Patent ID: 8184250

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device comprising: a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer provided between the first and the second substrates, a first alignment film provided on a liquid crystal layer side surface of the first substrate, and a second alignment film provided on a liquid crystal layer side surface of the second substrate, wherein the liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal molecule with negative dielectric anisotropy, the first and the second alignment films align the liquid crystal molecule such that long axis of the liquid crystal molecule tilt substantially vertically to the surfaces of the first and the second alignment films and a direction of a first projection axis of the liquid crystal molecule near the first alignment film is perpendicular to a direction of a second projection axis of the liquid crystal molecule near the second alignment film, the first projection axis being defined by projecting the long axis onto the first alignment film and the second projection axis being defined by projecting the long axis onto the second alignment film, at least one of the first alignment film and the second alignment film is a photo-alignment film made of a material having at least one photosensitive group selected from the group consisting of a 4-chalcone group, a 4′-chalcone group, a coumarin group, and a cinnamoyl group, a difference in pretilt angles between the liquid crystal molecule near the first alignment film and the liquid crystal molecule near the second alignment film is less than 1.0 degree, a first polarizer on a first substrate side, and a second polarizer on a second substrate side, wherein an alignment direction of the first alignment film is substantially parallel to an absorption axis of the first polarizer, and an alignment direction of the second alignment film is substantially parallel to an absorption axis of the second polarizer.