Patent ID: 6133970
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: G02F

Abstract:
A liquid crystal display comprising:a liquid crystal panel including a pair of substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, at least one substrate of said pair of substrates having electrodes for applying voltages to respective pixels;a polarizing plate for transmitting light passing through said liquid crystal panel according to a state of orientation of liquid crystal molecules in said liquid crystal layer caused by applying voltages to said electrodes;an light source for illuminating said liquid crystal panel from a backside thereof;driving circuits for applying a respective voltage in accordance with a display image to each of said electrodes; anda birefringent sheet disposed at the outer surface of one of said pair of substrates such that a direction of the maximum contrast or luminance becomes the vertical direction and such that viewing angle characteristics become symmetric in the horizontal direction, said birefringent sheet including a plurality of layers; whereinsaid liquid crystal layer is oriented such that transmittances of said liquid crystal panel in use in the vertical direction and horizontal direction have asymmetric viewing angle dependence and such that the direction of the maximum contrast or luminance is a direction different from either of the vertical and horizontal directions.