Abstract: A method of measuring a gap between a mask and a substrate by providing a mask and a substrate facing each other. The mask includes an array of patterns, and a at least one window disposed between two of the patterns. Each of the patterns corresponds to a display device. The method also includes projecting an incident laser beam onto the substrate through the window of the mask and determining a gap between the mask and the substrate in a middle region of the substrate in response to first and second reflected beams. The first reflected beam is generated by the reflection of the incident laser beam by the mask, and the second reflected beam is generated by the reflection of the incident laser beam by the substrate. Determining the gap between the mask and the substrate in the middle region allows for the correction of any undesirable deflection of the mask.

Abstract: By a method of the present invention, each field is made up of at least one sub-field, a sub-field of which is made up of a preliminary discharge period, a scanning period, and a sustaining period, the preliminary discharge period of which is made up of a sustaining erasing period, a priming period, and a priming erasing period, the sustaining erasing period of which is made up of a fist sustaining erasing period and a second sustaining erasing period. Negative wall charges are formed over both a scanning electrode and a common electrode in a display cell where sustaining discharge has occurred in an immediately preceding sub-field in the first sustaining erasing period and then are adjusted so that they may have almost the same amount in the second sustaining erasing period.

Abstract: A rear substrate in a plasma display panel including a first substrate through which an image is transmitted to a viewer, and the rear substrate arranged in facing relation to the first substrate, includes (a) an electrically insulating substrate, (b) a plurality of data electrodes arranged on the substrate and spaced away from one another, (c) a plurality of partition walls formed on the substrate, and (d) a phosphor layer covering the substrate and the data electrodes therewith between adjacent partition walls, wherein at least one partition wall and another partition wall among the partition walls are joined to each other at at least one of opposite ends thereof in a length-wise direction through a curved partition wall, the another partition wall extending in the same direction as a direction in which the at least one partition wall extends.

Abstract: A method for driving an address-display separated-type AC (Alternating Current) PDP (Plasma Display Panel) is provided which is capable of having sequentially and continuously wall charges be formed sufficiently on a scanning electrode and sustaining electrode even when a width of a scanning pulse is shortened. Driving operations of a scanning driver and sustaining driver for the scanning electrode and the sustaining electrode during a pre-discharge period are the same as those employed in the conventional method. Driving operations for the scanning electrode during a scanning period are also the same as those in the conventional method except following. At ending time of a period during which a scanning pulse is applied to the scanning electrode, a potential difference obtained by superimposing a writing wall charge forming pulse on a sustaining pulse is applied for 3 ?sec to 5 ?sec.

Abstract: A plasma display device and its driving method are provided which are capable of displaying an excellent image, without an increase in costs caused by an increased number of driving circuits, by shortening a scanning period while writing discharge is made to occur with reliability and by improving contrast. In a plasma display panel (PDP) in the plasma display device, a group of unit cells is formed at intersecting points between each of groups of row electrodes and a group of column electrodes. Each of unit cells is made up of a display cell and auxiliary cell and is surrounded by a horizontal rib and a longitudinal rib. A horizontal communicating aperture is formed in the longitudinal rib to partition among two or more auxiliary cells and a longitudinal communicating aperture is formed in the horizontal rib to partition between the display cell and auxiliary cell both being arranged in the column direction.

Abstract: The method for driving a plasma display panel having a first substrate on which a plural of first electrodes and a plural of second electrodes are placed in parallel to each other, and a second substrate on which a plural of third electrodes placed so as to face the plurality of first and second electrodes and formed in a manner that the plurality of the third electrodes is extended in a direction orthogonal to the plurality of the first and second electrodes, the method including: a step of applying a voltage having an inclined waveform which changes with time to the first or second electrode; and a step of setting time of occurrence of discharge so that, in each of the display cells, time of occurrence of facing discharge between the first or second electrode to which the voltage having the inclined waveform is applied and the third electrode comes earlier than earliest time of occurrence of surface discharge between the first and second electrodes corresponding to each other.

Abstract: An AC-type plasma display panel and a method for driving the AC-type plasma display panel are provided which are capable of reducing discharge leak (crosstalk) between cells being adjacent to each other and of increasing operating range. The AC-type plasma display panel has two insulating substrates both facing each other. On one insulating substrate is formed a plurality of scanning electrodes and a plurality of sustaining electrodes. On another insulating substrate is formed a plurality of data electrodes. Each of the scanning electrodes is made up of each of bus electrodes and each of main discharge electrodes.

Abstract: A method for driving an alternating current (AC) plasma display panel is provided which is capable of making sustaining light emission inconspicuous caused by erroneous discharge during a period when supply power becomes stable even if erroneous discharge occurs due to an influence of residual charges produced at a time of starting operations of the AC plasma display panel. A driving method for one frame is changed between a period (supply power stability waiting period) required until the supply power becomes stable and a display period. Time required until a voltage becomes stable is for example 0.5 seconds to 1 second after power-ON. In a field during this period, one field is divided into a plurality of sub-fields and the number of repeated pulses is smaller during a sustaining period of each sub-field than that of repeated pulses during a sustaining period of a sub-field in the display period. For example, no sustaining pulse is fed to a scanning electrode.

Abstract: Disclosed are a video signal processing circuit, a display apparatus and a video signal processing method which can restrain superimposition of noise on video signals to be saved in a frame memory or malfunction of the frame memory. The video signal processing circuit performs subfield coding on video signals to be input and outputs the video signals to a display section. The circuit has a frame memory which temporarily saves one frame of or one field of video signals before outputting the video signals to the display section and whose memory capacity depends on the product of the quantity of bits of video signals to be input and the quantity of display cells of the display section.

Abstract: Fluorescent material used for a plasma display panel contains particles having various diameters wherein X1/Y is equal to or smaller than 10% where X1 indicates a number of particles having a diameter equal to or smaller than 1.0 micrometers, and Y indicates a total number of particles contained in the fluorescent material.

Abstract: An apparatus for displaying images at multiple gray scales, when each of pixels in image is displayed based on image signals having a certain number of bits, defines a field with a plurality of sub-fields each having a weighted brightness, to establish a desired gray scale. The apparatus includes a signal-arrangement changer which changes arrangement of a part of bit signals among bit signals constituting an image signal, in a plurality of pixels. The apparatus displays images, based on image signals, after the arrangement has been changed by the signal-arrangement changer.

Abstract: A plasma display panel including a plurality of cells arranged in a matrix, wherein each of the cells includes (a) a scanning electrode having partial cutout, (b) a sustaining electrode having partial cutout, spaced away from the scanning electrode by a discharge gap in mirror-symmetry with a centerline of the discharge gap extending in a first direction, (c) a first trace electrode extending in the first direction on the opposite side of the scanning electrode about the discharge gap such that the first trace electrode makes electrical contact with the scanning electrode and further with a scanning electrode of an adjacent cell, and (d) a second trace electrode extending in the first direction on the opposite side of the sustaining electrode about the discharge gap such that the second trace electrode makes electrical contact with the sustaining electrode and further with a sustaining electrode of an adjacent cell.

Abstract: A plasma display apparatus includes a plasma display panel (PDP) and a driving control section outputting drive control signals to drive the plasma display panel. The PDP includes a front substrate and a rear substrate. A discharge spaces are formed between the front substrate and the rear substrate. The front substrate includes a scanning electrode, a sustaining electrode and a priming discharge electrode. A priming discharge gap and a display gap are formed between predetermined electrodes. The rear substrate includes a data electrode. The drive control signals directs an operation of distributing a field into subfields, generating a priming discharge in the priming discharge gap in the subfields, and generating the priming discharge in the display gap in at least one of the subfields. The PDP is driven based on the first drive control signal.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a plasma display panel is provided which is capable of enhancing luminance of a plasma display panel by forming a grid-shaped rib in the plasma display panel so as to be square-shaped. In the method for manufacturing a plasma display panel in which a front substrate and a rear substrate are arranged with the grid-shaped rib being interposed between the front substrate and the rear substrate in a manner in which both the substrates face each other, the grid-shaped rib is formed by using a resist mask in which a cut is formed only in both corner portions, in a pattern in a direction intersecting the column electrode, contacting a pattern parallel to the column electrode, in a pattern corresponding to a shape of the grid-shaped rib.

Abstract: A linear groove is formed in a glass sheet along a programmed cut line that is set for the glass sheet, and pressure is applied locally to an end of the groove. The pressure is not applied equally uniformly to the whole groove but applied locally to the end of the groove, where an initial crack is induced by the pressure applied thereto. The initial crack is guided by the groove so that the cracking force is propagated inductively along the groove. Distribution of stress in the glass corresponding to the cracking force thus propagated is concentrated locally to a face intersecting orthogonally to the surface of the glass sheet. The face to which the stress is concentrated intersects substantially orthogonally with the surface of the glass sheet. The glass sheet manufactured in this manner can be utilized effectively as a material of a PDP.

Abstract: A low-cost digital image processing device constructed by using a simplified circuit is provided which is capable of reducing an amount of data of an image to be stored in a frame memory and of being applied to a display panel with a desired level of a resolution. In the digital image processing device, a video input signal is processed in a signal processing unit and is stored in a frame memory as image data. The frame memory is installed to play a role as, for example, a double buffer to smooth out transfer speed discrepancies between a video input signal and a video output signal. Dummy data is embedded in an image data read from the frame memory by a redundant pixel embedding section and the image data is fed to a display panel as a video output signal.

Abstract: A memory circuit includes a delay circuit for generating a delay clock signal by delaying a reference clock signal, a temperature detection circuit, and a voltage detection circuit. The temperature detection circuit detects the temperature of part around a memory and the voltage detection circuit detects the power-supply voltage of the memory. The delay circuit determines the delay amount of the delay clock signal according to at least one of temperature data detected by the temperature detection circuit and voltage data detected by the voltage detection circuit, whereby a circuit accessing the memory can supply a clock signal without being affected by the temperature change and/or the power-supply voltage fluctuation.

Abstract: A method for driving a plasma display device is provided which is capable of causing writing discharge to normally occur. A sub-field includes an initializing period, a scanning period during which video data to display a video is written in a discharge cell by causing writing discharge to occur between a scanning electrode and a data electrode, and a sustaining period during which sustaining discharge to cause the discharge cell in which a writing discharge has occurred to emit light in a manner to correspond to video data is made to occur between the scanning electrode and a sustaining electrode. The initializing period includes a wall charge adjusting period during which wall charge adjusting discharge to adjust charges accumulated between the scanning electrode and the sustaining electrode is made to occur, a sustaining erasing period, a priming period, and a priming erasing period.

Abstract: In a firing furnace of plasma display panel, gas distribution piping and gas exhaust piping each have a circular cross section and a uniform diameter along the longitudinal direction of those pipings. The gas distribution piping has a plurality of circular openings formed in a side face thereof and the openings are constructed such that the opening becomes larger in a stepwise fashion in a direction from both end portions to the central portion of the gas distribution piping. Furthermore, the gas exhaust piping has a plurality of elliptic openings formed in a side face thereof and the openings are constructed such that the opening becomes larger in a stepwise fashion in a direction from both end portions to the central portion of the gas exhaust piping.

Abstract: A method of driving a plasma display panel including (A) a first substrate including a first electrode, and a second electrode extending in parallel with the first electrode and defining a display area with the first electrode therebetween, and (B) a second substrate including a third electrode facing the first and second electrodes and extending perpendicularly to the first and second electrodes, includes (a) applying a serrate voltage having an inclined waveform in which a voltage varies with the lapse of time, to the first and/or second electrodes, and (b) applying a preliminary charge-eliminating pulse voltage to the first and/or second electrodes after the a charge-eliminating discharge has been generated due to the serrate voltage, wherein the preliminary charge-eliminating pulse voltage eliminates electric charges only when electric charges have not been sufficiently eliminated.