We present a self-consistent 1D model of the discharge initiated in an ac plasma display panel cell. The model is based on a two-moments fluid description of electron and ion transport, coupled with Poisson's equation, and with a set of kinetic equations characterizing the evolution of the population of excited states leading to UV emission in neon-xenon mixtures. Results are presented in a 90% neon, 10% xenon gas mixture, for a gap length of 100 ,um and a gas pressure of 560 Torr at ambient temperature. Under the conditions above, and for typical sustaining voltages, the duration of the discharge current pulse predicted by the model is on the order of 10 ns while the UV emission lasts for about 5 p. The UV production efficiency in the discharge is about 10% for a Ne-Xe (90-10) mixture. Results for other neon-xenon mixtures are also discussed. The model also shows that a non-negligible part of the W production occurs in the transient "plasma column" and not only in the sheath region. Voltage transfer curves and margin obtained with this model are presented and compared with available experimental measurements.

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