Method and apparatus to drive plasma display panel (PDP)

A method of driving a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) having cells divided into a plurality of groups and having the cells included in each group being addressed and a sustain discharge effected by X, Y, and address electrodes, the method comprising:

• dividing one frame into a plurality of sub-fields, allocating a gray-scale realized by each sub-field differently, and determining a gray-scale according to visible brightness of the cells by selectively driving each sub-field;
• wherein in at least one sub-field:
• operations of the address period and the sustain period are sequentially performed with respect to the cells in each group, the sustain period operations are performed with respect to the cells of an addressed group after the address operations with respect to the cells in each group;
• the address operations are performed on the cells in other groups after the sustain period has been completed;
• and
• the sustain period operations are selectively performed on the cells in other groups in which the address operations have already been performed while the sustain period operations are being performed on the cells in any one of the groups;
• alternately supplying a sustain pulse to the X and Y electrodes based on a reference voltage during the sustain period;
• and
• reducing a width of the last sustain pulse of the sustain period in a minimum weighted sub-field in response to the load factor of the minimum weighted sub-field having the lowest gray-scale among the plurality of sub-fields being lower than a reference load factor.

An apparatus to drive a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) including X, Y, and address electrodes, the apparatus comprising:

• electrode driving units to drive X, Y, and address electrodes with driving signals during each sub-field including a reset period and an address period and a sustain period, a unit frame corresponding to a display cycle including a plurality of sub-fields to display a time ratio gray-scale, and to alternately supply a sustain pulse to the X and Y electrodes based on a reference voltage during the sustain period;
• a load factor detecting unit to detect load factors in each sub-field;
• and
• a sustain pulse width control unit to decrease a width of a last sustain pulse of the sustain period in a minimum weighted sub-field in response to the load factor of the minimum weighted sub-field having the lowest gray-scale among the plurality of sub-fields being lower than a reference load factor.

An apparatus to drive a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) having cells divided into a plurality of groups and having cells included in each group being addressed and a sustain discharge being effected by X, Y, and address electrodes included therein, the apparatus comprising:

• electrode driving units to supply driving signals to the X, Y, and address electrodes, the driving signals dividing one frame into a plurality of sub-fields, to allocate a gray-scale realized by each sub-field differently, and to determine a gray-scale according to visible brightness of the cells by selectively driving each sub-field;
• and, in at least one sub-field, the driving signals sequentially perform operations of the address period and the sustain period with respect to the cells in each group, perform the sustain period operations with respect to the cells of addressed group after the address operations with respect to the cells in each group, perform the address operations on the cells in other groups after the sustain period has been completed, and selectively perform the sustain period operations on the cells in other groups in which the address period operations have already been performed while the sustain period operations are being performed on the cells in any one of the groups;
• and to alternately supply a sustain pulse to the X electrodes and the Y electrodes based on a reference voltage during the sustain period;
• a load factor detecting unit to detect load factors in each sub-field;
• and
• a sustain pulse width control unit to reduce a width of a last sustain pulse of the sustain period in a minimum weighted sub-field in response to a load factor of a minimum weighted sub-field having the lowest gray-scale among the plurality of sub-fields being lower than the reference load factor.