Patent ID: 8363196

Claim:
A display device comprising: a substrate having a display portion and a peripheral portion; a plurality of gate signal lines and a plurality of drain signal lines formed over the substrate; a plurality of pixel regions formed in the display portion surrounded by at least two gate signal lines and at least two drain signal lines; a plurality of switching elements for the plurality of pixel regions connected to the plurality of gate signal lines and the plurality of drain signal lines and formed in the display portion; a plurality of pixel electrodes connected to the plurality of switching elements and formed in the display portion; an inorganic insulation film formed on the substrate so as to extend in the display portion and the peripheral portion of the substrate toward an end of the substrate; and an organic interlayer film formed on the inorganic insulation film so as to extend in the display portion and a part of the peripheral portion of the substrate so that the organic interlayer film extends over an area smaller than an area of the inorganic insulation film, the organic interlayer film having an outer end on the inorganic insulation film including a top surface and a side surface delimiting a step region adjacent to the end of the substrate, the outer end of the organic interlayer film being formed on the peripheral portion of the substrate and outside of the display portion of the substrate; wherein a covering layer is formed on at least a portion of the outer end of the organic interlayer film including the top surface and the side surface of the step region thereof at the outer end of the organic interlayer film, the covering layer being formed without being electrically connected to any of the gate signal lines and the drain signal lines formed over the substrate; and wherein a plurality of counter electrodes are formed in the plurality of pixel regions in correspondence with the plurality of pixel electrodes, the counter electrodes being connected to at least one counter electrode line, and the covering layer being formed without being electrically connected to the at least one counter electrode line.