Patent ID: 7916254

Claim:
A liquid crystal display comprising: a first substrate and a second substrate; a liquid crystal layer arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate; a first electrode and a second electrode formed on the first substrate to apply an electric field to the liquid crystal layer; a plurality of active elements connected to the first electrode; a color filter and a black matrix formed on the second substrate; an alignment layer including polyimide formed in contact with the liquid crystal layer; and a pair of polarizing plates to change the optical characteristics in accordance with the alignment of the molecules of the liquid crystal layer between the first substrate and the second substrate; wherein: the first electrode and the second electrode are bent, the taper angle at the ends of the first electrode located in the display area is larger than 45 degrees but less than 90 degrees, the alignment layer is formed of a material capable of controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal particles by the radiation of substantially linearly polarized light; the relation y>x/2 sin 2 θ holds, where x is the thickness of the first electrode and has a value of 1-100 nm, θ is the taper angle at the ends of the first electrode, and y is the thickness of the alignment layer measured from the lower surface of the end of the first electrode to the alignment layer surface contacting the liquid crystal layer after the substrate on which the alignment layer is applied has been cut and burned by a focused ion beam, and y satisfies the relationship 44 nm<y≦117 nm; the first electrode is comb-shaped; and the alignment layer is formed on the surface of the first electrode.