the invention proposes a device for generating short pulses on the column electrodes x 1 to x 4 or on the pairs of sustain electrodes of the pdp . this device may or may not be integrated into the driver 2 of fig1 . one embodiment of the invention is shown in fig4 . in this figure , the device according to the invention uses the column drivers of the pdp , conventionally used to select columns of cells or groups of columns of cells of the pdp , in order to generate pulses on the column electrodes of the pdp . the columns of the pdp are shown in the figures by their capacitors . each column driver , referenced dr , comprises , for the column of cells that it drives , two switches s 1 and s 2 mounted in series between an input terminal and earth , the mid - point between the two switches being connected to said column of cells , which switches are controlled by a control circuit ( not shown in the figure ). each switch is provided with an anti - parallel diode between its terminals . these diodes are referenced d 1 and d 2 respectively for the elements s 1 and s 2 and generally correspond to the anti - parallel diodes of the mos transistors used as switches . the solenoid l is connected , from a first end b 1 , to the columns of cells of the pdp via the column drivers dr . the end b 1 is connected to the input terminal of the column drivers dr . the second end b 2 of the solenoid is connected to the positive terminal of a voltage source g 1 capable of delivering a dc voltage v 1 . the negative terminal of the source g 1 is connected to earth . a second voltage source g 2 , capable of delivering a dc voltage v 2 , is connected to the terminals of the solenoid l via a second , overvoltage - limiting diode d 3 . the negative terminal of the source g 2 is connected to the end b 2 of the solenoid l and the cathode of the diode d 2 is connected to the positive terminal of the source g 2 . the voltages v 1 and v 2 and the control signals for the switches s 1 and s 2 will be defined in an example given later . the operation of this device is illustrated in fig5 and 6 a to 6 e . fig5 shows the waveform of the voltage v b1 applied to the columns of cells and also the waveform of the current i l flowing through the solenoid l of the generator . the pulses of the voltage signal delivered to the columns of cells of the pdp have an amplitude a , a duration t and a period p . to simplify the explanation , only a single column driver dr has been shown in fig6 a to 6 e . for the same reason , this column driver is connected only to a single column of cells and therefore has only two switches s 1 and s 2 . in the rest of the description , the expression “ columns of cells selected by a driver ” is understood to mean those columns of cells whose associated switch s 1 is closed . the voltage signal delivered to the column electrodes of the pdp is obtained through five operating phases : a first phase , of duration t1 , illustrated by fig6 a , during which the solenoid l stores current in the form of magnetic energy ; a second phase , of duration t2 , illustrated by fig6 b , during which a portion of the current stored in the solenoid l is discharged into the columns of the pdp that are selected by the drivers dr until the voltage across the terminals of said columns of the panel reaches the amplitude a ; a third phase , of duration t3 , illustrated by fig6 c , during which the voltage of amplitude a is maintained across the terminals of the columns so as to create a matrix discharge current between the columns and the rows of the pdp cells in the written state and to make the current stored in the solenoid zero ; a fourth phase , of duration t 4 , illustrated by fig6 d , during which the solenoid l is charged with the current stored . in the capacitors of the selected columns until the voltage across the terminals of the latter becomes zero ; and a fifth phase , of duration t5 , illustrated by fig6 e , during which the current through the solenoid l is zero . as shown in fig6 a , the switches s 1 and s 2 of the driver dr are placed in a closed state during the phase of duration t1 . a current i l flows through the circuit formed by the voltage source g 1 , by the solenoid l and by the switches s 1 and s 2 . the intensity of the current i l increases with that stored in the solenoid l . depending on the convention adopted for illustrating this method , the current i l is negative during this period . since the input terminal of the column driver dr is short - circuited to earth by the switches s 1 and s 2 , the voltage across the terminals of the corresponding column of cells is zero . fig6 b shows that the switch s 2 is open during the period of duration t 2 . the switch s 1 is maintained in the closed state . some of the energy stored in the solenoid l is then discharged into the selected columns until the voltage across their terminals reaches the desired value a . referring to fig6 c this voltage across the terminals of the selected columns of cells is maintained over the duration t3 until the current i l through the solenoid becomes zero . during this phase , the switches s 1 and s 2 are maintained in their respective states . the current remaining in the solenoid l is , partly , transferred into the selected columns of cells if they include cells in the written state and , partly , absorbed by the voltage source g 2 via the diode d 3 . the current transferred to the columns of cells depends on the number of cells of the pdp in the written state that they contain . the larger this number , the lower the current absorbed by the voltage source g 2 . the current transmitted to the cells in the written state is an ignition current corresponding to a matrix discharge current between the row and the column of the cell . this matrix discharge current helps to improve the sustain discharge within the cell . the value of the current remaining in the solenoid l at the start of this phase is advantageously chosen to be equal to the value of the necessary matrix discharge current when all of the cells of the columns selected are simultaneously in the written state . fig6 d shows that , when the solenoid has been completely discharged , the capacitive energy stored in the capacitor of the selected columns is returned to the solenoid l . the current i l then changes direction . the amplitude of the current i l reached at the end of this phase of duration t4 is lower than that reached at the end of the phase of duration t1 , since energy was absorbed by the voltage source g 2 during the phase of duration t3 . the voltage across the terminals of the selected columns drops until it becomes zero . during this period , the switches are maintained in the same state as during the preceding phase . finally , fig6 e shows that the energy stored in the solenoid l is discharged into the voltage source g 1 until the current i l becomes zero . during this period , it does not matter whether the switches si and s 2 are in an open or a closed state since , if they are in the open state , the current i l flows via the diodes d 1 and d 2 . the voltages v 1 and v 2 , the durations t1 , t2 , t3 , t4 and t5 and the inductance l of the solenoid are set by the following rules : to reduce the operating losses to a minimum , v 1 will be chosen to be slightly less than v 2 so that the current in the solenoid is zero at the end of t4 . the oscillation period 2π √{ square root over ( lc )} of the circuit is approximately equal to t2 + t3 + t4 , where c is the capacitance of the set of columns driven by the column drivers dr , and v 1 + v 2 = a . moreover , the period p , equal to t1 + t2 + t3 + t4 + t5 , is equal to the half - period p ′/ 2 of the sustain signal applied to the pairs of sustain electrodes of the pdp . if the frequency of the sustain signal applied to the pairs of sustain electrodes is equal to 200 khz , then p = t1 + t2 + t3 + t4 + t5 = 2 . 5 μs . thus , taking t = t2 + t3 + t4 ( the duration of the pulse )= 200 ns and c = 6 nf ( the capacitance of the columns driven by the drivers dr , corresponding for example to 1 / 27 of the columns of the pdp ), then l ≈ 170 nh . advantageously , the column drivers dr of the panel are distributed in n groups . the drivers within any one group are driven identically and simultaneously and the drivers for different groups are driven with a time delay between them . this division into n groups makes it possible to stagger the n associated matrix pulses over time and thus to spread out the matrix discharge currents . the peak current of these discharges in the device is thus reduced by a factor of n . it will then be sufficient , in order for these pulses to continue to promote the initiation of the discharges between coplanar electrodes , to extend the duration of the coplanar pulses so that these column pulses take place sufficiently early before the end of the coplanar pulses .