JP2000206927A - Driving method for surface discharge type plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce peak currents flowing through scanning electrodes at the time of these discharges by increasing the variation of occurence of discharges at the time of writing discharges and at the time of sustaining discharges. SOLUTION: In the driving method of a surface discharge type plasma display panel in which the selecting of display pixels is performed by performing preliminary discharges prior to the selecting of the display pixels and by impressing scanning pulses on row electrodes 12 in time-division manner after these preliminary dis-charges and by selectively impressing data pulses on column electrodes 19 while making them to be in synchronism with the scanning pulses and sustaining discharges are performed only on these display pixels, the absolute value of the voltage of a scanning pulse which is to be at first impressed on the row electrode 12 at least after the preliminary discharges is made be smaller than that of voltages of other scanning pulses which are to be impressed on the other row electrodes 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel used for a display output of a personal computer, a work station, a wall-mounted television or the like as a flat display which can be easily enlarged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plasma display (hereinafter referred to as a PDP) is classified into two types according to its structure: a direct current discharge type, in which electrodes are exposed to a discharge gas, and a discharge gas, because the electrodes are covered with a dielectric. There are AC discharge types that are not directly exposed. Further, the AC discharge type includes a memory operation type using a memory function based on the charge storage action of the dielectric and a refresh operation type not using the memory function. An example of a configuration of a general AC discharge type plasma display (hereinafter, referred to as AC-PDP) will be described with reference to FIG. 11 showing a cross-sectional view of a PDP. PDP has a front substrate 10 as a transparent glass substrate and a rear substrate 11 also as a glass substrate.
The following structure is formed in the space between the two. On the front substrate 10, a plurality of scanning electrodes 12, for example, as row electrodes and a plurality of common electrodes 13 extending in the depth direction of the paper at predetermined intervals are formed. Scan electrode 12
The common electrode 13 is covered with a dielectric layer 15a, and a protective layer 16 made of MgO or the like for protecting the dielectric layer 15a from discharge is formed on the dielectric layer 15a.

On the other hand, a scanning electrode 12
In addition, a plurality of data electrodes 19, for example, as column electrodes, extending in the left-right direction on the paper so as to be orthogonal to the common electrode 13 are formed. The data electrode 19 is covered with a dielectric layer 15b, and a phosphor 18 is applied on the dielectric layer 15b to convert ultraviolet light generated by discharge into visible light. If this phosphor 18 is applied to each cell, for example, for each of the three primary colors of light, red, green, and blue (R, G, B), a color PDP for color display can be obtained. Also, the front substrate 1
0 and the dielectric layer 15 on the back substrate 11
Between b, a discharge space 20 is secured, and a partition wall 17 for dividing cells is formed. In the discharge space 20, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, N2, 0
Gas mixed with 2, C02 and the like is sealed as a discharge gas.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an electrode structure of the color PDP shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the electrode structure of the color PDP has m scanning electrodes Si (i = 1, 2).
2,..., M) are formed in the row direction, n data electrodes Dj (j = 1, 2,..., N) are formed in the column direction, and one cell is formed at the intersection thereof. ing. Common electrode Ci
(I = 1, 2,..., M) are pairs with the scanning electrode Si, are formed in the row direction, and are parallel to each other. FIG. 13 shows an example of a conventional memory operation type AC-PDP driving method.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing a drive voltage waveform applied to each electrode of the color PDP of FIG.

First, erase pulse 2 is applied to all scan electrodes 12.
1 is applied to stop the discharge state of the cells that have been emitting light by the sustain discharge before the time shown in the figure, and put all the cells in the erased state. The discharge operation by this pulse is called sustain discharge erase. Here, erasing means an operation of reducing or eliminating wall charges, which will be described later. Next, a pre-discharge pulse 22 is applied to the common electrode 13 to forcibly discharge and emit light in all the cells, and a pre-discharge erase pulse 23 is applied to the scan electrode 12 to erase the discharge in all the cells. The discharge operation by the pre-discharge pulse is called pre-discharge, and the discharge operation by the pre-discharge erase pulse is called pre-discharge erase. Pre-discharge and pre-discharge erasure facilitate subsequent write discharge.

After the preliminary discharge erasure, a scan pulse 24 is applied to the scan electrodes S1 to Sm at different timings,
The data pulse 2 is applied to the data electrodes D1 to Dn in accordance with the display data according to the timing at which the scan pulse 24 is applied.
7 is applied. The oblique line of the data pulse 27 indicates that the presence or absence of the data pulse 27 is determined according to the presence or absence of the display data. In the cell to which the data pulse 27 is applied when the scan pulse 24 is applied, a discharge occurs in the discharge space 20 between the scan electrode 12 and the data electrode 19, but when the scan pulse 24 is applied, the data pulse 27 is applied. Otherwise, no discharge will occur. Since display information is written into each cell based on the presence or absence of this discharge, this is called a write discharge.

In the cell in which the write discharge has occurred, positive charges called wall charges are accumulated in the dielectric layer 15 a on the scan electrode 12. At this time, negative wall charges are accumulated in the dielectric layer 15b on the data electrode 19. The first discharge is performed by superimposing a positive potential due to positive wall charges formed on the dielectric layer 15 a on the scan electrode 12 and a negative sustain pulse 25 applied to the common electrode 13. Occurs. First
When the second discharge occurs, the dielectric layer 15a on the common electrode 13
A positive wall charge, and a dielectric layer 15 on the scan electrode 12.
A negative wall charge is accumulated at a. The potential difference due to wall charges
The second sustain pulse 26 applied to the scan electrode 12 is superimposed, and a second discharge occurs. Thus, the potential difference due to the wall charges formed by the n-th discharge and the (n + 1) -th sustain pulse are superimposed, and the discharge is maintained. For this reason, this discharge operation is called a sustain discharge. Brightness is controlled by the number of sustain discharges.

If the voltages of the sustain pulse 25 and the sustain pulse 26 are adjusted in advance to such an extent that a discharge does not occur only by applying these pulses, the first sustain voltage is applied to a cell in which no write discharge has occurred. Before the pulse 25 is applied, the first sustain pulse 25
Does not generate the first sustain discharge, and therefore no subsequent sustain discharge occurs. FIG. 1 described above
In the drive voltage waveform of No. 3, the period in which the erase pulse 21, the preliminary discharge pulse 22, and the preliminary discharge erase pulse 23 are applied is the preliminary discharge period, the period in which the scan pulse 24 and the data pulse 27 are applied is the scan period, and the sustain pulses 25 and 26 are applied. Is referred to as a sustain period. The pre-discharge period, scan period, and sustain period are collectively called a subfield.

Next, a gradation display method in a conventional PDP will be described with reference to FIG. One field, which is a period for displaying one screen (for example, 1/60 second), is divided into a plurality of subfields (for example, four subfields). The subfields have the configuration shown in FIG. 13, and each subfield can be turned on / off independently of the other subfields. In addition, the length of the sustain period, in other words, the number of sustain pulses, is different in each subfield, and therefore, the luminance is also different.

In the four sub-field division as shown in FIG. 14, if the luminance ratio when each sub-field emits light alone is adjusted to be 1: 2: 4: 8, four sub-fields can be obtained. Depending on the combination of display ON / OFF of the subfields, the luminance ratio from 0 when all the subfields are not selected to 1 from the luminance ratio when all the subfields are selected.
Up to 5, 16 levels of luminance display are possible. Generally 1
The field is divided into n subfields, and the ratio of luminance for each subfield is set to 1 (= 20): 2 (= 21):
..: 2n-2: 2n-1, 2n gradation display is possible.

[0011]

In the above-described conventional method of driving a color PDP, the time interval from the priming discharge to the write discharge and the time interval from the write discharge to the first sustain discharge are different for each scan electrode. In the case where a plurality of cells on the same scan electrode are selected at the same time, the write discharge of the scan electrode with a short time interval from the priming discharge and the scan electrode with a short time interval from the write discharge In the first sustain discharge, there is a problem that the peak current flowing to the scan electrode at the time of discharge becomes extremely large because the dispersion of the discharge delay time for each cell is small. The excessive peak current puts a burden on the drive circuit, and at the same time, the electromagnetic noise radiated outside increases.

On the other hand, in order to solve the above problem, a method of reducing the peak value of the discharge current by changing the phase of applying a pulse for each of a plurality of electrode groups and shifting the discharge generation timing for each of a plurality of cells is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 8 (1996). -305319, JP-A-7-248
744, JP-A-7-64508 and JP-A-6-40
No. 39, each publication. However, in this method, extra signal processing for shifting the timing of the pulse applied to each electrode must be performed. Further, a method of applying a current limiting element, for example, a resistor to each electrode to suppress a peak current is disclosed in JP-A-10-208646, JP-A-8-250030, JP-A-63-192092 and JP-A-61-192092. Although this method is known in DC-PDP as described in each publication of No. 153700, a process of forming a current limiting element in a panel must be added.

A method of suppressing the peak current by making the rising shape of the pulse gentle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-614.
Although described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-1995, it is necessary to add a panel structure or a circuit configuration for making the rising shape of the pulse gentle. Further, a method of increasing the initial sustain pulse voltage in the sustain discharge and lowering the voltage of the subsequent sustain pulse to reduce the amount of current is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 177363, this method reduces the peak current in the latter part of the sustain period when the sustain pulse voltage is lowered, but reduces the excessive peak current in the early part of the sustain period generated in a specific scan electrode. Can not.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and defines a place where the peak current of discharge becomes high, and reduces the applied pulse voltage at that place to a voltage lower than the voltage at other places. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel capable of increasing variation in discharge generation during discharge and sustain discharge and reducing a peak current flowing to a scan electrode during these discharges.

[0015]

To achieve the above object,
In the driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel according to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of two transparent glass substrates is disposed to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and a plurality of row electrodes are provided on one of the glass substrates. Forming, forming a plurality of column electrodes on the other glass substrate, performing a preliminary discharge prior to selection of a display pixel, applying a scan pulse to the row electrodes after the preliminary discharge in a time-division manner, and synchronizing with the scan pulse. Selecting a display pixel by selectively applying a data pulse to the column electrode, and performing a sustain discharge only on the display pixel. The absolute value of the voltage of the scan pulse applied first to the row electrode is smaller than the absolute value of the voltage of another scan pulse applied to the other row electrode.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel, the absolute value of the applied scanning pulse voltage is gradually increased as the time from the end of the preliminary discharge becomes longer. It is.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel, the absolute value of the scan pulse voltage applied within 200 μs after the end of the preliminary discharge is made larger than the absolute values of the other scan pulse voltages. It is a smaller one.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel, at least one of two transparent glass substrates is disposed to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the one glass substrate is disposed on one of the glass substrates. Forming a plurality of row electrodes,
A plurality of column electrodes are formed on the other glass substrate, preliminary discharge is performed prior to selection of a display pixel, and after the preliminary discharge, a scan pulse is applied to row electrodes in a time-division manner, and the column is synchronized with the scan pulse. The display pixel is selected by selectively applying a data pulse to an electrode, and in a method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel in which a sustain discharge is performed only to the display pixel, the method includes: On the other hand, the absolute value of the voltage of the data pulse synchronized with the scan pulse applied first is smaller than the absolute value of the voltage of another data pulse applied at another timing.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel, the absolute value of the voltage of the applied data pulse is gradually increased as the time from the end of the preliminary discharge becomes longer. Things.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel, the absolute value of the data pulse voltage applied within 200 μs after the completion of the preliminary discharge is made larger than the absolute values of the other data pulse voltages. It is a smaller one.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the driving method for a surface discharge type plasma display panel, at least one of two transparent glass substrates is opposed to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the one glass substrate is disposed on the other glass substrate. Forming a plurality of row electrodes,
A plurality of column electrodes are formed on the other glass substrate, preliminary discharge is performed prior to selection of a display pixel, and after the preliminary discharge, a scan pulse is applied to row electrodes in a time-division manner, and the column is synchronized with the scan pulse. The display pixel is selected by selectively applying a data pulse to an electrode, and in a method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel in which a sustain discharge is performed only to the display pixel, at least during a selection period of the display pixel. In the pixel to which the scan pulse was applied, the absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage for performing the first sustain discharge was made smaller than the absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage applied to the other pixels. Things.

The driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel according to the invention of claim 8 is such that a pixel having a shorter time from application of a scanning pulse to application of a first sustain pulse has a first sustain pulse voltage of a first sustain pulse voltage. The absolute value is reduced.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the method for driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the time from application of the scanning pulse to application of the first sustaining pulse is 100 μm.
The absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage applied to the pixels within s is smaller than the absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage applied to the other pixels.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel, the second and subsequent sustain pulse voltages are applied to all the pixels to perform the second and subsequent sustain discharges. Is equal to or smaller than the smallest absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 showing a driving voltage waveform of a PDP. In this embodiment, as shown, the scan pulse 24a applied to the scan electrode 12 at the timing closest to the preliminary discharge period is set to a lower voltage than the other scan pulses 24. Using a constant scanning pulse voltage and measuring the change in the discharge probability of the writing discharge with respect to the time elapsed from the application of the pre-discharge erase pulse 23, referring to FIG. It can be seen that the discharge probability of the write discharge is lower as the value becomes higher. In particular, the attenuation of the discharge probability from the preliminary discharge erase to 200 μs is large.

Here, the discharge probability will be described. The occurrence of discharge is a stochastic phenomenon, and the "discharge delay time" from the application of the pulse to the occurrence of the discharge is not constant even when the discharge is caused by the same voltage pulse. It is the discharge probability that determines the magnitude of the distribution of the discharge delay time, and is defined as the frequency of occurrence of discharge per unit time. If the same cell is discharged a number of times under the same driving conditions, the dispersion of the discharge delay time is small when the discharge probability is high, and the dispersion of the discharge delay time is large when the discharge probability is low. Since the discharge probabilities can be considered to be the same for cells on the same scan electrode,
When a plurality of cells on the same scan electrode are simultaneously discharged using the same pulse, the variation in discharge delay time between cells is small when the discharge probability is high and large when the discharge probability is low.

In the write discharge, the difference between the scan electrodes is the difference in the scan pulse application timing, and the difference in the discharge probability for each scan electrode can be read from FIG. 2 of the characteristic diagram. When the scan pulse application timing is delayed line-sequentially downward from the top row of the display surface, at the time of write discharge, the higher the scanning electrode located at the top, the higher the discharge probability, so the variation in the discharge delay time is small, and it is located at the bottom Since the scan electrode has a lower discharge probability, the discharge delay time varies more.

Next, the relationship between the variation in the discharge delay time and the current will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG. The current waveform corresponds to the frequency distribution of the occurrence of discharge.If multiple cells discharge at the same time, if the variation is large, the current waveform accompanying the discharge becomes broad, but if the variation is small, the waveform becomes steep and the current peaks. It gets bigger. Therefore, when the same number of cells on the scan electrode 12 are written and discharged, a current having a large peak value flows in the upper scan electrode having the earlier scan timing because the dispersion of the discharge delay time is smaller. Using the results of FIG. 2, the scan electrode at the position of 100 μs is 4 times the scan electrode at the position of 1500 μs.
More than twice the peak current flows.

In the conventional driving method in which the scan pulse voltage applied to all the scan electrodes 12 is constant, the current supply capability of the scan driver for applying the scan pulse is 10
Excessive peak current values are required for the scanning electrodes at 0 μs or earlier. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the peak current value is reduced by lowering the scanning pulse voltage applied at the beginning of the scanning period. In FIG. 1, only the voltage of the first scan pulse 24a is reduced, but referring to FIG.
It is more effective to lower the voltage of the scan pulse applied within 200 μs from the preliminary discharge erase.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows only the scanning period of the driving voltage waveform of the PDP, and FIG. 5 shows a scanning pulse applied to each scanning electrode 12. Are shown. 4 and 5 show that the scan pulse voltage applied to the scan electrode 12 is gradually increased from the beginning of the scan period. That is, the scan pulse 24a applied to the scan electrode S1 has the lowest voltage, and the scan pulse 24b applied to the scan electrode S2 and the scan pulse 24c applied to the scan electrode S3 are sequentially increased in voltage. Since the probability of discharge decreases as the voltage at the time of discharge decreases, the writing discharge itself may not be generated depending on the excessively low voltage of the scan pulse.

For example, referring to the scan electrode having the highest discharge probability at the same scan pulse voltage and lowering the scan pulse voltage to suppress the peak current value there, the reduced scan pulse is applied to another scan electrode, for example, 20 after preliminary discharge erasure
If it is applied to a scanning electrode at a position of about 0 μs as it is, it is considered that no discharge occurs.
Therefore, this embodiment proposes a method of gradually increasing the scan pulse voltage value as the scan pulse application timing advances, as shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows an example of the voltage value change. The effect of the present invention is the same even if the change shape is a monotonically increasing shape. In order to avoid that discharge does not occur, the peak current value allowed in the drive circuit is referred to, and when all the cells on each scan electrode 12 are discharged, the peak current value falls within the allowable value. Most preferably, the maximum scan pulse voltage is used. According to this embodiment, the peak current at the time of the write discharge can be reduced without impairing the reliability of the occurrence of the write discharge.

FIG. 6 is a driving voltage waveform diagram of a PDP showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Here, the data pulse 27a applied first to the scan electrode 12 after the end of the preliminary discharge, that is, the data pulse 27a synchronized with the scan pulse applied at the timing closest to the preliminary discharge period is set to a voltage lower than the other data pulses 27. You have set. The writing discharge is generated by a potential difference created by superimposing a scanning pulse and a data pulse. Therefore, instead of reducing the scan pulse voltage applied at the timing closest to the preliminary discharge period described in the first embodiment of the present invention,
The same effect can be obtained by reducing the voltage of the data pulse applied in synchronization with the scanning pulse. For this reason,
The same effect as that of the second embodiment of the present invention can be achieved by gradually increasing the data pulse voltage synchronized with the scan pulse applied at the beginning of the scan period. Further, by setting the absolute value of the data pulse applied within 200 μs after the preliminary discharge to be lower than the absolute values of the other data pulses, it is possible to suppress the peak current and ensure the reliability of the write discharge.

FIG. 7 is a drive voltage waveform diagram of a PDP showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Here, the absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage for performing the first sustain discharge, that is, the scan pulse is applied at the latest timing, in at least the pixel to which the scan pulse was last applied during the display pixel selection period. The first sustain pulse voltage 25a applied to the common electrode Cm corresponding to the scan electrode Sm is set lower than the first sustain pulse voltage applied to the other common electrodes. FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing a change in the discharge probability in the first sustain pulse when the application timing of the constant voltage scan pulse is changed to correspond to FIG.
It can be seen from FIG. 7 that when the write discharge is performed at the end of the scanning period, the discharge probability increases rapidly. As described above, since the high discharge probability increases the peak value of the discharge current, the scan electrode 12 performing the write discharge at the end of the scan period and the corresponding common electrode 13 discharge at the first sustain pulse from FIG. , The discharge peak current is larger than those of the other scanning electrodes 12 and the common electrode 13.

Therefore, the peak value of the common electrode Cm corresponding to the scan electrode Sm whose application timing of the scan pulse is the latest can be reduced by lowering the first sustain pulse voltage. As is clear from FIG. 8, the range where the discharge probability is high is within 100 μs from the last scan pulse application timing. Therefore, the first sustain pulse voltage applied to all the common electrodes 13 corresponding to the scan electrodes 12 performing the write discharge within 100 μs from the last scan pulse application timing is the first sustain pulse voltage applied to the other common electrodes. By making the voltage lower than the sustain pulse voltage, the effect of the present invention is further increased.

The fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 9 showing the voltage value of the first sustain pulse applied to each common electrode 13. Here, it is shown that the first sustain pulse voltage to be applied is lower for the common electrode 13 corresponding to the scan electrode 12 at the end of the period in which the application timing of the scan pulse is late. This is obtained by adjusting the degree of reduction of the first sustain pulse voltage in accordance with the magnitude of the discharge probability when the same voltage is used, with reference to the characteristic diagram of FIG. According to the embodiment of the present invention,
The reduction in the current peak value of the first sustain pulse can be achieved without impairing the reliability of the occurrence of discharge.

Next, the sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described by comparing the first sustain pulse voltage applied to each common electrode 13 with the second sustain pulse voltage applied to each common electrode 13 or each scan electrode 12 and so on. Will be described with reference to FIG. 10 showing the change in the sustain pulse voltage value. The first, third,... Sustain pulses are applied to the common electrode 13, and the second, fourth,. In this embodiment, the first sustain pulse voltage to be applied is reduced for the common electrode 13 corresponding to the scan electrode 12 having the later scan pulse application timing, and the second and subsequent scan electrodes are applied to the scan electrode 12 and the common electrode 13. Is set to the lowest voltage value among the voltages used for the first sustain pulse. Since the time interval between the first sustain pulse and the second sustain pulse is the same in all cells, the first sustain pulse whose voltage value has been adjusted according to the scan timing is used for the first sustain pulse. The discharge probability at the time of applying the second sustain pulse after performing the discharge is the same for all cells.
Similarly, the discharge probabilities when the third and subsequent sustain pulses are applied are the same for all cells.

In general, the time interval between the first sustain pulse and the second sustain pulse is equal to or shorter than the time interval between the slowest applied scan pulse and the first sustain pulse. Therefore, the discharge probability at the time of applying the second sustain pulse which is almost the same for all cells is equal to or greater than the largest discharge probability at the time of applying the first sustain pulse. Therefore, even if the second sustain pulse voltage is equal to or lower than the lowest voltage among the first sustain pulse voltages, the reliability of the discharge occurrence is not impaired. Similarly, the third and subsequent sustain pulse voltages may be equal to or lower than the lowest voltage of the first sustain pulse voltage. In this embodiment, the discharge current peak value when the first sustain pulse is applied can be reduced, and the discharge current peak value when the second and subsequent sustain pulses are applied can also be reduced. it can.

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. The lowering of the scanning pulse voltage at the beginning of the scanning period described in the first and second embodiments, and the lowering of the scanning pulse voltage at the end of the scanning period at the end of the scanning period described in the third to fifth embodiments. Are the independent configurations, and both may be performed simultaneously. In this case, both the discharge peak current during the write discharge and the discharge peak current of the first sustain discharge can be reduced, and the effects of the invention such as reduction of the load on the drive circuit, power saving, and reduction of unnecessary electromagnetic radiation are great. It is.

In the above description, the case where the scan pulse and the sustain pulse have the negative polarity and the data pulse has the positive polarity has been described with reference to FIG.
The occurrence of discharge depends on the potential difference between the electrodes, and the effect of the invention is the same even if a positive scan pulse and a sustain pulse and a negative data pulse are used. It is apparent from the text and the drawings that “high” or “low” of the voltage described in the embodiment means the magnitude of the absolute value of the voltage.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, at least the absolute value of the voltage of the scan pulse applied first to the row electrode after the completion of the preliminary discharge is applied to the other scan electrodes applied to the other row electrodes. The absolute value of the voltage of the data pulse, which is smaller than the absolute value of the voltage of the pulse, or at least the absolute value of the voltage of the data pulse synchronized with the first scan pulse applied to the row electrode after the end of the preliminary discharge, is applied at another timing. By specifying a place where the peak current of discharge becomes high by making it smaller than the absolute value of the voltage of the data pulse, writing by making the applied pulse voltage at that place lower than the voltage at other places Variations in the occurrence of discharge during discharge and sustain discharge can be increased, and the peak current flowing to the scan electrode during these discharges can be reduced. As a result,
It is possible to reduce the load on the drive circuit without significantly changing the system or adding a new circuit, to reduce the influence of unnecessary electrode radiation to the outside, and to achieve an effect of realizing power saving.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a drive voltage waveform diagram for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing a change in discharge probability of a write discharge after erasing a preliminary discharge according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between a variation in discharge delay time and a peak value of a discharge current according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a drive voltage waveform diagram during a scanning period for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram of a scan pulse voltage value applied to each scan electrode for describing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a drive voltage waveform diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a drive voltage waveform diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing a change in the discharge probability of the first sustain discharge when the scan pulse application timing changes in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram of a first sustain pulse voltage value applied to each common electrode for explaining a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a characteristic diagram of the first sustain pulse voltage value applied to each common electrode and the second and subsequent sustain pulse voltage values for explaining the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a structural view showing a cross section of a conventional plasma display.

FIG. 12 is a plan view schematically showing an electrode arrangement of the plasma display of FIG.

13 is a drive voltage waveform diagram applied to each electrode of the plasma display of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart illustrating a gray scale display method of a plasma display panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 front substrate (glass substrate) 11 rear substrate (glass substrate) 12 scan electrode (row electrode) 13 common electrode (row electrode) 19 data electrode (column electrode) 24 scan pulse 25, 26 sustain pulse 27 data pulse

Claims (10)

[Claims] At least one of two transparent glass substrates is opposed to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and a plurality of row electrodes are formed on one glass substrate, and a plurality of column electrodes are formed on the other glass substrate. A preliminary discharge is performed prior to selection of a display pixel, a scan pulse is applied to the row electrodes in a time-division manner after the preliminary discharge, and a data pulse is selectively applied to the column electrode in synchronization with the scan pulse. In the method of driving a surface-discharge type plasma display panel that performs the selection of the display pixel and performs a sustain discharge only to the display pixel, a voltage of a scan pulse applied first to the row electrode after at least the preliminary discharge is completed. A method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel, wherein an absolute value is smaller than an absolute value of a voltage of another scan pulse applied to another row electrode. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the absolute value of the applied scan pulse voltage is gradually increased as the time from the end of the preliminary discharge becomes longer. 3. The surface discharge type according to claim 1, wherein the absolute value of the scan pulse voltage applied within 200 μs after the completion of the preliminary discharge is smaller than the absolute values of the other scan pulse voltages. A method for driving a plasma display panel. 4. A glass substrate, at least one of which is transparent, is disposed to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, a plurality of row electrodes are formed on one glass substrate, and a plurality of column electrodes are formed on the other glass substrate. A preliminary discharge is performed prior to selection of a display pixel, a scan pulse is applied to the row electrodes in a time-division manner after the preliminary discharge, and a data pulse is selectively applied to the column electrode in synchronization with the scan pulse. In the driving method of the surface discharge type plasma display panel in which the display pixel is selected and the sustain discharge is performed only to the display pixel, the display pixel is synchronized with a scan pulse first applied to the row electrode at least after the end of the preliminary discharge. A surface discharge type plasma display, wherein the absolute value of the voltage of the data pulse is smaller than the absolute value of the voltage of another data pulse applied at another timing. Panel driving method. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the absolute value of the voltage of the applied data pulse is gradually increased as the time from the end of the preliminary discharge becomes longer. 6. The surface discharge type according to claim 4, wherein the absolute value of the data pulse voltage applied within 200 μs after the completion of the preliminary discharge is smaller than the absolute values of the other data pulse voltages. A method for driving a plasma display panel. 7. Two glass substrates, at least one of which is transparent, are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, a plurality of row electrodes are formed on one glass substrate, and a plurality of column electrodes are formed on the other glass substrate. A preliminary discharge is performed prior to selection of a display pixel, a scan pulse is applied to the row electrodes in a time-division manner after the preliminary discharge, and a data pulse is selectively applied to the column electrode in synchronization with the scan pulse. By performing the selection of the display pixel by the method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel that performs sustain discharge only to the display pixel, in the pixel to which the scan pulse was last applied at least during the selection period of the display pixel, The first absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage for performing the first sustain discharge is applied to another pixel in the first sustain pulse voltage.
A method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel, wherein the absolute value of the sustain pulse voltage is smaller than the absolute value of the sustain pulse voltage. 8. The pixel according to claim 7, wherein the absolute value of the first sustain pulse voltage is reduced in a pixel having a shorter time from application of the scan pulse to application of the first sustain pulse.
3. The method for driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel according to item 1. 9. An absolute value of a first sustain pulse voltage applied to a pixel whose time from application of a scan pulse to application of a first sustain pulse is within 100 μs to a first pixel applied to other pixels. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the sustain pulse voltage is smaller than an absolute value of the sustain pulse voltage. 10. The absolute values of the second and subsequent sustain pulse voltages applied to perform the second and subsequent sustain discharges on all the pixels are determined by dividing the absolute values of the first sustain pulse voltages. The method of driving a surface discharge type plasma display panel according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that it is equal to or smaller than the minimum one.