KR20030042538A - Plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A plasma display panel is provided to reduce the power consumption by making a long-gap discharge at lower voltages, and heightening the brightness while reducing the electrode area. CONSTITUTION: A plasma display panel has a pair of sustain electrodes(44,46) for making the sustain discharge, and a barrier rib(56) for preventing the optical interference between the discharge cells. Each sustain electrode has a transparent electrode(44A,46A) partially removed at the center of the discharge cell, and a metallic electrode(44B,46B) formed at the one-sided portion of the transparent electrode to compensate for the resistance component of the transparent electrode. The removed portion of the transparent electrode corresponds to the barrier rib. The transparent electrode is protruded from the metallic electrode with a Y-lettered shape.

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 lowering power consumption by increasing brightness and reducing electrode area by causing long-gap discharge.

Recently, a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as "PDP"), which is easy to manufacture a large panel, has attracted attention as a flat panel display device. The PDP normally displays an image by adjusting the discharge period of each pixel according to the digital video data. As such a PDP, an AC type PDP having three electrodes and driven by an AC voltage is typical.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a cell structure typically arranged in an alternating current PDP in a matrix form, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the PDP shown in FIG. 1.

1 and 2, a PDP cell includes an upper plate having sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16, an upper dielectric layer 18, and a passivation layer 20 sequentially formed on an upper substrate 10, and a lower substrate 12. ), A lower plate having an address electrode 22, a lower dielectric layer 24, a partition wall 26, and a phosphor layer 28 formed sequentially. The upper substrate 10 and the lower substrate 12 are spaced in parallel by the partition wall 26. Each of the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 has a relatively wide width and a relatively narrow transparent electrode 14A and 16A made of a transparent electrode material (ITO) having a light transmittance of 90% or more, as shown in FIG. Made of metal electrodes 14B and 16B having a width. Here, the transparent electrode material (ITO) has a large resistance value and thus does not transmit power efficiently. Therefore, the resistive components of the transparent electrodes 14A and 16A are formed on the transparent electrodes 14A and 16A by forming metals 14B and 16B having a good conductivity, for example, silver (Ag) or copper (Cu). To compensate. The sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 are composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. The scan signal for the panel scan and the sustain signal for maintaining the discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 14, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 16. Charges accumulate in the upper dielectric layer 18 and the lower dielectric layer 24. The protective film 20 prevents damage to the upper dielectric layer 18 by sputtering, thereby increasing the lifetime of the PDP and increasing the emission efficiency of secondary electrons. As the protective film 20, magnesium oxide (MgO) is usually used. The address electrode 22 is formed to cross the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16. The address electrode 22 is supplied with a data signal for selecting cells to be displayed. The partition wall 26 is formed in parallel with the address electrode 22 to prevent ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge from leaking to adjacent cells. The phosphor layer 28 is applied to the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 24 and the partition wall 26 to generate visible light of any one of red, green, and blue. Then, an inert gas for gas discharge is injected into the discharge space therein.

The PDP cell is selected by the counter discharge between the address electrode 22 and the scan electrode 14, and then sustains the discharge by the surface discharge between the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16. In the PDP cell, the fluorescent substance 28 emits light by ultraviolet rays generated during sustain discharge, so that visible light is emitted to the outside of the cell. As a result, the PDP having cells displays an image. In this case, the PDP implements a gray scale required for displaying an image by adjusting the discharge sustain period of the cell, that is, the number of sustain discharges, according to the video data.

The AC surface discharge type PDP is driven by being divided into a plurality of subfields in order to express gray scale of an image, and in each subfield period, gradation display is performed by performing light emission in proportion to the weight of video data. do. For example, when an image is displayed in 256 gray scales using 8-bit video data, one frame display period (for example, 1/60 second = about 16.7 msec) in each discharge cell is divided into eight subfields SF1 to SF1. SF8). Each subfield SF1 to SF8 is further divided into a reset period, an address period, and a sustain period, and 1: 2: 4: 8:... The weight is given at the ratio of 128. Here, the reset period is a period for initializing the discharge cells, the address period is a period during which selective address discharge occurs according to the logic value of the video data, and the sustain period is such that discharge is maintained in the discharge cells in which the address discharge has occurred. It is a period. The reset period and the address period are equally assigned to each subfield period.

The discharge efficiency of such PDP is better as the ratio of electrode area to cell area is smaller. In other words, when the ratio of the electrode area becomes smaller, the power consumed for charging the capacitance between the electrodes becomes smaller. In addition, as the ratio of the electrode area decreases, the discharge current decreases, and as the discharge current decreases, the magnetic absorption of vacuum ultraviolet rays by the discharge gas decreases, thereby increasing the efficiency of exciting the phosphor. In order to achieve this, as shown in FIG. 4, a PDP including a T-shaped transparent electrode has been proposed.

Referring to FIG. 4, the proposed PDP is formed on an upper substrate (not shown), and the sustain electrode pairs 30 and 32 are formed in the stripe-shaped metal electrodes 30A and 32A and the respective metal electrodes 30A and 32A. It consists of protruding transparent electrodes 30B and 32B.

The metal electrodes 30A and 32A are located at both edges of the discharge cell and are formed of a highly conductive metal material such as silver (Ag) or copper (Cu).

The transparent electrodes 30B and 32B have a relatively wider width than the metal electrodes 30A and 32A and are formed to face each other in a T shape.

The sustain electrode pairs 30 and 32 are composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. The scan signal for scanning the panel and the sustain signal for maintaining the discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 30, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 32.

When the ratio of the area of the sustain electrode pairs 30 and 32 occupied by the transparent electrodes 30B and 32B to the area of the discharge cells is reduced, power consumption is reduced to improve discharge efficiency. However, the electrode area is reduced and the area of the sustain electrode pairs 30 and 32 facing each other is reduced to increase the discharge voltage. As a result, the driving voltage margin required to drive the discharge is reduced and the luminance is lowered.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plasma display panel capable of lowering power consumption by increasing luminance and reducing electrode area by generating long-gap discharge.

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

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the plasma display panel shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a plan view of the plasma display panel shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a plan view showing a discharge cell of another conventional PDP.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a PDP according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the PDP shown in FIG. 5; FIG.

7 is a plan view illustrating a PDP according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a plan view illustrating a PDP according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10, 40: upper substrate 12, 42: lower substrate

14,44,64,74: scanning electrode 16,46,66,76: sustaining electrode

18, 48: upper dielectric layer 20, 50: protective film

22, 52: address electrode 24, 54: lower dielectric layer

26,56,68,78: bulkhead 28,58: phosphor layer

In order to achieve the above object, the plasma display panel according to the present invention is a plasma display panel having a partition for preventing the optical interference between the sustain electrode pair and the discharge cell for the sustain discharge, each of the sustain electrode pair of the discharge cell And a metal electrode formed on one side of the transparent electrode and configured to compensate for the resistive component of the transparent electrode.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention in addition to the above object will be 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. 5 to 12.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a PDP according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating the PDP illustrated in FIG. 5.

5 and 6, each of the transparent electrodes 44A and 46A of the PDP according to the present invention is formed closer to each other at the edges of the discharge cells, and further away from the center of the discharge cells.

The upper dielectric layer 48 and the passivation layer 50 are stacked on the upper substrate 40 on which the sustain electrode pairs 44 and 46 are formed. The upper dielectric layer 48 accumulates electric charges, and the protective layer 50 prevents damage to the upper dielectric layer 48 by sputtering, thereby increasing the lifespan of the PDP and increasing the emission efficiency of secondary electrons. As the protective film 50, magnesium oxide (MgO) is usually used.

The lower dielectric layer 54, the partition wall 56, and the phosphor 58 are formed on the lower substrate 42 on which the address electrode 52 is formed. The lower dielectric layer 54, like the upper dielectric layer 48, also accumulates charges during plasma generation. The partition wall 56 is formed in parallel with the address electrode 52 to prevent ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge from leaking to adjacent cells. The phosphor layer 58 is applied to the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 54 and the partition wall 56 to emit visible light of any one of red, green, and blue. Then, an inert gas for gas discharge is injected into the discharge space therein.

The sustain electrode pairs 44 and 46 are composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. The scan signal for the panel scan and the sustain signal for maintaining the discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 44, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 46.

Each of the sustain electrode pairs 44 and 46 is composed of transparent electrodes 44A and 46A having a relatively wide width and metal electrodes 44B and 46B having a relatively narrow width. The transparent electrodes 44A and 46A are made of transparent electrode material (ITO) having good light transmittance of 90% or more. Here, the transparent electrode material (ITO) has a large resistance value and thus does not transmit power efficiently. Therefore, the resistive components of the transparent electrodes 44A and 46A are formed on the transparent electrodes 44A and 46A by forming metal electrodes 44B and 46B made of a good conductive material, for example, silver (Ag) or copper (Cu). To compensate. Here, each of the transparent electrodes 44A and 46A is patterned into a semicircular hole 43 in the center of the discharge cells facing each other. The semi-circular holes 43 in each of the scan electrodes 44 and the sustain electrodes 46 have one circular or elliptical shape as a whole. When the discharge voltage is supplied to the sustain electrode pairs 44 and 46 having the hole 43 patterns of the transparent electrodes 44A and 46A, the discharge is generated first at both edge regions A of the discharge cells formed close to each other. Discharge spreads throughout (44, 46). At this time, since the center portions of the two transparent electrodes 44A and 46A are formed to be relatively far from the edges of the electrodes, long gap discharge occurs. This long gap discharge extends the discharge that occurred only at the electrode surface in the conventional electrode structure into the discharge space. As a result, the distance between the discharge space and the phosphor that emits light by the discharge is shortened, thereby realizing higher luminance. In addition, in the conventional electrode structure, a high driving voltage is used to generate a long gap discharge, but the electrode structure according to the present invention can lower the driving voltage since the discharge is first started at both edges of the discharge cells formed close to each other and is diffused to the entire discharge cell. have. In addition, the electrode area is reduced by removing the central portions of the transparent electrodes 44A and 46A. Accordingly, the effect of reducing power consumption can be obtained.

7 is a plan view illustrating a PDP according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

7, in the PDP according to the present invention, sustain electrode pairs 54 and 56 are formed on an upper substrate (not shown). Each of the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A of the sustain electrode pairs 54 and 56 is formed closer to each other at the edge of the discharge cell, and is formed farther toward the center of the discharge cell, and the region corresponding to the partition wall 58 is patterned. It is characterized by. Hereinafter, descriptions of other essential components are the same as in the first embodiment, and will be omitted.

The sustain electrode pairs 54 and 56 are composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. The scan signal for panel scanning and the sustain signal for sustaining discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 54, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 56.

Each of the sustain electrode pairs 54 and 56 includes transparent electrodes 54A and 56A having a relatively wide width and metal electrodes 54B and 56B having a relatively narrow width. The transparent electrodes 54A and 56A are made of a transparent electrode material (ITO) having a good light transmittance of 90% or more.

Here, the transparent electrode material (ITO) has a large resistance value and thus does not transmit power efficiently. Accordingly, the resistive components of the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A are formed on the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A by forming metals 54B and 56B having a good conductivity, for example, silver (Ag) and copper (Cu). To compensate. Here, each of the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A is patterned into a semicircular hole 53 at the center of the discharge cells facing each other. The semi-circular holes 53 in each of the scan electrodes 54 and the sustain electrodes 56 have one circular or elliptical shape as a whole. In addition, the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A are not formed in a region corresponding to the partition wall 58 of the lower substrate (not shown). This is to reduce the area of the electrode in consideration of the wall charge that is formed close to the partition 58 during the discharge does not contribute to the discharge but is absorbed by the partition 58. As the area of the electrode is reduced, the power consumption can be lowered. When the discharge voltage is supplied to the sustain electrode pairs 54 and 56 having the hole 53 patterns of the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A, the discharge is first generated at both edge regions A of the discharge cells formed close to each other. Discharge spreads throughout (54, 56). At this time, since the center portions of the two transparent electrodes 54A and 56A are formed to be relatively far from the edges of the electrodes, long gap discharge occurs. This long gap discharge extends the discharge that occurred only at the electrode surface in the conventional electrode structure into the discharge space. As a result, the distance between the discharge space and the phosphor that emits light by the discharge is shortened, thereby realizing higher luminance. In addition, in the conventional electrode structure, a high driving voltage is used to generate a long gap discharge, but the electrode structure according to the present invention can lower the driving voltage since the discharge is first started at both edges of the discharge cells formed close to each other and is diffused to the entire discharge cell. have. In addition, the electrode area is reduced by removing the central portions of the transparent electrodes 54A and 56A. Accordingly, the effect of reducing power consumption can be obtained.

8 is a plan view illustrating a PDP according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the PDP according to the present invention, sustain electrode pairs 64 and 66 are formed on an upper substrate (not shown). The sustain electrode pairs 64 and 66 include metal electrodes 64B and 66B formed on both sides of the discharge cell, and protruding electrodes 64A and 66A projecting vertically from the metal electrodes 64B and 66B. Hereinafter, descriptions of other essential components are the same as in the first embodiment, and will be omitted.

The sustain electrode pairs 64 and 66 are composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. The scan signal for scanning the panel and the sustain signal for sustaining discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 64, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 66.

The metal electrodes 64B and 66B have a relatively narrow width and are formed of a material having good conductivity, for example, silver (Ag) or copper (Cu).

The protruding electrodes 64A and 66A are made of transparent electrode material (ITO) having good light transmittance of 90% or more. Here, since the transparent electrode material ITO has a large resistance value, power cannot be efficiently transferred, and thus, the protruding electrodes 64B and 66B are formed to compensate for the resistance of the protruding electrodes 64A and 66A. Each of the protruding electrodes 64A and 66A is formed in a “Y” shape that protrudes from one side of the metal electrodes 64B and 66B while the transparent electrode is removed from the center of the discharge cell. That is, the protruding electrodes 64A and 66A protrude from the metal electrodes 64B and 66B, and are formed so that the distance between the electrodes increases from both edges of the discharge cells facing each other toward the center, and is formed in a region corresponding to the partition wall 68. It doesn't work.

The sustain electrode pairs 64 and 66 having such a structure are intended to maximize luminous efficiency by minimizing the electrode area as compared with the electrode structure of the second embodiment. In the same manner as in the second embodiment, the wall charges formed close to the partition wall 68 do not contribute to the discharge and are absorbed by the partition wall 68 so that the protruding electrodes 64A and 66A do not correspond to the partition wall 68. . When voltage is supplied to the protruding electrodes 64A and 66A, the discharge is first generated at both edge regions A of the discharge cells that are formed close to each other, and the discharge spreads to the entire sustain electrode pairs 64 and 66. At this time, since the center portions of the two protruding electrodes 64A and 66A are formed to be relatively far from the edges of the electrodes, long gap discharge occurs. This long gap discharge extends the discharge that occurred only at the electrode surface in the conventional electrode structure into the discharge space. As a result, the distance between the discharge space and the phosphor that emits light by the discharge is shortened, thereby realizing higher luminance. In addition, in the conventional electrode structure, a high driving voltage is used to generate a long gap discharge, but the electrode structure according to the present invention can lower the driving voltage since the discharge is first started at both edges of the discharge cells formed close to each other and is diffused to the entire discharge cell. have. In addition, by forming the protruding electrodes 64A and 66A, power consumption can be effectively reduced as the electrode area is significantly reduced.

As described above, the plasma display panel according to the present invention is formed by removing the center portion of the sustain electrode pair, and the sustain electrode pairs are closer to both edges of the discharge cells and farther from each other toward the center portion. Accordingly, the plasma display panel according to the present invention may cause long-gap discharge in the center portion of the discharge cell. Therefore, the plasma display panel according to the present invention can improve brightness and discharge efficiency by lowering power consumption by reducing the anvil and electrode area.

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 (4)

A plasma display panel comprising a partition wall for preventing optical interference between a sustain electrode pair for sustain discharge and a discharge cell, Each of the sustain electrode pairs includes a transparent electrode formed to remove an electrode from a center portion of the discharge cell; And a metal electrode formed on one side of the transparent electrode and compensating for a resistance component of the transparent electrode. The method of claim 1, And the region corresponding to the barrier rib is removed from the transparent electrode. The method of claim 1, And the transparent electrode protrudes from the metal electrode in a Y shape. The method of claim 1, And the transparent electrode is removed in the form of one of a semi-circle and a semi-ellipse at the center of the discharge cell.