Patent ID: 8189154

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device comprising a plurality of pixels, each of which includes first and second subpixels, wherein each of the first and second subpixels includes a counter electrode, a subpixel electrode, and a liquid crystal layer that is arranged between the counter electrode and the subpixel electrode, and wherein the liquid crystal layer of each said pixel has liquid crystal molecules that are induced to align in a number of reference alignment directions, including first, second, third and fourth reference alignment directions, at least at a particular grayscale, and wherein if the azimuthal components that define those reference alignment directions are called reference alignment azimuths, first, second, third and fourth reference alignment azimuths, defining the first, second, third and fourth reference alignment directions, respectively, are different from each other, and wherein the reference alignment azimuths of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer of the first subpixel include only the first and second reference alignment azimuths and include neither the third nor fourth reference alignment azimuth, and wherein the reference alignment azimuths of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer of the second subpixel include only the third and fourth reference alignment azimuths and include neither the first nor second reference alignment azimuth, and wherein in one vertical scanning period, the absolute value of an effective voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer of the first subpixel is greater than that of an effective voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer of the second subpixel, and in another vertical scanning period that is posterior to the one vertical scanning period, the absolute value of an effective voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer of the second subpixel is greater than that of an effective voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer of the first subpixel.