Efficiency of AC plasma display panels from diagnostics and models

The luminous efficiency of AC plasma display panels is relatively low, on the order of 1 lm/W. In this paper, we discuss the phenomena limiting the efficiency of xenon excitation in “classical” plasma display panels. We first analyze the reasons for this low efficiency, based on simple considerations and numerical models. We then show results from recent plasma imaging experiments that qualitatively confirm the model predictions. Finally, we comment on alternative discharge regimes which could lead to an improvement of the discharge efficiency.