KR100288802B1 - How to Operate Plasma Display Panel Using High Frequency - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma display panel driving method using a high frequency discharge.

In the method of driving a plasma display panel using a high frequency of the present invention, after the selective address discharge is generated between the address electrode and the scan electrode, a priming voltage is supplied to the scan electrode to maintain the charged particles generated by the address discharge; Supplying a triggering pulse to the scan electrode in common to generate a weak discharge using charged particles, and then supplying the center voltage of the high frequency voltage to the scan electrode to generate a high frequency discharge by the high frequency voltage continuously supplied to the scan electrode. And supplying an erase voltage to any one of the address electrode and the scan electrode to erase the high frequency discharge.

According to the present invention, even if a high frequency signal is continuously applied without distinguishing between the addressing section and the high frequency discharge section, the addressing discharge is not affected by the high frequency signal, thereby facilitating the design of the driving circuit of the PDP using the high frequency discharge.

Description

Method Of Driving Plasma Display Panel Using High Frequency

The present invention relates to a plasma display device, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel driving method using high frequency discharge.

Recently, researches on plasma display panels (hereinafter referred to as PDPs), which are easy to manufacture panels as large-area flat panel displays, have been actively conducted according to the needs of large flat panel displays. The PDP generally uses a gas discharge phenomenon to display an image using visible light generated by vacuum ultraviolet rays generated during gas discharge by exciting the phosphor.

Referring to FIG. 1, a structure of a discharge cell configured in a PDP of a three-electrode alternating current (AC) surface discharge method which is commonly used is shown.

In the discharge cell 28 of the PDP shown in FIG. 1, the upper plate 10, which is the display surface of the image, and the lower plate 12 are arranged in parallel with the upper plate 10 by partitions (not shown). The partition wall serves to support the upper plate 10 and the lower plate 12 as well as providing a discharge space 21 inside the cell to block electrical and optical interference between the cells. A pair of sustain electrodes, that is, a scan / hold electrode 14 and a sustain electrode 16 are disposed side by side on the upper plate 10, and an address electrode in a direction perpendicular to the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 on the lower plate 12. 22 is arranged. In addition, the upper dielectric layer 18 for charge accumulation is formed flat on the upper plate 10 on which the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 are disposed, and the passivation layer 20 is formed on the upper dielectric layer 18 surface. The lower dielectric layer 24 for charge accumulation is formed on the lower substrate 12 on which the address electrode 22 is disposed, and on the surface of the lower dielectric layer 24 is a phosphor layer 26 for generating visible light having a unique color. Is applied. The phosphor layer 26 is excited by vacuum ultraviolet rays (VUV) of short wavelengths generated during gas discharge to generate visible light (red, green, blue). The discharge gas 21 is filled in the discharge space 21 provided in the discharge cell 28.

The discharge cell having such a configuration is selected by the address discharge between the address electrode 22 and the scan / sustain electrode 16, and the vacuum ultraviolet rays generated by the continuous sustain discharge between the sustain electrodes 14 and 16 are discharged from the phosphor 26. ) To emit visible light. At this time, the number of sustain discharges is adjusted to implement stepwise brightness, ie, gray scale, necessary for displaying an image. Accordingly, the number of sustain discharges is an important factor in determining the brightness and discharge efficiency of the PDP. For this sustain discharge, a step pulse having a duty rate of 1 is periodically applied to the sustain electrodes 14 and 16 periodically, at which the frequency is usually about 200 to 300 kHz and the pulse width is about 10 to 20 kHz. In this case, the sustain discharge occurs only once at an extremely short instant per sustain pulse. In addition, the charged particles generated by the sustain discharge move the discharge path formed between the two sustain electrodes according to the polarity of the electrode, so that wall charges are formed inside the discharge space of the cell, and the discharge voltage in the discharge space decreases due to the wall charges. Will stop. As described above, the sustain discharge by the existing sustain pulse is generated only once at a short time per pulse, and most of the other time is consumed in the preparation of the wall charge and the next discharge, so that the discharge efficiency of the PDP is inevitably low.

In order to solve the low discharge efficiency problem of the PDP, a high frequency discharge using a high frequency voltage has recently emerged. As shown in FIG. 2, the high frequency discharge is continuously generated by a high frequency voltage of several tens of MHz to several hundred MHz, so that the electrons vibrate between the two electrodes 30 and 32 to continuously discharge the discharge gas in the discharge space 31. Ionized and excited. As a result, continuous discharge occurs without dissipation of electrons for most of the discharge time, thereby increasing the amount of vacuum ultraviolet rays, thereby increasing the luminance and the discharge efficiency. This high frequency discharge has a physical effect such as a positive column having a very high discharge efficiency when the distance between the electrodes is long in the glow discharge.

An object of the present invention is to provide a PDP driving method using a high frequency to efficiently use a high frequency discharge to increase the discharge efficiency and brightness.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a discharge cell of a plasma display panel of a conventional three-electrode alternating surface discharge method.

2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of high frequency discharge.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a discharge cell applied to a method of driving a plasma display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating an electrode arrangement structure applied to a method of driving a plasma display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a voltage waveform diagram for driving the discharge cell shown in FIG.

6 is a voltage waveform diagram illustrating a method of driving a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a voltage waveform diagram illustrating a method of driving a plasma display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

<Brief description of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10, 40: top plate 12, 42: bottom plate

14, 46: scanning electrode 16: sustaining electrode

18, 24, 48: dielectric layer 20: protective layer

22, 44: address electrodes 26, 54: phosphor

21, 31: discharge space 28, 34: discharge cell

30, 32: first and second electrodes 50: high frequency electrode

52: bulkhead

In order to achieve the above object, in the PDP driving method using a high frequency according to the present invention, after the selective address discharge is generated between the address electrode and the scan electrode, the charged particles generated by the address discharge are supplied by supplying a priming voltage to the scan electrode. And a triggering pulse commonly applied to the scan electrode to generate a weak discharge using charged particles, and then to the scan electrode by supplying a center voltage of a high frequency voltage to the scan electrode. And discharging the high frequency discharge by supplying an erase voltage to one of the address electrode and the scan electrode.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention in addition to the above object will become 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. 3 to 7.

3 is a perspective view showing a discharge cell applied to the PDP driving method according to the present invention, wherein the PDP discharge cell shown in FIG. 3 is disposed on the high frequency electrode 50 disposed on the upper plate 40 and the lower plate 42. The address electrode 44 and the scan electrode 46 are provided.

In the PDP discharge cell shown in FIG. 3, the upper plate 40 and the lower plate 42 are disposed to face each other in parallel, and on the lower plate 42, the vertical address electrode 44 and the horizontal scanning electrode 46 are disposed. Is formed. A dielectric layer 48 is formed between the address electrode 44 and the scan electrode 46. The upper plate 50 is formed with a metal electrode to which a high frequency voltage is applied in the same direction as the scan electrode 46, that is, a high frequency electrode 50. A partition wall is formed between the upper and lower plates 40 and 42 in a direction parallel to the address electrode 44 to exclude optical interference between neighboring cells. On the surface of the top plate 40 and the partition wall 52 on which the high frequency electrode 50 is formed, red, green, and blue phosphors 54 are applied. Then, the discharge gas is filled in the discharge space therein.

4 illustrates an electrode arrangement structure of a PDP applied to a PDP driving method according to the present invention.

The PDP shown in FIG. 4 includes address electrode lines X1 to Xm arranged to correspond to each column line, and scan electrode lines Y1 arranged to correspond to each row line. Yn) and high frequency electrode lines RF. The discharge cells 34 are provided at the intersections of the address electrode lines X1 to Xm, the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn, and the high frequency electrode lines RF.

FIG. 5 shows a voltage waveform diagram of driving the discharge cell shown in FIG. 3.

First, in the discharge cell of FIG. 3, the high frequency electrode 50 is continuously supplied with a high frequency voltage of several tens of MHz or more. Thus, no charge particles are generated in the discharge space during the period a in which the high frequency voltage is supplied only to the high frequency electrode 50, so that discharge does not occur. In section b where the data pulse Vd is supplied to the address electrode 44 and the scan pulse Vs is supplied to the scan electrode 46, a high voltage is applied between the address electrode 44 and the scan electrode 46. Discharge occurs and charged particles are produced. The charged particles generated by this address discharge are generated by the high frequency electrode 50 by the high frequency voltage supplied to the high frequency electrode 50 during the period c and the center voltage Vc of the high frequency voltage constantly supplied to the scan electrode 46. The ions do not move between the scan electrode 46 and only the electrons are vibrated in a state where only the electrons are not attracted to the two electrodes 46 and 50. In this way, the vibrating electrons ionize and excite the discharge gas continuously and emit vacuum ultraviolet rays while emitting excited atoms and molecules to the ground state to emit phosphors. Therefore, by adjusting the c section it is possible to adjust the time the light is emitted it is possible to adjust the brightness. In addition, the erase pulse Ve is supplied to the scan electrode 46 in the period d, so that the electrons are no longer vibrated, the electrons are attracted to the address electrode 46, and the charged particles disappear. Will not. In this case, since the erase pulse Ve only needs to change the center voltage Vc, which is a reference voltage of high frequency discharge, the voltage between the address discharge and the erase discharge is different from the method of supplying the same polarity as the data pulse Vd. If present, the voltage Ve 'having the same polarity as that of the scan pulse Vs can be supplied.

6 is a diagram illustrating a voltage waveform for explaining a PDP driving method using a high frequency according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a voltage waveform diagram supplied to the PDP shown in FIG.

First, a constant high frequency voltage is always supplied to commonly connected high frequency electrode lines RF. Scan pulses for selecting the scan line are sequentially supplied to the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn. The data pulse is supplied to the address electrode lines X1 to Xm in synchronization with the scan pulse Vs to selectively generate an address discharge to generate charged particles. In this case, the actual voltage Vw = Vs + Vd applied between the scan electrode and the address electrode becomes. The priming voltage Vp is supplied to the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn to maintain the charged particles generated by the address discharge during the address discharge period. At this time, the priming voltage Vp should be limited to a range larger than the scan voltage Vs and smaller than the center voltage Vc of the high frequency voltage. This is because when the priming voltage Vp becomes equal to the scan voltage Vs, a malfunction occurs. When the priming voltage Vp becomes equal to the center voltage Vc, a high frequency discharge is immediately performed, and thus a desired operation cannot be expected. Therefore, the priming voltage Vp can hold the charged particles generated by the address discharge without affecting the address discharge and the high frequency discharge. As such, when the address discharge is generated up to the Nth scan line, the discharge cells in which the address discharge is generated have charged particles for high frequency discharge. Then, the high frequency discharge period using the high frequency discharge begins. However, the triggering pulse Vt is commonly supplied to the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn before the high frequency discharge so that the high frequency discharge is easily generated by the charged particles. The triggering pulse Vp serves to generate a weak discharge so that the next high frequency discharge can be started using the charged particles held by the priming voltage Vp. Therefore, in each discharge cell, the same high frequency discharge period can be ensured by the triggering pulses Vt occurring simultaneously. In this case, since the triggering pulse Vt only needs to generate a high frequency discharge, the polarity may be applied to both positive and negative values. In this case, since the address discharge does not occur in the discharge cell without data, that is, the unselected discharge cell, no charged particles are generated and therefore no reaction is caused by the triggering pulse. The triggering pulse is chosen to be a voltage that can only act on the cells in which the charged particles are generated. Subsequently, high frequency discharge is generated by the high frequency voltage commonly supplied to the high frequency electrode lines RF and the center voltage Vc commonly supplied to the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn. Due to this high frequency discharge, ions cannot move and only electrons vibrate in the discharge space. The electrons vibrating continuously ionize and excite the discharge gas in the discharge space, and emit the fluorescent substance by emitting vacuum ultraviolet rays while the excited atoms and molecules transition to the ground state. Following the high frequency discharge period, the erase pulse Ve is commonly supplied to the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn to stop the high frequency discharge. At this time, the erase voltage Ve may be erased by breaking a voltage balance between the high frequency electrode and the scan electrode by applying a voltage other than the center voltage Vc to the scan electrode or the address electrode.

7 illustrates a voltage waveform for explaining a PDP driving method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 7, the polarities of the voltage waveforms supplied to the address electrode lines X1 to Xm and the scan electrode lines Y1 to Yn are different from the voltage waveforms shown in FIG. 6. In the high frequency discharge, since the electron mainly serves as a seed, it is efficient to provide the electron in the scan electrode line disposed to face the high frequency electrode line. Therefore, when the address discharge is generated between the scan electrode line and the address electrode line, a purge voltage is applied to the scan electrode line and a negative voltage to the address electrode line so that electrons are generated along the scan electrode line. In addition, the triggering pulse is applied to the same as the purge voltage, and the erase pulse is the opposite action, so the negative voltage is used.

As a result, in the PDP driving method according to the present invention, a high frequency signal serving as a sustain is supplied in the addressing period, but is not affected by the high frequency in the addressing period. If the high-frequency signal is used only as the sustain and not during the addressing period, it may be more burdensome to design the driving circuit.

As described above, according to the PDP driving method according to the present invention, even if a high frequency signal is continuously applied without distinguishing between the addressing section and the high frequency discharge section, the addressing discharge is not affected by the high frequency signal. Accordingly, the design of the driving circuit of the PDP using the high frequency discharge becomes easy.

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)

In the driving method of a plasma display panel having an address electrode, a scanning electrode and a high frequency electrode to generate a high frequency discharge, Continuously applying a high frequency voltage to the high frequency electrode; Applying an alternating voltage between the address electrode and the scan electrode to sequentially generate an address discharge for each scan electrode line; Supplying a DC voltage to each scan electrode immediately after the address discharge to maintain the charged particles generated by the address discharge for a predetermined time; A triggering discharge step of supplying a triggering pulse to all the scan electrodes of the scan electrode line at the same time to cause a discharge to start a high frequency discharge using charged particles held for a certain time after the address discharge; Applying a reference voltage of the high frequency voltage to the scan electrode to maintain a high frequency discharge started by the triggering discharge; And erasing the high frequency discharge by supplying an erase voltage to one of the address electrode and the scan electrode. The method of claim 1, The DC voltage for maintaining the charged particles for a predetermined time is set to a value smaller than the scan voltage supplied to the scan electrode and larger than the center voltage of the high frequency voltage to cause the address discharge. Driving method. The method of claim 1, The voltage of the triggering pulse is a plasma display panel driving method using a high frequency, characterized in that set to cause a weak discharge only in the discharge cells in which the charged particles are generated. The method of claim 3, wherein And the erasing voltage is set to a voltage different from the center voltage of the high frequency voltage.