Patent ID: 7999894

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device comprising: first and second polarizing layers which are arranged so that their transmission axes are perpendicular to each other; a liquid crystal cell arranged between the first and second polarizing layers; a first viewing angle compensating plate arranged between the first polarizing layer and the liquid crystal cell; a second viewing angle compensating plate arranged between the second polarizing layer and the liquid crystal cell; a first base film which is arranged between the first polarizing layer and the first viewing angle compensating plate, and which supports the first polarizing layer; and a second base film which is arranged between the second polarizing layer and the second viewing angle compensating plate, and which supports the second polarizing layer, wherein the liquid crystal cell includes: a first substrate on which a first electrode is formed; a second substrate on which a second electrode is formed; and a liquid crystal layer that (i) is arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode and comprises liquid crystal that has a positive dielectric anisotropy, (ii) is twist-aligned at a twisted angle of 90° when voltage is not applied between the first and second electrodes, and (iii) causes a retardation to remain in a plane parallel to a substrate surface when a predetermined saturation voltage is applied between the first and second electrodes, wherein the second viewing angle compensating plate includes a compensating layer comprising a hybrid-aligned discotic liquid crystal, wherein a tilt direction of the discotic liquid crystal provided as an optical axis is set parallel to a direction of molecule orientation at the first substrate side in the liquid crystal layer when a voltage is not applied between the first and second electrodes, and wherein a total value of retardations in a plane perpendicular to the substrate surface of optical layers arranged between the first polarizing layer and the liquid crystal cell and optical layers arranged between the second polarizing layer and the liquid crystal cell is set to a value that has an opposite sign to and the same absolute value as a retardation value in the plane perpendicular to the substrate surface of the liquid crystal layer when the saturation voltage is applied between the first and second electrodes.