Gas discharge display apparatus

Claim 1

A gas discharge display apparatus comprising: a gas discharge display panel comprising first and second plate members disposed with a surface of said first plate member closely adjacent and parallel to a surface of said second plate member, with at least one of said plate members being formed of an optically transparent material, an array of elongated stripe-shaped anodes formed on said surface of said first plate member, an array of elongated stripe-shaped cathodes formed on said surface of said second plate member and oriented at right angles to said anodes to thereby define an array of display elements at regions of intersection between said anodes and cathodes, and an array of elongated dielectric partitioning members oriented parallel to said anodes and respectively disposed between mutually adjacent pairs of said anodes; cathode switching circuit means responsive to an externally applied horizontal sync signal for sequentially connecting each of said cathodes to a cathode selection potential during respective cathode scanning intervals, in synchronism with said horizontal sync signal; latch circuit means for storing display data to be displayed above successive ones of said cathodes during successive ones of said cathode scanning intervals; anode switching circuit means responsive to said display data in said latch circuit means for applying an anode activation potential to selected ones of said anodes in accordance with said display data during each of said cathode scanning intervals, said cathode selection potential and anode activation potential being determined such as to produce a display discharge state when applied simultaneously to one of said anodes and said cathodes defining one of said display elements, whereby light is emitted from said display element; charging signal generating circuit means for producing a charging signal, in synchronism with said horizontal sync signal, during a blanking interval preceding each of said cathode scanning intervals, said anode switching circuit means being coupled to receive said charging signal and responsive thereto for applying said anode activation potential to all of said anodes during said blanking interval, for thereby charging stray capacitances which are associated with said anodes, and; circuit means for generating a support signal in synchronism with said horizontal sync signal during each of said cathode scanning intervals, said anode switching circuit means being coupled to receive said support signal and responsive thereto for applying said anode activation potential to all of said anodes during a time interval of fixed duration which is substantially shorter than said cathode scanning interval and which commences after a fixed time interval following the commencement of said cathode scanning interval.