This invention relates to a light emitting device based on a Xe or Xe/Ne excimer discharge, e.g. a full color display screen or a xenon excimer lamp, comprising a phosphor blend of a red-emitting Eu(III)-activated phosphor and an UVlight emitting phosphor. Full color plasma display panels (PDPs) according to the present invention comprising a phosphor blend of a red-emitting Eu(III)-activated phosphor and an UV-light emitting phosphor for the red pixels show an improved color point and a shorter decay time compared to the use of the respective single red emitting Eu(III) activated phosphor. Xenon excimer lamps for illumination purposes (e.g. for LCD backlighting or X-Ray image illumination) comprising a phosphor blend of a redemitting Eu(III) activated phosphor and an UV-light emitting phosphor show an improved color rendering. The invention is also related to a phosphor blend of a red-emitting Eu(III)-activated phosphor and an UV-light emitting phosphor.