In a plasma display panel apparatus, luminance when a display state of a panel is all-black is reduced. In a first period, in which a first ramp waveform dropping from a first potential to a second potential is applied to a plurality of scan electrodes, within a setup period, a second ramp waveform dropping from a third potential to a fourth potential is applied to a plurality of sustain electrodes in a second period in the case of not all-black, and a third ramp waveform dropping from the third potential to a fifth potential is applied to the plurality of sustain electrodes in a third period which is longer than the second period in the case of all-black. In addition, a scan pulse is not applied to the plurality of scan electrodes in a write period in the case of all-black.