A method of driving a panel and a plasma display unit is provided, wherein one field comprises a plurality of subfields, each having an addressing period for producing an address discharge selectively in any of discharge cells, and a sustaining period for producing a sustain discharge by applying a number of sustaining pulses corresponding to a weight of brightness in the discharge cell where the address discharge has been produced. Provided therein is a sustaining pulse generator circuit comprising a power recovery section for rising or falling the sustaining pulse by producing resonance between an inter-electrode capacitance of a display electrode pair and an inductor, and a clamping section for clamping a voltage of the sustaining pulse at a predetermined potential, wherein the power recovery section is used to set twice a time of rising the sustaining pulse to become equal to or longer than a duration of the sustaining pulse. The method and the plasma display unit realize a remarkable reduction of power consumption while achieving high brightness of the panel.