Integral optical plate, and backlight assembly and liquid crystal display apparatus having the same

A backlight assembly comprising:

• a light-emitting unit for emitting light;
• and
• an integral optical plate disposed over the light-emitting unit, for condensing and diffusing the light from the light-emitting unit, wherein the integral optical plate comprises:
• a convex lens plate having a first light incident surface facing the light-emitting unit and a first light-exiting surface disposed opposite the first light incident surface, a convex lens pattern being formed on the first light-exiting surface;
• a microlens sheet disposed on the first light-exiting surface having the convex lens pattern, a microlens pattern being formed on the microlens sheet;
• and
• an adhesion element disposed between the convex lens plate and the microlens sheet to combine the convex lens plate with the microlens sheet,
• wherein an air gap is formed between the convex lens plate and the adhesion element.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus comprising:

• a backlight assembly having a light-emitting unit for emitting light, and an integral optical plate disposed over the light-emitting unit;
• and
• an LCD panel for displaying an image using the light from the backlight assembly, wherein the integral optical plate comprises:
• a convex lens plate having a first light incident surface facing the light-emitting unit and a first light-exiting surface disposed opposite the first light incident surface, a convex lens pattern being formed on the first light-exiting surface and including a plurality of convex lenses having a stripe shape that extends lengthwise along the convex lens plate;
• a microlens sheet having a second light incident surface facing the first light-exiting surface and a second light-exiting surface disposed opposite the second light incident surface, a microlens pattern being formed on the second light-exiting surface;
• and
• an adhesion element disposed between the first light-exiting surface and the second light incident surface, for combining the convex lens plate with the microlens sheet,
• wherein an air gap is formed between the convex lens plate and the adhesion element.