Display panel and driving method for display panel

Claim 2

A display panel comprising: at least two electrode arrays, each array having a plurality of electrodes forming corresponding cell portions that constitute corresponding pixels and each of said cell portions having a function of selectively emitting light in accordance with selection thereof by suitable display data and energization of the selected cell portions by drive voltage pulses applied to said corresponding electrodes and selectively producing a flow of current into the selected cell portions; a controller controlling the level of the current flowing into the selected cell portions, the level of which increases with an increase in the turn-on display rate of said selected cell portions; a current detector detecting the level of the current flowing into said cell portions; and a current converging value setting unit arbitrarily setting a converging value of the current flowing into said cell portions.

Claim 3

A display panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said display panel is a plasma display panel.

Claim 4

A display panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said display panel is an electroluminescence display panel.

Claim 5

A display panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of said cell portions further comprises a suitable fluorescent substance disposed therein.

Claim 6

A display panel in accordance with claim 2, wherein said drive voltage pulses comprise discharge-sustaining voltage pulses, each said selected cell portion emitting light upon discharge thereof in accordance with selection thereof by the suitable display data and application thereto of the discharge-sustaining voltage pulses through said corresponding electrodes.

Claim 7

A display panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said controller comprises a turn-on frequency control unit which controls the level of said current based upon a frequency of said drive voltage pulses.

Claim 8

A display panel in accordance with claim 6, wherein said turn-on frequency control unit controls the frequency of said discharge-sustaining voltage pulses so that the level of the current flowing into said selected cell portions converges to a current converging value set by said current converging value setting unit.

Claim 9

A display panel in accordance with claim 6, wherein said display panel is a plasma display and said drive voltage pulses comprise discharge-sustaining voltage pulses.

Claim 10

A display panel in accordance with claim 7, further comprising a voltage detector detecting a turn-on display voltage applied to said cell portions and an electrical power calculator calculating the value of an electrical power supplied to the display panel from the output value of said voltage detector and the output value of said current detector, and wherein said turn-on frequency control unit controls the frequency of said discharge-sustaining voltage pulses so that said power value is maintained constant.

Claim 11

A display panel in accordance with claim 9, further comprising a frequency setting unit setting the frequency of said discharge-sustaining voltage pulses at a predetermined value in response to the output of said voltage detector.

Claim 12

A display panel in accordance with claim 9, further comprising a storage unit storing control data corresponding to a voltage value detected by said voltage detector, and said turn-on frequency control unit reads out control data corresponding to a detected voltage value from said storage unit and thereby controls said turn-on frequency.

Claim 13

A display panel system comprising plural display panels arranged in a desired form, each display panel further comprising: at least two electrode arrays, each array having a plurality of electrodes forming corresponding cell portions that constitute respective pixels and each of said cell portions having a function of selectively emitting light in accordance with selection thereof by suitable display data and energization of the selected cell Portions by drive voltage pulses applied to said electrodes and producing a flow of current into the selected cell portions; a controller controlling the level of the current flowing into the selected cell portions, the level of which increases with an increase in the turn-on display rate of said cell portions; a current detector detecting the level of selected the current flowing into said cell portions; and a current converging value setting unit arbitrarily setting a converging value of the current flowing into said cell portions.

Claim 14

A display panel system comprising plural display panels arranged in a desired form, each display panel further comprising: at least two electrode arrays, each array having a plurality of electrodes forming corresponding cell portions that constitute respective pixels and each of said cell portions having a function of selectively emitting light in accordance with selection thereof by suitable display data and energization of the selected cell Portions by drive voltage pulses applied to said electrodes and producing a flow of current into the selected cell portions; a controller controlling the level of the current flowing into the selected cell portions, the level of which increases with an increase in the turn-on display rate of said cell portions; a current detector detecting the level of selected the current flowing into said cell portions; and a current converging value setting unit arbitrarily setting a converging value of the current flowing into said cell portions.

Claim 15

A display panel system as recited in claim 12, wherein the desired form is a cylinder.

Claim 18

A method of controlling a display panel in accordance with claim 14, wherein said display panel is a plasma display and said drive voltage pulses comprise discharge-sustaining voltage pulses, each said selected cell portion emitting light upon discharge thereof in accordance with selection thereof by the suitable display data and application thereto of discharge-sustaining voltage pulses through said corresponding electrodes.

Claim 19

A method of controlling a display panel in accordance with claim 15, further comprising controlling the frequency of said discharge-sustaining voltage pulses in accordance with said set current converging value so that the current flowing into said cell portions converges to the set current converging value.

Claim 20

A method of controlling a display panel in accordance with claim 16, further comprising detecting the turn-on display voltage applied to said cell portions, detecting the level of current flowing to the cell portion, calculating the value of electrical power (voltage×current) supplied to the display panel as a product of the detected turn-on display voltage and the detected level of the current flowing to said selected cell portions, and controlling the frequency of said discharge-sustaining voltage pulses so that said power value is maintained constant.

Claim 21

A method of controlling a display panel in accordance with claim 15, further comprising setting the frequency of said discharge-sustaining voltage pulses to a predetermined value in response to the detected turn-on display voltage.

Claim 22

A method of controlling a display panel in accordance with claim 14, further comprising storing control data corresponding to a detected turn-on voltage value and, when said turn-on voltage value is detected, comparing control data corresponding to the detected voltage value with said stored control data and controlling the frequency of the discharge-sustaining voltage pulses of said display in accordance with the results of the comparison.

Claim 23

A display panel system as recited in claim 12, wherein the desired form is a matrix.