Patent ID: 7965261

Claim:
A method for driving an AC type surface-discharge display device having a plurality of cells arranged in a matrix, each cell having at least three electrodes including a pair of a first main electrode and a second main electrode disposed on every line of the matrix and an address electrode disposed on every column of the matrix, the method comprising: conducting an address preparation period for forming a sustainable wall charge in each cell comprising: applying a first charge adjusting voltage, monotonously rising or falling from a first set value to a second set value, to a gap between the first and second main electrodes, and applying a second charge adjusting voltage, monotonously rising or falling from a third set value to a fourth set value, to a gap between the second main electrode as a scan electrode and the address electrode, in such a manner that the applications of the first and second charge adjusting voltages are made in common use of an electric potential provided to the second main electrode; conducting an erase address period for erasing the wall charge in a selected cell comprising: applying selectively an erase address voltage having the same polarity as that of the second charge adjusting voltage, between a selected second main electrode and the address electrode; and conducting a sustain period for sustaining an electric discharge in a non-selected cell comprising: applying alternately a sustain pulse to the first and second main electrodes, wherein a first sustain pulse is applied to the first main electrode with the same polarity as said first charge adjusting voltage.