Patent ID: 8054248

Claim:
A method for driving a plasma display apparatus that includes a scan electrode and a sustain electrode formed on a first substrate, an address electrode formed on a second substrate, a plurality of barrier ribs provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, and a cell defined by the scan, sustain and address electrodes, and the plurality of barrier ribs, the method comprising: applying a rising waveform to the scan electrode during a setup period; applying a falling waveform to the scan electrode during a set-down period; applying a scan pulse to the scan electrode during an address period, the address period including a first address period and a second address period later than the first address period, wherein each scan pulse of the first address period and the second address period falls from a scan reference voltage having a positive voltage and then rises back to the scan reference voltage having the positive voltage; applying a first sustain pulse to the scan electrode during a sustain period; applying a first DC voltage to the sustain electrode during the set-down period; applying a second DC voltage to the sustain electrode during the first address period after applying the falling waveform to the scan electrode; applying a third DC voltage to the sustain electrode during the second address period after applying the second DC voltage to the sustain electrode; and applying a second sustain pulse to the sustain electrode during the sustain period; wherein the rising waveform increases to a voltage greater than a peak voltage of the first sustain pulse, and the falling waveform decreases to a voltage less than a ground voltage, and wherein a difference between the third DC voltage and a lowest voltage of the scan pulse applied during the second address period is more than a difference between the second DC voltage and a lowest voltage of the scan pulse applied during the first address period.