Patent ID: 7995887

Claim:
A liquid crystal display device usable for a use in which a viewing angle characteristic in a first direction parallel to a display plane is higher than a viewing angle characteristic in a second direction which is parallel to the display plane and is perpendicular to the first direction, the liquid crystal display device comprising: a first substrate; a second substrate; and a liquid crystal layer provided between at least the first substrate and the second substrate; wherein: a plurality of picture element regions are each defined by a first electrode supported by the first substrate, and a second electrode supported by the second substrate and facing the first electrode with the liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween; in each of the plurality of picture element regions, the first electrode includes a solid area formed of a conductive film and a non-solid area with no conductive film; and the liquid crystal layer forms a plurality of first liquid crystal domains, which exhibit a vertical orientation state when no voltage is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode, and each of which exhibits a radially inclined orientation state at least above the solid area of the first electrode by an oblique electric field generated in the vicinity of the solid area when a voltage is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode; the solid area of the first electrode includes a plurality of unit solid areas, above each of which each of the plurality of first liquid crystal domains is formed; and the plurality of unit solid areas each have a shape with which length L 1 in the first direction is greater than length L 2 in the second direction; and wherein said first electrode, which has the solid and non-solid areas, is a pixel electrode supported by the first substrate which is a TFT substrate, and the second electrode is a counter electrode supported by the second substrate which is a color filter substrate.