Patent ID: 7002563

Claim:
A driving method for a flat-panel display device which includes, on a substrate, a plurality of signal lines, a plurality of gate lines substantially perpendicular to said signal lines, a plurality of switching elements provided near intersections of said signal lines and said gate lines, a plurality of pixel electrodes connected via said switching elements, and a counter electrode opposed to said pixel electrodes, and a plurality of analog switches connected between a display signal bus and said signal lines for supplying a display signal to the signal lines, and in which the display signal is sequentially supplied to said signal lines and a potential of said counter electrode is inverted with respect to a reference potential for every predetermined number of horizontal and vertical scanning periods or for every predetermined number of vertical scanning periods so as to perform a display operation, said driving method comprising: inverting the potential of said counter electrode during a horizontal or vertical blanking period subsequent to a horizontal or vertical display period; and fixing all the signal lines to a predetermined potential by simultaneously turning on said analog switches to supply a same signal from the display signal bus to all the signal lines, when the potential of the counter electrode is inverted.