Method for driving surface discharge type plasma display panel

A method for driving an alternating-current (AC) type surface discharge plasma display panel (PDP) having two substrate to be opposed to each other, address electrodes arranged on the opposing surface of one of two substrates in a stripe pattern, and discharge sustaining electrodes on the opposing surface of the other substrate in a stripe pattern to intersect the data electrodes, wherein assuming that common electrodes of odd-numbered lines are denoted by Xa, common electrodes of even-numbered lines are denoted by Xb, and an nth B scanning electrode is denoted by Yn, where n=1, 2, 3, . . . , the common electrodes and the scanning electrodes are arranged in the order Xa-Y1-Xb-Y2-Xa-Y3-Xb-Y4- . . . so that discharge cells of 2n lines are formed by (2n+1) discharge sustaining electrodes, the method comprising the steps of:

• in an addressing period in which an address pulse is applied to the addressing electrodes, sequentially applying to the Y electrodes a pulse for addressing, having the opposite polarity to that of the address pulse, in a period corresponding to the address pulse of the addressing electrodes, and a pulse for an auxiliary discharge, having the opposite polarity to that of the pulse for addressing, in a preceding period of the period corresponding to the address pulse of the addressing electrodes, the pulse for an auxiliary discharge and the pulse for addressing being applied twice for each Y electrode;
• and
• independently coupling Xa electrodes and Xb electrodes in pairs, and applying to the paired Xa and Xb electrodes pulses for preventing an auxiliary discharge having the same polarity in the same period as that of the pulse for an auxiliary discharge, the pulses for preventing an auxiliary discharge, corresponding to two pulses for an auxiliary discharge, which are applied to the same Y electrodes, being independently applied to the Xa electrodes and the Xb electrodes, respectively, and the pulses for preventing an auxiliary discharge, corresponding to the pulse for an auxiliary discharge applied second to the Y electrode which is driven previously among two neighboring Y electrodes and corresponding to the pulse for an auxiliary discharge applied first to the Y electrode which is driven later, being applied to the same X electrodes among the Xa electrodes and the Xb electrodes.