Patent ID: 7598939

Claim:
A method for driving a plane discharging-type backlight which comprises a first glass substrate and a second glass substrate, a first electrode formed on said first glass substrate, a second electrode formed on said second glass substrate, at least one of which is covered with a dielectric layer, wherein gas is fed into space formed between said first glass substrate and second glass substrate and a portion surrounding said space is sealed in a hermetic manner and wherein a voltage is applied between said first and said second electrode to have discharging occur in a space between said first and said second glass substrate and light is emitted by exciting a fluorescent material being placed between said first glass and said second glass substrate, said method comprising: a step of constructing at least one of said first and second electrodes to have discharging occur of a plurality of belt-shaped electrodes; and a step of applying a DC (direct current) voltage to one belt-shaped electrode out of said plurality of belt-shaped electrodes during light emission for scanning and discharging in a region in which said belt-shaped electrode emits light for discharging and of applying a sine waveform voltage or a rectangular waveform voltage to an other electrode opposed to said belt-shaped electrode.