Patent ID: 7663799

Claim:
A display apparatus, comprising: a substrate on which a plurality of closed spaces are two-dimensionally disposed along a surface of said substrate, a plurality of light-absorbing particles contained in each of the closed spaces, and a reflection surface for reflecting light which enters each of the closed spaces, wherein said particles are moved in each closed space, between a first position at which they are diffused to cover said reflection surface and a second position at which they are collected to expose said reflection surface, to change an intensity of reflected light so as to provide a bright display state and a dark display state, wherein the exposed reflection surface diffuse-reflects incident light with a directivity when said particles are located at the second position, and wherein a light intensity of the diffuse reflection with the directivity of the exposed reflection surface has such an angular distribution that: (1) an amount of reflected light emitted from the reflection surface toward the second position at which said particles are collected is smaller than that thereof in the case where the reflection surface is an isotropic diffuse reflection surface, and (2) an amount of reflected light emitted from the reflection surface toward positions other than the second position at which said particles are collected is larger than that of reflected light emitted from the reflection surface toward the second position at which said particles are collected.