PURPOSE: To provide a thin color picture display device of high quality which is easy to produce and drive and has a high light transmittance.

CONSTITUTION: An optical shutter array 1 where plural optical shutter elements are arranged in a plane, a color light emitting device 2 which is arranged on the rear part of the optical shutter array 1 and has a planar gas discharge tube, and an optical shutter array driving means which drives the optical shutter array 1, and a color light emitting device driving means which drives the color light emitting device are provided, and the gas discharge tube is provided with at least three color linear light emitting part groups different from one another, and the color light emitting device driving means causes linear light emitting part groups of the same colors of the gas discharge tube to successively emit light in the order of different colors, and the optical shutter array driving means switches desired optical shutter elements of the optical shutter array 1 in accordance with the timing of light emission of each color of linear light emitting part groups of the gas discharge tube.