The electrophoretic display panel has an electrophoretic medium having charged particles, a plurality of picture elements, electrodes associated with each picture element for receiving a potential difference, and drive means. The drive means are arranged for controlling the potential difference of each of the plurality of picture elements to be a potential difference for enabling the particles to occupy the position corresponding to image information. For the display panel to be able to provide a smoother change-over from one image to another, the drive means are arranged for providing, during a portion of the image transition period, different starting times for application of the potential differences within the duration of the portion of the transition period for potential differences having a duration less than the maximum duration of the portion of the image transition period.