JP2001051649A - Method and device for driving ac type plasma display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a high-quality picture by securing a sustaining period while shortening a scanning period by means of the drive in a write-in selection type panel and the drive in an erasure selection type panel with respect to the impressing of scanning pulses on scanning electrodes. SOLUTION: In this method for driving an AC type plasma display provided with scanning electrodes, sustaining electrodes and data electrodes, respective pulses to be impressed at a certain timing which are scanning pulses having negative polarities to be impressed on the scanning electrode side of a scanning period for selecting cells performing the display and data pulses having positive polarities which are to be impressed on data electrodes, and respective pulses which are to be impressed in next timing are made so as to be timewisely overlapped within a discharge-formation delay time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for driving an AC plasma display, and more particularly to an AC plasma display having an improved discharge probability during a repetition of a reset period, a scanning period and a sustain period. The present invention relates to a driving method and a driving device, and an AC plasma display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a plasma display panel (hereinafter abbreviated as PDP) has a thin structure, has no flicker, and can have a large display contrast ratio. In addition, it has a number of features, such as a relatively large screen, a fast response speed, a self-luminous type, and multicolor light emission by using a phosphor.

For this reason, in recent years, it has been widely used in the field of computer-related display devices and the field of color image display. Depending on the operation method, this PDP has an AC type in which electrodes are covered with a dielectric and indirectly operates in an AC discharge state, and a DC type in which the electrodes are exposed to a discharge space and operate in a DC discharge state. There are types.

Further, the AC type includes a memory operation type using a memory of a discharge cell as a driving method and a refresh operation type not using the memory. Note that the luminance of the PDP is proportional to the number of discharges, that is, the number of repetitions of the pulse voltage. Therefore, the gradient also depends on the number of discharges. The refresh type described above is mainly used for a PDP having a small display capacity because the brightness decreases as the display capacity increases.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of an AC memory operation type PDP which is also used in the description of the embodiment according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of one display cell. This display cell is composed of two insulating substrates 1 and 2, a rear surface made of glass and a front surface serving as a display surface.

On the display surface side, a transparent scan electrode 3 and a transparent sustain electrode (discharge sustain electrode) formed on the insulating substrate 2 are arranged.
4 and trace electrodes 5 and 6 which are arranged so as to overlap the scan electrode 3 and the sustain electrode 4 in order to reduce the electrode resistance.

On the back side, a data electrode (address electrode) 7 formed on the insulating substrate 1 at right angles to the scanning electrodes 3 and the sustaining electrodes 4, and helium and neon are provided in the space between the insulating substrates 1 and 2. And a discharge gas space 8 filled with a discharge gas made of xenon or a mixture thereof, a partition wall 9 for securing the discharge gas space 8 and separating display cells, and ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge of the discharge gas. Phosphor 11 for converting light into visible light 10 and scanning electrode 3
And a dielectric layer 12 covering the sustain electrodes 4 and a protective layer 1 made of magnesium oxide or the like for protecting the dielectric layer 12 from discharge.
3 and a dielectric film 14 covering the data electrode 7.

FIG. 12 schematically shows an electrode arrangement of an AC type plasma display panel driven by the present invention. The electrodes of the AC type plasma display panel are composed of scanning electrodes S1 to Sn provided in parallel, sustaining electrodes C1 to Cn, and data electrodes D1 to Dn provided in a direction orthogonal to the scanning electrodes S1 to Sn. The intersections of the Sn and sustain electrodes C1 to Cn and the data electrodes D1 to Dn are cells that emit light. One scan electrode, one sustain electrode, and one data electrode constitute one cell. Therefore, the number of cells in one entire screen is n × m, that is, n scan electrodes and sustain electrodes × m data electrodes.

The operation of driving the PDP write selection type plasma display panel in such a configuration will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. 1A shows a scan electrode waveform, FIG. 1B shows a sustain electrode waveform, and FIG. 1C shows a data electrode waveform.

Period 1 is a reset period, in which the priming pulse Ppr-s applied to the scan electrode side and the priming pulse Ppr-c applied to the sustain electrode side are rectangular waves. In period 1 of the reset period, first, a negative sawtooth wave is applied to the scanning electrodes to separate the charges attached to the respective electrodes in the previous subfield, and light emission in the previous subfield and light emission in the previous subfield are not performed. Make the state of charge constant.

Thereafter, the positive rectangular wave applied to the scan electrode and the negative rectangular wave applied to the sustain electrode produce:
Priming discharge occurs in the discharge space near the gap between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode of all cells, and active particles that facilitate cell discharge are generated. Positive wall charges adhere to the top. The discharge in this case is a strong discharge mode. Subsequently, a charge adjustment pulse Ppe-s is applied to generate a weak discharge, thereby reducing negative wall charges on the scan electrodes and positive wall charges on the sustain electrodes. In this case, the waveform is a sawtooth wave of negative polarity on the scanning electrode side.

Next, period 2 is a scanning period, in which write discharge is performed in a cell selected by a negative scan pulse Puw-s applied to the scan electrode and a positive data pulse Pd applied to the data electrode. Once generated, wall charges are deposited on the electrodes of the cells where light is to be emitted in the subsequent sustain period. The write discharge occurs only at the intersection of the scan electrode to which the scan pulse Puw-s is applied and the data electrode to which the data pulse Pd is applied. When discharge occurs, wall charges adhere to that portion. On the other hand, in a cell in which no discharge occurs, the wall charge after the charge erasure is small.

Next, a period 3 is a sustain period. The sustain pulses Psus-s and Psus-c, which start from the sustain electrode side and are subsequently applied to the scan electrode side and the sustain electrode side alternately, are applied to the scan electrode side. Is applied to the sustain electrode. At this time, since the wall charges of the cells for which writing has not been performed during the scanning period are very small, no sustain discharge occurs even if a sustain pulse is applied.

On the other hand, in a cell in which a write discharge has occurred in the scanning period of period 2, a positive charge is attached to the scan electrode and a negative charge is attached to the sustain electrode, so that a negative sustain pulse voltage and a wall charge are applied to the sustain electrode. The voltage is superimposed, exceeds the minimum discharge voltage, and a discharge occurs. When the discharge occurs, the wall charges are arranged so as to cancel the voltage applied to each electrode. Therefore, negative charges adhere to the sustain electrodes and positive charges adhere to the scan electrodes. Since the next sustain pulse is a pulse of a positive voltage on the scan electrode side, the effective voltage applied to the discharge space due to the superposition with the wall charges exceeds the discharge start voltage, and a discharge occurs. Thereafter, the same cycle as period 1 to period 3 is repeated to maintain the discharge. The above is the operation of the writing selection type driving. Next, the erasing selection type driving will be described.

In the erasure selection type driving, a wall charge is attached by applying a priming pulse during a reset period. It shifts to the scanning period without erasing the wall charge,
Wall charges are erased only by selectively applying a scan pulse and a data pulse to only the cells not to emit light. The selected cell has a reduced wall charge amount, and no discharge occurs even during the sustain period. Since a cell to be lit does not apply a data pulse, it shifts to a sustaining period with wall charges attached, so that a discharge is generated by applying the sustaining pulse.

The scanning pulse applied to the scanning electrode shown in FIG. 1 is as shown in FIG. 18 in detail. In the conventional scan pulse shape of FIG. 18, the scan pulse fall time tn, 1 and the rise time tn, 2 of the nth scan line are tn, 2 = tn + 1,1. The width of the scan pulse is ts, and the scan pulse of the next line is sequentially scanned every ts.

As a method of driving an AC plasma display panel, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-143110 discloses a method.
A driving method corresponding to a large screen is disclosed by providing and driving scan electrodes of odd and even bits.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-288973 discloses that the width of a scan pulse applied during an address period is changed to be wider than the width of a priming pulse so that a subsequent scan line can be made faster. ing. However, each of these publications does not describe the next applied pulse of the scanning electrode.

[0018]

In the above-described method, the scanning pulse in the scanning period of the period 2 is temporally independent, and the time of the scanning period is {scanning pulse × number of scanning lines}. However, since it does not contribute to light emission during the scanning period,
If the number of gray scales for display is increased, or the number of scanning lines is increased by increasing the definition of the panel, the time allocated to the sustain period in one field decreases, and luminance cannot be obtained. Also, if the scanning pulse is narrowed to secure the sustain period, the probability of occurrence of discharge decreases, which may cause a defect such as a writing defect in the writing selection type driving, and particularly, an erasing defect in the erasing selection type driving. there were.

A main object of the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for driving a high-brightness, high-resolution AC plasma display. In driving,
It is an object to obtain a high-quality image by shortening a scanning period and securing a maintenance period.

[0020]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of driving an AC plasma display including a scan electrode, a sustain electrode and a data electrode, the method comprising the steps of: Between the applied negative-polarity scan pulse and the positive-polarity data pulse applied to the data electrode, each pulse applied at a certain timing and each pulse applied at the next timing are formed by a discharge formation delay time. It is characterized in that it overlaps with each other in time.

Further, according to the present invention, in a driving apparatus for an AC type plasma display having a scan electrode, a sustain electrode and a data electrode, a reset period of a cell to be displayed, a scan period in which discharge is started, and a sustain period in which discharge is maintained. When repeating the step with the period, the negative scan pulse applied to the scan electrode side during the scan period for selecting the cell to be displayed, the negative scan pulse scanned at the next timing And a data pulse generating means for generating a positive polarity data pulse applied to the data electrode, wherein the scan electrode pulse generating means applies the scan applied at a certain timing. Generating a scan pulse in which the pulse and the scan pulse applied at the next timing overlap temporally within a discharge formation delay time. And it features.

In general, according to the present invention, in a driving method of an AC type plasma display, a negative scan pulse applied to a scan electrode during a scan period for selecting a cell to be displayed and a data electrode are applied to a data electrode. It is characterized in that, of the applied positive polarity data pulses, a pulse applied at a certain timing and a pulse applied at the next timing temporally overlap by a discharge formation delay time or less.

The present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 15 and 16, and FIG.
The driving waveform of the C-type plasma display is shown in period 1
Is a reset period for uniforming the state of wall charges in the cell, period 2 is a scanning period for selecting a cell to emit light,
Period 3 is a sustain period in which light emission of the cell selected in period 2 is maintained, and period 1 to period 3 constitute one subfield. In period 2, as shown in FIG. 3, the scan pulse applied to a certain scan line and the scan pulse applied to the next scan line are overlapped by a discharge formation delay time or less, and an arbitrary cell is set. The data pulse applied for selection is applied while the scan pulse is falling. In FIG. 3, the pulse width is ts, and the overlap time is td.
And

FIG. 15 shows a driving circuit according to the present invention.
It is characterized by having two scanning drivers to output scanning pulses for even-numbered lines and odd-numbered lines separately, thereby superimposing scanning pulses. FIG. 16 shows a data driver section, which is characterized in that data pulses are overlapped by using two latches to output even-numbered lines and odd-numbered lines separately.

Therefore, the effective scanning pulse width can be increased by temporally overlapping the scanning pulses, so that the probability of occurrence of the writing discharge increases and the effect of reducing the failure of the writing discharge is obtained. Can be Also, by shortening the scanning pulse by the overlap, the time of the entire scanning period is shortened, so that an effect is obtained that the other period of one subfield, that is, the time allocated to reset and maintenance becomes longer.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments according to the present invention will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment (1) Description of Configuration First, the configuration of one pixel of a PDP used in the present embodiment is the same as that of FIG. 11 described above. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of one display cell of an AC memory operation type PDP. This display cell is composed of two insulating substrates 1 and 2 on the rear surface made of glass and on the front surface of the display surface. Since the contents of this structure are the same as those described above, duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 12 schematically shows an electrode arrangement of an AC type plasma display panel driven by the present invention. This drawing is also the same as described above, and therefore, redundant description will be omitted. In the AC type plasma display panel, one cell is constituted by one scanning electrode, one sustain electrode, and one data electrode. Therefore, the number of cells in one entire screen is n × m, that is, n scan electrodes and sustain electrodes × m data electrodes.

FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram of a drive circuit for an AC plasma display panel. In this circuit, by having two scanning drivers, the scanning pulses for the even-numbered lines and the odd-numbered lines are output separately,
The scanning pulse is overlapped. In FIG. 15C, an odd-numbered row scanning driver 1 (21) for driving the plasma display panel 28 and an even-numbered row scanning driver 2
(22), sustain driver 23, priming driver 24, and erase driver 2 corresponding to sustain driver 23
6, a sustain driver 27, and a data driver 25 according to the data.

FIG. 15A shows a scanning driver 1 (2).
1), a specific circuit diagram of an even-numbered row scan driver 2 (22), a sustain driver 23, and a priming driver 24. Is supplied with a power supply voltage.

FIG. 15B is a circuit diagram of the erase driver 26 and the sustain driver 27. The outputs of the erase driver 26 and the sustain driver 27 are connected to a common terminal, and a required pulse is applied to each gate. You.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a data driver. A shift register 31 that shifts according to a data clock in response to data input, an odd latch 32 that latches odd components of the shift register 31 and resets with a reset signal, and an even component of the shift register 31 that latches and resets with a reset signal. E
VEN latch 33, Odd latch 32 and Even
OR circuit 3 which performs a logical sum with a bit having no latch 33 for use
4, an OR circuit 35 for performing a logical sum of a bit without the Odd latch 32 and the Even latch 33, and an OR circuit 3
Odd level shift circuit 36 for converting the level to a high voltage by using the output of the OR 4 as an input, and an Even level shift circuit 3 for converting the level to a high voltage by using the output of the OR circuit 35 as an input
7, a push-pull type data driver 38 for driving the output of the Odd level shift circuit 36, and Eve
and a push-pull type data driver 39 for driving the output of the n-level shift circuit 37. Each data driver drives the plasma display panel 38 as shown in FIG.

(2) Description of Operation The driving method of the AC type plasma display according to the present invention is macroscopically shown in FIG.
FIG. 1B shows the scan electrode waveform, FIG.
(C) shows the data electrode waveform.

The period 1 of the driving waveform is a reset period for resetting the discharged pixel, and includes a priming pulse P _pr-s applied to the scan electrode side and a priming pulse P _pr-c applied to the sustain electrode side. Is a rectangular wave. In the first period of the reset period, first, a negative sawtooth wave Pse-s is applied to the scanning electrode to separate the charges attached to each electrode in the previous subfield, and to emit light in the previous subfield. If not, keep the charge state constant.

Thereafter, the positive rectangular wave P _pr-s applied to the scan electrode and the negative rectangular wave P _pr applied to the sustain electrode
_{By pr-c} , priming discharge is generated in the discharge space near the gap between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode of all cells, and active particles that facilitate discharge of the cell are generated. A negative wall charge adheres to the negative electrode and the sustain electrode. The discharge in this case is a strong discharge mode. Subsequently, a charge adjusting pulse P _pe-s is applied to generate a weak discharge, thereby reducing negative wall charges on the scan electrodes and positive wall charges on the sustain electrodes. In this case, the waveform is a sawtooth wave of negative polarity on the scanning electrode side.

Next, a period 2 is a scanning period. After a negative scanning base pulse Pbw-s is applied to the scanning electrodes, a negative scanning pulse P _uw-s to be further applied and the data are applied to the data electrodes. A write discharge is generated in the cell selected by the data pulse Pd of the positive polarity, and wall charges are attached to the electrode of the cell where light is to be emitted in the subsequent sustain period 3. Write discharge occurs only at the intersection of the scan electrode to which the scan pulse P _uw-s is applied and the data electrode to which the data pulse Pd is applied. When discharge occurs, wall charges adhere to that portion. On the other hand, in a cell in which no discharge occurs, the wall charge after the charge erasure is small.

Next, a period 3 is a sustain period. The sustain pulses Psus-s and Psus-c, which are started from the sustain electrode side and subsequently applied alternately to the scan electrode side and the sustain electrode side, are:
The voltage is applied to the scan electrode and the sustain electrode. In this period 3, the data electrode remains at 0 V and is not applied. At this time, in the period 3 of the scanning period, the wall charge of the cell in which writing has not been performed is very small, so that no sustain discharge is generated even if the sustain pulse is applied.

On the other hand, in a cell in which a write discharge is generated by being applied to the scan electrode and the data electrode during the scanning period of period 2, a positive charge is attached to the scan electrode and a negative charge is attached to the sustain electrode. The negative sustain pulse voltage and the wall charge voltage are superimposed, exceeding the minimum discharge voltage, and a discharge occurs. When the discharge occurs, the wall charges are arranged so as to cancel the voltage applied to each electrode.
Therefore, negative charges adhere to the sustain electrodes and positive charges adhere to the scan electrodes. Since the next sustain pulse is a pulse of a positive voltage on the scan electrode side, the effective voltage applied to the discharge space due to the superposition with the wall charges exceeds the discharge start voltage, and a discharge occurs. Thereafter, the same cycle as period 1 to period 3 is repeated to maintain the discharge.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of a first embodiment of the driving method of the AC type plasma display according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of a 3 × 3 cell portion of the plasma display panel driven by the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 4A shows a diagram of the scan electrode waveforms Sn, Sn + 1, Sn + 2, and FIG. 4C shows a diagram of the data electrode waveforms Dm, Dm + 1, Dm + 2 for the scan electrode waveform, which are displayed by their drive waveforms. An example is a display pixel with a white frame,
The pixel is turned off without discharge.

FIG. 2 shows a scan electrode waveform diagram by the scan driver of FIG. In the scan pulse of FIG. 2, the scan electrode waveform Sn shown in FIG. 2A falls to tn, 1 and rises to tn, 2. As the next scan electrode waveform Sn + 1, tn + 1,
It falls to 1 and rises to tn + 1,2. As the next scan electrode waveform Sn + 2, it falls to tn + 2,1 and tn + 2,
Stand up to 2. Therefore, the falling negative period is ts + td, and the overlapping period with the next scan electrode waveform is td, and the pulse width is larger by the time difference td than the conventional scan electrode waveform.

First, the data pulse of the selected cell is applied at the same timing as the scanning pulse. As described with reference to FIG. 1, period 1 is a reset period, in which wall charges in the previous subfield are erased. Period 2 is a scanning period in which a write discharge is generated in a cell selected by the negative scan pulse Puw-s applied to the scan electrode and the positive data pulse Pd applied to the data electrode, and Wall charges are attached to cells that emit light during the sustain period.

A scanning base pulse Pbw-s is applied to the entire scanning electrode in order to suppress the self-erasing discharge that occurs when the potential difference when the scanning pulse rises is large in the cell where the writing discharge has been performed.

The write discharge is generated only at the intersection of the scan electrode to which the scan pulse Puw-s is applied and the data electrode to which the data pulse Pd is applied. In the discharge phenomenon in a gas, there is a certain time delay from the application of a voltage to the discharge because of the movement time of the charge. This state is shown in FIG. When a negative pulse is supplied to the scanning electrode during the scanning period, according to the discharge light emission waveform, the discharge delay is divided into a formation delay and a statistical delay, and the formation delay means that electrons and ions are generated from the initial Townsend discharge by the Townsend discharge mechanism. It corresponds to the time from generation to the occurrence of discharge. Therefore, even if a voltage is applied during the formation delay time, no discharge is generated.

This will be described with reference to FIG. 6 is a graph of the remaining discharge probability with respect to time from the application of the scanning pulse. The following shows an example of a time transition from a pulse application to a discharge remaining probability, that is, a probability that a discharge does not occur in a certain pulse width, with respect to a scanning pulse. By taking the logarithm, the remaining discharge probability is substantially on a straight line, and by increasing the pulse width according to the present invention, the remaining discharge is reduced and the probability of occurrence of discharge is increased. As a result, display flicker can be suppressed.

In FIG. 2, the consecutive pulses in the scanning order overlap with each other in time, so that the writing pulse of the previous scanning electrode is applied when the next data pulse is applied. There is a formation delay time of about 0.15 to 0.3 [mu] s from the application of "." To the start of the discharge, and if the pre-scanning pulse is completed before the start of the discharge, no discharge occurs. Therefore, the pulse width is changed from ts to t
It can be extended to s + td. Period 3 is a sustain period, in which Psus-c is first applied to the sustain electrode side, and thereafter, positive sustain pulses Psus-s and Psus-c alternately applied to the scan electrode side and the sustain electrode side are applied to the scan electrode, Applied to the sustain electrode.

In a cell in which a write discharge has occurred in the scanning period, a positive charge is attached to the scan electrode and a negative charge is attached to the sustain electrode, and a positive sustain pulse voltage and a wall charge voltage are superimposed on the sustain electrode. Discharge occurs when the voltage exceeds the discharge start voltage.

When the discharge occurs, the wall charges are arranged so as to cancel the voltages applied to the respective electrodes.
Accordingly, positive charges adhere to the sustain electrodes, and negative charges adhere to the scan electrodes. Since the next sustain pulse is a pulse of a positive voltage on the scan electrode side, the discharge exceeds the minimum discharge voltage due to the superposition with the wall charges, and a discharge occurs. Thereafter, the same cycle is repeated to maintain the discharge.

In a cell in which no writing discharge has occurred in the scanning period, only a small amount of charge is deposited on the scanning electrode and the sustaining electrode, so that no discharging occurs in the sustaining period. One subfield is constituted by periods 1 to 3. Since gradation display cannot be performed in one subfield, when performing gradation display, the number of times of light emission in the sustain period is adjusted by combining with a subfield having a different number of sustain pulses. For example, in the case of 256 gradations, some of the subfields having a ratio of the number of sustain pulses of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 are selected and displayed according to the input signal. But 8 subfields are needed. All these subfields constitute one field. FIG. 7 shows an example of the field configuration. In FIG. 7, during one field period, the reset period, the scan period, and the sustain period are repeated for each subfield, and the reset period and the scan period are the same period for each subfield, and the sustain period is the sustain period. It differs depending on the number of pulses.

Next, the control of the scan driver when outputting a scan pulse will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 13, a scan driver 40 includes a shift register unit 44 for holding scan data, an Odd blank unit 42 for selecting display / non-display of the entire odd line, and display / non-display of the entire even line. Ev to select
An en blank section 43 and a high-voltage driver section 41 for outputting a voltage necessary to drive the plasma display panel (PDP) 28 are provided. The PDP 28 driven by the scanning driver 40 is connected.

The shift register 44 is supplied with a scan clock signal for reading data into the shift register and a scan data signal for specifying an output driver. Further, the Odd blank portion 42 and the Ev
The en blank section 43 is supplied with an Odd blank signal and an Even blank signal, respectively.

Next, the operation of FIG. 13 will be described with reference to the time chart shown in FIG. Shift register section 44
, Scan data for outputting a scan pulse in synchronization with a scan clock signal for sequentially outputting the scan pulse is input. Since the data in the shift register 44 is shifted by the scan clock signal, the scan data signal corresponds to the first two clocks. Each time the scan clock signal is input, the scan pulse shifts, and the Odd blank portion 42 from each register,
It is output to the even blank section 43. At this time, since the duty ratio of each blank signal is not 50%, a scan pulse overlapping with the next scan pulse can be easily generated. As shown in FIG.
Line 2, line 3, line 3. . The scanning pulse overlapping with the above is characteristically described. By inputting the Odd blank signal and the Even blank signal,
It is possible to output a scanning pulse having a certain time overlap. The scanning pulse of each overlapping line is converted to a high voltage side by the high
Drive P.

By superposing the scan pulses temporally, the effective scan pulse width can be widened, so that the probability of the occurrence of the write discharge by the PDP increases and the failure of the write discharge decreases. can get. Also, by shortening the scanning pulse by the overlap, the time of the entire scanning period is shortened, so that an effect is obtained that the other period of one subfield, that is, the time allocated to reset and maintenance becomes longer.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 15 shows an example of a driving circuit for realizing the driving method according to the present invention. A scanning electrode at a horizontal end of the plasma display panel 28;
There is a take-out part of the sustain electrode, and a drive circuit 2
1 and 22 are connected. Drive circuits 21 and 22 on the scanning electrode side
Reference numeral 2 includes scan drivers 1 and 2 for outputting a scan pulse to each scan electrode, a priming driver 24 for outputting a pulse Pse-s, and a sustain driver 23 for outputting a sustain pulse. Scan driver 2
1 and 22 are independent ICs for odd and even lines
By inputting an independent clock signal and a blank signal to the two ICs, time-wise overlapping scan pulses are output.

On the other hand, the drive circuit on the sustain electrode side includes an erase driver 26 for applying an erase pulse to the entire sustain electrode,
It is composed of sustain drivers 23 and 27 for applying a sustain pulse. At the end of the plasma display panel 28 in the vertical direction, there is a data electrode take-out portion, and the drive circuit on the data electrode side includes a data driver 25 for outputting a data pulse for selecting a cell to emit light.

A data driver for controlling the output of the data driver 25 is provided, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, for a shift register 31 for registering data in accordance with a reference clock signal, and for writing odd lines and writing even lines. Latches 32 and 33 for controlling the transfer of the contents of the shift register to the driver, a reset for resetting the contents thereof, and a level shift circuit for converting a signal from the latches 32 and 33 to a voltage level capable of controlling the high voltage driver. 36 and 37, and drivers 38 and 39 for turning on and off the high voltage output.

FIG. 17 shows the time relationship between the scan pulse Psc and the signals input to the odd and even latches 32 and 33 and the reset. The latches 32 and 33 have the function of transferring the contents of the shift register 31 to the driver at the rising edge and holding the transferred contents until the reset signal is input at the falling edge. Each latch is synchronized with the falling edge of the odd and even scan pulses, and the reset is synchronized with the rising edge. By inputting such a signal, a data pulse synchronized with the timing of each scanning pulse can be output.

In each of the above embodiments, in the scan pulse shape of FIG. 18 described above, the scan pulse fall time tn, 1 and the rise time tn, 2 of the nth scan line are tn,
2 = tn + 1,1, but in the scan pulse of the present invention in FIG.
Since the timing of tn, 2 is later than the timing of tn + 1,1, one of the features is that the pulse width is large by the time difference td.

Further, as shown in FIG.
In the period 2, that is, the scanning period, the scan pulse is made conventional, and the application timing of the next scan pulse is advanced by the amount of the overlap of the scan pulse, so that the time required to scan all the lines becomes ｛( td) × (number of scanning lines−
1) The period 3 or the sustain period can be made longer than that of the drive shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, the luminance is improved by increasing the number of sustain pulses during the longer sustain period.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the remaining time ｛(td) is reduced by shortening the time by the overlap of the scanning pulse without changing the scanning period which is the period 2 of the first embodiment. ) × (number of scanning lines−1)}, the number of scanning lines can be increased, and more lines can be scanned in the same time as in the related art. Thereby, high resolution can be obtained.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the Ppe-s pulse in the reset period shown in FIG. 1 was not applied, and a priming pulse of a negative voltage was applied to the sustain electrode in accordance with the scan electrode waveform Ppr-s. After that, only the charge adjustment pulse Ppe-c is applied,
In the erasure selection type driving in which the wall charges generated by the Ppr-s and Ppr-c pulses are not erased but are selectively erased by the scanning pulse Pw-s and the data pulse Pd and only the cells which are not erased emit light. A similar effect can be obtained by applying the form.

[0061]

As described above, according to the present invention, the width of the effective scanning pulse can be increased by overlapping the application time of the scanning pulse. As a result, the probability of the occurrence of the write discharge within the scan pulse period increases, and the failure of the write discharge, which causes display flicker, decreases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing voltage waveforms applied to scan electrodes, sustain electrodes, and data electrodes of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a voltage waveform diagram in a period 2 applied to a scan electrode of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a voltage waveform diagram of a period 2 applied to a scan electrode of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a data electrode waveform with respect to a scan electrode waveform according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a discharge light emission waveform and a scan electrode waveform according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the time from application of a scanning pulse and the remaining discharge probability for explaining the operation applied to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of one field of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of one field of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a voltage waveform diagram of a period 2 applied to the scan electrode of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a voltage waveform diagram of a period 2 applied to the scan / sustain / data electrode of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an external view of one pixel of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual circuit diagram of scanning / sustaining / data electrodes of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram for generating a scanning signal of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart of the scan generation circuit of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a conceptual circuit diagram of scanning / sustaining / data electrodes of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a conceptual circuit diagram of a data electrode driver of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a timing chart illustrating the operation of the data electrode driver of the plasma display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing voltage waveforms applied to a conventional scanning electrode, sustaining electrode, and data electrode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulating substrate 2 Insulating substrate 3 Scan electrode 4 Sustain electrode 5 Trace electrode 6 Trace electrode 7 Data electrode 8 Discharge gas space 9 Partition 10 Visible light 11 Phosphor 12 Dielectric 13 Protective layer 14 Dielectric 21, 22 Scan driver 23 Sustain driver 24 Priming Driver 25 Data Driver 26 Erase Driver 27 Sustain Driver 31 Shift Register 32 Odd Latch 33 Even Latch 34,35 OR Circuit 36,37 Data Driver

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method of driving an AC type plasma display including a scan electrode, a sustain electrode, and a data electrode,
A negative scan pulse applied to the scan electrode side during a scan period for selecting a cell to be displayed; and a positive data pulse applied to the data electrode, and the respective pulses applied at a certain timing. A method for driving an AC plasma display, wherein the pulses applied at the following timings overlap each other within a discharge formation delay time. 2. A method for driving an AC type plasma display including a scan electrode, a sustain electrode and a data electrode for driving a plasma display panel in a two-dimensional area, wherein a reset period of a cell to be displayed and a scan period for starting discharge. In the case where the step of maintaining a discharge is repeated, a negative scan pulse applied to the scan electrode during a scan period for selecting the cell to be displayed is scanned at the next timing. A method for driving an AC plasma display, wherein a negative scan pulse overlaps with time. 3. The method of driving an AC type plasma display according to claim 2, wherein the scan pulse applied to the scan electrode includes the scan pulse in addition to a scan base pulse of a negative pulse within the scan period. Applying a positive data pulse to the data electrode. 4. The method of driving an AC plasma display according to claim 2, wherein a negative sawtooth pulse, a positive positive pulse, and a negative sawtooth pulse are applied to the scan electrode during the reset period. Are sequentially applied, and in the sustain period, pulses of a pulse number corresponding to a subfield are applied to the scan electrode and the sustain electrode in mutually opposite polarities. 5. An AC-type plasma display using the method for driving an AC-type plasma display according to claim 1. Description: 6. A driving apparatus for an AC plasma display comprising a scanning electrode, a sustain electrode and a data electrode,
A negative electrode applied to the scan electrode during a scan period for selecting the cell to be displayed when steps of a reset period of a cell to be displayed, a scan period for starting discharge, and a sustain period for maintaining discharge are repeated. Electrode pulse generating means in which a negative scan pulse is temporally overlapped with the negative scan pulse scanned at the next timing, and a data pulse generator for generating a positive data pulse applied to the data electrode And the scanning electrode pulse generating means generates a scanning pulse in which the scanning pulse applied at a certain timing and the scanning pulse applied at the next timing are temporally overlapped within a discharge formation delay time. A driving device for an AC type plasma display, comprising: 7. The driving apparatus for an AC type plasma display according to claim 6, wherein during the reset period, the scan electrode pulse generating means applies a negative sawtooth pulse to the scan electrode and a positive pulse to the scan electrode. And a negative sawtooth wave pulse are sequentially generated, and in the sustain period, pulses of the number of pulses corresponding to sub-fields are applied to the scan electrode and the sustain electrode in opposite polarities. Drive device for plasma display.