Patent ID: 7391489

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device comprising a first substrate, a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, and a vertically aligned liquid crystal layer interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the liquid crystal display device has a plurality of pixels, each pixel including a first electrode formed on the first substrate, a second electrode formed on the second substrate, and the liquid crystal layer interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, and a shading region provided around the plurality of pixels, a plurality of supports for defining the thickness of the liquid crystal layer are placed regularly on a surface of the first substrate or the second substrate facing the liquid crystal layer in the shading region, and the liquid crystal layer forms at least one liquid crystal domain exhibiting axisymmetric alignment when at least a predetermined voltage is applied, and the tilt direction of liquid crystal molecules in the at least one liquid crystal domain is defined with inclined sides of the plurality of supports, and wherein each of the at least one liquid crystal domain is in contact with the inclined sides of at least four supports.