Patent ID: 8536795

Claim:
An apparatus for driving a plurality of field emission lamps including at least one representative lamp and at least one other lamp, the apparatus comprising: a power-supply unit, configured to connect to an electric power source, for generating stable direct-current power by utilizing electric power supplied from the electric power source, and a power control unit, being connected to the power-supply unit and a gate electrode of the representative lamp, for applying to a gate electrode of the representative lamp a representative gate voltage having a potential corresponding to an output voltage of the power-supply unit, the power control unit controlling the output voltage of the power-supply unit such that the representative gate voltage becomes suitable to the representative lamp; wherein the power control unit is also connected to a gate electrode of the other lamp, for applying to a gate electrode of the other lamp a gate voltage which is generated by dividing the output voltage of the power-supply unit, the power control unit controlling a dividing ratio of the output voltage such that electrical power used for driving the other lamp becomes the same as electrical power used for driving the representative lamp.