PURPOSE: To reduce the cost of a plasma display panel by the lowering of the breakdown strength proof of a circuit element by always impressing a bias voltage equal to or under a discharge starting voltage on an address electrode and impressing the address voltage over the discharge starting voltage on the address electrode at the time of selecting light emission.
CONSTITUTION: The discharge maintaining pulse of a negative polarity and the bias voltage of a positive polarity equal to or under the discharge starting voltage are always impressed on main discharge electrodes 13 and 14 and the address electrode 22, respectively. At the time of selecting light emission in a unit light emitting area, the write pulse of the negative polarity is impressed on the electrode 13 instead of the discharge maintaining pulse and the address voltage over the discharge starting voltage is impressed on the electrode 22. Thus, discharge is caused at the intersection of the electrodes 22 and 13. The discharge of a discharge maintaining electrode pair 12 is caused by the discharged charge, and the light emission in the unit light emitting area is kept by the following discharge maintaining pulse. At such a time, it is necessary to control the voltage of a value obtained by subtracting the bias voltage from the address voltage for the electrode 22, and the charge amount accumulated on the electrode pair 12 side is restrained to such an extent that self erasing discharge is not caused.
WAKITANI MASAYUKI
NANTO TOSHIYUKI
SHINODA TSUTAE
