Surface light-emitting device having light-guide panel wherein light radiated from exit surface is maximized proximate to normal direction of exit surface

A surface light-emitting device comprising:

• a light source;
• and
• a light guide panel having a light incident surface provided on an end surface thereof to introduce light from the light source and an exit surface from which the light is radiated,
• wherein an integrated intensity of luminescence emitted from the surface light-emitting device in a specific angular range of about 1° to 10° with respect to a normal line of the surface light-emitting device is larger than that over any other angular range having the same angular width as the specific angular range.

A liquid crystal display device comprising:

• a liquid crystal display unit including a pair of substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer therebetween and a reflector to reflect light from an outer side of one of the substrates;
• and
• a surface light-emitting device disposed on a front surface of the liquid crystal display unit, the surface light-emitting device including a light source and a light guide panel having a light incident surface provided on an end surface thereof to introduce light from the light source and an exit surface from which the light is radiated,
• wherein a direction in which an amount of light radiated from the exit surface of the light guide panel is maximized is about 1° to 10° with respect to a normal line of the exit surface and a direction in which an amount of reflection light reflected by the reflector is maximized is about 1° to 10° with respect to the normal line of the liquid crystal display unit when the surface light-emitting device is in an on state.