Patent ID: 6989802

Claim:
A driving method for driving an alternating current plasma display panel comprising: a first insulation substrate and a second insulation substrate arranged opposite to each other, a plurality of scanning electrodes and a plurality of common electrodes alternately formed on an surface of said first insulation substrate opposite to said second insulation substrate and extended in a first direction, a plurality of data electrodes formed on an face of said second insulation substrate opposed to said first insulation substrate and extended in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, a first dielectric layer formed to cover said plurality of scanning electrodes and said plurality of common electrodes, a second dielectric layer formed to cover said plurality of data electrodes, a plurality of discharge gaps arranged between said scanning electrodes and said common electrodes, and a plurality of picture cells each of which includes one of cross points of said discharge gaps and data electrodes; said driving method in which a field for displaying an image includes at least one sub-field including a primary discharge period for initializing a charge state in each of said picture cells and for generating a discharge easily, a scanning period for causing wall charges to build up in at least one picture cell selected based on display data, and a sustaining period for alternately applying voltages to said scanning electrodes and to said common electrodes so as to generate a sustaining discharge in said at least one picture cell having said wall charges, said driving method comprising: a set-up step of making, in an end of said primary discharge period before a beginning of said scanning period, a wall voltage caused by a wall charge building up at an end portion close to said discharge gap in said scanning electrode region substantially equal to a wall voltage caused by a wall charge building up at an end portion close to said discharge gap in said common electrode region.