A plasma display panel device has a pair of electrodes arranged to face with each other with a sealed discharging gap therebetween in which a dischargeable gas is filled. When a voltage is impressed between the electrodes an electrical discharge of the gas will be caused and provide luminescence to display a character, such as a letter or a figure in accordance with the selected electrodes. Only one insulating layer, which covers one of the pair of the electrodes, is needed to effectively operate the display. A wall charge having an opposite polarity to that of the electrode voltage is provided on the insulating layer whereby a decrease of the electrode voltage can be prevented and the memory function, capable of turning ''''on'''' (to write) and ''''off'''' (to erase) by impressing a write pulse or an erase pulse, is formed. The single insulating layer enables a decrease of the operation voltage, a high resolution and an accurate writing and erasing to be realized.