Patent ID: 8077277

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device comprising: a first substrate with a first polarizing layer at an incident side of light; a second substrate with a second polarizing layer which includes an absorption axis such that the smaller of two angles formed with respect to the absorption axis of the first polarizing layer ranges from 88° to 90°; a liquid-crystal layer on which liquid-crystal molecules are oriented such that the smaller of two angles formed with respect to the first substrate or the second substrate ranges from 0° to 5°, and such that the smaller of two angles formed with respect to the absorption axis of the first polarizing layer ranges from 88° to 90° or the smaller of two angles formed ranges from 0° to 2°; a matrix-driven electrode group with one pair of electrodes arranged on a pixel-by-pixel basis at a side close to the liquid-crystal layer, on either the first substrate or the second substrate; and a rear-illuminating device; wherein: between the first polarizing layer and the liquid-crystal layer, a first optical compensating member is disposed without a birefringent medium sandwiched between the liquid-crystal layer and the first optical compensating member; the first optical compensating member is constructed so that when a refractive index thereof in a slow-axis direction in a plane parallel to the substrate is taken as n1, a refractive index in a fast-axis direction in the plane parallel to the substrate is taken as n2, and a refractive index in a thickness direction is taken as n3, the first optical compensating member satisfies n1≈n3>n2; a slow axis of the first optical compensating member in the plane parallel to the substrate is substantially vertical to an optical axis of the liquid-crystal layer; color filters for an N number of colors (N≧2) are provided on the first substrate or the second substrate; and when wavelengths that denote maximum transmittance values of the color filters are each expressed as λ M (M=1, 2, etc., up to N) in order with the shortest of the wavelengths first, if a difference between an extraordinary-light refractive index and ordinary-light refractive index at the λ M of the liquid-crystal layer that is associated with the color filter having the wavelength λ M which denotes one of the maximum transmittance values, is taken as ΔnLC(λ M ), and thickness, as dLC M , and a refractive index in the slow-axis direction in a plane parallel to the associated substrate, at the λ M of the first optical compensating member that is associated with the color filter having the wavelength λ M which denotes one of the maximum transmittance values, is taken as n1(λ M ), a refractive index in the fast-axis direction in the substrate parallel plane is taken as n2(λ M ), and thickness is taken as dr M , |Δ nLC (λ M-1 )· dLC M-1 −( n 1(λ M-1 )− n 2(λ M-1 ))· dr M-1 |/|ΔnLC (λ M )· dLC M −( n 1(λ M )− n 2(λ M ))· dr M |<(0.9+0.04/λ M-1 2 +0.0008/λ M-1 4 )/(0.9+0.04/λ M 2 +0.0008/λ M 4 ) is satisfied for all M's (M=1, 2, etc., up to N).