The base vacuum level before filling a discharge gas is an important Parameter to affect both the address and sustain discharge characteristics in an AC-PDP. For the improvement in discharge characteristics. the vacuum sealing method is adapted. In this paper, the vacuum sealing method to enhance a base vacuum level is adopted to minimize the residual impurity gas, and the resultant changes in the address and sustain discharge characteristics. such as a dynamic voltage margin, firing voltage statistical address delay time, and secondary electron coefficient, were examined ill comparison with the Conventional sealing method ill the 42-in. AC-PDP with a high Xe (11%) content. The high base vacuum level ill the 42-in. panel fabricated by the vacuum sealing method call enhance the discharge characteristics, such as a dynamic voltage margin, a firing voltage, and a statistical address delay time, which are caused by a decrease in the residual impurity gases and an increase in the secondary electron coefficient. In particular, ill the vacuum sealing method, the sustain voltage was decreased by about 30 V. and the address voltage was also decreased by about 7V in the Xe (11%) condition.