Plasma display system

Claim 2

A visual display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein said wire grids intersect at N2 points and wherein the number of control switches required for said N2 points is substantially 4 Square Root N.

Claim 3

A visual display system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said sustaining voltage and said writing voltage are alternating voltages.

Claim 4

A visual display system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said sustaining voltage and said writing voltage are pulsed dc voltages.

Claim 5

A visual display system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said display is of the capacitively coupled type wherein said wire grids are on opposite sides of an illuminatable substance and cause a capacitive discharge at selective locations through said illuminatable substance.

Claim 6

A visual display system in accordance with claim 6 further comprising; means for generating an erasing voltage for selectively erasing portions of said visual display wherein said erasing voltage is applied through the same switches through which said writing voltage is applied to said display.

Claim 7

A visual display system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the magnitude of said erasing voltage is less than the magnitude of said writing voltage and more than the magnitude of said sustaining voltage.

Claim 8

A capacitively coupled plasma display system of the type in which two wire grids are plated on the surfaces of two dielectrics and are separated from each other by a fixed distance with an ionizable gas therebetween comprising: writing means for generating a voltage sufficiently high to cause ionization with resultant glow discharge of said ionizable gas; sustaining means for generating a voltage sufficiently high to maintain said glow discharge once initiated by said writing voltage; means for noninductively coupling said writing voltage and said sustaining voltage to selected areas of said plasma display in accordance with matrix selection data from said first mentioned means in both an X channel and a Y channel; said X channel corresponding to one of said conductive grids and said Y channel corresponding to the other of said conductive grids; said X grid and said Y grid crossing in matrix form; means coupled to said switching means for isolating said writing voltage and said sustaining voltage one from the other prior to coupling to said conductive grid networks; the source of said matrix selection data comprising a digital computer; and said isolation network comprising a plurality of diode and resistive networks for cyclically coupling said writing and sustaining voltages to certain of said plasma areas while simultaneously blocking said writing voltage from other of said plasma areas.

Claim 9

The combination of claim 9 further comprising: means for noninductively controlling said writing voltage with said sustaining voltage such that said writing voltage is selectively applied to areas of said visual display to produce visual indication at said areas without loss of said sustaining voltage at areas of said visual display at which said writing voltage is not applied.

Claim 10

A visual display system in accordance with claim 10 wherein said means for controlling includes; means for isolating said sustaining voltage from said writing voltage.

Claim 11

A visual display system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said writing voltage are alternating signals.

Claim 12

In combination: first and second sets of conductors; means for producing light at a plurality of locations, said locations being situated at intersections of conductors of said first set of conductors with conductors of said second set of conductors; a first set of diodes, said first set of diodes being coupled to said conductors of said first and second sets of conductors; a plurality of switch means coupled to said first set of diodes for controlling which of said light producing means produce light; means for generating a sustaining voltage; and a second set of diodes, said second set of diodes being coupled to said sustaining voltage generating means and to said first and second sets of conductors.

Claim 13

The combination of claim 13 wherein said switch means are less in number than the total number of conductors of said first and second sets of conductors.

Claim 14

The combination of claim 14 wherein the number of said switch means per set of conductors is substantially two times the square root of the number of conductors in said set of conductors.

Claim 15

A computer controlled display device comprising in combination: an array of crosspoint cells defined by respective row and column conductors; a source of alternating polarity sustaining signals; a plurality of diodes, said diodes having first and second terminals, said first terminals of each of said diodes being coupled to separate ones of said row and column conductors; a plurality of first switch means, said first switch means being coupled to said second terminals of said diodes, said switch means conducting when data displayed on said display device is being sustained; a source of writing signals, said writing signals causing selected ones of said crosspoint cells to emit light when said writing signals are coupled to selected ones of said row and column conductors; a plurality of second switch means, said second switch means coupling said writing signals to selected ones of said row and column conductors when said second switch means are conducting; and means for operating said first and second switch means in response to signals from said computer.

Claim 16

The combination of claim 16 wherein said array of crosspoint cells comprises a plasma display panel.

Claim 17

The combination of claim 17 further comprising a plurality of resistors, one of said resistors being connected between each of said second terminals of said diodes and said first switch means.