Patent ID: 7525616

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device comprising: a first substrate having at least one first electrode on one side; a second substrate which has one side to face the one side of the first substrate, and has at least one second electrode which is provided on the one side to face the first electrode; a first aligning film which is arranged on the one side of the first substrate, and subjected to aligning treatment in a first direction; a second aligning film which is arranged on the one side of the second substrate, and subjected to aligning treatment in a second direction which is substantially parallel to and opposite to the first direction; a liquid crystal layer which is provided between the first aligning film and the second aligning film, and in which liquid crystal molecules are arranged in homogeneous alignment substantially without twist in accordance with the aligning treatment of the first and second aligning films when an electric field is not applied between the first and second electrodes, and which generates retardation which is substantially λ/2 with respect to transmitted light having a wavelength of λ; a first polarizing plate which is arranged on an opposite side of the first substrate, and arranged in such a manner that an optical axis of one of a transmission axis and an absorption axis is substantially matched with a direction crossing the first and second directions of the aligning treatment of the first and second aligning films at substantially 45°; a second polarizing plate which is arranged on an opposite side of the second substrate, and arranged in such a manner that an optical axis of one of a transmission axis and an absorption axis becomes substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the first polarizing plate; a viewing angle compensating film formed of at least one discotic liquid crystal, the compensating film being arranged in at least one of a part between the first polarizing plate and the first substrate and a part between the second polarizing plate and the second substrate in such a manner that an optical axis which is a direction along which a refractive index becomes minimum in a plane parallel to its film surface is set parallel to the first direction and aligned with the aligning treatment applied to the aligning film of the substrate on an adjacent side; and at least one retardation plate which is arranged in at least one of a part between the first polarizing plate and the first substrate and a part between the second polarizing plate and the second substrate in such a manner that at least one of a phase delaying axis which is a direction along which a refractive index becomes maximum and a phase advancing axis which is a direction along which the refractive index becomes minimum in a plane parallel to its plate surface becomes substantially perpendicular to the aligning treatment applied to the aligning film of the substrate on an adjacent side.