The present invention provides an image display device, by which it is possible to prevent dielectric breakdown between a bottom electrode and a top electrode (top electrode bus line), which make up thin-film type electron sources, and which is free of display defect and has longer service life.On a cathode substrate 10, a bottom electrode 11, a tunneling insulator 12, and a top electrode 13 are prepared. On a lower layer of the top electrode 13, a top electrode bus line 16 is formed, and the top electrode 13 is reliably connected to the top electrode bus line 16 via a contact electrode 15. A field insulator 12A, a lower layer 14a of the interlayer insulator deposited by sputtering and an upper layer 14b of the interlayer insulator are laminated between the top electrode 13 and the contact electrode and the bottom electrode 11, and the bottom electrode 11 is insulated from the top electrode 13 (top electrode bus line 16).

A cold cathode type flat panel display which is an image display device includes a vacuum panel container composed of a cathode substrate in which plural cold cathode type electron sources are arranged, an anode substrate, plural spacers for supporting the cathode substrate and the anode substrate, and a glass frame. Plural electrical lines extend in a line direction and a row direction across an interlayer insulator on the cathode substrate. Parts of lines positioned in an upper layer of the plural electrical lines are made into scan lines and lines positioned in a lower layer are made into data lines. Further, parts of the electrical lines positioned in the upper layer are made into spacer lines for giving to the spacers a voltage lower than an acceleration voltage which is applied to an accelerating electrode.

The invention provides a display device using thin film type electron sources having a structure that can be formed in a simple manufacturing process. A lower electrode, a protective insulating layer and an interlayer film are formed on a cathode substrate. An upper bus electrode made from a laminated film of a metal film lower layer and a metal film upper layer is provided further on the interlayer film. A film of an upper electrode of a thin film type electron source for each pixel constituted by an insulating layer serving as an electron accelerating layer on the lower electrode and the upper electrode is formed on two stripe electrodes of the upper bus electrode in that pixel and another upper bus electrode in an adjacent pixel by sputtering. Then, the upper electrode is separated by self-alignment due to a setback portion of the metal film lower layer and an appentice of the metal film upper layer of the corresponding upper bus electrode. Thus, a thin film type electron source separated in accordance with each pixel is formed.

The present invention provides an image display device free of display defects and with high reliability to prevent destruction of electron sources due to injection of electric charge.On the outermost periphery of a display region, there are provided a bottom electrode 11 serving as data line, a scan line bus 21 serving as scan line, and dummy potential fixing electrodes 11D1, 11D2, 21D1 and 21D2 not contributing to image display, and these are connected with electrodes 70 and 80 with low impedance and constant potential.

An display apparatus arranged in a matrix having plural luminance modulation elements for modulating or do not modulating luminance depending upon application of a voltage of positive or reverse polarity,having plural parallel scanning electrodes and plural parallel data electrodes, in which each luminance modulation element is disposed at an intersection between the scanning electrode and the data electrode, andhaving first driving means connected to the scanning electrodes and outputting scanning pulses, and second driving means connected to the data electrodes,wherein the scanning electrodes are grouped into those in a selected state applied with a scanning pulse and those other than described above in a non-selected state at a certain time point during the scanning period; the number of the scanning lines in the selected state is n.sub.1; the scanning lines in the non-selected state are grouped into non-selected state scanning lines at a high impedance state and non-selected state scanning lines at a low impedance state, the high impedance non-selected state scanning lines has higher impedance than the scanning lines in the selected state, and the low impedance non-selected state scanning lines has lower impedance than the high impedance non-selected state scanning lines; and the number of the non-selected state scanning lines at the low impedance state is n.sub.1.times.2 or more.