Image display apparatus and optical compensation device

An optical compensation device comprising:

• an optical compensation plate pair used with a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal layer disposed between a pair of substrates, the optical compensation plate pair including a first optical compensation plate and a second optical compensation plate, the first optical compensation plate being a C-plate formed of a negative uniaxial crystal and the second optical compensation plate being a C-plate formed of a positive uniaxial crystal,
• wherein,
• the first optical compensation plate has a first optical phase difference,
• the second optical compensation plate has a second optical phase difference,
• the liquid crystal panel has a third optical phase difference,
• a fourth optical phase difference caused by a difference in thickness between the first optical compensation plate and the second optical compensation plate cancels a third optical phase difference of the liquid crystal panel,
• a thickness of the liquid crystal panel, the first optical compensation plate, and the second compensation plate are such that a sum of magnitudes of the third optical phase difference of the liquid crystal panel and the second optical phase difference of the compensation plate is equal to a magnitude of the first optical phase difference of the first optical compensation plate, and
• at least one of the first optical compensation plate and the second optical compensation plate has an optical axis inclined in a direction which coincides with an inclination direction of a predetermined pretilt angle of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer.