Patent ID: 6927751

Claim:
A plasma display apparatus which has a plasma display panel that has a plurality of row electrode pairs corresponding to display lines and a plurality of column electrodes arranged so as to cross each of said row electrode pairs and in that a discharge cell functioning as a pixel is formed in each intersecting portion of said row electrode pairs and said column electrodes, and in which a display period of one field is constituted by a plurality of subfields each comprising an address period of time and a light emission sustaining period and said plasma display panel is driven, comprising: a column electrode driver for generating pixel data pulses corresponding to a video signal during said address period and sequentially applying them to said column electrodes for each display line; and a row electrode driver for generating scanning pulses synchronously with a timing of application of each of said pixel data pulses during said address period, sequentially applying them to one row electrode of each of said row electrode pairs, and alternately and repetitively applying sustaining pulses to all of said row electrode pairs during said light emission sustaining period, wherein said column electrode driver comprises a power supplying circuit for generating a power potential having a predetermined electric potential and applying it to a power line and a data pulse driver for selectively applying said power potential on said power line to each of said column electrodes in accordance with said video signal of each display line to thereby form said pixel data pulses, and said apparatus further has a driver protecting part for detecting a value of a current on said power line during said light emission sustaining period, thereby shutting off the power source of said column electrode driver based on said detected current value.