KR100424253B1 - Method for driving a plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention describes a method of driving a plasma display panel in which a discharge sustain voltage of a sine wave is applied instead of a square wave in a discharge sustain period to improve the continuity of discharge. In the method of driving the plasma display panel according to the present invention, the sine wave voltage is applied continuously during the sustain period during which the display discharge is maintained, so that the sustain discharge is continuously performed, thereby obtaining excellent characteristics in terms of brightness and efficiency.

Description

Method for driving a plasma display panel

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for driving a plasma display panel in which a discharge continuation voltage of a sine wave is applied instead of a square wave in a discharge sustain period to improve continuity of discharge.

1 shows a basic structure of a general AC surface discharge plasma display panel. As illustrated, the AC type surface discharge plasma display panel forms a discharge space 15 in the front glass substrate 11 and the back glass substrate 17. In the AC type surface discharge plasma display panel, a scan electrode pair 12 for maintaining a discharge is embedded in the dielectric layer 13 to be electrically isolated from the discharge space 15. In this case, the discharge is maintained by the well-known wall charge effect. In such a surface discharge structure, a scan electrode pair 12 formed side by side on the front substrate 11 and an address electrode 16 provided on the rear substrate 17 to intersect the scan electrode pair 12 are provided. In this structure, an address discharge for selecting a pixel occurs between the address electrode 16 and the scan electrode pair 12, and then the common electrode (X electrode) 12a and the scan electrode (Y electrode), which are the scan electrode pair 12; A sustain discharge for displaying a video signal occurs between 12b).

2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a commercial AC type three-electrode surface discharge plasma discharge display panel. In each discharge space 15 formed by the partition 18 formed on the rear substrate 17, one address electrode 16 and a scan electrode pair 12 perpendicular thereto are provided. The partition wall 18 functions to form the discharge space 15 and prevents cross talk from occurring in adjacent pixels by blocking space charges and ultraviolet rays generated during discharge. In order to show the performance of the plasma display panel as a color display device, a fluorescent material 19 is excited by ultraviolet rays generated during discharge and emits red, blue, and green visible rays, respectively. The fluorescent materials 19, which emit green colors, are applied so as to be sequentially arranged in sequence.

In order to achieve the performance as a color image display device, the plasma display panel coated with the fluorescent material must be capable of gray scale display. Currently, one-frame image is divided into a plurality of subfields for time division. A drive gray scale display method is used. 3 is a diagram for describing a gray scale display method of a typical AC plasma discharge display panel. As shown, the multi-gradation display method of the AC plasma display panel adopts a method of time division of an image of one frame into four subfields to display 2 ⁴ = 16 gray scales. Each subfield is composed of an address period (A1-A4) and a discharge sustain period (S1-S4), and the gray scale is expressed by using the point that the relative length between the discharge holders is twice the brightness by the visual function. Done. That is, since the ratio of the sustain discharge periods S1-S4 of the first auxiliary field SF1 to the fourth auxiliary field SF4 is 1: 2: 4: 8, 0, 1 (1T), 2 (2T), 3 (1T + 2T), 4 (4T), 5 (1T + 4T), 6 (2T + 4T), 7 (1T + 2T + 4T), 8 (8T), 9 (1T + 8T), 10 (2T + 8T), 11 (3T + 8T), 12 (4T + 8T), 13 (1T + 4T + 8T), 14 (2T + 4T + 8T), 15 (1T + 2T + 4T + 8T) 16 gradations are displayed. For example, to display gradation 6 in an arbitrary pixel, only the second subfield 2T and the third subfield 4T are addressed, and in order to display the gradation 15, the first, second, third, and fourth subfields are displayed. All must be addressed.

4 is an electrode connection diagram of an AC type 3-electrode surface discharge plasma discharge display panel connected to implement the gray scale display method as described above. As shown, the common electrodes (X electrodes) 12a of the scan electrode pairs 12 are all connected in common, and voltage signals having the same waveform are applied to all of the scan electrode pairs 12 including discharge sustain pulses. Therefore, the scan signal of the scan electrode is applied to the scan electrode (Y electrode) 12b so that addressing occurs between the Y electrode 12b and the address electrode 6, and also the Y electrode 12b and the X electrode 12a. Discharge sustain pulse is applied between the < RTI ID = 0.0 > The waveforms of the driving signals applied to the wires connected in this way are shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5, A is a driving signal applied to the address electrodes, X is a driving signal applied to the common electrode (X electrode) 12a, and Y1-Y480 are driving signals applied to the Y electrodes 12b, respectively. The front erase period A11 applies a front erase pulse 22a to the common (X) electrode 12a to generate a strong discharge to erase the wall charges generated by the previous discharge for accurate gray scale display. Smooth operation (step 1). Next, the front write period A12 and the front erase period A13 are applied to the front write pulse 23 on the Y electrode 12b and the front erase pulse on the X electrode 12a to lower the address pulse voltage 21. 22b) is applied to generate the front write discharge and the front erase discharge, respectively, to control the amount of wall charges in the discharge space 15 (steps 2 and 3). Next, the address period A14 is a place selected among the full screen of the plasma display panel by selective discharge by an address pulse (data pulse, data pulse) 21 between the crossed address electrode 16 and the scan electrode 12b. In this step, the electronic signal information is written in the fourth step.

Next, the discharge holding period S1 is a discharge by the continuous discharge holding pulses 25, and is a period in which the display discharge is maintained for a given time in order to implement the image information on the actual screen. In this discharge sustain period, the square wave voltage as shown in FIG. 5 is applied, and the pulse width of the square wave voltage which is normally applied is 2.5 μs or more and the frequency is 100 KHz or more. Each time a pulse is applied, sustain discharge as shown in FIG. 1 occurs once. In addition, as the number of discharges increases, the luminance increases, so that gray scales are realized by the number of discharge sustaining pulses to be applied. However, when the discharge sustain pulse is formed as a square wave as shown in FIG. 5, the sustain discharge as shown in FIG. 1 occurs in an intermittently repeated form. This intermittent repetition of the discharge only seems to occur continuously by the afterimage effect of the eye.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to improve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a method of driving a plasma display panel to continuously generate a sustain discharge.

1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the basic structure of a typical AC surface discharge plasma display panel;

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the AC plasma display panel of FIG. 1;

3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a gray scale display method of the AC plasma discharge display panel of FIG. 2;

4 is an electrode connection diagram of the AC plasma discharge display panel of FIG. 2 connected to implement the gray scale display method of FIG.

5 is a waveform diagram of driving signals applied to the electrodes of FIG. 4;

6 is a view for explaining a method of applying a sine wave applied to the method of driving a plasma display panel according to the present invention;

7 is a view for explaining another application method of the sine wave applied to the method of driving the plasma display panel according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1.Front Glass Substrate

2. Scan Electrode 3. Protective Layer

5. Discharge Space 6. Address Electrode

7. Rear Glass Substrate

Front Glass Substrate 12. Scan Electrode 12a. Common electrode (X electrode) 12b. Y electrode 13. Protective Layer

14. Protection Layer

15. Discharge Space 16. Address Electrode

17. Rear Glass Substrate 18. Barrier Rib

19. Phosphor

A11: Total Erase A12: Total Write

A13: Total Erase A14: Addressing

21. Addressing pulses 22b, 22b '. Erase Pulse (Erase Pluse)

23. Write Pulse (Wirte Pluse) 24. Scan Pulse

25. Sustain Pulse

In order to achieve the above object, a method of driving a low power consumption plasma display panel according to the present invention includes: discharge sustain electrodes formed of a pair of scan electrodes and common electrodes; And a method of driving a plasma display panel having address electrodes arranged in a direction intersecting the discharge sustain electrodes, wherein the electrodes are respectively initialized, addressed, and discharge sustained to display an image of each frame. The gray scales are displayed in the subfields, and the gray scales of the respective frames are displayed by applying a sine wave voltage to the discharge sustaining electrodes during the discharge sustaining period.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a sine wave voltage having a phase difference of 180 ° is applied to each of the pair of scan electrodes and the common electrode, or the sine wave voltage is applied to the common electrode and the scan electrode is grounded. It is preferable to display.

Hereinafter, a driving method of a low power consumption plasma display panel according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As described above, in order to display an image on a flat panel image display device, a matrix driving method is generally used. In this method, a random connection is made between a group of discharge sustaining electrodes (scan electrodes + common electrodes) arranged in the same horizontal direction as the scanning direction of an image signal and a group of address electrodes installed in a direction perpendicular thereto. Horizontal and vertical electrode pairs are selected to display an image signal at their intersections. In addition, in order to display an image on a flat panel display device, two processes are largely performed. An address process of selecting an arbitrary pixel on the screen and a display holding process of displaying an image signal on the selected pixel for a predetermined time. Both processes are performed by using a secondary glow discharge using gas as a medium in a discharge space between any selected horizontal and vertical electrode pairs in a conventional plasma display panel. That is, a pair of scan electrodes and an address electrode are selected, and a pulse voltage is applied to at least one of them, causing a discharge to change electrical characteristics to select an arbitrary place (pixel) on the screen, and then scan. By applying a pulse voltage between the electrodes to maintain a discharge (sustain discharge), a given image signal is converted into a signal of light and displayed. In particular, the present invention is characterized in that the discharge sustain pulses applied in the discharge sustain period are composed of sinusoidal waves for driving the discharge sustain electrodes for maintaining the display discharges.

6 is a view for explaining a method of applying a sine wave to the method of driving the plasma display panel according to the present invention. As shown in the drawing, in the method of driving the plasma display panel according to the present invention, a display discharge is performed by applying a sine wave having a phase difference of 180 ° to the scan electrode (Y electrode) and the common electrode (X electrode) constituting the discharge sustaining electrode. It characterized in that to maintain. In this case, the sustain discharge occurs continuously than the application of the square wave pulse to maintain the display discharge, thereby showing an excellent effect in terms of brightness and efficiency. That is, the discharge sustained state by the square wave pulse is a form in which the discharge is intermittently repeated, but the discharge sustained state by the sine wave voltage shows excellent characteristics in terms of brightness and driving efficiency since the discharge continues continuously.

7 is a view for explaining another application method of the sine wave applied to the method of driving the plasma display panel according to the present invention. Here, a method of maintaining display discharge by applying a high voltage of a sine wave to the common electrode (X electrode) without applying any voltage to the scan electrode (Y electrode) is provided.

As described above, since the plasma display panel is a display device in a bi-stable state, the discharge period is controlled by a sinusoidal voltage for displaying grayscale (contrast ratio).

As described above, in the method of driving the plasma display panel according to the present invention, by applying a sine wave voltage in the sustain period of sustaining the display discharge to continuously perform the sustain discharge, excellent characteristics in terms of brightness and efficiency can be obtained. .

Claims (3)

Discharge sustain electrodes formed of a pair of scan electrodes and common electrodes; And a plurality of address electrodes arranged in a direction crossing the discharge sustain electrodes, respectively. In order to display an image of each frame, gray scales are displayed in subfields of initializing, addressing period, and discharge sustaining period, respectively, and the sine wave voltage is applied to the discharge sustaining electrodes in the discharge sustaining period. A method of driving a low power consumption plasma display panel, characterized by displaying a gray level of a frame. The method of claim 1, And a sine wave voltage having a phase difference of 180 ° to each of the pair of scan electrodes and the common electrode. The method of claim 1, And the sine wave voltage is applied to only the common electrode while the scan electrode is in a ground state.