For the fast and stable address under the high Xe gas condition of plasma display panels (PDPs), the weak and strong discharge characteristics in both surface-gap and plate-gap discharges were examined for two different Xe gas contents (7 and 20%). It is observed that it is very difficult to produce the strong plate-gap discharge required for the address discharge as the Xe gas content increases from 7 to 20%, thus requiring an additional voltage increase for the strong plate-gap discharge. Based on these experimental observations, the modified driving waveform, featuring being able to produce an intensified address discharge in the plate-gap discharge without a misfiring discharge in the surface-gap discharge, is proposed for the successful high speed address of the high Xe PDP.