A display panel drive device capable of preventing a malfunction caused by the influence of electrical charge remaining in a display-panel discharge cell, in which, in parallel with a switching element that connects each electrode of the display panel to a reference potential, at least one of a row electrode drive circuit and a column electrode drive circuit is provided with a parallel switching element that connects each electrode to the reference potential via a current limiting element. The residual charge in the discharge cell on the display panel is discharged via a bypass formed by this parallel switching element within a predetermined period immediately after the device power supply is turned on.