An ultra-thin (260 mu m) Shadow Mask Plasma Display Panel (ultra-thin SMPDP) which meets the demands of further reducing the thickness and weight of display panels has been developed. This device is also an important candidate for semi-flexible and/or semi-transparent display. Its discharge performance has been investigated based on the fluid model. The result shows that the discharge efficiency is improved by about 20% thanks to the low relative permittivity of the ultra-thin glass foil. Both firing and sustaining voltage of the ultra-thin SMPDP will increase about 15 V if a 30 mu m ultra-thin glass is used. Considering the influence of the thickness of ultra-thin glass foil on the driving voltage, 50 mu m is chosen as the optimal thickness for the ultra-thin SMPDP. In addition, a 5 cm x 5 cm tubeless panel has been made using an in-vacuum sealing technique. Moreover, the driving voltage and discharge process of the panel have also been measured. It has been found that the discharge is confined in the center of the cell, where the electric field is weaker during each sustain period. Theoretically, this will further increase the discharge efficiency. However, the measured difference between firing voltage and stain voltage is relatively small compared with the simulation, indicating a loss of wall-voltage. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.