Study on Pulse Waveforms for Improving Voltage Margin and Luminous Efficacy in an AC Plasma Display Panel Having Auxiliary Electrodes

New pulse waveforms applied to an alternating-current plasma display panel (ac PDP) with an auxiliary electrode are investigated for the purpose of improving the panel´s operating voltage margin and luminous efficacy. In the proposed pulse waveforms with reciprocal sustain pulses, a pair of positive and negative sustain pulses is applied to the sustain electrodes simultaneously and alternately. A positive auxiliary pulse is applied to the auxiliary electrode immediately after reciprocal sustain pulses. The voltage margin becomes wider, and the luminous efficacy is improved because of the suppression of the discharge toward the address electrode. In the another proposed pulse waveforms with reciprocal sustain and auxiliary pulses, a negative pulse, which is the same as the negative pulse of reciprocal sustain pulses, is additionally applied to the auxiliary electrode when reciprocal sustain pulses are applied. This negative auxiliary pulse can maintain a high level of luminous efficacy because it supports the effect of the auxiliary pulses. The measurement results show that the operating voltage margin is about twice wider than that of the typical pulse waveforms for an ac PDP with an auxiliary electrode; furthermore, the maximum luminous efficacy is able to reach 3.14 lm/W in terms of the measurement of the discharge in a 50-in XGA resolution (0.27 mm × 0.81 mm) panel with a white cell and a gas mixture of Ne+20%Xe.