Method and apparatus for driving plasma display panel (PDP)

Abstract

An apparatus and method to drive a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) having discharge cells arranged where X electrodes and Y electrodes cross each other includes: generating a driving control signal including X, Y, and A driving control signals according to an image signal of an image to be displayed; X, Y, and A drivers to respectively process the X, Y, and A driving control signals and to supply them to the X, Y, and A electrodes. In a sustain-discharge period, a sustain pulse voltage of a first level is alternately supplied to the X electrodes and the Y electrodes, and a first sustain pulse has a pulse width in a range between 3 μs and 10 μs.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the present invention becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate the same or similar components, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a 3-electrode surface discharge PDP to which a PDP driving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the PDP driving apparatus of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram of a PDP driving method in which a unit frame is divided into a plurality of subfields, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of driving signals output from each of the drivers of the PDP of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a graph of the improvement of luminous efficiency according to variations in the amount of helium with respect to variations in the amount of xenon in a discharge gas mixture including neon, xenon, and helium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graph of the improvement of luminous efficiency according to variations in the amount of xenon with respect to variations in the amount of helium in a discharge gas mixture including neon, xenon, and helium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a graph of brightness maintenance and luminous efficiency with respect to the pressure of discharge gas in a discharge gas mixture including neon Ne, xenon Xe, and helium He according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a graph of the number of on-cells with respect to the variations of the pulse width of a first sustain pulse in a sustain-discharge period according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. An apparatus to drive a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) having discharge cells arranged where X electrodes and Y electrodes cross address electrodes, in which each frame which is a display period includes a plurality of subfields to display a time division gray scale, each subfield having a reset period to initialize all of the discharge cells, an address period to select the discharge cells that are to have a discharge from all of the discharge cells, and a sustain-discharge period to perform a sustain discharge in the selected discharge cells, the apparatus comprising: a logical controller to generate a driving control signal including an X driving control signal, a Y driving control signal, and an A driving control signal according to an image signal of an image to be displayed;an X driver to process the X driving control signal and to supply the X driving control signal to the X electrodes;an Y driver to process the Y driving control signal and to supply the Y driving control signal to the Y electrodes; andan A driver to process the A driving control signal and to supply the A driving control signal to the address electrodes;wherein, in the sustain-discharge period, a sustain pulse voltage of a first level is alternately supplied to the X electrodes and the Y electrodes, and wherein a first sustain pulse has a pulse width in a range between 3 μs and 10 μs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a discharge gas contained within the discharge cells, the discharge gas including at least xenon Xe and helium He.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein an amount of He in the discharge gas is greater than an amount of Xe.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 2% and 20%.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 4% and 14%.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 6% and 12%.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the amount of He in the discharge gas is in a range between 15% and 50%.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a pressure of the discharge gas is in a range between 400 Torr and 550 Torr.

9. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein an amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 2% and 20%, the amount of He in the discharge gas is in a range between 15% and 50%, the amount of He in the discharge gas is greater than the amount of Xe, and a pressure of the discharge gas mixture is in a range between 400 Torr and 550 Torr.

10. A method of driving a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) having discharge cells arranged where X electrodes and Y electrodes cross each other, in which each frame which is a display period includes a plurality of subfields to display a time division gray scale, each subfield having a reset period to initialize all of the discharge cells, an address period to select the discharge cells that are to have a discharge from all of the discharge cells, and a sustain-discharge period to perform a sustain discharge in the selected discharge cells, the method comprising: generating a driving control signal including an X driving control signal, a Y driving control signal, and an A driving control signal according to an image signal of an image to be displayed;processing the X driving control signal and supplying the X driving control signal to the X electrodes;processing the Y driving control signal and supplying the Y driving control signal to the Y electrodes; andprocessing the A driving control signal and supplying the A driving control signal to the address electrodes;wherein, in the sustain-discharge period, a sustain pulse voltage of a first level is alternately supplied to the X electrodes and the Y electrodes, and wherein a first sustain pulse has a pulse width in a range between 3 μs and 10 μs.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising injecting a discharge gas within the discharge cells, the discharge gas including at least xenon Xe and helium He.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein an amount of He in the discharge gas is greater than an amount of Xe.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 2% and 20%.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 4% and 14%.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 6% and 12%.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the amount of He in the discharge gas is in a range between 15% and 50%.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein a pressure of the discharge gas is in a range between 400 Torr and 550 Torr.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein an amount of Xe in the discharge gas is in a range between 2% and 20%, the amount of He in the discharge gas is in a range between 15% and 50%, the amount of He in the discharge gas is greater than the amount of Xe, and a pressure of the discharge gas mixture is in a range between 400 Torr and 550 Torr.