KR100298930B1 - Plasma display panel driver and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a PDP capable of reducing the number of sustain electrodes, a driving apparatus thereof, and a method thereof.

The PDP of the present invention is characterized in that each pixel cell includes one scan / sustain electrode and an address electrode.

According to the present invention, the number of sustain electrodes is reduced to half as compared with the conventional method, thereby simplifying the structure and discharging efficiency by expanding the light emitting area of the cell by utilizing sustain discharge between adjacent scan / sustain electrodes. And increase the brightness.

Description

Plasma Display Panel and Apparatus and Method of Driving

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as a PDP), which is one of flat panel display devices, and more particularly, to a PDP driving apparatus and method capable of reducing the number of sustain electrodes.

Recently, PDPs that display images using gas discharge phenomenon are expected to be the next-generation flat panel display devices because they are easy to thin and large, and can replace cathode ray tubes (CRTs) with high image quality and low power consumption. It is becoming. The PDP obtains a discharge through voltage control applied between the vertical and horizontal electrodes of a cell constituting the pixel, and controls the length of the discharge time to display an image by adjusting the amount of light discharged. The full screen includes a write pulse for inputting a digital image signal to the vertical and horizontal electrodes of the cell, a scan pulse for scanning, a sustain pulse for maintaining the discharge, and a discharge of the discharged cell. An erase pulse for stopping the signal is applied and driven in a matrix form. In this case, the step brightness required for image display, that is, gray scale, is a time for discharging individual cells within a given time (for example, 16 ms) to display an image of one frame corresponding to one screen. This can be achieved by adjusting the length of. In general, in the case of a flat panel display device for displaying an image, 256 gray levels are required, and an image digital signal for displaying an image of 256 gray levels requires an 8 bit signal for each of the color signals R, G, and B. Done. In addition, in order to obtain the luminance and contrast required by the display device, the number of sustain discharges per unit time should be as large as possible.

The PDP is classified into a direct current (DC) type driven by a direct current voltage and an alternating current (AC) type driven by an AC voltage according to the type of driving voltage. Hereinafter, only a driving method of the AC type PDP will be described.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a conventional PDP driving apparatus. The PDP driving apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a scanning / sustaining for driving scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn disposed in the PDP 10. As shown in FIG. The driver 12, the sustain driver 14 for driving the sustain electrodes Z1 to Zn of the PDP 10, and the address electrodes X1 to Xm of the PDP 10 are odd-numbered address electrodes ( First and second address driving units 16 and l8 are provided to separately drive X1, X3, ..., Xm-1 and even-numbered address electrodes X2, X4, ..., Xm.

In the PDP driving apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the PDP 10 includes scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn and sustain electrodes Z1 to Zn alternately arranged in the horizontal direction, and address electrodes disposed in the vertical direction. (X1-Xm) is provided. A cell corresponding to one pixel is provided at each intersection of the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn and the sustain electrodes Z1 to Zn and the address electrodes X1 to Xm, so that the PDP 10 is n × m. Will contain cells. Here, the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn are mainly used to scan the screen and maintain the discharge, and the sustain electrodes Z1 to Zn are mainly used to maintain the discharge, and the address electrodes X1. ~ Xm) is mainly used for data input. To this end, the scan / sustain driver 12 includes a sustain pulse for maintaining the discharge of the cell on each of the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn and an erase pulse and the address electrodes for stopping the discharge of the discharged cell. And a scanning pulse synchronized with the video data signal applied to X1 to Xm). Similarly, the sustain driver 14 supplies a sustain pulse or the like to the sustain electrodes Z1 to Zn in common. The first address driver 16 supplies a data pulse synchronized with the scan pulse to each of the odd-numbered address electrodes X1, X3, ..., Xm-3, Xm-1, and together with the second address driver 18 ) Also supplies data pulses to each of the even-numbered address electrodes X2, X4, ..., Xm-2, Xm. The PDP of this structure expresses the gray level of an image by adjusting the number of sustain discharges per unit time.

However, as the cells included in the PDP are too small, problems have arisen in terms of brightness and discharge efficiency during sustain discharge after addressing. In particular, when the scan line is increased to achieve high resolution, the size and size of the cell are smaller and limited. In other words, in the conventional PDP, the light emitting area is limited to the area between the scan / sustain electrode Y and the sustain electrode Z, which causes a decrease in luminance.

In general, PDP uses glow discharge to discharge because the size of the cell is so small that the positive light main area is not used at all in the structure of the glow discharge tube. In the buglow region, light emission occurs in the process of ionization while continuously consuming energy, whereas the positive light region generates a lot of light emission due to excitation and is known to have good discharge efficiency. In this case, if the size of the discharge tube is reduced, the area of the cathode portion remains the same, but the brightness and the efficiency do not come out because the area of the positive beam is reduced. Brightness and efficiency can be sufficiently improved if the bright main region can also be used in the PDP. However, in order to use this positive light main region, the size of the cell may be increased, but it cannot be enlarged indefinitely because the increase of the scanning line and the resolution must be satisfied according to the size. Accordingly, there is a demand for a PDP that can use a positive light column area.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a PDP capable of improving luminance and discharge efficiency by enlarging a light emitting area of a cell and using a positive light main area.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a PDP suitable for high resolution PDP implementation.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a PDP driving apparatus and method capable of driving the PDP.

1 is a view showing a conventional PDP driving apparatus.

2 is a view showing a PDP driving apparatus according to the present invention.

3 shows the structure of a cell according to the invention;

4 is a view showing a light emitting area of a cell in the PDP shown in FIG.

5 is a voltage waveform diagram for explaining a PDP driving method according to the present invention.

6 is a voltage waveform diagram supplied to an arbitrary sustain electrode in an address period.

<Brief description of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10, 20: PDP 12: scan / sustain driver

14: sustain driver 16, 30: first address driver

18, 32: second address driver 22: first scan / sustain driver

24: second scan / sustain driver 26: third scan / sustain driver

28: fourth scan / sustain drive unit 36: partition wall

In order to achieve the above objects, the PDP driving apparatus according to the present invention includes an address electrode which generates an addressing discharge by applying a data pulse to select a discharge cell to be displayed on a panel, and a scan formed at each scan line to intersect the address electrode; Addressing drive means for applying address pulses by applying a data pulse to the sustain electrode, the address electrode, and scanning pulses in turn and applying address pulses to the scan and sustain electrodes of each scan line to generate addressing discharges between the address electrodes. Scanning to cause sustain discharge to maintain the display of the selected cell by simultaneously applying sustain pulses to the scan and sustain electrodes located adjacent to the scan and sustain electrodes to cause the sustain discharge to maintain the display of the selected cell by Sustain It characterized in that it includes means.

In the PDP driving method according to the present invention, in order to select a discharge cell to be displayed on a panel, data pulses are applied to the address electrode and scan pulses are sequentially applied to the scan and sustain electrodes to cause addressing discharge for the entire panel, and the selected discharge Applying sustain pulses to the scan and sustain electrodes and the adjacent scan line pairs simultaneously to maintain the display of the cell, thereby causing sustain discharge between the adjacent scan and sustain electrodes.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention in addition to the above object will become apparent from the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a configuration of a PDP driving apparatus for explaining a PDP driving method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The PDP driving apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2 includes scan / sustain electrodes disposed on the PDP 20. Referring to FIG. The odd-numbered first to fourth scan / sustain driver 22, 24, 26, 28 and the address electrodes X1 to Xm of the PDP 20 for driving (Y1 to Yn) by dividing the lines into four lines First and second address drivers for driving the address electrodes X1, X3, ..., Xm-3, Xm-1 and the even-numbered address electrodes X2, X4, ..., Xm-2, Xm, respectively. 30, 32).

In the PDP driving apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the PDP 20 includes scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn disposed in the horizontal direction on the upper plate, address electrodes X1 to Xm disposed in the vertical direction on the lower plate, At the intersection of the scan / sustain electrode Y and the address electrode X, n × m cells 34 formed in a matrix structure are provided. At the time of scanning, an address discharge is caused between the scan / sustain electrode Y and the address electrode X intersecting, and at the next holding, a sustain discharge is caused between the adjacent scan / sustain electrodes Y. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, an address discharge is generated between the first scan / sustain electrode Y1 and the address electrodes X1 to Xm during scanning, and the first scan / sustain electrode Y1 and Sustain discharge is caused between the second scan / sustain electrodes Y2. As described above, as the sustain discharge occurs between the adjacent scan / sustain electrodes Y, the discharge path is longer than in the related art, and thus the positive beam region can be used.

Here, when comparing the PDP 20 shown in FIG. 2 and the conventional PDP 10 shown in FIG. 1, the PDP 20 according to the present invention includes a conventional common sustain electrode for scanning and sustaining a scan line. It can be seen that only the scan / sustain electrode is provided without the need. In other words, the conventional PDP 10 includes 960 horizontal electrodes for driving 480 scan lines of VGA class, but the PDP 20 according to the present invention includes 480 horizontal electrodes. In addition, sustain discharge can be performed only by the scan / sustain electrodes. Due to this, although a high resolution can be realized in the related art, even if the PDP 20 according to the present invention has the same size as the conventional one, since there is no sustain electrode itself, it is possible to improve the resolution by about two times by additionally providing another cell in place. It becomes possible.

The first to fourth scan / sustain drivers 22, 24, 26, and 28 are disposed at both sides of the PDP 20 to divide the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn into four to drive the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 to Yn. For example, when the number of scan / sustain electrodes is 480, each scan / sustain driver drives 120 scan / sustain electrode lines.

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the first scan / sustain driver 22 disposed on the left side of the PDP 20 may include Y1, Y5, Y9,... Among the scan / sustain electrodes. , Y477 lines, and the second scan / sustain driver 24 is Y2, Y6, Y10,... Drive the Y478 lines. Further, the third scan / sustain driver 26 disposed on the right side of the PDP 20 is Y3, Y7, Y11,... , Y479 lines, and the fourth scan / sustain driver 28 is Y4, Y8, Y12,... Drive the Y480 lines. In the address period, four scan / sustain electrodes are driven by supplying scan pulses to the scan / sustain electrodes Y from the first to fourth scan / sustain drivers 22, 24, 26, and 28, respectively. . In the scan / sustain period, the first and second scan / sustain drives 22 and 24 cause the sustain discharge to occur between the left adjacent scan / sustain electrodes Y1-Y2, Y5-Y6, ..., Y477-Y478. Supply the pulse. Similarly, the third and fourth scan / sustain drives 26 and 28 cause sustain pulses to cause sustain discharge between adjacent adjacent scan / sustain electrodes Y3-Y4, Y7-Y8, ..., Y479-Y480. To supply. Accordingly, unlike the conventional method in which a sustain discharge occurs between Y1 and Z1, a sustain discharge occurs between Y1, Y2, Y3, and Y4, so that the discharge light emitting area is enlarged, thereby making it possible to use a positive light region with high discharge efficiency.

Referring to FIG. 3, the structure of the PDP 20 shown in FIG. 2 is shown in three dimensions.

In the PDP 20 shown in FIG. 3, the address electrode X is disposed on the lower plate and the scan / sustain electrode Y is disposed on the upper plate. The partition wall formed parallel to the address electrode X serves to separate cells corresponding to red, green, and blue. During the address discharge, an opposite discharge occurs between the address electrode X and the scan / sustain electrodes Y1, Y2, ..., Y480, and between the adjacent scan / sustain electrodes Y1-Y2, Y3-Y4, ... during sustain discharge. Sustain discharge occurs.

4, the light emitting area of the cell in the PDP according to the present invention is shown.

In the PDP 20 shown in FIG. 4, the cells 34a and 34b provided in the adjacent scan lines, that is, the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 and Y2 are respectively formed at the address electrode X and the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 and Y2. After the address discharge is generated, discharge is performed by the sustain pulses applied to the first scan / sustain electrode Y1 and the second scan / sustain electrode Y2 to have an enlarged light emitting area than before. At this time. When only one cell 34a or 34b is turned on and when two cells 34a and 34b are turned on at the same time, Y1 and Y2 have the same sustain discharge. However, when one cell 34a or 34b is turned on and two cells 34a and 34b are turned on, each of the address electrodes X and the scan / sustain electrodes Y1 and Y2 is classified according to whether or not there is an address discharge. Will be.

Referring to FIG. 5, a sustain pulse supplied to the scan / sustain electrodes Y1, Y2, Y3, and Y4 of the PDP 20 shown in FIG. In Fig. 5, (a) shows sustain pulses supplied to four scan / sustain electrodes Y1, Y2, Y3, and Y4, and (b) shows adjacent scan / sustain electrodes Y1- according to the sustain pulse. Y2, Y3-Y4) shows the voltage difference.

At the time t1 of the sustain period, as shown in (a), the first scan / sustain electrode Yl and the second scan / sustain electrode Y2 are opposite to each other in the first and second scan / sustain drives 22 and 24, respectively. Apply a sustain pulse synchronized in the form. In this case, the voltage difference between the first scan / sustain electrode Y1 and the second scan / sustain electrode Y2 becomes higher than the voltage that can cause sustain discharge as shown in (b), thereby causing sustain discharge to maintain the light emission state. do. Then, at time t2 with a slight time difference, the third scan / sustain electrode Y3 and the fourth scan / sustain electrode Y4 and the fourth scan / sustain electrode Y4 are moved from the third and fourth scan / sustain drivers 26 and 28 as shown in (a). Synchronized sustain pulses are applied in opposite forms to each other so that the voltage difference between the two electrodes Y3-Y4 becomes higher than the voltage capable of causing the sustain discharge as shown in (b), thereby causing the sustain discharge to maintain the light emitting state.

Referring to Fig. 6, the voltage waveforms supplied to the address electrodes and the arbitrary scan / sustain electrodes Y1, Y100 and Y480 in the address period are shown.

In FIG. 6, it can be seen that each of the scan / sustain electrodes Y1, Y100, and Y480 causes selective write discharge due to the data pulse supplied to the address electrode X and the scan pulses sequentially supplied in synchronization with the address electrode X in the address period. .

As a result, the PDP according to the present invention has a scanning / sustaining electrode corresponding to half of the prior art and causes a sustain discharge between adjacent scan / sustaining electrodes, thereby expanding the light emitting area than before.

As described above, according to the PDP driving apparatus and method according to the present invention, the number of sustain electrodes can be reduced by half compared to the conventional method, which not only simplifies the structure but also reduces the manufacturing cost. In addition, as the sustain discharge is generated between adjacent scan / sustain electrodes, the light emitting area of the cell is enlarged to utilize the positive light main area, thereby increasing discharge efficiency and luminance. Furthermore, according to the PDP according to the present invention, by providing other cells in addition to the conventional sustain electrode it is easy to implement high resolution.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (6)

A plasma display panel having a plurality of discharge cells arranged in a matrix form, comprising: an address electrode causing an addressing discharge by applying a data pulse to select a discharge cell to be displayed on the panel; Scanning and sustain electrodes formed on each line, addressing drive means for applying an address pulse by applying the data pulse to the address electrode, and scanning and sustain electrodes of each scan line to cause the addressing discharge between the address electrodes. In order to generate a sustain discharge which in turn applies a scan pulse and maintains the display of the cell selected by the addressing discharge, the sustain pulse is simultaneously applied to the scan and sustain electrodes located in the scan line adjacent to the scan and sustain electrodes. A plasma display panel drive device comprising scanning and sustain driving means for causing a sustain discharge to hold a display of a cell. The plasma display panel driving apparatus of claim 1, further comprising first and second address driving means for driving the address electrodes by dividing them into odd-numbered and even-numbered electrodes. The scan and sustain driving means according to claim 1, wherein the scan and sustain drive means supplies a sustain pulse and an n + 2 th supply to the scan and sustain electrodes included in the n (n is an integer greater than or equal to 0) and the n + 1 scan line, respectively. And a scanning pulse supplied to the scan line and the sustain and sustain electrodes included in the n + 3th scan line so as to have a predetermined phase difference. The scan and sustain driving unit of claim 1, wherein the scan and sustain driving means comprises: a first scan and sustain driver for driving the scan and sustain electrodes included in the scan line increased by four lines from the nth scan line and the n + 1th scan line; And a second scan and sustain driver for driving the scan and sustain electrodes included in the scan line increased by four lines from the n + 2 th scan line and the n + 3 th scan line. Drive system. The scan and sustain driving means of claim 1, wherein the scan and sustain driving means comprises: a first scan and sustain driver for driving the scan and sustain electrodes included in the scan line increased by 4 lines from the nth scan line, and the n + 1th scan; A second scan and sustain driver for driving the scan and sustain electrodes included in the scan lines increased by four lines from the line; and the scan and sustain electrodes included in the scan lines increased by four lines from the n + 2th scan line. A third scan and sustain driver for driving and a fourth scan and sustain driver for driving the scan and sustain electrodes included in the scan line increased by four lines from the n + 3 th scan line; Display panel drive. A plasma display panel having a data electrode and a plurality of discharge cells in which scan and sustain electrodes are arranged in a matrix form, wherein a data pulse is applied to the address electrode to select a discharge cell to be displayed on the panel. Applying a scanning pulse to the sustain electrode in order to cause addressing discharge for the entire panel, and simultaneously applying a sustain pulse to the scan and sustain electrode pairs adjacent to the scan and sustain electrodes to maintain the display of the selected discharge cell. A method of driving a plasma display panel comprising causing a sustain discharge between a scan and a sustain electrode.