ferroelectrics and the like, the change in the amount of charge Q accumulated in the discharge cell due to the voltage V applied to the discharge cell is represented by a VQ Lissajous figure. Observation made a relative comparison of the power consumed in the discharge cells by the discharge.

At the same time, a light emission peak waveform was observed using the photodiode PD, a relative comparison of the light emission luminance was performed from the integrated value of the light emission peak, and a relative comparison of the light emission efficiency of the PDP was performed. The measurement of the contrast was performed by lighting a part of the panel white in a dark room and measuring the luminance ratio between the dark part and the bright part.

Hereinafter, specific driving waveforms will be described with reference to the drawings (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a timing chart showing a driving method according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional PDP driving method is that the rise of the initialization pulse is increased in two stages.

FIG. 6 shows the ratio tp / tw between the flat portion width of the first stage and the pulse width and the ratio V1 between the voltage of the first stage and the maximum voltage of the pulse in the stepped waveform in which the rise of the initialization pulse is two stages. 3 shows the relationship of contrast with respect to / Vst. The contrast is high within the range of the oblique lines, and is not very practical outside this range. Outside this area, there is large luminance variation due to poor writing.

This is because, in the prior art, a strong discharge is generated by applying a voltage in one step and a sudden voltage change, so that the entire surface is strongly emitted by an originally unnecessary initialization pulse, and the discharge in the panel While the variation in the amount of wall charges after the application of the initialization pulse due to the variation in the cells induced partial writing failure and caused the luminance variation, the first embodiment has a two-step staircase waveform. By using, a weak discharge is performed, and a sufficient wall charge is obtained, so that the variation in luminance due to the writing failure is improved and the entire light emission is suppressed. In addition, since the occurrence of abnormal light emission discharge is suppressed by performing initialization with a plurality of weak discharges, stable initialization can be performed even with a short pulse width, so that the initialization period is shortened and driving is performed at high speed. Can be realized.

As is apparent from the above, the driving method of the PDP according to the first embodiment suppresses a writing defect and also suppresses light emission due to an initialization pulse, has a wide operation margin and significantly improves contrast. In this respect, very excellent image quality is realized.

In the first embodiment, the rising edge of the initialization pulse has a two-step staircase pulse waveform. However, needless to say, excellent image quality can be realized by using a multi-step pulse having three or more steps.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 7 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

The difference from the first embodiment is that the fall of the initialization pulse is raised in two stages.

FIG. 8 shows the ratio tp / tw of the first-stage flat portion width to the pulse width and the ratio of the first-stage voltage to the maximum voltage of the pulse in the step-like waveform in which the initializing pulse falls in two stages. 9 shows the relationship between contrast and V1 / Vst. The contrast is high within the range of the oblique lines, and is not very practical outside this range. Outside this area, there is large luminance variation due to poor writing.

In the prior art, since the self-erasing discharge is generated by a sudden drop in voltage due to the voltage drop in one step, the entire light emission due to the unnecessary initializing pulse is generated and the rising of the initializing pulse is caused. In contrast to the partially formed wall charge that disappears due to the self-erasing discharge and reduces the priming effect, in the second embodiment, the voltage is reduced in two steps to thereby reduce the entire surface due to the self-erasing discharge. It suppresses light emission and suppresses disappearance of excessive wall charges. In addition, since the self-erasing discharge is suppressed, stable initialization can be performed even with a short pulse width, so that the initialization period can be shortened and the driving speed can be increased.

As is apparent from this, the method of driving the PDP according to the second embodiment suppresses light emission without impairing the priming effect for facilitating the writing discharge, and significantly improves the contrast. Can achieve very excellent image quality.

In the second embodiment, the falling edge of the initialization pulse has a two-step staircase pulse waveform. However, needless to say, excellent image quality can be realized by using a multi-step pulse having three or more steps. No.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 9 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

The difference from the first embodiment is that the rising of the second and subsequent stages of the initializing pulse is changed in five steps, and the driving is performed at various average changing speeds α [V / μs]. In order to investigate the dependence of the driving conditions on the average change rate of the rise, the amount of wall charge movement before and after the write discharge generated when a write pulse is applied to the PDP using a wall charge amount measuring device △ Q [pC ] And the write pulse voltage Vda
The relationship of ta [V] was measured.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the dependence of ΔQ on Vdata when driven at various average changing speeds.
The voltage of the first stage of the initialization pulse is 20 times higher than the discharge starting voltage.
It was set to 180 V which is lower by V.

It can be seen that ΔQ increases as Vdata increases, and the amount of wall charge movement due to write discharge increases. Under the condition of ΔQ of 3.5 pC or less, the amount of wall charges is small and a flicker occurs due to a writing failure. By increasing Vdata, the probability of discharge increases, and the amount of wall charges increases by reducing the number of write defects, so that normal driving is performed.

In the range of α up to about 6 V / μs, by increasing α, the slope of the plot of ΔQ with respect to Vdata increases, and normal driving becomes possible even at lower Vdata. In these ranges of α, the light emission due to the discharge of the initialization pulse is much weaker than the sustain discharge, so that the contrast is not reduced.
However, when α is increased to 10 V / μs or more, the contrast is significantly reduced.

This is because if α in the rising portion is too large, a strong discharge is generated at the rising portion of the initialization pulse, and an excessive wall voltage is accumulated. This occurs, and the light emission due to the initialization pulse is increased, so that the contrast is reduced. Further, under such a condition, the wall voltage cannot be controlled by uniform initialization, so that a write discharge failure occurs in a subsequent write period. Therefore, it can be seen that the optimal value of α is 1 ≦ α ≦ 9 [V / μs].

As is apparent from the above, the method of driving the PDP according to the third embodiment optimally controls the wall voltage at the end of the initialization period and suppresses the write discharge failure, thereby deteriorating the contrast. In addition, it is possible to realize a very excellent image quality in that image quality deterioration such as flickering and roughness is suppressed.

In the third embodiment, the rising edge of the initialization pulse has a stepped pulse waveform having five steps. However, it is needless to say that excellent image quality can be similarly realized by using a multi-step pulse having six or more steps. .

Further, in the third embodiment, the rising edge of the initialization pulse has a multi-stepped pulse waveform, but it goes without saying that excellent image quality can be realized not only by the rising edge but also by the multi-stepped pulse. No.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 11 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional method is that a step-like waveform is used as a write pulse in which the voltage drops in two stages at the time of the falling edge of the pulse.

FIG. 12 shows various write pulse voltages Vda when a conventional simple rectangular wave write pulse is used.
The relation between the write pulse width PW and ΔQ at ta is shown.

When Vdata = 60 V, PW is 2.0 μm.
Although the writing discharge is almost normally performed with a pulse width of s or more, there is a slight flicker in display image quality.

By raising Vdata, PW
However, the write discharge is normally performed to a shorter area, and at Vdata = 100 V, the write discharge is still performed normally even if the PW is reduced to 1.0 μs. When the number of scanning lines increases due to the high definition required for realization, it becomes possible to speed up the writing pulse which is indispensable.

However, a data driver generally used in a PDP has a relationship between the slew rate of the voltage at the time of pulse rise and the withstand voltage, and is necessary to generate a high-voltage pulse having such a fast rise. It is difficult to manufacture a simple driving circuit, and there is a great problem that the cost is extremely increased.

Table 1 shows a comparison of the average discharge delay time at the time of the write discharge when the conventional drive waveform and the drive waveform of the fourth embodiment are used.

[0083]

[Table 1]

It can be seen that the discharge delay time is reduced by using a step-like waveform in which the voltage drops in two steps at the time of the falling of the pulse as the write pulse.

This is because a high voltage is applied to the discharge cells only at the rise of the pulse, thereby terminating the discharge between the data and scan electrodes in a short time, and the sustain-scan is performed by priming the discharge at the rise of the pulse. This is considered to be because the discharge delay of the discharge generated between the electrodes was reduced.

As is apparent from the above, by using the drive waveform of the fourth embodiment, it is possible to improve the discharge delay and to speed up the drive pulse.

As a driving circuit for generating these step-like waveforms, in the fourth embodiment, the output voltage waveform of the arbitrary waveform generator is amplified by a high-speed high-voltage amplifier and applied to the discharge cells. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
By superimposing the pulse voltage of the second stage on the pulse voltage of the second stage to form a step-like waveform, the pulse voltage generation circuit at each stage can use a driver IC with a withstand voltage of about 100 V. Needless to say, a PDP with high definition and excellent image quality can be realized at low cost.

(Embodiment 5)... Stepwise waveform at rising of write pulse, improvement in image quality FIG. 13 is a timing chart of drive waveforms according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional method is that a step-like waveform that raises the voltage in two stages at the rise of the pulse is used as the write pulse.

FIG. 14A shows the light emission peak due to the write discharge when driving was performed using the conventional drive waveform.
b shows the emission peak due to the sustain discharge. As is apparent from this figure, the light emission due to the write discharge is 1 during the sustain period.
It can be seen that the light emission is larger than the light emission of the discharge by the first sustain pulse, and has the same light emission peak area as the second and subsequent sustain discharges, and emits light of the same size. For this reason, when displaying a halftone, when a low bit subfield having a small number of pulses in the sustain period is selected for low gradation display, the luminance of the light emission due to the write discharge is reduced by the light emission of these sustain discharges. Therefore, the gray scale at the time of the halftone display becomes discontinuous, and when grayscale display is performed using a ramp waveform as a video signal, the display quality at a low gradation is deteriorated. If the voltage of the write pulse applied to the data electrode is reduced to suppress this, the discharge delay of the write discharge increases, causing an address failure.

Table 2 shows conventional waveforms and the fifth embodiment.
5 shows a comparison result of the image quality when the driving waveform of FIG.

[0092]

[Table 2]

This is because by using a step-like waveform in which the pulse rises in two stages as the write pulse,
This is because the light emission due to the write discharge is suppressed and the luminance of the light emission due to the write discharge added to the light emission of the sustain discharge decreases when the low bit subfield is selected.

As is apparent from the above, by using the driving waveform of the fifth embodiment, it is possible to improve the gray scale display at the time of halftone display without lowering the write pulse voltage, and it is possible to improve the address defect. PD with excellent image quality and excellent gradation reproducibility without image quality deterioration such as flicker
It is possible to realize P.

As a driving circuit for generating these step-like waveforms, in the fifth embodiment, the output voltage waveform of the arbitrary waveform generator is amplified by a high-speed high-voltage amplifier and applied to the discharge cells. However, the present invention is not limited to this. By adding two types of pulse voltage generating circuits and superimposing the pulse voltage of the second stage on the pulse voltage of the first stage to form a step-like waveform, The pulse voltage generation circuit can use a driver IC with a withstand voltage of about 100 V, and is a low-cost, high-definition, high-definition P image.
Needless to say, DP can be realized.

(Embodiment 6) FIG. 15 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional driving method is that the driving is performed by lowering the fall of the sustain pulse in two steps.
16A and 16B show a voltage waveform V of a sustain pulse and a light emission peak waveform B when driven by using a conventional simple rectangular wave.

In the case of driving using a conventional simple rectangular wave, the luminance rises when the driving voltage is increased, but when the discharge at the rising portion of the pulse becomes too strong, the pulse as shown in FIG. A weak discharge occurs even at the falling part, causing abnormal operation. This phenomenon is generally called self-erasing discharge, and the wall voltage accumulated in the discharge cell becomes too high due to the discharge at the rising portion. This is because discharge occurs in the opposite direction. When this self-erasing discharge occurs, the wall voltage accumulated by the discharge at the rising portion decreases, so that when the discharge is performed by the next reverse pulse voltage, the effective voltage applied to the discharge gas in the cell is reduced. The voltage drops, the discharge becomes unstable, and abnormal operation occurs.

FIG. 17 shows a pulse voltage waveform V and a light emission peak waveform B when driven using the drive waveform according to the present invention.
An example is shown below. Although the maximum value of the pulse voltage applied to the discharge cell is the same as in FIG. 16B, no light emission is observed at the falling portion of the pulse, indicating that no self-erasing discharge has occurred. This is because, by lowering the fall of the sustain pulse in two stages, a sudden voltage change is alleviated, and the self-erasing discharge is suppressed. At this time, the self-erasing discharge did not occur until the maximum value of the pulse voltage reached the applied voltage at the start of the discharge, that is, the discharge start voltage Vf + 150V.

Table 3 shows that the maximum value of the pulse voltage, the relative luminance, and the self-erasing discharge of the case where the driving was performed using the conventional simple rectangular wave and the case where the driving was performed using the driving waveform of the sixth embodiment. A comparison of the presence or absence of occurrence is shown.

[0101]

[Table 3]

Thus, the falling of the sustain pulse is set to 2
By decreasing the voltage stepwise, the self-erasing discharge is suppressed by reducing the sudden voltage change, and the elimination of wall charges in the discharge cell due to the self-erasing discharge is suppressed, so the wall voltage in the discharge cell also increases However, since the amount of mobile charges due to the discharge increases, the luminance increases.

As is apparent from the above, according to the driving method of the PDP according to the sixth embodiment, the luminance is greatly increased by using at least two steps of the stepped voltage waveform as the sustain pulse for maintaining the light emission. In addition, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of self-erasing discharge, enable stable operation, and realize a PDP with high luminance and excellent image quality.

(Embodiment 7) FIG. 18 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional driving method is that the driving is performed by changing the rising and falling of the sustain pulse in two stages. FIG. 19 shows a schematic diagram of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven by using a conventional simple rectangular wave.
In the case of driving using a conventional simple rectangular wave,
When the drive voltage is increased, the luminance increases, but the discharge current also increases, so that the power consumption increases, and the loop of the Lissajous figure expands in a similar manner (a → b). Therefore, the luminous efficiency of the PDP hardly improves.

FIG. 20 shows an example of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven using the drive waveform according to the seventh embodiment.

It can be seen that the loop of the VQ Lissajous figure changes from a parallelogram to a distorted rhombus by making the sustain pulse a two-step staircase waveform. At this time, the voltage of the first stage is equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage Vf−20V.
f + 30V or less, and the voltage holding time of the first stage from the rise of the first stage pulse to the rise of the second stage pulse is the discharge formation delay time Tdf-0.
In the range of 2 μs or more and Tdf + 0.2 μs or less, a rhombic loop distorted from a parallelogram.

Table 4 shows a comparison of relative luminance, relative power consumption, and relative luminous efficiency when driving using a conventional simple rectangular wave and driving using the driving waveform of the seventh embodiment. Is shown.

[0109]

[Table 4]

Although the luminance is increased by about 30% by forming the sustain pulse into a two-step staircase waveform, the increase in power consumption is suppressed to about 15%, and the luminous efficiency is improved by about 13%. ing. This is because the rising of the applied voltage applied to the discharge cells and the phase of the discharge current are aligned by suppressing the ineffective power by setting the sustain pulse to a two-step staircase waveform. The rate of increase in power was suppressed, and the efficiency of discharge was improved.

As is apparent from the above, the driving method of the PDP according to the seventh embodiment makes it possible to greatly increase the luminance and to suppress the increase in the power consumption, and to achieve high luminance and excellent image quality. Can be realized.

In the seventh embodiment, the rising and falling of the sustain pulse have a step-like pulse waveform. However, it goes without saying that excellent image quality can be similarly realized by using only the rising pulse as a step-like pulse waveform.

(Eighth Embodiment) FIG. 21 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

The difference from the seventh embodiment is that the rising and falling of the sustain pulse are changed in two steps, respectively, and the voltage of the first rising is changed to the cell discharge start voltage V
f, the voltage change from the first stage to the second stage is changed like a sin function so as to have the maximum slope at the peak of the discharge current, and the simple rectangular wave drive is quickly performed as the cosine function when the discharge current stops. Is driven by using a waveform whose voltage has been reduced to the minimum discharge sustaining voltage Vs.

FIG. 22 shows a time axis trace of the voltage V between the electrodes of the discharge cell, the charge amount Q, the differential value dQ / dt of the charge amount, and the emission peak waveform B when driven by using the drive waveform in the eighth embodiment. Is shown. The rising and falling of the sustain pulse are changed in two stages, and the voltage change between the first and second stages is changed in a trigonometric function. The voltage rise to the second stage starts after the discharge current starts to flow due to the voltage, and the phase of the voltage rise to the second stage is later than the discharge current, and the voltage rise reaches the maximum slope near the peak of the discharge current. You can see that. Further, it can be seen that, by stopping the discharge current and decreasing the voltage to Vs, a high voltage is applied to the discharge cells only during the period in which light emission by discharge is performed.

FIG. 23 shows an example of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven by using the drive waveform according to the eighth embodiment. The loop of the VQ Lissajous figure changes into a distorted rhombus in which both sides draw an arc on the inside and is elongated horizontally. The phase of the voltage change between the first and second stages is determined by the discharge current. By delaying, even after the discharge is started in the cell, an overvoltage is further applied from the power supply, and it can be seen that power is effectively injected into the plasma in the discharge cell.

Table 5 shows a comparison between relative luminance, relative power consumption, and relative luminous efficiency when driving using a conventional simple rectangular wave and driving using the driving waveform of the eighth embodiment. Is shown.

[0118]

[Table 5]

At the peak of the discharge current, the maximum slope of the voltage rise from the first stage to the second stage is reached, and the voltage is lowered immediately after the stop of the discharge current. The increase in power consumption is relatively small,
It can be seen that the luminous efficiency is improved by about 30%.

As is apparent from the above, the driving method of the PDP according to the eighth embodiment makes it possible to greatly increase the luminance and to suppress the increase in the power consumption, and to achieve high luminance and excellent image quality. Can be realized.

Although the triangular function is used as the continuous function of the rising voltage waveform in the second stage in the eighth embodiment, the same applies to the case where another continuous function such as an exponential function or a Gaussian function is used. Needless to say, the effect is obtained.

(Embodiment 9) FIG. 24 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional driving method is that the rising of the sustain pulse is performed using a waveform having a gradient in voltage rising speed within a range where the driving is not affected. By giving a slope to the voltage rising speed at the rising portion of the pulse, it becomes possible to make the applied voltage at the maximum discharge current higher than the applied voltage at the start of discharge.

FIG. 25 is a time axis trace of the interelectrode voltage V and the charge amount Q, the differential value dQ / dt of the charge amount, and the emission peak waveform B when driven using the drive waveform in the ninth embodiment. Is shown.

By making the rising of the sustain pulse a waveform having a slope, the driving voltage applied to the discharge cell at the time when the discharge current and the emission peak show the maximum than the driving voltage applied to the discharge cell at the time of starting the discharge. It can be seen that the applied drive voltage is high.

FIG. 26 shows an example of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven by using the drive waveform according to the ninth embodiment. By using the driving waveform in the present invention,
Both sides of the loop of the VQ Lissajous figure have changed into a diamond with a slope. The discharge start voltage is lower than the discharge end voltage at which the charge has moved, and the area in the loop is reduced. Understand.

Table 6 shows a comparison between the relative luminance, the relative power consumption, and the relative luminous efficiency when driving using a conventional simple rectangular wave and driving using the driving waveform of the ninth embodiment. Is shown.

[0128]

[Table 6]

Although the luminance is slightly reduced by using the driving waveform of the ninth embodiment as the sustain pulse, the luminous efficiency is reduced by about 13% by reducing the power consumption.
% Improvement.

As is apparent from this, the driving method of the PDP according to the ninth embodiment makes it possible to suppress the power consumption without deteriorating the luminance, thereby realizing a PDP with low power consumption and excellent image quality. It is possible.

(Embodiment 10)... Step waveform in sustain pulse, probability of first shot FIG. 27 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention.

The difference from the prior art is that the rising and falling of the first sustain pulse are changed in two stages in the sustain period, and the voltage of the first stage is increased between the minimum discharge sustaining voltages Vs in the simple rectangular wave drive. After that, the voltage is raised to the peak voltage of the second stage, and immediately after the discharge is stopped, driving is performed using the waveform whose voltage has been reduced to Vs of the first stage.

In general, there is a time delay from the application of a pulse voltage to the occurrence of a discharge, and this discharge delay has a strong correlation with the applied voltage. The higher the voltage, the shorter the discharge delay and the distribution thereof. It is known to narrow. PD
In P, the gas voltage Vgas applied to the discharge gas in the discharge cell depends on the wall voltage accumulated in the dielectric covering the electrode and the drive voltage supplied from a power supply outside the cell,
The discharge delay and its distribution in the unsteady state are strongly affected by the wall voltage.

Therefore, the discharge generated by the first sustain pulse applied to the discharge cell at the beginning of the sustain period is as follows:
It is strongly influenced by a wall voltage generated as a result of a write discharge preceding it, and is extremely unstable. This is one of the major causes of image quality deterioration due to flickering of a screen during image display.

The driving method according to the tenth embodiment improves the first discharge delay of the sustain pulse and its distribution by making the first waveform of the sustain pulse a two-step staircase waveform.

FIGS. 28A and 28B show the inter-electrode voltage Vscn-sus and the emission peak waveform B of the discharge cell when driven using the conventional drive waveform and the drive waveform of the present invention.
5 shows a time-axis trace of FIG.

In the measurement of the voltage waveform and the emission peak waveform, 500 digital scans were averaged using a digital oscilloscope to remove noise. From this figure, by changing the first waveform of the sustain pulse in two steps, the time from the rising edge of the pulse until light emission due to discharge occurs, that is, the discharge delay time is reduced.
It can be seen that the light emission due to the discharge is also strong.

Table 7 shows the average discharge of the discharge generated by the first sustain pulse between the case where the driving is performed using the conventional simple rectangular wave and the case where the driving is performed using the driving waveform of the tenth embodiment. 7 shows a comparison between delay time, luminance, and image quality.

[0139]

[Table 7]

By using the step-like waveform for the first sustain pulse in the sustain period, the first discharge probability is improved, and the discharge delay is reduced, so that the discharge by the subsequent sustain pulse is stabilized, and flicker and the like are prevented. By improving the image quality deterioration, the temporal average luminance also increases.

As is clear from this, the driving method of the PDP according to the tenth embodiment makes it possible to realize a PDP with high luminance and excellent image quality.

(Eleventh Embodiment) FIG. 29 is a timing chart of driving waveforms according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

The difference from the prior art is that the rising of the erase pulse is increased in two stages. FIG. 30 shows the contrast with respect to the ratio tp / tw of the first-stage flat portion width to the pulse width and the ratio V1 / Ve of the first-stage voltage to the maximum voltage of the pulse in the step-like waveform in which the rising edge of the erase pulse has two stages. Shows the relationship. Contrast is high within the range of the diagonal lines and is not very practical outside this region. This is because, in the prior art, a voltage was applied in one stage and a discharge was generated by a sudden voltage change, so that the entire surface was illuminated by an originally unnecessary erase pulse, and furthermore, it was caused by variations in discharge cells in the panel. In the first embodiment, the wall charge remaining after application of the erasing pulse varies, causing erroneous discharge in the next drive sequence.
In 1, a weak discharge is performed by a two-step staircase waveform,
The wall charges are uniformly erased and the entire surface light emission is suppressed.

As is apparent from this, the PDP driving method according to the eleventh embodiment suppresses erroneous discharge due to remaining wall charges after one driving sequence and suppresses light emission due to an erase pulse, thereby significantly improving contrast. In this case, a very excellent image quality is realized.

In the eleventh embodiment, the rising of the erase pulse has a stepped pulse waveform of two steps. However, needless to say, excellent image quality can be realized by using a multi-step pulse having three or more steps.

It goes without saying that excellent image quality can be similarly realized even when the voltage of the first stage of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is a stepped pulse having a discharge start voltage Vf−50 V or more and Vf + 30 V or less.

Also, the maximum voltage V of the stepped pulse voltage waveform
It goes without saying that excellent image quality can be similarly achieved even when smax is a stepped pulse having a discharge starting voltage Vf or more and Vf + 100 V or less.

(Embodiment 12) Two steps of falling of erase pulse and shortening of erase period FIG. 31 is a timing chart of drive waveforms according to Embodiment 12 of the present invention.

The difference from the prior art is that the falling edge of the erase pulse is lowered in two stages. Table 8 shows a comparison between the discharge delay time of the erase discharge, the pulse width, and the quality of the erase operation in the conventional erase pulse waveform and the step-like waveform in which the erase pulse falls in two steps.

[0150]

[Table 8]

By making the falling edge of the erase pulse a two-step waveform, the discharge delay is improved, and the driving circuit for generating the first and second pulse voltages needs to have a high breakdown voltage. Therefore, it is possible to use a power MOSFET having a high pulse falling slew rate, and further reduce the erase pulse width, thereby shortening the erase period of each subfield. The extra time generated due to the increase in the number of scanning lines due to high definition and the increase in the number of scanning lines, and the increase in the number of sustain pulses during the sustain period increase the sustain period for increasing the luminance. Image quality or high brightness can be achieved.

As is apparent from this, the method of driving the PDP according to the twelfth embodiment realizes high definition or high luminance by using the extra time generated by shortening the erase pulse width. In this way, a PDP with very excellent image quality is realized.

In the twelfth embodiment, the falling edge of the erasing pulse has a two-step pulse waveform. However, it goes without saying that excellent image quality can be realized by using a multi-step pulse having three or more steps. .

Also, the maximum voltage V of the stepped pulse voltage waveform
It goes without saying that excellent image quality can be similarly realized even when max is a step-like pulse having a discharge starting voltage Vf or more and Vf + 100 V or less.

(Embodiment 13) High gas pressure The difference between Embodiment 13 and Embodiments 1 to 12 is that a quaternary mixed gas of He-Ne-Xe-Ar is used as a discharge gas. That is, a higher 760-4000 Torr was sealed.

The PDP having the same configuration as the conventional one (the distance d between the electrodes d)
= 40 μm), He (50%)-Ne (48
%)-Xe (2%), He (50%)-Ne (48%)
-Xe (2%)-Ar (0.1%), He (30%)-N
e (68%)-Xe (2%), He (30%)-Ne
(67.9%)-Xe (2%)-Ar (0.1%) PDPs using various composition gases as discharge gas were prepared, and in each of the prepared PDPs, the relationship between the Pd product and the discharge starting voltage was determined. Examined. FIG. 32 is a graph showing the result.

The lower part of FIG. 32 shows the luminance (discharge voltage 250 V) of the PDP using each of the constituent gases.

In particular, He (30%)-Ne (67.9)
%)-Xe (2%)-Ar (0.1%) gas, the luminance is relatively good, and the Pd product = 6 (Torr)
(Cm) (the distance between the electrodes d = 60 μm and the sealing pressure of 1000 Torr).
It can be seen that it can be put in.

With this gas composition, the discharge starting voltage is P
The minimum value is shown around d product = 4.
It can be seen that it is preferable to set Pd product = 4 (for example, when the sealing pressure is 2000 Torr, the distance d between the electrodes is 20 μm).

Note that these absolute values (particularly, the discharge starting voltage) change by changing the Xe amount, but the relative relationship hardly changes.

However, when an image is actually displayed using the conventional drive waveform, a discharge must be generated between one of the electrodes 19a and 19b on the front panel and the electrode 14 on the rear panel during the writing operation. When the distance between the electrodes on the front panel and the electrodes on the rear panel is reduced to about 20 μm, the conventional PDP discharge cell structure in which a phosphor layer is coated on the inside of the partition on the rear panel has a sufficient discharge space. There was a big problem that it could not be secured.

In the thirteenth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 33, the driving is performed using a step-like waveform in which the pulse voltage waveform applied to the discharge cell in the writing period and the sustain period is changed in two stages.

Table 9 shows a PDP having a conventional structure with a partition wall height of 60 μm and a sealing pressure of 2000 torr, and an image display actually using the conventional drive waveform and the stepwise drive waveform of the thirteenth embodiment. The evaluation results of luminance, efficiency, and image quality in the case of performing the test are shown.

[0164]

[Table 9]

In spite of the same partition height and sealing pressure, in the conventional drive waveform, an address defect occurs, and even if the initialization pulse and the write pulse voltage are increased, the image quality is hardly improved. Was. this is,
This is because, because the distance between the electrodes on the front plate and the back plate is large, the discharge starting voltage increases, and the wall charge amount is not sufficiently accumulated.

On the other hand, in the drive waveform according to the thirteenth embodiment, no defective address was observed, and good image display was possible. This is because by using a step-like waveform as a write pulse applied to the data electrode used in the write operation, write discharge is performed without imposing a load on the data driver circuit even in a panel where the discharge start voltage is higher than normal. By improving the discharge delay, the write discharge is completed within the time of the pulse width of the write pulse, and the amount of wall charges at the time of the write discharge increases.
By applying a staircase waveform to the sustain pulse applied to the discharge cells during the sustain period, the discharge delay of the sustain discharge is improved, and the sustain discharge is completed within the pulse width of the sustain pulse, thereby causing flicker and the like. This is because image quality deterioration has been improved. The efficiency is the same as that of the conventional configuration, and Ne (95
%)-Xe (5%) mixed gas at 500 torr was 1.5 times as efficient.

As described above, the PDP of the thirteenth embodiment
Uses a step-like waveform in which a pulse voltage waveform applied to a discharge cell during a writing period and a sustain period is changed in two steps, thereby achieving high image quality and high efficiency without address failure even under a high discharge gas filling pressure. And excellent PD
P can be realized.

[0168]

As described above, according to the present invention, a priming pulse prior to a writing period and an erasing after a sustain period are applied by using a stepped pulse waveform of at least two or more steps in a pulse voltage applied to a discharge cell. Suppresses light emission due to unnecessary discharge during pulse application, improves contrast, reduces discharge delay of write discharge during write period, significantly reduces image quality deterioration due to write failure, and emits sustain discharge during sustain period. By improving the efficiency, the luminance is increased, and a remarkable effect of realizing a PDP with high definition and very high image quality can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a timing chart of a driving method of a plasma display panel according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electrode matrix diagram of a conventional plasma display panel.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of a conventional plasma display panel driving method.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a subfield of a conventional plasma display panel driving method.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional plasma display panel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between contrast with respect to tp / tw and V1 / Vst according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of a driving method of a plasma display panel in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between tp / tw and V1 / Vst in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart of a driving method of a plasma display panel in Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the dependence of ΔQ on Vdata when driven at various average changing speeds by using the plasma display panel driving method according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of a plasma display panel according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between a write pulse width PW and ΔQ at various write pulse voltages Vdata when a conventional rectangular wave write pulse is used.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

14A and 14B are diagrams showing time axis traces of a driving voltage waveform V and a light emission peak waveform B due to writing discharge when driving is performed using a conventional driving waveform.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

16A and 16B are diagrams showing time axis traces of a sustain pulse voltage waveform V and a light emission peak waveform B when driven by using a conventional simple rectangular wave.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a time axis trace of a voltage waveform V of a sustain pulse and a light emission peak waveform B when driven using a drive waveform according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven using a conventional simple rectangular wave.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven using a drive waveform according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 shows a time axis trace of a voltage V between electrodes and a charge amount Q, a differential value dQ / dt of a charge amount, and a light emission peak waveform when driven using a drive waveform according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention. Diagram shown

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven using a drive waveform according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 shows the voltage V between the electrodes and the charge amount Q, the differential value dQ / dt of the charge amount, and the emission peak waveform B when driven using the drive waveform according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention.
Diagram showing the time axis trace of

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a VQ Lissajous figure when driven using a drive waveform according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

28 (a) and (b) show time axis traces of a discharge cell inter-electrode voltage V and a charge amount Q and a light emission peak waveform when driven using a conventional drive waveform and a drive waveform according to the present invention. Figure

FIG. 29 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is tp / tw in Embodiment 11 of the present invention.
Showing the relationship between contrast and V1 / Ve

FIG. 31 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a view showing a relationship between a Pd product and a discharge starting voltage in various discharge gas compositions.

FIG. 33 is a timing chart of driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the thirteenth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Front substrate 12 Back substrate 13 Insulator layer 14 Data electrode group 15 Partition 16 Phosphor 17 Dielectric glass layer 18 Protective film 19a Electrode group 19b Electrode group

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Hibino 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture F-term in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 5C040 FA01 GB02 GB14 GF02 GJ02 GJ04 GJ08 LA20 MA04 MA17 5C080 AA05 BB05 CC03 DD03 DD08 DD26 DD30 EE29 EE30 FF12 GG08 GG12 HH02 HH04 JJ02 JJ04 JJ05 JJ06

Claims (37)

[Claims] 1. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric between a pair of parallel substrates, wherein a discharge gas is sealed and an image is displayed by gas discharge, comprising at least two steps. A method for driving a plasma display panel, characterized by using the above stepped pulse voltage waveform. 2. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates to fill a discharge gas and display an image by gas discharge. A driving method of a plasma display panel, characterized in that at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform are used at the time of rise of a drive pulse voltage waveform before a write period for applying a series of write pulses to be selected. 3. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates and a discharge gas is sealed and an image is displayed by gas discharge. A driving method of a plasma display panel, characterized in that at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform are used at the time of a fall of a drive pulse voltage waveform prior to a write period for applying a series of write pulses to be selected. 4. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates, a discharge gas is filled, and an image is displayed by gas discharge. 2. A driving method for a plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein a stepwise pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more stages is used at the rise and fall of the drive pulse voltage waveform prior to a write period for applying a series of write pulses to be selected. . 5. The plasma according to claim 2, wherein an average value of a voltage change speed of the first and subsequent steps of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is 1 V / μs or more and 9 V / μs or less. Display panel driving method. 6. The voltage V1 of the first step of the stepped pulse voltage waveform
Is Vf-70V ≦ V1 ≦ V with respect to the discharge starting voltage Vf.
The driving method of a plasma display panel according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein f is f. 7. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates to fill a discharge gas and display an image by gas discharge. A driving method for a plasma display panel, characterized in that at least two steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform are used when a write pulse voltage waveform falls during a write period in which a series of write pulses to be selected are applied. 8. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposing electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates, a discharge gas is filled, and an image is displayed by gas discharge. A driving method for a plasma display panel, characterized in that at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform are used when a write pulse voltage waveform rises during a write period for applying a selected series of write pulses. 9. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates and a discharge gas is sealed and an image is displayed by gas discharge. A driving method of a plasma display panel, wherein a stepped pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more steps is used at the rise and fall of a write pulse voltage waveform during a write period for applying a selected series of write pulses. 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the voltage difference between the first and second steps of the stepped pulse voltage waveform used as the write pulse is 10 V or more and 100 V or less. A method for driving a plasma display panel. 11. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates, and a discharge gas is sealed and an image is displayed by gas discharge. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising: using a stepped pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more stages when a drive pulse voltage waveform falls during a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a selected discharge cell. 12. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates to fill a discharge gas and display an image by gas discharge. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising: using a step-like pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more stages at the rise of a drive pulse voltage waveform during a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a selected discharge cell. 13. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates to fill a discharge gas and display an image by gas discharge. A driving method of a plasma display panel, characterized in that at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform are used at the rise and fall of a drive pulse voltage waveform during a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a selected discharge cell. 14. The driving method of a plasma display panel according to claim 11, wherein the first-stage voltage of the step-like pulse voltage waveform is a discharge starting voltage Vf−20 V or more and Vf + 30 V or less. Method. 15. The voltage holding time of the first stage of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is a discharge formation delay time Tdf−0.2 μs or more and Tdf + 0.2 μs or less. 3. The method for driving a plasma display panel according to item 1. 16. A maximum voltage Vsma of a step-like pulse voltage waveform.
16. The method according to claim 11, wherein x is equal to or higher than a discharge starting voltage Vf and equal to or lower than Vf + 150 V. 17. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates, a discharge gas is filled, and an image is displayed by gas discharge. During the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the selected discharge cell, at least at the time of rising of the drive pulse voltage waveform, a two-step step-like pulse voltage waveform is used, and the rising voltage waveform of the second step is continuously increased. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising: 18. A drive pulse voltage waveform applied during a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a discharge cell selected by a write pulse has a waveform corresponding to a charging period Tchg for charging a geometric capacitance of the discharge cell. 18. The driving method for a plasma display panel according to claim 17, wherein the applied voltage waveform is changed in a trigonometric function during a discharge time Tdise from the end to the end of the discharge current. 19. The waveform of the first half of the drive pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse starts after the end of the charging period Tchg for charging the capacitance of the discharge cell. 19. The method of driving a plasma display panel according to claim 17, wherein an applied voltage waveform is changed in a trigonometric function during a discharge time Tdise until the discharge current ends. 20. A rising waveform of a driving pulse voltage waveform applied during a sustain period for maintaining a discharge of a discharge cell selected by a write pulse during a discharge period Tdscp from the rise of the pulse until the discharge current reaches a maximum value. After the applied voltage waveform is raised in a trigonometric function, the applied voltage waveform is raised in a trigonometric function during a discharge time Tdise from when the discharge current reaches the maximum value to when the discharge current ends. Claims 17-1
10. The method for driving a plasma display panel according to any one of items 9 to 9. 21. After the rising waveform of the drive pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the discharge cell selected by the write pulse reaches the maximum voltage Vsmax of the pulse voltage waveform, the applied voltage waveform is minimized. 21. The method of driving a plasma display panel according to claim 17, wherein the voltage is decreased triangularly to a discharge sustaining voltage Vsmin. 22. The method of driving a plasma display panel according to claim 17, wherein the rising voltage waveform of the second stage is increased exponentially. 23. A method for driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates to fill a discharge gas and display an image by gas discharge. As the rising portion of the drive waveform applied during the sustain period for maintaining the discharge of the selected discharge cell, a drive waveform in which the applied voltage at the time of the maximum discharge current is higher than the applied voltage at the start of the discharge of each pulse is used. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising: 24. The driving method of a plasma display panel according to claim 23, wherein a driving waveform having a linear slope is used at a rising portion of the waveform. 25. A method according to claim 25, wherein a phase of a change in a voltage between terminals of a discharge cell is delayed from a phase of a change of a discharge current value during a period from a start point of the discharge current to a maximum point of the discharge current. Item 25. The method for driving a plasma display panel according to any one of Items 11 to 24. 26. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates and a discharge gas is filled in and an image is displayed by gas discharge. A method of driving a plasma display panel, wherein a step-like pulse voltage waveform is used as a first sustain pulse applied during a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a selected discharge cell. 27. The maximum voltage holding time PWmax1 of the first stepped pulse voltage waveform applied during the sustain period is equal to the second voltage holding time PWmax1.
Voltage holding time P of the subsequent step-like pulse voltage waveform
27. The method of driving a plasma display panel according to claim 26, wherein the time is longer than Wmax2 by 0.1 [mu] s or more. 28. The maximum voltage holding time PWmax of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is 0.02 μs or more and the pulse width PW is 9
28. It is 0% or less.
The driving method of the plasma display panel described in the above. 29. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates to fill a discharge gas and display an image by gas discharge. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising using at least two or more steps of a step-like pulse voltage waveform at the rise of a drive pulse voltage waveform after a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a selected discharge cell. 30. The method of driving a plasma display panel according to claim 29, wherein the first-stage voltage of the step-like pulse voltage waveform is not less than a discharge starting voltage Vf−50 V and not more than Vf + 30 V. 31. A maximum voltage Vsma of a stepped pulse voltage waveform
31. The driving method of a plasma display panel according to claim 29, wherein x is equal to or higher than a discharge starting voltage Vf and equal to or lower than Vf + 100 V. 32. A method of driving a plasma display panel in which a plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates, and a discharge gas is filled and an image is displayed by gas discharge. A method for driving a plasma display panel, comprising: using a stepped pulse voltage waveform having at least two or more steps at the fall of a drive pulse voltage waveform after a sustain period for maintaining discharge of a selected discharge cell. 33. The driving method of a plasma display panel according to claim 32, wherein the first-stage voltage of the stepped pulse voltage waveform is not less than a discharge starting voltage Vf and not more than Vf100V. 34. The time PWer from the rise of the pulse of the stepped pulse voltage waveform to the end of the maximum voltage holding period is equal to or greater than the discharge formation delay time Tdf-0.1 μs, Tdf + 0.
The method according to any one of claims 29 to 33, wherein the driving time is 1 µs or less. 35. A plurality of opposed electrodes covered with a dielectric material are provided between a pair of parallel substrates, and a phosphor is filled in a part of a discharge space of a plasma display panel for displaying an image by gas discharge by filling a discharge gas. Provided, the charging pressure of the discharge gas is
A method for driving a plasma display panel at 760 to 4000 Torr, wherein a stepped pulse voltage waveform of at least two or more stages is used. 36. The driving method for a plasma display panel according to claim 35, wherein a mixture of a rare gas containing helium, neon, xenon, and argon is used as the discharge gas. 37. The plasma display panel according to claim 35, wherein the discharge gas contains 5% by volume or less of xenon, 0.5% by volume or less of argon, and less than 55% by volume of helium. Drive method.