A plasma display panel and its driving method are provided, which is capable of improving high speed performance and reducing the necessary voltage for a selective discharge for switching a discharge cell and preferably of suppressing a brightness in a black display and making it easy to modulate the minimum brightness for improving the quality of image.
A scanning pulse voltage and a high-level data pulse voltage are so set that even if a data pulse of a discharge cell is low level or this discharge cell is non-selected, then in this non-selected discharge cell, a weak discharge 501 is generated between a low resistive wiring 111b and a stepped portion 203 over a data electrode 210 which are overlapped each other, and if a data pulse of a discharge cell is high level or this discharge cell is selected, then the weak discharge 501 is generated immediately after application of the data pulse before this discharge expends to a position under a transparent electrode 111a, whereby the weak discharge 501 becomes a discharge 502.