Patent ID: 7626656

Claim:
A liquid crystal display (LCD) device for switching a display mode between a wide viewing angle and a narrow viewing angle, comprising: an LCD panel including an array substrate, a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer formed between inner surfaces of the array substrate and the color filter substrate; a viewing angle control cell adjacent to the LCD panel, the viewing angle control cell including a lower substrate on which a first electrode is formed, an upper substrate on which a second electrode is formed, and a dichroic liquid crystal layer interposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate, wherein the dichroic liquid crystal layer has molecules having a greater light absorption ratio along a long axis of the dichroic liquid crystal layer than along a short axis of the dichroic liquid crystal layer; and a control signal for driving the viewing angle control cell to form a narrow viewing angle mode of the LCD panel, wherein an electric field is formed between the first electrode and the second electrode so that the dichroic liquid crystal layer is tilted, light incident with an inclined angle is absorbed and light incident to a front surface of the LCD panel is transmitted, thereby forming a narrow viewing angle.