Surface discharge AC plasma display apparatus and driving method thereof

A method of driving a plasma display apparatus to display an image, said plasma display apparatus comprising a plurality of paired row electrodes each extending in parallel with each other, a plurality of column electrodes facing said plurality of pairs of row electrodes through a discharge space, said column electrodes extending in a direction orthogonal to said plurality of pairs of row electrodes, each of said column electrodes defining a unit light emitting region including an intersection formed every time one of the column electrodes crosses one of the pairs of row electrodes, and a dielectric layer covering the pairs of row electrodes, each of the pairs of row electrodes having projecting portions facing each other through a discharge gap in each unit light emitting region, said method comprising the steps of:

• applying a first pre-discharge pulse to all of said plurality of pairs of row electrodes simultaneously to cause a pre-discharge between the pair of row electrodes;
• applying a scan pulse to the pair of row electrodes and simultaneously applying a pixel data pulse to the column electrode to write pixel data in the corresponding unit light emitting region for any of the unit light emitting regions that are selected to emit light;
• and
• applying a series of sustaining discharge pulses alternately to each electrode of the pair of row electrodes to sustain the selected state for the pixel, wherein the first pre-discharge pulse has a pulse waveform whose leading edge rises more gradually as compared with that of the sustaining discharge pulse, such that the pre-discharge is limited only in a region around a discharge gap provided by a gap between the pair of row electrodes in the unit light emitting region.