KR100542517B1 - Plasma display panel and driving method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma display panel and a driving method thereof. The present invention provides a plasma display panel including a plurality of first electrodes and a second electrode formed on a first substrate, and a plurality of third electrodes intersecting the first and second electrodes and formed on a second substrate. A method of driving one frame divided into a plurality of subfields, wherein after the address period of some subfields of the plurality of subfields, some of the first to third electrodes of the discharge cells to be selected among the discharge cells are selected. It is characterized in that the floating. By doing this, it is possible to improve the low gradation power by reducing the minimum unit light.

PDP, discharge, reset, address, min unit light, min weight

Description

Plasma display panel and driving method thereof {PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL AND DRIVING METHOD THEREOF}

1 is a schematic partial perspective view of a typical plasma display panel.

2 is an electrode array diagram of a general plasma display panel.

3 is a diagram showing a driving waveform and a light emission amount of a subfield of a conventional plasma display panel.

4 is a configuration diagram of a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing driving waveforms and amounts of light emitted in each subfield of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a view showing a driving waveform of the plasma display panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a view showing driving waveforms of a plasma display panel according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

8 illustrates driving waveforms of a plasma display panel according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP), and more particularly, to a plasma display panel having improved low gray scale display power and a driving method thereof.

A plasma display panel is a flat display device that displays characters or images by using plasma generated by gas discharge, and tens to millions or more of pixels are arranged in a matrix form according to their size. First, a structure of a general plasma display panel will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

1 is a partial perspective view of a plasma display panel, and FIG. 2 shows an electrode arrangement diagram of the plasma display panel.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma display panel includes two glass substrates 1 and 6 facing each other apart. On the glass substrate 1, the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 are formed in pairs and in parallel, and the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 are covered with the dielectric layer 2 and the protective film 3. have. A plurality of address electrodes 8 are formed on the glass substrate 6, and the address electrodes 8 are covered with the insulator layer 7. The address electrode 8 and the partition 9 are formed on the insulator layer 7 between the address electrodes 8. In addition, the phosphor 10 is formed on the surface of the insulator layer 7 and on both sides of the partition wall 9. The glass substrates 1 and 6 are disposed to face each other with the discharge space 11 therebetween so that the scan electrode 4, the address electrode 8, the sustain electrode 5, and the address electrode 8 are orthogonal to each other. The discharge space 11 at the intersection between the address electrode 8 and the paired scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 forms a discharge cell 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electrode of the plasma display panel has a matrix structure of n × m. In the column direction, address electrodes A ₁ -A _m are arranged, and in the row direction, n rows of scan electrodes Y ₁ -Y _n and sustain electrodes X ₁ -X _n are arranged in pairs.

In the method of driving the plasma display panel, each subfield (which explains waveforms in one subfield for convenience) generally includes a reset period, an address period, a sustain period, and an erase period.

The reset period is a period for initializing the state of each cell in order to perform an addressing operation smoothly on the cell, and the address period (or scan period, write period) is a cell that is turned on by selecting a cell that is turned on and a cell that is not turned on. This is a period during which the wall charges are accumulated in the addressed cells). The sustain period is a period in which discharge for actually displaying an image is performed on the addressed cell, and the erase period is a period in which the wall discharge of the cell is reduced to end the sustain discharge.

3 is a diagram showing a driving waveform and a light emission amount of a subfield of a conventional plasma display panel.

As shown in Fig. 3, in the conventional method of driving a plasma display panel, the minimum unit light, that is, the light of the subfield 1 (weight 1) is generated at the time of one sustain discharge in the sustain period and the light generated in the cell selected in the address period. It is expressed as the sum of the light and the light of the reset period of the subfield 2 (which is almost ignored as part of the front end of the reset period). In other words, in the period of the subfield 1, an address discharge (address light) is performed in the address period to form positive ions in the scan electrode, and thereafter, the scan electrode Y is set higher than the sustain electrode X in the sustain period to scan. The sustain discharge voltage Vs is applied between the electrode Y and the sustain electrode X to perform one sustain discharge (sustain light). Next, the minimum unit light is expressed through the reset operation in the reset period of the subfield 2. At this time, the light generated in the reset period is almost as small as the light due to the erase waveform and the light due to the reset waveform, and is almost ignored. The light representing subfield 2 (weight 2) is expressed through address discharge (address light) and two sustain discharges (sustain light) in the sustain period.

Therefore, in the conventional driving method, the minimum unit light consists of one address discharge (address light) and sustain discharge (sustain (sustain) light). In addition, the size of unit light generated by one sustain discharge is increased at present when high xen is used to increase luminous efficiency. In this situation, a lower minimum unit light is required to increase low gradation power. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a plasma display panel and a method of driving the same, which solve the above-mentioned problems of the related art and improve a low gray scale expressive power by reducing a minimum unit light.

The plasma display panel according to one aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems,

A plasma display panel which receives externally input image data and displays data in a reset period, an address period, and a brightness adjustment period.

A plasma panel including a plurality of address electrodes, a plurality of scan electrodes, and a sustain electrode;

A control unit which receives the video signal, generates and outputs a scan electrode driving signal, a sustain electrode driving signal, and an address electrode driving signal, and controls some electrodes to float in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield having a minimum weight value;

An address data driver for applying a voltage corresponding to the address electrode driving signal to the address electrode;

A sustain electrode driver for applying a voltage corresponding to the sustain electrode driving signal to the sustain electrode;

And a scan electrode driver for applying a voltage corresponding to the scan electrode driving signal to the scan electrode.

A plasma display panel according to another aspect of the present invention for solving the technical problem,

First substrate,

A plurality of first electrodes and second electrodes formed on the first substrate, respectively;

A second substrate facing away from the first substrate,

A plurality of third electrodes formed on the second substrate in a direction crossing the first and second electrodes, and

A driving circuit for supplying a driving voltage to the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode to discharge the discharge cells formed by the adjacent first, second, and third electrodes;

The driving circuit may be configured to float some electrodes of a discharge cell to be selected after an address period of at least one subfield.

The driving method of the plasma display panel according to another aspect of the present invention for solving the technical problem,

A plurality of first electrodes and second electrodes formed on the first substrate, and a plurality of third electrodes formed on the second substrate and crossing the first and second electrodes, respectively; A method of driving a plasma display panel in which discharge cells are formed by a second electrode and a third electrode, into a plurality of subfields,

A reset step of applying a reset voltage to the first electrode and the second electrode to erase the wall charge state of the previous sustain discharge and to set up the wall charge to stably perform the next address discharge;

An address step of generating a first light by applying a first voltage and a second voltage to the first electrode and the third electrode of the discharge cell to be selected among the discharge cells;

And adjusting a portion of the electrodes to generate a second light.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of driving a plasma display panel.

A frame is formed in a plasma display panel including a plurality of first electrodes and a second electrode formed on a first substrate, and a plurality of third electrodes formed on the second substrate and crossing the first and second electrodes, respectively. As a method of driving divided into a plurality of subfields,

In the sustain period of at least one subfield of the plurality of subfields, some of the first to third electrodes of the discharge cells to be selected among the discharge cells are floated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the specification.

4 is a configuration diagram of a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the plasma display panel according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a plasma panel 100, a controller 200, an address electrode driver 300, and a scan electrode driver (hereinafter referred to as a “Y electrode driver”). 400 and a sustain electrode driver (hereinafter referred to as an 'X electrode driver') 500.

The plasma panel 100 includes a plurality of address electrodes A1-Am arranged in the column direction, a plurality of sustain electrodes (hereinafter referred to as 'X electrodes') (X1-Xn) and scan electrodes arranged in the row direction. (Hereinafter referred to as 'Y electrode') (Y1-Yn). The X electrodes X1-Xn are formed corresponding to the respective Y electrodes Y1-Yn, and generally have one end connected in common to each other. The plasma panel 100 includes a glass substrate (not shown) on which the X and Y electrodes X1-Xn and Y1-Yn are arranged, and a glass substrate (not shown) on which the address electrodes A1-Am are arranged. . The two glass substrates are disposed to face each other with the discharge space therebetween so that the Y electrodes Y1-Yn and the address electrodes A1-Am and the X electrodes X1-Xn and the address electrodes A1-Am are orthogonal to each other. At this time, the discharge space at the intersection of the address electrodes A1-Am and the X and Y electrodes X1-Xn and Y1-Yn forms a discharge cell. The controller 200 receives an image signal from the outside and outputs an address driving signal, an X electrode driving signal, and a Y electrode driving signal. The controller 200 divides and drives one frame into a plurality of subfields, and each subfield includes a reset period, an addressing period, and a sustain period. In particular, the controller 200 plots some of the X, Y, and address electrodes in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield having the minimum weight. The address electrode driver 300 receives an address electrode driving signal from the controller 200 and applies a display data signal for selecting a discharge cell to be displayed to each address electrode A1-Am. The X electrode driver 500 receives an X electrode driving signal from the controller 200 and applies a driving voltage to the X electrodes X1 to Xn. The Y electrode driver 400 receives the Y electrode driving signal from the controller 200 and applies a driving voltage to the Y electrodes Y1-Yn.

Next, the operation of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration will be described in detail.

First, the controller 200 receives an externally input image signal, corrects a gamma value according to the characteristics of the plasma display panel, generates the corrected image signal into N subfields, and generates an X electrode driving signal for each subfield, A Y electrode drive control signal and an address electrode drive signal are output.

Then, the address driver 300 receives an address electrode driving signal and applies a display data signal for selecting a discharge cell to be displayed to each address electrode A1-Am.

The X electrode driver 500 receives the X electrode driving signal to apply a driving voltage to the X electrodes X1 to Xn, and the Y electrode driving unit 400 receives the Y electrode driving signal to receive the Y electrode Y1 to Yn. Is applied to the driving voltage.

Then, data is displayed on the plasma panel 100.

Here, the generation of the X electrode driving signal, the Y electrode driving signal and the address driving signal of the control unit 200 will be described in detail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a driving waveform of the plasma display panel and the amount of light emitted in each subfield according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Generally, one sustain discharge is included in the sustain operation of the sustain period. Referring to FIG. 5, in the first embodiment of the present invention, after the address discharge is performed, the sustain discharge is not applied and the sustain discharge is not applied. The minimum unit light is reduced by applying a waveform that outputs little light. In the first embodiment of the present invention, a method of changing the shape of the sustain discharge applied once is used to reduce the light emission of the sustain sustain discharge. That is, the discharge is weakly generated because the Y electrode is not floated to increase the predetermined voltage using the rising portion of the waveform and then the Y electrode is not floated to maintain the sustain discharge voltage.

Therefore, since the intensity of the sustain discharge in the luminance adjustment period is weak, the light generated through this can be weakened to represent darker unit light. After performing sustain discharge using floating, a waveform of a normal reset period including an erasure period may be applied, or a reset waveform composed of a voltage falling after a rising voltage may be used.

If necessary, the X electrode or the address electrode may be floated, and the waveforms applied to the X electrode, the Y electrode, and the address electrode shown in FIG. 5 may be variously modified. The sustain discharge is largely expressed as the sum of the discharge between the X and Y electrodes and the discharge between the A and Y electrodes, and the discharge between the X and Y electrodes is larger.

This process is described in more detail as follows.

Referring to Fig. 5, subfield 1 (subfield of weight 1) includes a reset period, an address period, and a brightness adjustment period, and subfield 2 (subfield of weight 2) includes a reset period, an address period, and a sustain period. The remaining subfields include a reset period, an address period, and a sustain period, like the subfield 2.

The driving waveform according to the first embodiment of the present invention scans by applying a low voltage to the sustain electrode during the reset period of the subfield 1 (the subfield of the weight value 1) while the voltage of the scan electrode is gently raised to Vset. A discharge is generated between the electrode and the sustain electrode.

Then, in the state where the voltage of the sustain electrode is applied at a high voltage Ve, a reset waveform that gently decreases the voltage of the scan electrode is applied. By this reset operation, the wall charge state of the previous sustain discharge is erased, and the wall charge for stably performing the next address discharge is set up.

A voltage lower than the ground voltage GND is then applied to the scan electrode for addressing. At this time, an address voltage Va is applied to the address electrode.

Then, a voltage of which a constant voltage is raised is applied to the sustain electrode in the luminance adjustment period.

Then, the voltage between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode becomes smaller due to the floating, so that discharge or current flow between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode is minimized even when sustain discharge occurs. Similarly, the discharge between the address electrode and the scan electrode is also weakened.

Then, after the address period, the reset period of the weight 2 subfield begins, and the reset waveform is equal to the reset waveform of the weight 1.

The weight 2 subfield is the same as the conventional waveform. Therefore, the light of the weight 2 subfield is represented by the address light, the sustain light, the erasure light, and the light of the reset period.

Subfields such as weights 3, 4, 5, etc. are implemented by applying the sustain voltage in the sustain period in the same manner as the weight 2 subfields.

In this case, since the reset light is a smaller value than the address light, the address light may be used as the minimum unit light (that is, the light representing the minimum weight). Therefore, the low gradation power can be improved by reducing the luminance level of the minimum unit light.

Such a waveform is not applied to a normal subfield, but is preferably applied to a subfield that represents light in a minimum unit.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

6 shows that the erase waveform is eliminated in the reset period, and since the negative charge is accumulated in the reset waveform, the erase waveform is not required because the negative charge is not accumulated in the erase period. Therefore, the reset period is reduced, and since the erasure light is also omitted, smaller light can be generated.

The waveform of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 reduces the minimum unit light by floating the Y electrode during the luminance adjustment period, but may also float the X electrode or the address electrode if necessary, and the X, Y electrode, A, Y electrode, or the like. The A and Y electrodes may be floated at the same time, and both the X, Y and A electrodes may be floated.

7 shows an example in which the X electrode is floated during the luminance adjustment period.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 7, the X electrode is floated in the rising period of the Y electrode in the luminance adjustment period so that the sustain discharge is weakly generated.

8 shows an example in which the A electrode is floated in the luminance adjustment period in the above modification.

Fig. 8 is a view showing driving waveforms of the plasma display panel according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 8, in the luminance adjustment period, the A electrode is floated in the rising period of the Y electrode so that the sustain discharge is weakly generated.

In addition, the X, Y electrodes, A, Y electrodes or A, Y electrodes may be simultaneously floated, and all of the X, Y, A electrodes may be floated, and such an embodiment is not shown in the drawings.

In this way, when performing sustain discharge in the luminance adjustment period, if some of the scan electrodes, sustain electrodes, or address electrodes are floated, the discharge of a part of the sustain discharge can be weakened, thereby reducing the light generated by the sustain discharge. The minimum unit light can be reduced.

This weakened sustain discharge may be applied only to a subfield representing a minimum unit, or may be applied to some subfields as necessary.

5 to 8 illustrate the drawings of the light emission amounts in a straight line, which is shown to indicate that light emission occurs, and the shape may be somewhat different in practice.

In the above process, only the embodiments in which the plotting is applied to only the subfield of weight 1 are described, but may be applied to all subfields having a different weight as needed.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

As described above, according to the present invention, the minimum unit light can be reduced by applying a voltage below the discharge start voltage in the luminance adjustment period of the sub-field having the minimum weight. Through this, there is a peculiar effect that can improve the expressive power of low gradation.

Claims (16)

A plasma display panel which receives externally input image data and displays data in a reset period, an address period, and a brightness adjustment period. A plasma panel including a plurality of address electrodes, a plurality of scan electrodes, and a sustain electrode; A controller configured to receive the image signal and generate and output a scan electrode driving signal, a sustain electrode driving signal, and an address electrode driving signal, and to control some of the electrodes to float in the luminance adjustment period of at least one subfield; An address data driver for applying a voltage corresponding to the address electrode driving signal to the address electrode; A sustain electrode driver for applying a voltage corresponding to the sustain electrode driving signal to the sustain electrode; And a scan electrode driver for applying a voltage corresponding to the scan electrode driving signal to the scan electrode. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And a sustain electrode driving signal is output so that the sustain electrode floats during the brightness adjustment period of the subfield. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And a scan electrode driving signal is output so that the scan electrode is floated in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And an address electrode driving signal is output so that the address electrode is floated in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And a scan electrode driving signal and an address electrode driving signal are output so that the address electrode and the scan electrode are floated in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield having the minimum weight value. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And a sustain electrode driving signal and an address electrode driving signal for outputting the address electrode and the sustain electrode in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield having the minimum weight value. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And a sustain electrode driving signal and a scan electrode driving signal for outputting the scan electrode and the sustain electrode in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield having the minimum weight value. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And a sustain electrode driving signal, a scan electrode driving signal, and an address driving signal to output the scan electrode, the sustain electrode, and the address electrode in the luminance adjustment period of the subfield having the minimum weight value. First substrate, A plurality of first electrodes and second electrodes formed on the first substrate, respectively; A second substrate facing away from the first substrate, A plurality of third electrodes formed on the second substrate in a direction crossing the first and second electrodes, and A driving circuit for supplying a driving voltage to the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode to discharge the discharge cells formed by the adjacent first, second, and third electrodes; And the driving circuit floats some electrodes of a discharge cell to be selected in the luminance adjustment period between the address period and the reset period of at least one subfield. The method of claim 9, And the subfield having the minimum weight value is driven in the reset period, the address period, and the brightness adjustment period, and the remaining subfields are driven in the reset period, the address period, and the sustain period. The method of claim 9, Wherein the first electrode is a scan electrode, the second electrode is a sustain electrode, and the scan electrode is floated during the rising period of the scan electrode. The method of claim 9, And the driving circuit floats the first electrode, the second electrode and the third scan electrode of the discharge cell to be selected after the address period of the subfield having the minimum weight value. A plurality of first electrodes and second electrodes formed on the first substrate, and a plurality of third electrodes formed on the second substrate and crossing the first and second electrodes, respectively; A method of driving a plasma display panel in which discharge cells are formed by a second electrode and a third electrode, into a plurality of subfields, A reset step of applying a reset voltage to the first electrode and the second electrode to erase the wall charge state of the previous sustain discharge and to set up the wall charge to stably perform the next address discharge; An address step of generating a first light by applying a first voltage and a second voltage to the first electrode and the third electrode of the discharge cell to be selected among the discharge cells; And a brightness adjusting step of floating some of the electrodes to generate second light. The method of claim 13, And a scan electrode, a sustain electrode, and an address electrode are all floated in the brightness adjusting step. A frame is formed in a plasma display panel including a plurality of first electrodes and a second electrode formed on a first substrate, and a plurality of third electrodes formed on the second substrate and crossing the first and second electrodes, respectively. As a method of driving divided into a plurality of subfields, In the luminance adjustment period between the address period and the reset period of at least one of the subfields of the plurality of subfields, a part of the first to third electrodes of the discharge cells to be selected among the discharge cells are floated. A method of driving a plasma display panel. The method of claim 15, And all of the first electrode, second electrode and third scan electrode of the discharge cell to be selected after the address period of the subfield having the minimum weight value are floated.

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