JPH08212933A - Surface discharge type plasma display panel and driving method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] It is an object to achieve high definition by reducing the line pitch and improve luminance by increasing the area of the display electrode in the unit light emitting region. A first-polarity-side display electrode X and a second-polarity-side display electrode Y that extend in parallel with each other across a discharge gap g and have the same dimension in the array direction for each line L of a matrix display.
A surface discharge type plasma display panel 1 having a plurality of display electrodes X and Y on the first polarity side and the second polarity side are arranged such that the positional relationship with respect to the discharge gap g is alternated line by line. It will be done.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a matrix display type surface discharge type plasma display panel (PDP) and a driving method thereof.

A surface discharge PDP is a PDP in which display electrodes forming a pair when a drive voltage is applied are arranged adjacent to each other on the same substrate.
DP, which is suitable for color display with a phosphor.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing an electrode structure of a conventional surface discharge type PDP 80. The PDP 80 includes display electrodes (main electrodes for surface discharge) X extending in parallel with each other,
A plurality of discharge sustaining electrode pairs 12 made of Y and display electrodes X,
It has a plurality of address electrodes A orthogonal to Y. Each discharge sustaining electrode pair 12 corresponds to one line (row) of matrix display, and each address electrode A corresponds to one column.

The display electrodes X and Y are alternately arranged in the column direction so as to be adjacent to each other with a discharge gap (surface discharge gap) g of about several tens μm in each line L. However,
The electrode gap d between the lines is sufficiently larger than the discharge gap g.

Of the display electrodes X and Y arranged in this way, one display electrode X is electrically shared by a plurality of lines L to simplify the drive circuit. The other display electrode Y is an individual electrode that is independent for each line in order to enable line-sequential screen scanning.

In each line L, the surface discharge cells C are defined by the display electrodes X and Y for each unit light emitting region EU. Then, the display electrode Y and the address electrode A perform selection (address) of lighting (discharging) or non-lighting of each surface discharge cell C.

In driving the PDP 80, the display unit period is divided into an address period and a sustain period that follows it. In the address period, the wall charges are accumulated only in the unit light emitting regions EU to be sequentially turned on line by line by the write address method or the erase address method. In the sustain period, a discharge sustaining voltage (sustain pulse) is alternately applied to the display electrodes X and Y simultaneously on all lines. At this time, the relative potential relationship between the display electrodes X and the display electrodes Y is alternately inverted. Although the peak value of the sustain pulse is lower than the discharge start voltage, the wall charge is superposed on the sustain pulse, so that the surface discharge occurs each time the sustain pulse is applied.
The display brightness can be adjusted by appropriately setting the number of times the sustain pulse is applied per unit time.

[0008]

In the conventional electrode structure in which the display electrodes X and Y are alternately arranged as described above, the display electrodes X and the display electrodes Y are adjacent to each other not only within the lines but also between the lines. Therefore, a potential difference occurs between the lines during the sustain period. Therefore, the electrode spacing d between the lines must be set to a sufficiently large value in order to prevent unnecessary surface discharge between the lines and reduce the capacitance between the lines which causes an increase in power consumption. .

Therefore, conventionally, there has been a problem that it is difficult to achieve high definition by reducing the line pitch. In addition, since the width of the display electrodes X and Y becomes narrower as the electrode spacing d increases, the spread of the surface discharge is suppressed.
It was disadvantageous in terms of high brightness. Further, the display electrodes X and Y
When is formed of a transparent conductive film and a metal film and arranged on the substrate on the display surface side, the position of the metal film that supplements the conductivity of the transparent conductive film is relatively close to the line center where the emission intensity is high. Another problem is that the light emission efficiency is low due to the light shielding by the metal film.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and it is an object of the present invention to achieve high definition by reducing the line pitch and improve brightness by increasing the area of the display electrode in the unit light emitting region. .

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] P according to the invention of claim 1
As shown in FIG. 2, the DP has display electrodes on the first polarity side and the second polarity side that extend in parallel with each other across a discharge gap and have the same dimension in the arrangement direction, for each line of the matrix display. In the surface discharge type plasma display panel, the display electrodes on the first polarity side and the second polarity side are arranged such that the positional relationship with respect to the discharge gap is alternately switched for each line.

The PDP according to the invention of claim 2 is the first
The display electrodes on the polar side and the second polar side are composed of a strip-shaped transparent conductive film and a metal film which is thinner than the transparent conductive film and overlaps with an end portion of the transparent conductive film far from the discharge gap. It is configured and arranged on the substrate on the display surface side.

A driving method according to a third aspect of the invention is to drive the PDP according to the first or second aspect of the invention.
With respect to the adjacent display electrodes on the first polarity side, the ends of the display electrodes on the same side in the extension direction are connected to a drive voltage source, and the adjacent display electrodes on the second polarity side are
The ends of the display electrodes on the same side in the extending direction are connected to a drive voltage source.

[0014]

When the two adjacent lines are focused, the display electrodes adjacent to each other with the electrode interval between the lines are the first polarity side or the second polarity side. That is, electrodes of the same type are adjacent to each other when a drive voltage is applied.

Therefore, when a drive voltage is applied to all the lines at once, no potential difference occurs between the lines, so that even if the electrode interval between the lines is narrowed, unnecessary surface discharge does not occur, and electrostatic discharge is prevented. There is no increase in power consumption due to capacity.

In the case where each display electrode is composed of a transparent conductive film and a metal film and is arranged on the substrate on the display surface side, the metal film is discharged in the discharge gap (the central portion of the line) by the amount that the electrode interval between the lines is narrowed. ), It is possible to reduce the light shielding by the metal film.

For the display electrodes on the same polarity side, if a drive voltage source is connected to the ends (one or both ends) on the same side in the extension direction of the display electrodes and a drive voltage is applied, a voltage drop due to the resistance of the display electrodes will occur. Regardless of the above, the potentials of the respective parts in the extension direction become substantially equal.

[0018]

1 is an exploded perspective view of a PDP 1 according to the present invention, showing a basic structure of a portion corresponding to one pixel EG.

The PDP 1 is a surface discharge type PDP having a three-electrode structure in which a pair of display electrodes X and Y and an address electrode A correspond to a unit light emitting region EU of matrix display, and is classified according to the arrangement form of phosphors. It is called a reflective type.

The display electrodes X and Y for surface discharge are provided on the glass substrate 11 on the display surface H side, and are covered with the dielectric layer 17 in the discharge space 30. That is,
The display electrodes X and Y are the discharge sustaining electrode pair 1 in AC driving.
Make up 2. On the surface of the dielectric layer 17, a MgO film 18 having a thickness of about several thousand Å is provided as a protective film.

Further, since the display electrodes X and Y are arranged on the display surface H side with respect to the discharge space 30, the surface discharge is made wide and the shielding of the display light is minimized. It is composed of a transparent conductive film 41 having a wide width and a narrow metal film (bus electrode) 42 for compensating for its conductivity, and they are arranged symmetrically with respect to the discharge gap g between them. The widths of the transparent conductive films 41 (dimensions in the arrangement direction of the display electrodes X and Y) are the same, and the metal film 42 is overlapped on the edge of the transparent conductive film 41 on the side far from the discharge gap g.

On the other hand, the address electrode A for selectively emitting light in the unit light emitting region EU is provided with the glass substrate 21 on the back side.
The display electrodes X and Y are arranged on the upper side at a constant pitch.

A stripe-shaped partition 29 having a height of about 200 μm is provided between each address electrode A,
As a result, the discharge space 30 moves in the line direction (display electrodes X,
The unit light emitting area EU is partitioned in the Y extension direction), and the gap size of the discharge space 30 is defined. The dimension of the unit light emitting region EU in the column direction, that is, the line pitch is, for example, about 500 to 700 μm.

Further, the glass substrate 21 is covered with R (red), G (green), and B (blue) so as to cover the inner surface of the rear surface including the upper surface of the address electrode A and the side surface of the partition wall 29. A primary color phosphor 28 is provided. The phosphor 28 of each color is
When the surface discharge occurs, the discharge gas in the discharge space 30 is excited by the ultraviolet rays emitted to emit light. The PDP 1 is capable of full-color display by combining R, G, and B. In addition,
The address electrode A may be covered with a dielectric layer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the electrode structure of the PDP 1 shown in FIG. In the PDP 1, a pair of display electrodes X and Y extending in parallel with each other with the discharge gap g interposed therebetween and having the same dimension in the arrangement direction are arranged for each line L of the matrix display. Inevitably the display electrode X
And the number of display electrodes Y are the same as the number of lines. The display electrode X is an electrode on the first polarity side when a drive voltage is applied for surface discharge, and the display electrode Y is an electrode on the second polarity side.

The display electrodes X and the display electrodes Y are arranged so that the arrangement relationship of the lines L with respect to the discharge gap g is alternated line by line. That is, two lines are arranged excluding both ends. If the number of lines is an even number as in the example of FIG. 2, the electrodes on both ends are the display electrodes X (or display electrodes Y) on the same polarity side, and if the number of lines is an odd number, the electrodes on both ends have different polarities. Side display electrodes X, Y
Is.

In the example of FIG. 2, the electrode gap d between the lines L is larger than the discharge gap g, but it is possible to make the electrode gap d substantially equal to the discharge gap g. In that case, the display electrodes X and Y are arranged at equal intervals in the above-described order.

Of the display electrodes X and Y arranged in this manner, one display electrode X is electrically shared on the front end side of the line L for the sake of simplification of the drive circuit, and a drive not shown in use is used. Connected collectively to the voltage source. On the contrary,
The other display electrode Y is an individual electrode that is independent for each line in order to enable line-sequential screen scanning, and the rear end side of the line L corresponds to each line L and an individual drive voltage source (not shown). Connected to.

In each line L, the surface discharge cell C is defined by the display electrodes X and Y for each unit light emitting region EU partitioned by the partition 29 (see FIG. 1). Then, the display electrode Y and the address electrode A are used to select (address) lighting / non-lighting of each surface discharge cell C.

At the time of display by the PDP 1, after the wall charges are selectively accumulated by line-sequential screen scanning in the address period as in the conventional case, the display electrodes of all the lines L in the sustain period TS as shown in FIG. A sustain pulse having a peak value Vs is alternately applied to X and the display electrodes Y of all the lines L.

At this time, paying attention to two adjacent lines L, the electrodes adjacent to each other with the electrode interval d therebetween are the display electrodes X (or Y) on the same polarity side. Therefore, when the sustain pulse is applied to all the lines L all at once, no potential difference occurs between the lines L. As a result, even if the electrode spacing d between the lines is narrowed, unnecessary surface discharge does not occur and the influence of the electrostatic capacitance is small, so that the line pitch can be reduced and high definition can be achieved.

If the electrode spacing d between the lines can be narrowed, the width of the display electrodes X and Y can be widened. If the width of the display electrodes X and Y is increased, the area of the display electrodes X and Y in the unit light emitting region EU is increased, the surface discharge is further expanded, and the brightness is increased.

Particularly, in the reflection type PDP 1 in which the display electrodes X and Y are arranged between the discharge space 30 and the display surface H, the width of the transparent conductive film 41 of the display electrodes X and Y is increased to
Since the metal film 42, which is a light shield, can be kept away from the central portion of the line with high emission intensity, the effect of light shielding by the metal film 42 is reduced and the light emission efficiency is improved.

The adjacent display electrodes X on the same polarity side,
If a drive voltage source is connected to the end portions (one end or both ends) on the same side of Y in the extension direction and a drive voltage is applied, the discharge currents flow in the same direction, so that the display electrodes X, Y Regardless of the voltage drop due to the resistance of the line L, the potentials at the respective parts in the extension direction become substantially equal between the lines L. That is, even if the potential difference between the end portion and the central portion of the display electrodes X and Y is relatively large due to the voltage drop, as in the case of a large screen where the display electrodes X and Y are long, the same polarity is maintained. Regarding the display electrodes X (or Y) on the side, the potential distributions in the line direction are substantially equal to each other, and no potential difference occurs in the column direction.

In the above embodiment, the reflection type PDP is used.
However, the present invention can also be applied to a transmissive PDP in which the phosphor 28 is provided on the inner surface of the glass substrate 11 on the display surface H side. The address electrode A may be arranged on the same glass substrate 11 as the display electrodes X and Y.

[0036]

According to the inventions of claim 1 and claim 2,
Since the electrode spacing between the lines can be reduced, the line pitch can be reduced to achieve higher definition, and the ratio of the display electrodes in the unit light emitting region can be increased to increase the range of surface discharge. The brightness can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the light shielding by the display electrode and improve the light emission efficiency. According to the invention of claim 3, a potential difference does not occur between the lines in each part in the line direction regardless of the voltage drop due to the resistance of the display electrode, so that the display screen can be easily enlarged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a PDP according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an electrode configuration of the PDP shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of drive waveforms in a sustain period.

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing an electrode configuration of a conventional surface discharge PDP.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 PDP (surface discharge type plasma display panel) 11 glass substrate (display surface side substrate) 41 transparent conductive film 42 metal film g discharge gap L line X first polarity side display electrode Y second polarity side display electrode

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A surface discharge type plasma display having, for each line of a matrix display, display electrodes on a first polarity side and a second polarity side which extend in parallel to each other with a discharge gap therebetween and have the same dimension in the arrangement direction. A surface discharge type panel, wherein the display electrodes on the first polarity side and the second polarity side are arranged such that the mutual arrangement relationship with respect to the discharge gap alternates line by line. Plasma display panel. 2. The first and second polarity side display electrodes are a band-shaped transparent conductive film and an edge portion of the transparent conductive film which is thinner than the transparent conductive film and far from the discharge gap in the transparent conductive film. 2. The surface discharge type plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the surface discharge plasma display panel is composed of a metal film laminated on the substrate and is disposed on the substrate on the display surface side. 3. A method of driving a surface discharge plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the display electrodes on the first polarity side adjacent to each other have the same end in the extension direction of the display electrodes. Part is connected to a drive voltage source, and adjacent display electrodes on the second polarity side are connected to the drive voltage source at ends on the same side in the extension direction of these display electrodes. How to drive the panel.