PDP (Plasma Display Panel) is now being regarded as one of the most suitable large-sized flat display devices for sizes bigger than 40" diagonal. Since the PDP has pixels with very small physical dimensions and driven by fast rising pulses, it is very difficult to diagnose important physical parameters such as the plasma density and temperature, electric field, surface charge density, etc.. On the other hand, numerical simulations turned out to be a valuable tool to understand the fast-changing plasma discharges in tiny PDP pixels. Since two or three component inert gas mixtures are used as the discharge gases, the number of atomic or molecular reaction are very large and requires correct reaction rates which are usually available now. Also the surface to volume ratio in PDP cell is relatively larger than those in other applications, the plasma-surface interaction is very important especially the secondary electron emission properties of cathode material.
As an example of the application of computer simulation to understand PDP discharges, the detailed evolution of charged and neutral atoms and dimers, surface charge distributions will be shown and compared with those observed experimentally. One of the most important issues in the current PDP research is the luminous efficiency increase. Some examples of the usefulness of numerical simulations in understanding the mechanisms of high luminous efficiency under various pixel design and gas condition will also be discussed.