Patent ID: 8081144

Claim:
A drive method of a plasma display panel performing image display by providing a plurality of subfields within one field period, each subfield having: an initializing period in which a ramp-waveform voltage that is gradually descending is applied to a scan electrode; an address period in which an address discharge is generated in a discharge cell having a display electrode pair comprising the scan electrode and a sustain electrode by applying a scan pulse voltage to the scan electrode; and a sustain period in which a sustain discharge is generated in the discharge cell by alternately applying sustain pulse voltages to the display electrode pair by the number of times corresponding to the luminance weight, the method comprising: forming, in the initializing period of each subfield, one of: an all cell initializing subfield that generates an initializing discharge for all discharge cells that perform image display, and a selected initializing subfield that selectively generates an initializing discharge at the discharge cell that generated a sustain discharge in the sustain period of the subfield right before, wherein the initializing period of the subfield where the luminance weight is smallest, is the all cell initializing subfield; and maintaining a lowest voltage value of the ramp-waveform voltage in both of the initializing period of the all cell initializing subfield and an initializing period of a subfield right after the all cell initializing subfield for a prescribed period, wherein the lowest voltage value of the ramp-waveform voltage in both of the initializing period of the all cell initializing subfield and the initializing period of the subfield right after the all cell initializing subfield is lower than the lowest voltage value of the ramp-waveform voltage in the initializing period of other subfields.