Method for reliably lighting cells in a plasma display panel

Claim 2

In entering information into information cells in a plasma panel in response to an applied selective address firing signal, sustaining signals being applied to said panel for sustaining the information entered into said panel, and said panel including a plurality of border cells around said information cells, an improved method for reliably entering said information comprising applying a border drive signal to said border cells for combining with said sustaining signals to discharge all of said plurality of border cells simultaneously with each application of said selective address firing signal.

Claim 3

In a plasma panel having information cells disposed in a substantially central area on said panel and a plurality of border cells disposed in horizontal and vertical border areas substantially surrounding said information cells, wherein information is entered into said panel by applying addressing signal to a selected cell and wherein said information entered into said panel is sustained in said panel by applying sustaining signals to said panel, an improved method for reliably entering said information comprising applying respective horizontal and vertical border drive signals to said border cells for combining with said sustaining signals to discharge all of said plurality of border cells comprising said horizontal and vertical border areas simultaneously with the application of said selectIve addressing signal to said selected cell.

Claim 4

In a plasma panel having information cells disposed in a substantially central area on said panel and a plurality of border cells disposed in horizontal and vertical border areas substantially surrounding said information cells, wherein information is entered into said panel by applying addressing signal to a selected cell and wherein said information entered into said panel is sustained in said panel by applying sustaining signals to said panel, an improved method for reliably entering said information comprising applying respective horizontal and vertical border drive signals to said border cells for combining with said sustaining signals to discharge all of said plurality of border cells comprising said horizontal and vertical border areas simultaneously with the application of said selectIve addressing signal to said selected cell.

Claim 5

The improved method of claim 2 wherein applying said sustaining signal comprises providing complementary X and Y sustaining signals; said method further including, applying said X sustaining signal and one of said horizontal and vertical border drive signals to respective border cells; and applying said Y sustaining signal and the other of said horizontal and vertical border drive signals to the other of said respective border cells, all of said plurality border cells thereby being discharged in repetitive simultaneous sequence.

Claim 6

In entering information into a plasma display panel having a plurality of information cells disposed in a generally central area on said panel, a first pair of border cells on opposite sides of said panel on the perimeter of said information cells, a second pair of border cells on opposite sides of said panel on the perimeter of said information cells, wherein information is entered into said panel by applying a selective addressing signal and said entered information is sustained by applying a pair of sustaining signals, an improved method for reliably entering said information comprising: providing a first border driving signal source supplying a first drive signal for said first pair of border cells; providing a second border driving signal source supplying a second drive signal for said second pair of border cells; applying one of said sustaining signals and said first drive signal to said first pair of border cells for repetitively discharging said first pair of border cells simultaneously; applying the other of said sustaining signals and said second drive signal to said pair of border cells for repetitively discharging said second pair of border cells simultaneously with said repetitive discharges of said first pair of border cells; and applying said selective addressing signal to said panel during the simultaneous discharging of said border cells.

Claim 7

In entering information into a plasma display panel having a plurality of information cells disposed in a generally central area on said panel, a first pair of border cells on opposite sides of said panel on the perimeter of said information cells, a second pair of border cells on opposite sides of said panel on the perimeter of said information cells, wherein information is entered into said panel by applying a selective addressing signal and said entered information is sustained by applying a pair of sustaining signals, an improved method for reliably entering said information comprising: providing a first border driving signal source supplying a first drive signal for said first pair of border cells; providing a second border driving signal source supplying a second drive signal for said second pair of border cells; applying one of said sustaining signals and said first drive signal to said first pair of border cells for repetitively discharging said first pair of border cells simultaneously; applying the other of said sustaining signals and said second drive signal to said pair of border cells for repetitively discharging said second pair of border cells simultaneously with said repetitive discharges of said first pair of border cells; and applying said selective addressing signal to said panel during the simultaneous discharging of said border cells.