Effects of base vacuum level on the electrical and optical characteristics of the plasma display panel (PDP) were investigated. The relationship between efficiency and base vacuum level before filling discharge gas was analyzed. For the base vacuum level of $1{ imes}10^{-4}$ torr, firing voltage of a 2-inch diagonal PDP panel was 232 V at the discharge gas pressure of 400 torr and luminous efficiency was 1.5 lm/W at 180V sustaining pulse. On the other hand for $1{ imes}10^{-6}$torr, the firing voltage was reduced to 215 V and luminous efficiency was improved considerably to 2.5 lm/W. We successfully demonstrated the smooth operation of tip-less PDP fabricated using vacuum in-line sealing method.