Method and apparatus for driving plasma display panel

An apparatus for driving a plasma display panel used to display an image and having front and rear substrates opposed to and facing each other, X and Y electrode lines formed between the front and rear substrates to be parallel to each other, address electrode lines formed to be orthogonal to the X and Y electrode lines, to define corresponding display cells at interconnections, the apparatus comprising:

• a brightness detector which monitors whether an average brightness of the image displayed on the plasma display panel is maintained at a predetermined level or below for a predetermined time and generates a corresponding brightness control signal;
• a controller which generates driving control signals according to an externally applied image signal and the brightness control signal output from the brightness detector;
• an address driver which processes an address signal among the driving control signals supplied from the controller to generate display data signals and applies the generated display data signals to the address electrode lines;
• an X driver which outputs X driving signals according to the driving control signals supplied from the controller and applies the X driving signals to the X electrode lines;
• and
• a Y driver which outputs Y driving signals according to the driving control signals supplied from the controller and applies the Y driving signals to the Y electrode lines;
• wherein the controller generates the driving control signals to perform a display discharge at all the display cells at least one time if the average brightness is maintained at the predetermined level or below for the predetermined time.