KR100400377B1 - Plasma Display Panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma display panel capable of improving discharge efficiency.

The plasma display panel according to the present invention includes a trigger electrode formed on a discharge cell, a sustain electrode pair overlapping a predetermined portion of the trigger electrodes, and formed on a layer different from the trigger electrodes, the trigger electrodes, and the sustain electrode. An address electrode orthogonal to the pair is provided.

Description

Plasma Display Panel

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel capable of improving discharge efficiency.

Plasma Display Panel (hereinafter referred to as "PDP") is a display device using visible light generated from a phosphor when vacuum ultraviolet rays generated by gas discharge excite the phosphor. PDP is thinner and lighter than Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), which has been the mainstay of display means, and has the advantage of being able to realize high definition large screen. PDP is composed of a plurality of discharge cells arranged in a matrix form, one discharge cell constitutes a pixel of the screen.

1 is a perspective view showing a discharge cell structure of a conventional three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP.

Referring to FIG. 1, a discharge cell of a conventional three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP includes a scan / sustain electrode 12Y and a common sustain electrode 12Z formed on an upper substrate 10, and a lower substrate 18. The formed address electrode 20X is provided. The upper dielectric layer 14 and the passivation layer 16 are stacked on the upper substrate 10 having the scan / sustain electrode 12Y and the common sustain electrode 12Z side by side. In the upper dielectric layer 14, wall charges generated during plasma discharge are accumulated. The protective layer 16 prevents damage to the upper dielectric layer 14 due to sputtering generated during plasma discharge and increases discharge efficiency of secondary electrons. As the protective film 16, magnesium oxide (MgO) is usually used. The lower dielectric layer 22 and the partition wall 24 are formed on the lower substrate 18 on which the address electrode 20X is formed, and the phosphor layer 26 is coated on the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 22 and the partition wall 24. The address electrode 20X is formed in the direction crossing the scan / sustain electrode 12Y and the common sustain electrode 12Z. The partition wall 24 is formed in parallel with the address electrode 20X to prevent ultraviolet rays and visible light generated by the discharge from leaking to the adjacent discharge cells. The phosphor layer 26 is excited by ultraviolet rays generated during plasma discharge to generate visible light of any one of red, green, and blue. Inert gas for gas discharge is injected into the discharge space provided between the upper substrate 10 / lower substrate 18 and the partition wall 24.

The AC surface discharge type PDP is driven by dividing one frame into several subfields having different discharge times in order to express gray level of an image. Each subfield is further divided into a reset period for uniformly causing discharge, an address period for selecting a discharge cell, and a sustain period for expressing gray scale according to the number of discharges. For example, when the image is to be displayed with 256 gray levels, the frame period (16.67 ms) corresponding to 1/60 second is divided into eight subfields. Each of the eight subfields is further divided into an address period and a sustain period. Here, the reset period and the address period of each subfield are the same for each subfield, while the sustain period is 2 ⁿ (n = 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) in each subfield. Is increased. In this way, since the sustain period is different in each subfield, the gray level of the image can be expressed.

Here, in the reset period, a reset pulse is supplied to the common sustain electrode 12Z to cause reset discharge. In the address period, scan pulses are supplied to the scan / sustain electrodes 12Y, and data pulses are supplied to the address electrodes 20X to generate address discharges between the two electrodes 12Y and 20X. During the address discharge, wall charges are formed in the upper and lower dielectric layers 14 and 22. In the sustain period, sustain discharge occurs between the two electrodes 12Y and 12Z by an alternating current signal alternately supplied to the scan / sustain electrode 12Y and the common sustain electrode 12Z.

However, in the conventional AC surface discharge PDP, the sustain discharge space is concentrated in the center of the upper substrate 10, thereby decreasing the utilization of the discharge space. Accordingly, there is a problem that the discharge area is reduced and the luminous efficiency is reduced. In order to solve this problem, a 5-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has been proposed.

2 and 3 are a perspective view and a plan view showing a discharge cell structure of a conventional 5-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the conventional 5-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP includes first and second trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z formed on the upper substrate 30 so as to be positioned at the center portion of the discharge cell. The lower substrate in a direction orthogonal to the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z, the trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z, and the sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z formed on the upper substrate 30 so as to be positioned at the edges. An address electrode 42X formed in the center portion of the 40 is provided. An upper dielectric layer 36 and a protective layer 38 are stacked on the upper substrate 30 having the sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z and the trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z side by side. The lower dielectric layer 44 and the barrier rib 46 are formed on the lower substrate 40 on which the address electrode 42X is formed, and the phosphor layer 48 is coated on the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 44 and the barrier rib 46. The trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z formed at narrow intervals in the center of the discharge cell are used to start the sustain discharge by receiving an AC pulse during the sustain period. The first sustain electrode 32Y and the second sustain electrode 32Z formed at a wide interval at the edge of the discharge cell are supplied with alternating current pulses during the sustain period to start the discharge between the trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z, and then maintain the plasma discharge. Used for.

The conventional 5-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP is driven by dividing one frame into several subfields having different discharge times in order to express the gray level of an image. Each subfield is further divided into a reset period for uniformly generating discharge, an address period for selecting a discharge cell, and a sustain period for expressing gray scale according to the number of discharges. In the reset period, a reset pulse is supplied to the first trigger electrode 34Y of the discharge cell to generate reset discharge for initializing the discharge cell. In the address period, scan pulses are sequentially supplied to the first trigger electrode 34Y, and data pulses synchronized with the scan pulses are supplied to the address electrodes 42X. At this time, address discharge occurs in the discharge cells supplied with the data pulses. By this address discharge, wall charges are formed on the first trigger electrode 34Y. In the sustain period, a sustain pulse having a predetermined voltage level is alternately supplied to the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z, and a voltage level lower than that of the sustain pulse is supplied to the first and second trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z. Trigger pulses are alternately supplied. Trigger discharge between the first and second trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z when the sustain pulse and the trigger pulse are supplied to the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z and the first and second trigger electrodes 34Y and 34Z. This happens. When trigger discharge occurs as described above, charged particles are generated, and the secondary discharge is induced between the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z by the priming effect of the generated charged particles.

However, in the conventional 5-electrode PDP, the wall charges generated during the address discharge are formed only on the first trigger electrode 34Y. Thus, the wall charges during the sustain discharges generated by the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z are reduced. Not available Therefore, in order to cause efficient sustain discharge, a sustain pulse having a high voltage level must be applied to the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z. However, when a sustain pulse having a high voltage level is supplied to the first and second sustain electrodes 32Y and 32Z, a discharge occurs with the address electrode 42X formed on the lower substrate 40, thereby lowering the discharge efficiency. .

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plasma display panel capable of improving the discharge efficiency.

1 is a perspective view showing a conventional three-electrode AC surface discharge type plasma display panel.

2 is a perspective view showing a conventional 5-electrode AC surface discharge type plasma display panel.

3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an AC surface discharge plasma display panel shown in FIG. 2.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing an AC surface discharge plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10,30,50: upper substrate 12Y: scan / sustain electrode

12Z: common sustain electrode 14,22,36,44,56,64,66: dielectric layer

16,38,62: protective film 18,40,60: lower substrate

20X, 42X, 58X: address electrode 24, 46: partition wall

26,48: phosphor layer 32Y, 32Z, 52Y, 52Z: sustain electrode

34Y, 34Z, 54Y, 54Z: Trigger electrode

In order to achieve the above object, a plasma display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a trigger electrode formed in a discharge cell, a sustain electrode formed on a different layer from the trigger electrodes and overlapping with a predetermined portion of the trigger electrodes. And an address electrode orthogonal to the trigger electrodes and the sustain electrode pair. The address discharge generated between the trigger electrode to which a scanning pulse is applied and the address electrode to which a data pulse is applied among the trigger electrodes are provided. Discharge is generated between the pair of sustain electrodes by using wall charges on the sustain electrode overlapping the trigger electrode to which the scan pulse is applied.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above objects will become apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the PDP of the present invention includes first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z formed on the upper substrate 50 to be positioned at the center of the discharge cell, and an upper substrate to be positioned at the edge of the discharge cell. Address electrodes formed on the lower substrate 60 in a direction orthogonal to the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z formed on the 50 and the trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z and the sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z. (58X). The first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z and the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z are formed on different layers so that the predetermined portions L may overlap each other. The first upper dielectric layer 64 is formed on the first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z, and the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z are formed on the first upper dielectric layer 64. Here, the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z are formed to overlap the first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z with a predetermined portion (L). The second upper dielectric layer 66 and the passivation layer 62 are stacked on the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z.

The lower dielectric layer 56 and the partition wall (not shown) are formed on the lower substrate 60 on which the address electrode 58X is formed, and the phosphor layer (not shown) is coated on the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 56 and the partition wall.

The PDP of the present invention is driven by dividing one frame into several subfields having different discharge times in order to express the gray level of an image. Each subfield is further divided into a reset period for uniformly generating discharge, an address period for selecting a discharge cell, and a sustain period for expressing gray scale according to the number of discharges. In the reset period, a reset pulse is supplied to the first trigger electrode 54Y of the discharge cell to generate reset discharge for initializing the discharge cell. In the address period, scan pulses are sequentially supplied to the first trigger electrode 54Y, and data pulses synchronized with the scan pulses are supplied to the address electrodes 58X. In this manner, address discharge occurs in the discharge cells supplied with the data pulses, and wall charges generated during the address discharge are formed on the first trigger electrode 54Y. At this time, since the first trigger electrode 54Y and the first sustain electrode 52Y are formed to overlap each other, the wall charges generated during the address discharge are overlapped with the first sustain electrode 52Y and the first trigger electrode 54Y. It is also formed in L). In the sustain period, a sustain pulse having a predetermined voltage level is alternately supplied to the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z, and a voltage level lower than that of the sustain pulse is supplied to the first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z. Trigger pulses are alternately supplied. Trigger discharge between the first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z when the sustain pulse and the trigger pulse are supplied to the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z and the first and second trigger electrodes 54Y and 54Z. This happens. When trigger discharge occurs as described above, charged particles are generated, and the secondary discharge is induced between the first and second sustain electrodes 52Y and 52Z by the priming effect of the generated charged particles. At this time, since wall charges are formed at a portion where the first sustain electrode 52Y and the first trigger electrode 54Y overlap, a sustain pulse having a low voltage level can be supplied. That is, a sustain pulse having a voltage level as low as the voltage of the wall charge may be supplied to the first sustain electrode 52Y. Further, since the first sustain electrode 52Y and the first trigger electrode 54Y overlap each other, and the second sustain electrode 52Z and the second trigger electrode 54Z overlap each other, the trigger pulse and the sustain pulse are overlapped. The voltage values of are overlapped. Therefore, since a sustain pulse having a low voltage level can be applied, the discharge efficiency can be improved.

As described above, according to the plasma display panel according to the present invention, since the sustain electrodes and the trigger electrodes are formed to overlap a predetermined portion, the wall charges formed by the address discharge can be used for the sustain discharge. Therefore, a sustain pulse having a low voltage level can be supplied and the discharge efficiency is improved. Furthermore, since the voltage value of the sustain pulse supplied to the sustain electrodes and the voltage value of the trigger pulse supplied to the trigger electrodes are also summed in the overlapped region, the sustain pulse having a low voltage level can be supplied.

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 (3)

Trigger electrodes formed on the discharge cell, A pair of sustain electrodes overlapping the trigger electrodes with a predetermined portion and formed on a different layer from the trigger electrodes; An address electrode orthogonal to the trigger electrodes and the sustain electrode pair; The sustain is performed by using wall charges on the sustain electrode overlapping the trigger electrode to which the scan pulse is applied when an address discharge is generated between the trigger electrode to which the scan pulse is applied and the address electrode to which the data pulse is applied. And a discharge occurs between the electrode pairs. delete The method of claim 1, A first dielectric layer formed between the trigger electrodes and the sustain electrode pair and formed on the upper substrate to cover the trigger electrodes; A second dielectric layer formed on the first dielectric layer to cover the sustain electrode pair; And a passivation layer formed to cover the second dielectric layer.