Patent ID: 7538850

Claim:
A method of forming a display device, comprising: forming a first panel, the step of forming the first panel comprising: forming a black matrix over portions of a first substrate; forming a common electrode in contact with the black matrix; forming a spacer in contact with the common electrode, the spacer disposed over the black matrix; and forming a protrusion in contact with the common electrode, the protrusion not disposed over the black matrix; forming a second panel, the step of forming the second panel comprising: forming a pixel electrode over a second substrate; forming a gate line over the second substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over the gate line; forming a semiconductor pattern over the gate insulating layer; forming an ohmic contact pattern over the semiconductor pattern; and forming a data line over the ohmic contact pattern, the data line intersecting the gate line and including a source electrode, a drain electrode and a storage-capacitor conductor; forming a color filter over the data line, the color filter comprising a first contact hole that exposes the drain electrode and a second contact hole that exposes the storage-capacitor conductor; and disposing the first panel and the second panel over one another such that the pixel electrode faces the common electrode and black matrix with a liquid crystal layer therebetween, a vertical distance between the first panel and the second panel being determined by thicknesses of the spacer and the black matrix, wherein the protrusion and the spacer are formed with substantially the same thickness, with the spacer being thicker than the protrusion, wherein the thickness corresponds to a direction perpendicular to the first panel, wherein the spacer is formed on a higher portion than a position of the protrusion in the direction perpendicular to the first panel, and wherein the protrusion and the spacer are not attached to each other.