Patent ID: 8294852

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal display panel comprising: a first substrate; a second substrate; a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a pixel electrode and a common electrode formed on the second substrate so as to drive the liquid crystal layer; a first polarizing layer provided on the first substrate side of the liquid crystal layer; a second polarizing layer provided on the second substrate side of the liquid crystal layer, the absorption axes of the first and second polarizing layers being orthogonal to each other, and both the first and second polarizing layers being O-type polarizing layers; and a third polarizing layer which is either an E-type polarizing layer having an absorption axis parallel to an absorption axis of the first polarizing layer and disposed between the first polarizing layer and the liquid crystal layer or an E-type polarizing layer having an absorption axis parallel to an absorption axis of the second polarizing layer and disposed between the second polarizing layer and the liquid crystal layer, wherein liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer are oriented in parallel to at least a substrate plane of the first and second substrates, and a molecular long axis thereof is orthogonal to an absorption axis of the third polarizing layer, wherein an extinction coefficient kx in an absorption axis direction on the plane of the third polarizing layer, an extinction coefficient ky in an in-plane direction orthogonal to the absorption axis direction, and an extinction coefficient kz in a thickness direction satisfy a relation of 1.3≧kx/kz≧0.5 if kx/ky≧5 and a relation of kx/kz≦2.0 if kx/ky≧10.