KR100344795B1 - Method for driving plasma display panel and structure of the plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a structure and a driving method of a plasma display panel, wherein an amount of priming particles is increased in a discharge cell to prevent addressing failure or miswriting of the plasma display panel. In the panel, a plurality of address electrodes are formed to be inclined in one direction from the center of the discharge cell in a continuous direction, and a plurality of auxiliary electrodes formed one adjacent to each address electrode between each address electrode Since priming particles are more easily generated during the address period, the possibility of addressing failure or miswriting is reduced, thereby preventing the discharge of the discharge cells.

Description

Method for driving plasma display panel and structure of the plasma display panel

The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to an address electrode causing an address discharge of the plasma display panel.

Plasma display panels are attracting attention as the next generation display devices because they have both the vivid image quality of cathode ray tubes (CRT), various screen sizes, and the advantages of thin liquid crystal displays. Plasma display panels are generally lighter than the cathode ray tubes with the same screen size, and are light, even though large panels of 40 to 60 inches are characterized by a thickness of 10 cm or less.

In addition, the cathode ray tube or the liquid crystal display device has a problem of size limitation when simultaneously displaying a digital data image and a full motion picture, but the plasma display panel does not have such a problem. In addition, while the cathode ray tube is affected by the magnetic force, the plasma display panel is not affected by the magnetic force, thereby providing a stable image to the viewer. In addition, because each pixel is digitally adjusted, the image in the corner of the screen is not distorted, so that the image quality is superior to that of the cathode ray tube.

The plasma display panel is composed of two glass substrates coated with electrodes. The electrodes formed on the glass substrates face each other in the vertical direction, and serve as pixels at each intersection of the electrodes. The operation of the plasma display panel is almost the same as that of the home fluorescent lamp.

In the typical three-electrode surface discharge plasma display panel, as shown in FIG. 1A, the upper substrate 10 and the lower substrate 20 installed to face each other are bonded to each other. FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional structure of the plasma display panel illustrated in FIG. 1A, and the lower substrate 20 is rotated by 90 ° for convenience of description.

The upper substrate 10 is a dielectric layer for coating the scan electrodes 16 and 16 'and the sustain electrodes 17 and 17' formed in parallel with each other, and the scan electrodes 16 and 16 'and the sustain electrodes 17 and 17'. And a protective film 12, wherein the lower substrate 20 is formed between the address electrode 22 and the dielectric film 21 formed on the entire surface of the substrate including the address electrode 22, and the address electrode 22. As shown in FIG. A partition 23 formed on the dielectric film 21 of the dielectric film 21, and a phosphor 23 formed on the surface of the partition wall 23 and the dielectric film 21 in each discharge cell. The upper substrate 10 and the lower substrate 20 The space between) is filled with an inert gas such as helium (He), xenon (Xe) and the like at a pressure of about 400 to 600 Torr to form a discharge region.

In general, the inert gas filled in the discharge space of the direct current plasma display panel is a mixture of helium-xenon (He-Xe), and the inert gas filled in the discharge space of the AC plasma display panel is neon-xenon (Ne). -Xe) mixed gas is used a lot.

The scan electrodes 16 and 16 'and the sustain electrodes 17 and 17' are made of transparent electrodes 16 and 17 and a metal bus as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B to increase light transmittance of each discharge cell. It consists of electrodes 16 'and 17'. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the sustain electrodes 17 and 17 'and the scan electrodes 16 and 16', and FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the sustain electrodes 17 and 17 'and the scan electrodes 16 and 16'. The bus electrodes 16 'and 17' receive a discharge voltage from an external driving IC, and the transparent electrodes 16 and 17 receive a discharge voltage applied to the bus electrodes 16 'and 17' and are adjacent to each other. It causes discharge between (16, 17). The overall width of the transparent electrodes 16 and 17 is about 300 micrometers (µm) indium oxide or tin oxide, and the bus electrodes 16 'and 17' are made of chromium (Cr) -copper (Cu) -chromium. It consists of three thin films comprised of (Cr). At this time, the width of the bus electrode 16 ', 17' lines is set to approximately one third the width of the transparent electrode 16, 17 line.

3 shows scan electrodes Sm-1, Sm, Sm + 1, ..., Sn-1, Sn, Sn + 1 arranged on an upper substrate, and sustain electrodes Cm-1, Cm, Cm + 1,. .., Cn-1, Cn, Cn + 1). The scan electrodes are insulated from each other, but the sustain electrodes are all connected in parallel. In particular, the division shown by the dotted line in Fig. 3 represents the effective surface on which the image is displayed, and the other divisions represent the invalid surface on which the image is not displayed. The scan electrodes arranged on the invalid surface are commonly referred to as dummy electrodes 26, but the number of such dummy electrodes 26 is not particularly limited.

The operation of the three-electrode surface discharge type AC plasma display panel configured as described above is as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D.

First, when a driving voltage is applied between the address electrode and the scan electrode, an opposite discharge occurs between the address electrode and the scan electrode as shown in FIG. 4A. By the opposite discharge, the inert gas injected into the discharge cell is excited and then transitions back to the ground state, and ions are generated. Some of the generated ions or quasi-excited atoms are generated. Impinge on the protective layer surface as shown in 4b. Due to the collision of electrons, electrons are secondarily emitted from the surface of the protective layer. The secondary electrons collide with the gas in the plasma state to diffuse the discharge. After the opposite discharge between the address electrode and the scan electrode is finished, opposite charge wall charges are generated on the surface of the protective layer on each address electrode and the scan electrode as shown in FIG. 4C.

When the discharge voltages having opposite polarities are continuously applied to the scan electrode and the sustain electrode, and the driving voltage applied to the address electrode is cut off at the same time, the potential difference between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode as shown in FIG. Surface discharge occurs in the discharge region on the surface of the dielectric layer and the protective layer. Due to the opposite discharge and the surface discharge, electrons present in the discharge cell collide with the inert gas inside the discharge cell. As a result, ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 147 nm are generated in the discharge cells while the inert gas of the discharge cells is excited. Such ultraviolet rays collide with the phosphor surrounding the address electrode and the partition wall, and the phosphor is excited. The excited phosphors generate visible light, and the visible light causes an image to be displayed on the screen.

One pixel includes a discharge cell in which a red phosphor is formed, a discharge cell in which a green phosphor is formed, and a discharge cell in which a blue phosphor is formed. The plasma display panel adjusts the discharge frequency of each discharge cell, thereby realizing the gray level of the image.

In order to cause discharge in each discharge cell, there must be free electrons, ions, metastable atoms, and the like. Electrons, ions and metastable atoms can be seen as priming particles. When an electron has a sufficient electric field, it moves and accelerates, and when an electron accelerated to a certain speed collides with a gas atom or a metastable gas atom, the gas atom or metastable gas atom can be ionized. When an atom becomes ionized, it is separated into electrons and ions, and the separated electrons are again accelerated by an electric field.

Fully accelerated electrons again collide with other gas atoms, allowing another ionization to occur.

The ions are accelerated in the opposite direction to the electrons, and when the ions collide with the protective layer (MgO) on the cathode side, secondary electrons are released, and these secondary electrons are again accelerated by an electric field and collide with other gas atoms. When the electric field is caught and the collision of electrons and gas atoms occurs, the number of ionized electrons increases and the number of secondary electrons generated by collision of the protective layer of ions increases. The phenomenon that the flow of ions increases like an avalanche is called discharge.

At this time, it takes approximately several hundred nanoseconds (ns) to several microseconds for the electric field to be discharged. This phenomenon is called discharge lag. The late discharge is divided into statistical time lag and formal time lag, which are caused by gas type and pressure, cell structure, and secondary electron emission coefficient of MgO. Acts as. The late discharge is the statistical late plus the late formation. The late discharge is related to how narrow the pulse can drive the plasma display panel.

Late formation is generally within hundreds of nanoseconds (ns), while statistical late takes from hundreds of nanoseconds (ns) to several microseconds. If the priming particles are present in sufficient concentration, the statistical delay will be constant within hundreds of nanoseconds, but if the priming particles are not present in sufficient concentration, a delay of 3 microseconds to 4 microseconds or more will occur. This happens sometimes. Priming particles are the most immediately after discharge and gradually diffuse into the discharge space, recombine, or become excited and then become smaller in number.

In general, priming particle concentrations up to 30 microseconds after discharge have not affected the statistical lateness of the next discharge, and priming particle concentrations after 30 microseconds or more have affected the statistical lateness of the next discharge. give.

When pulses are applied to the scan electrode and the address electrode for the address discharge, the discharge is completed within a desired time (typically 3 microseconds) when the priming particles are sufficient, so that the wall charge is sufficiently formed. However, in the conventional plasma display panel, when the priming particles are insufficient, the discharge may not be completed within a desired time, and thus, the discharge may not occur in the discharge cell to be discharged. This case is called addressing failure or miswriting.

In the conventional plasma display panel, since the amount of priming particles used for the priming effect is insufficient, the late discharge is not constant. Accordingly, in order to sufficiently generate wall charges, the width of the scan pulses applied to the scan electrodes must be widened to a predetermined level or more, so that the sustain period becomes shorter as the resolution increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and by increasing the amount of priming particles in the discharge cell to prevent addressing failure or miswriting of the plasma display panel, the width of the address pulse is reduced, and a high resolution plasma display panel is provided. The purpose is to manufacture.

1A and 1B are a cross-sectional view and a plan view showing the structure of a general plasma display panel.

2A and 2B are plan views illustrating structures of the scan electrode and the sustain electrode of the plasma display panel.

3 is a plan view showing wirings of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode of the plasma display panel;

4A to 4D are cross-sectional views illustrating a discharge principle of the plasma display panel.

5 and 6 are a cross-sectional view and a plan view schematically showing a plasma display panel of the present invention.

7 is a waveform diagram showing a voltage pulse applied to the plasma display panel of the present invention.

Symbol description for main parts of drawing

100: upper substrate 200: lower substrate

300: partition 400: auxiliary electrode

500: address electrode 600: discharge electrode of the sustain electrode

700: bus electrode of sustain electrode 600 ': discharge electrode of scan electrode

700 ': bus electrode 800 of scan electrode 800: dielectric layer

900: shield

The present invention is characterized in that the auxiliary electrode is provided separately from the address electrode, and a continuous auxiliary pulse having the same period as the address pulse is applied to the auxiliary electrode.

The plasma display panel of the present invention includes a plurality of address electrodes continuously formed on the lower substrate, and auxiliary electrodes formed one by one adjacent to the address electrodes between the address electrodes. In addition, similar to the structure of the conventional plasma display panel, the plasma display panel of the present invention includes the partition 300, the phosphor layer formed on the lower substrate 200, the sustain electrodes 600 and 700 formed on the upper substrate 100, and the scan. The electrodes 600 'and 700', the dielectric layer 800, and the passivation layer 900 are included. In particular, the sustain electrode and the scan electrode are each made of a transparent electrode and a discharge electrode 600, 600 'and a metal electrode. It consists of a bus electrode (700, 700 ') consisting of. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a plasma display panel of the present invention, Figure 6 is a plan view.

The address electrodes 500 are continuously formed on the lower substrate 200 and have the same structure as a conventional plasma display panel. However, the address electrode 500 of the present invention is formed not to be located at the center of the discharge cell but to be oriented in one direction. That is, the partition wall 300 provided in the plasma display panel of the present invention is not positioned at the central portion between the address electrodes 500, but is formed at a position biased in one direction.

In other words, the partition wall 300 installed in the plasma display panel according to the present invention pairs one address electrode 500 and one auxiliary electrode 400 to each other, and divides the other address electrode 500 adjacent to the center of the address electrode 500. It is formed so as to be biased in one direction from the center of the.

The auxiliary electrodes 400 are formed between the address electrodes 500, and are formed to be adjacent to each address electrode 500. The auxiliary electrodes 400 are commonly connected to the outside of the display area of the panel and are formed to have a width narrower than that of the address electrode 500.

The plasma display panel of the present invention operates in the following manner. 7 is a waveform diagram showing waveforms of pulses applied to the plasma display panel of the present invention.

First, an auxiliary pulse periodically turned on is applied to the auxiliary electrode 400. The auxiliary pulse is the same as the period of the address pulse applied to the address electrode 500, and the high voltage has a range of 60 volts to 90 volts. At this time, the on period of the auxiliary pulse is preferably set to 2 microseconds or more. In addition, the auxiliary pulse is applied only during the address period of the plasma display panel.

While the auxiliary pulse is applied to the auxiliary electrode 400, an address pulse selectively turned on is applied to the address electrode 500. The auxiliary electrodes 400 are all applied with the same pulse, but each address electrode 500 may be applied with an on address pulse or an off address pulse according to image data.

At this time, the scan pulse is applied to the scan electrode when the address pulse is turned on. The scan pulse is not applied to all scan electrodes at the same time but is applied one by one according to the image data.

The operation principle of the plasma display panel of the present invention operating as described above is as follows.

When the auxiliary pulse applied to the auxiliary electrode 400 is on and the address pulse applied to the address electrode 500 is off, the potential difference between the scan electrode of the upper substrate 100 which is not applied to the scan pulse and (①). However, since such a potential difference is not a level which will cause a plasma discharge, discharge will not generate | occur | produce in a discharge cell. However, since the potential difference between the auxiliary electrode 400 and the scan electrode is generated by applying the auxiliary pulse to the auxiliary electrode 400, priming particles are easily generated in the discharge space in the discharge cell.

However, when the auxiliary pulse applied to the auxiliary electrode 400 is on and the address pulse applied to the address electrode 500 is on, the scan electrode and the potential difference of the upper substrate 100 to which the scan pulse is applied are applied. Is larger than the case (1) described above (2). Since the potential difference at this time is a level capable of causing plasma discharge, address discharge occurs in the discharge cells. In particular, the potential difference between the auxiliary pulse applied to the auxiliary electrode 400 and the scan pulse applied to the scan electrode further promotes the generation of priming particles of the discharge cell so that the address discharge can be more easily generated.

Therefore, the discharge condition in the discharge cell is further improved than the conventional method without the auxiliary pulse. As a result, the probability of addressing failure or miswriting in which address discharge does not occur is reduced than before.

The plasma display panel of the present invention has advantages in that priming particles are more easily generated during the address period than in the conventional plasma display panel, thereby reducing the probability of addressing failure or miswriting. Accordingly, the present invention has the effect of reducing the mis-discharge of the discharge cells. In addition, since the priming particles are more easily generated, since the sustain discharge is more easily performed than in the conventional case, the voltage of the sustain pulse can be lowered, thereby reducing power consumption.

Claims (7)

In the plasma display panel having a plurality of discharge cells, A plurality of address electrodes which are formed to be biased in either direction from the center of the discharge cell and are continuously formed on the substrate; and And a plurality of auxiliary electrodes each formed to be adjacent to each of the address electrodes between the address electrodes. The structure of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary electrodes are commonly connected to the outside of the substrate. The structure of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary electrode is narrower than a width of the address electrode. delete A plurality of discharge cells, an address electrode formed to be biased in one direction from the center of the discharge cell and continuously formed on the lower substrate, a scan electrode formed to be orthogonal to the address electrode on the upper substrate, and an address on the lower substrate In the plasma display panel including an auxiliary electrode formed by being paired with one electrode, Applying an auxiliary pulse periodically turned on to the auxiliary electrode, Applying an address pulse selectively on to the address electrode having the same period as that of the auxiliary pulse, and And applying a scan pulse selectively on to the scan electrode when the address pulse is turned on. The method of claim 5, wherein the voltage of the auxiliary pulse is in the range of 60 volts to 90 volts. 6. The method of driving a plasma display panel according to claim 5, wherein an on period of the auxiliary pulse is at least 2 microseconds.