Patent ID: 7236223

Claim:
A multi-domain alignment active-matrix liquid crystal display device comprising; first and second transparent insulating plates arranged to oppose each other; said first plate having disposed thereon a plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines, thin-film transistors provided in the vicinity of intersections between the scanning lines and signal lines, and pixel electrodes connected to the thin-film transistors; said second plate having a black matrix provided with openings at areas that oppose said pixel electrodes, a color layer and counterelectrodes provided so as to oppose said pixel electrodes; a liquid crystal being sandwiched between the opposing first and second plates and being control led by voltage impressed across said pixel electrodes and said counterelectrodes; wherein an orientation layer is provided on each pixel electrode of said first plate via an insulating film, wherein said orientation layer is formed into a curved surface and orients molecules of the liquid crystal aligned in a direction normal to the curved surface of said orientation layer; wherein at least one columnar spacer having a diameter varying along its axis is provided between the two opposing plates for regulating a panel gap therebetween, said at least one columnar spacer disposed approximately at a center of a pixel, said orientation layer formed on said first plate defines a protrusion directed toward said second plate in a cross section taken along a line normal to said first plate; and wherein said columnar spacer has a diameter that becomes progressively larger in the direction toward said second plate.