Liquid crystal display device having phase different plates

A liquid crystal display device comprising:

• a counter substrate on which counter electrodes are provided;
• a pixel substrate having scanning lines, signal lines, and switching elements each being provided in the vicinity of each point of intersection of said scanning lines and said signal lines, interlayer insulating films and pixel electrodes each being connected with each switching element provided on each interlayer insulating film;
• alignment films provided on a surface of said counter substrate and a surface of said pixel substrate, respectively, the surfaces facing each other;
• a liquid crystal layer formed by sealing a plurality of liquid crystal molecules between said counter substrate and said pixel substrate;
• polarizers provided on said counter substrate and said pixel substrate, respectively;
• a light source;
• a color filter layer provided either on said counter substrate or on said pixel substrate;
• and
• one phase difference plate provided either between said counter substrate and said polarizer or between said pixel substrate and said polarizer, or two phase difference plates, one being provided between said counter substrate and said polarizer, and the other being provided between said pixel substrate and said polarizer;
• wherein said interlayer insulating film is an organic film whose optical transmittance is not less than about 95 percent with respect to light which is emitted from said light source and has a wavelength in the vicinity of a peak wavelength of a wavelength band of said color filter layer;
• three main refractive indexes na, nb, and nc of an index ellipsoid of said phase difference plate satisfy na=nc>nb at least in a representative layer thereof, either the main refractive index na or nc is parallel with a surface of said phase difference plate, and the index ellipsoid is inclined, with a direction of the main refractive index nb being turned clockwise or anti-clockwise around the main refractive index na or nc direction parallel with the surface of said phase difference plate as an axis, so as to shift from a state where the index ellipsoid is parallel with a normal direction of the surface of said phase difference plate to an inclined state;
• and
• said alignment films are arranged so that the liquid crystal molecules in a pixel region are aligned so as to be in a plurality of different alignment states, wherein the pixel region has a first domain in which better visibility is obtained from either a top side or a bottom side, and a second domain in which better visibility is obtained from the other side, the first and second domains being domains in the different alignment states respectively, a ratio of the first domain to the second domain being set in a range of 6:4 to 19:1.

A liquid crystal display device comprising:

• a counter substrate on which counter electrodes are provided;
• a pixel substrate having scanning lines, signal lines, and switching elements each being provided in the vicinity of each point of intersection of said scanning lines and said signal lines, interlayer insulating films and pixel electrodes each being connected with each switching element provided on each interlayer insulating film;
• alignment films provided on a surface of said counter substrate and a surface of said pixel substrate, respectively, the surfaces facing each other;
• a liquid crystal layer formed by sealing a plurality of liquid crystal molecules between said counter substrate and said pixel substrate;
• polarizers provided on said counter substrate and said pixel substrate, respectively;
• a light source;
• a color filter layer provided either on said counter substrate or on said pixel substrate;
• and
• one phase difference plate provided either between said counter substrate and said polarizer or between said pixel substrate and said polarizer, or two phase difference plates, one being provided between said counter substrate and said polarizer, and the other being provided between said pixel substrate and said polarizer;
• wherein said interlayer insulating film is an organic film whose optical transmittance is not less than about 95 percent with respect to light which is emitted from said light source and has a wavelength in the vicinity of a peak wavelength of a wavelength band of said color filter layer;
• three main refractive indexes na, nb, and nc of an index ellipsoid of said phase difference plate satisfy na=nc>nb at least in a representative layer thereof, either the main refractive index na or nc is parallel with a surface of said phase difference plate, and the index ellipsoid is inclined, with a direction of the main refractive index nb being turned clockwise or anti-clockwise around the main refractive index na or nc direction parallel with the surface of said phase difference plate as an axis, so as to shift from a state where the index ellipsoid is parallel with a normal direction of the surface of said phase difference plate to an inclined state;
• said alignment films are arranged so that the liquid crystal molecules in a pixel region are aligned so as to be in a plurality of different alignment states;
• and
• wherein said phase difference plate is disposed so that in the largest domain among domains differing in alignment in the pixel region, an inclining direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of inner surfaces of said alignment films when a voltage is applied by said pixel electrode thereto is opposite to the inclining direction of the index ellipsoid.

A liquid crystal display device comprising:

• a counter substrate on which counter electrodes are provided;
• a pixel substrate having scanning lines, signal lines, and switching elements each being provided in the vicinity of each point of intersection of said scanning lines and said signal lines, interlayer insulating films and pixel electrodes each being connected with each switching element provided on each interlayer insulating film;
• alignment films provided on a surface of said counter substrate and a surface of said pixel substrate, respectively, the surfaces facing each other;
• a liquid crystal layer formed by sealing a plurality of liquid crystal molecules between said counter substrate and said pixel substrate;
• polarizers provided on said counter substrate and said pixel substrate, respectively;
• a light source;
• a color filter layer provided either on said counter substrate or on said pixel substrate;
• and
• one phase difference plate provided either between said counter substrate and said polarizer or between said pixel substrate and said polarizer, or two phase difference plates, one being provided between said counter substrate and said polarizer, and the other being provided between said pixel substrate and said polarizer;
• wherein said interlayer insulating film is an organic film whose optical transmittance is not less than about 95 percent with respect to light which is emitted from said light source and has a wavelength in the vicinity of a peak wavelength of a wavelength band of said color filter layer;
• three main refractive indexes na, nb, and nc of an index ellipsoid of said phase difference plate satisfy na=nc>nb at least in a representative layer thereof, either the main refractive index na or nc is parallel with a surface of said phase difference plate, and the index ellipsoid is inclined, with a direction of the main refractive index nb being turned clockwise or anti-clockwise around the main refractive index na or nc direction parallel with the surface of said phase difference plate as an axis, so as to shift from a state where the index ellipsoid is parallel with a normal direction of the surface of said phase difference plate to an inclined state;
• said alignment films are arranged so that the liquid crystal molecules in a pixel region are aligned so as to be in a plurality of different alignment states;
• and
• wherein a refractive index anisotropy Δnl(450) of liquid-crystalline material of said liquid crystal layer with respect to light with a wavelength of 450 nm, a refractive index anisotropy Δnl(550) of the same with respect to light with a wavelength of 550 nm, a refractive index anisotopy Δnf(450) of said phase difference plate with respect to light with a wavelength of 450 nm, and a refractive index anisotropy Δnf(550) of the same with respect to light with a wavelength of 550 nm are set so as to satisfy:
• (Δnl(450)/Δnl(550)−1)/(Δnf(450)/Δnf(550)−1)<0.25.

A liquid crystal display device comprising:

• a counter substrate on which counter electrodes are provided;
• a pixel substrate having scanning lines, signal lines, and switching elements each being provided in the vicinity of each point of intersection of said scanning lines and said signal lines, interlayer insulating films and pixel electrodes each being connected with each switching element provided on each interlayer insulating film;
• alignment films provided on a surface of said counter substrate and a surface of said pixel substrate, respectively, the surfaces facing each other;
• a liquid crystal layer formed by sealing a plurality of liquid crystal molecules between said counter substrate and said pixel substrate;
• polarizers provided on said counter substrate and said pixel substrate, respectively;
• a light source;
• a color filter layer provided either on said counter substrate or on said pixel substrate;
• and
• one phase difference plate provided either between said counter substrate and said polarizer or between said pixel substrate and said polarizer, or two phase difference plates, one being provided between said counter substrate and said polarizer, and the other being provided between said pixel substrate and said polarizer;
• wherein said interlayer insulating film is an organic film whose optical transmittance is not less than about 95 percent with respect to light which is emitted from said light source and has a wavelength in the vicinity of a peak wavelength of a wavelength band of said color filter layer;
• three main refractive indexes na, nb, and nc of an index ellipsoid of said phase difference plate satisfy na=nc>nb at least in a representative layer thereof, either the main refractive index na or nc is parallel with a surface of said phase difference plate, and the index ellipsoid is inclined, with a direction of the main refractive index nb being turned clockwise or anti-clockwise around the main refractive index na or nc direction parallel with the surface of said phase difference plate as an axis, so as to shift from a state where the index ellipsoid is parallel with a normal direction of the surface of said phase difference plate to an inclined state;
• said alignment films are arranged so that the liquid crystal molecules in a pixel region are aligned so as to be in a plurality of different alignment states;
• and
• wherein a refractive index anisotropy Δnl(650) of liquid-crystalline material of said liquid crystal layer with respect to light with a wavelength of 650 nm, a refractive index anisotropy Δnl(550) of the same with respect to light with a wavelength of 550 nm, a refractive index anisotopy Δnf(650) of said phase difference plate with respect to light with a wavelength of 650 nm, and a refractive index anisotropy Δnf(550) of the same with respect to light with a wavelength of 550 nm are set so as to satisfy:
• (Δnl(550)/Δnl(650)−1)/(Δnf(550)/Δnf(650)−1)<0.25.