A macroscopic cell and three-dimensional fluid model have been used to investigate the discharge characteristics in ac plasma display panel cells of electrode-shaping configurations. Four kinds of non-standaxd geometries （i.e. D-, △-, W- and U-shape electrodes） have been considered. The characteristics of the discharge current, the operating voltage and the discharge efficiency of different configurations have been discussed. It is found that the discharge efficiency can be improved by about 10%-30% compared with the standard geometry, while the operating voltage increases slightly in the non-standard geometries. There is a trade-off between improving the discharge efficiency and lowering the sustaining voltage in design of plasma display cells by electrode shaping.
Different configurations and driving voltages have been employed to investigate the effect of the wall charge on the striations in macroscopic plasma display panel （PDP） cells. The experimental results show that a discharge channel near the dielectric layer is indispensable to striation occurring in the anode area during a discharge, while the pre-accumulated charge on the dielectric layer and the surface state are not important. The origin of the striation is related only to the physical process in the cell. The dielectric layer acts as a charge collector during a PDP discharge.
