JP2001194660A - Liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal display device capable of obtaining a bright screen by utilizing the external light made incident from the front side in high efficiency. SOLUTION: A reflection polarizing plate 20 which reflects the light of one polarized component and transmits the light of the other polarized component of the two polarized components crossing orthogonally to each other of the incident light is disposed on the front side of a liquid crystal device 10 and a rear surface member (e.g. a reflection polarizing plate) 21 which reflects at least, one part of the light transmitted through the liquid crystal element and then emitted to its rear side is disposed in the rear side of the liquid crystal device 10. Thereby, the light made incident from the front side and transmitted through the reflection polarizing plate 20 and the liquid crystal device 10 is reflected and displayed by the rear surface member 21 and at the same time the light of the one polarized component of the light made incident from the front side is reflected by the reflection polarizing plate 20 to increase the brightness of the whole screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device for performing reflection display using external light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid crystal display device is provided between a front transparent substrate, which is a display observation side, and a rear transparent substrate facing the front substrate, between electrodes provided on inner surfaces of these substrates. A liquid crystal element provided with a liquid crystal layer for controlling the polarization state of transmitted light in accordance with an applied electric field, and a pair of front and rear absorbing polarizers sandwiching the liquid crystal element (absorbing in directions substantially orthogonal to each other) A polarizing plate having an axis and a transmission axis, of the two polarization components of incident light that are orthogonal to each other, absorbs light of the polarization component along the absorption axis and transmits light of the polarization component along the transmission axis. ).

As this type of liquid crystal display device, a TN (Twisted Nematic) type is widely used, and this TN type liquid crystal display device uses a liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal element in a state where no electric field is applied to liquid crystal molecules. The alignment state is almost 90
In addition to the twisted orientation at a twist angle of °, the pair of polarizing plates are arranged such that their transmission axes are substantially parallel to each other or substantially orthogonal to each other.

Meanwhile, a liquid crystal display device is of a transmissive type that performs transmissive display using illumination light from a backlight, and a reflective display is formed by using external light that is light in an environment in which the liquid crystal display device is used. There is a reflection type that performs reflection display.However, a transmission type liquid crystal display device consumes a large amount of power to turn on a backlight. Is advantageous.

Conventionally, a reflection type liquid crystal display device has a configuration in which a reflection plate is disposed behind a rear polarizing plate disposed behind the liquid crystal element.

In this reflection type liquid crystal display device, external light incident from the front side, which is a display observation side, is incident on the liquid crystal element as linearly polarized light by the polarization action of a front polarizer disposed in front of the liquid crystal element. Of the light emitted from the rear side of the liquid crystal element whose polarization state is controlled by the liquid crystal layer, the light transmitted through the rear polarizer is reflected by the reflector, and the reflected light is reflected by the rear polarizer and the liquid crystal. The light passes through the element and the front polarizing plate and is emitted to the front side.

[0007]

However, in the conventional reflection type liquid crystal display device, of the incident light from the front side, light having a polarization component along the transmission axis of the front polarizing plate is transmitted through the front polarizing plate. The light having a polarization component along the absorption axis of the front polarizer is absorbed by the front polarizer, and therefore, approximately half of the incident light from the front is absorbed by the front polarizer. Light is wasted.

Therefore, the conventional reflection type liquid crystal display device is
The intensity emitted to the front side, which is the display observation side, is extremely lower than the intensity of the incident light from the front side, and a bright screen cannot be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device capable of obtaining a bright screen by effectively utilizing incident light from the front side.

[0010]

According to the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, transmitted light is transmitted between a front substrate, which is a display observation side, and a rear substrate facing the front substrate in accordance with an applied electric field. A liquid crystal element provided with a liquid crystal layer for controlling the polarization state of the liquid crystal element, and disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element, and reflects light of one of two orthogonal polarization components of incident light, A reflective polarizing plate that transmits the light of the polarization component, and a rear member that is disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element and reflects at least a part of the light that has passed through the liquid crystal element and emitted to the rear side. It is characterized by the following.

In this liquid crystal display device, one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light from the front side is reflected by a reflection polarizing plate disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element while the other polarization component is reflected on the other side. Is transmitted through the reflective polarizer, becomes linearly polarized light, and enters the liquid crystal element.

The light incident on the liquid crystal element passes through the liquid crystal element and is incident on the rear member, and the light reflected by the rear member transmits again through the liquid crystal element and the reflective polarizer. Out to the front side, which is the viewing side of the display.

According to this liquid crystal display device, the light incident on the liquid crystal element is the light of the other polarization component transmitted through the reflective polarizing plate among the incident light from the front side. Of the light, light of one of the polarization components on the front side is reflected by the reflective polarizing plate and emitted to the front side, which is the display observation side, and the brightness of the entire screen is raised by the reflected light. A bright screen can be obtained by effectively utilizing the incident light.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As described above, a liquid crystal display device of the present invention reflects one of two orthogonal polarization components of incident light on the front side of a liquid crystal element,
Arrange a reflective polarizer that transmits the light of the other polarization component,
The rear side of the liquid crystal element is provided with a rear surface member that reflects at least a part of the light transmitted through the liquid crystal element and emitted to the rear side, so that the light enters from the front side and passes through the reflective polarizer and the liquid crystal element. The reflected light is reflected by the rear surface member and displayed, and among the light incident from the front side, the one polarized component light is reflected by the reflective polarizing plate to raise the brightness of the entire screen. It is.

In the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, on the front surface of the reflective polarizing plate disposed in front of the liquid crystal element,
It is desirable to provide a diffusing means for diffusing the light reflected by the reflective polarizing plate.

In the liquid crystal display device, at least one of between the liquid crystal element and the reflective polarizer and between the liquid crystal element and the rear member disposed on the rear side, It is desirable to provide a diffusion layer for diffusing transmitted light. In this case, the diffusion layer is preferably a lens film in which minute lenses are arrayed on one surface.

In this liquid crystal display device, the rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element reflects one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light, and reflects the other polarization component. Is desirable.

The rear surface member may be constituted by the reflective polarizing plate and light absorbing means provided on the rear surface of the reflective polarizing plate. In this case, the light absorbing means may be a light absorbing film. Alternatively, an absorbing polarizer that absorbs one polarized light component and transmits the other polarized light component of the two polarized light components of the incident light that are orthogonal to each other may be used.

As described above, when the rear surface member is a reflective polarizing plate, or when it is composed of the reflective polarizing plate and the light absorbing means, the initial alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal element is substantially 90 °. With a twist orientation of
The reflective polarizing plate on the front side of the liquid crystal element is arranged so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel or substantially perpendicular to the orientation direction of liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of the front substrate of the liquid crystal element. It is desirable to arrange the plate so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis of the front reflective polarizing plate.

Further, when the rear member is a reflective polarizing plate, or when the rear member is constituted by the reflective polarizing plate and the absorbing polarizer, the illumination light is emitted behind the rear member. It is preferable to dispose a backlight to be used.

The rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element absorbs one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light and transmits the other polarization component. And a reflecting plate provided on the rear surface of the absorbing polarizing plate.

In this case, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal element are initially oriented in a twisted orientation with a twist angle of about 90 °, and the reflective polarizing plate on the front side of the liquid crystal element is set to have its transmission axis set to the front substrate of the liquid crystal element. Is arranged substantially parallel or substantially orthogonal to the orientation direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of,
It is desirable to arrange the absorption polarizing plate as the rear surface member so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis of the front reflection polarizing plate.

[0023]

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device without hatching.

The liquid crystal display of this embodiment has a liquid crystal element 1
0, a reflective polarizer 20 disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10, a rear member 21 disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10, and provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear member 21. And a backlight 35 disposed behind the rear surface member 21.

The liquid crystal element 10 is disposed between a front transparent substrate 11 which is a display observation side and a rear transparent substrate 12 opposed to the front substrate 11, and the inner surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12 are respectively provided. In this embodiment, a liquid crystal layer 19 that controls the polarization state of transmitted light according to an electric field applied between the provided transparent electrodes 13 and 14 is provided. The initial alignment state of the molecules 19a is a twist alignment with a twist angle of about 90 °. .

The liquid crystal element 10 is of, for example, an active matrix type, and an electrode 14 provided on the inner surface of the rear substrate 12 of the pair of substrates 11 and 12 is
A plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix in a row direction and a column direction, and electrodes 13 provided on the inner surface of the front substrate 11
Is a single film counter electrode facing the plurality of pixel electrodes 14.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of TFTs (thin film transistors) respectively connected to the plurality of pixel electrodes 14 are provided on the inner surface of the rear substrate 11.
A plurality of gate lines for supplying gate signals to the TFTs in each row and a plurality of data lines for supplying data signals to the TFTs in each column are provided.

Further, the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10
The plurality of pixel electrodes 14 and the counter electrode 1
A plurality of color filters 15R, 15G, and 15B of a plurality of colors, for example, red, green, and blue, are provided so as to correspond to a plurality of pixel regions facing each other. In addition,
The counter electrode 13 is provided with the color filters 15R, 15R.
G, 15B.

The pair of substrates 11 and 12 are joined at their peripheral edges via a frame-shaped sealing material 18, and the sealing material 18 between these substrates 11 and 12 is provided.
A liquid crystal layer 19 made of a nematic liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy is provided in a region surrounded by.

The liquid crystal molecules 19a of the liquid crystal layer 19
Are provided on the inner surfaces of the pair of substrates 11 and 12 with the electrodes 13 and 14
The orientation directions in the vicinity of the respective substrates 11 and 12 are regulated by the alignment films 16 and 17 provided so as to cover the pair, and the pair of substrates 11 and 12 are twist-oriented at a predetermined twist angle.

The reflective polarizer 20 disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 reflects one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light and transmits the other polarization component. It has the characteristic to make it.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the reflective polarizing plate 20. The reflective polarizing plate 20 has a reflection axis 20s and a transmission axis 20p in directions substantially orthogonal to each other.

The reflective polarizing plate 20 is composed of an isotropic thin film (optically isotropic thin film) and an anisotropic thin film (optically anisotropic thin film) made of polyethylene / naphthalate copolymer or the like. , A multi-layer film composed of a multilayer film alternately laminated in the same direction in which the refractive indexes of all the anisotropic thin films are maximized, and the refractive index of the anisotropic thin film is the refractive index of the isotropic thin film. And the transmission axis 20p in a direction in which the refractive index of the anisotropic thin film is the same as the refractive index of the isotropic thin film (the direction orthogonal to the reflection axis 20s).
Have.

The reflection polarizing plate 20 has a reflection axis 20s.
Is reflected at each interface between the isotropic thin film and the anisotropic thin film, which are alternately stacked, and has a vibration surface along the transmission axis 20p. The component light is transmitted without being reflected at the interface.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when non-polarized light is made incident on the reflective polarizing plate 20, of the polarized light components S and P of the incident light that are substantially orthogonal to each other, along the reflection axis 20s. The light of one polarization component S having the vibrating surface is reflected, and the light of the polarization component P having the vibrating surface along the transmission axis 20p is transmitted.

The reflection polarizing plate 20 has a transmission axis 20p.
The light of the polarization component P having a vibrating surface along is transmitted at a higher transmittance than the absorption polarizer.

That is, the absorbing polarizer contains a substance (a dichroic substance such as iodine) which absorbs light of a polarized component having a vibration plane along one direction, and moves the absorbing substance in one direction. By orienting, of the polarization components of the incident light substantially orthogonal to each other, one direction, that is, light of one polarization component having a vibration plane along the absorption axis is absorbed, and the light is substantially orthogonal to the one direction. Direction, that is, the light of the polarization component having the vibration plane along the transmission axis is transmitted, but since the orientation state of the absorbing substance is disordered, the light of the polarization component having the vibration plane along the transmission axis is also transmitted. , To some extent.

On the other hand, since the reflective polarizing plate 20 does not contain a substance that absorbs light, its transmission axis 20p
The light of the polarized light component P having a vibration plane along is transmitted at a high transmittance.

The reflective polarizing plate 20 has the same characteristics with respect to the incident light from the front side and the incident light from the rear side, and of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light. The light of one polarization component having a vibration surface along the reflection axis 20s is reflected, and the light of the other polarization component having a vibration surface along the transmission axis 20p is transmitted.

The rear member 21 disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 reflects at least a part of the light transmitted through the liquid crystal element 10 and emitted to the rear side. As the rear member 21, a reflective polarizer having the same characteristics as the reflective polarizer 20 disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is used. Hereinafter, the rear member 21 is referred to as a rear-side reflection polarizing plate.

In this liquid crystal display device, the initial alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19a of the liquid crystal layer 19 of the liquid crystal element 10 is set to a twist alignment with a twist angle of about 90 °, and the reflection on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is adjusted. A polarizing plate (hereinafter referred to as a front-side reflective polarizing plate) 20 is disposed such that its transmission axis 20p is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the orientation direction of liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10, The rear reflective polarizing plate 21, which is a rear member, is disposed so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizing plate 20.

FIG. 3 shows the substrate 1 before and after the liquid crystal element 10.
Orientation directions of the liquid crystal molecules 19a in the vicinity of 1 and 12;
The reflection axis 20s and the transmission axis 2 of the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20
0p and the reflection axis 21s of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21.
And the direction of the transmission axis 21p.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a in the vicinity of the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10 is changed from the front side (the front side of the liquid crystal display device) with respect to the horizontal axis x of the screen. The direction shifted approximately 45 ° counterclockwise when viewed, the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 12a in the vicinity of the rear substrate 12,
The liquid crystal element 1 is set so as to be substantially 45 ° clockwise shifted from the horizontal axis x when viewed from the front.
The liquid crystal molecules 19a of the 0 liquid crystal layer 19 have a twist direction from the rear substrate 12 to the front substrate 11 as shown by the broken line arrow in the figure, and are approximately 90 ° clockwise as viewed from the front.
At a twist angle of.

In this embodiment, the front reflective polarizer 20 is arranged so that its transmission axis 20p is substantially parallel to the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a near the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10, and Side reflection polarizing plate 2
1 is arranged with its transmission axis 21p substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the front-side reflective polarizer 20.

A diffusion layer 22 between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 is provided to diffuse transmitted light. The diffusion layer 22 has an optical film having good diffusivity and transmittance, for example, a transparent film having a roughened surface, a transparent film in which light scattering particles are dispersed, and fine lenses arranged on one surface. And is adhered to the front surface of the rear reflective polarizer 21 or to the outer surface of the rear substrate 12 of the liquid crystal element 10.

The backlight 35 is a surface light source that emits illumination light having a uniform luminance distribution toward the entire rear surface of the rear reflective polarizing plate 21.
Is turned on when the liquid crystal display device is used in an environment where external light of sufficient brightness cannot be obtained.

In FIG. 1, the backlight 35 is shown in a simplified manner. The backlight 35 is, for example, a light guide plate that receives light from an end face and emits the light from the entire front face, and And a light source such as a fluorescent lamp arranged to face the end face of the light plate.

In an environment in which external light of sufficient brightness can be obtained, this liquid crystal display device performs reflection display using external light incident from the front side, and is used when the external light of sufficient brightness cannot be obtained. The backlight 35 is turned on to perform transmissive display using illumination light emitted from the backlight 35.

In the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the initial alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19a of the liquid crystal element 10 is set to a twist alignment having a twist angle of about 90 °, and The transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizer 20 disposed on the front side is substantially parallel to the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a near the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10, and the rear side disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 The transmission axis 21p of the reflective polarizer 21 is
Is substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the liquid crystal element 10, and the reflection display using external light is performed by the electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10.
This is a so-called normally white mode display in which a display when no electric field is applied therebetween is a bright display.

FIG. 4 shows the transmission path of the incident light in the reflection display of the liquid crystal display device. FIG. 4A shows the transmission path when no electric field is applied between the electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10. FIG. 2B shows electrodes 13 and 1 of the liquid crystal element 10.
4 shows a transmission path when an electric field having a strength that causes the liquid crystal molecules 19a to rise and align substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12 is applied.

In the case of this reflection display, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, external light (non-polarized light) incident from the front side.
Of the two orthogonal polarization components S and P of I ₀ , the light I ₁ ′ of the polarization component S along the reflection axis 20 s of the front reflection polarizer 20 disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is reflected by the front reflection. The light I of the polarization component P reflected forward by the polarizing plate 20 and along the transmission axis 20p of the front reflecting polarizing plate 20
₁ is transmitted through the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 and becomes linearly polarized light, and enters the liquid crystal element 10 from the front side.

[0052] The light I ₁ entering the liquid crystal element 10, the birefringence effect of the liquid crystal layer 19 corresponding to the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19a which changes the electric field applied between the electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10 Then, the light is emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10.

That is, the electrodes 13 of the liquid crystal element 10,
When no electric field is applied between the liquid crystal molecules 14, the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19 a is the initial twist alignment.
(A), light transmitted through the front-side reflective polarizer 20 and incident on the liquid crystal element 10 from the front side (the front-side reflective polarizer 2).
Polarization component P of the light) I ₁ along the transmission axis 20p of 0, the liquid crystal molecules 19a is emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 by about 90 ° optical rotation by the birefringence effect of the liquid crystal layer 19 are twisted The light I ₂ is diffused by the diffusion layer 22, and the diffused light I ₃ is incident on the rear reflection polarizing plate 21.

Therefore, the electrodes 13 of the liquid crystal element 10,
When the electric field is not applied between the rear reflective polarizers 21
Light I incident from the front side₃But this rear reflective polarizer
21 is the diffused light of the polarization component S along the reflection axis 21s
And therefore its light I ₃Most of the back reflection
The light is reflected by the polarizing plate 21.

[0055] Note that the light I ₃ incident on the rear reflective polarizer 21, since the a light disturbed somewhat on the polarization state by the diffusion in the diffusion layer 22, part of the light I ₃ Is transmitted through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 and leaks to the rear side, but the leaked light is extremely small.

[0056] I ₄ (light polarization components S along the reflection axis 21s of the rear reflective polarizer 21) the rear reflective polarizer 21 reflected light reflected by the is diffused again by the diffusion layer 22, the diffuse light I ₅ is incident from the rear side to the liquid crystal element 10.

[0057] The light I ₅ incident from the rear side to the liquid crystal element 10, the liquid crystal molecules 19a is approximately 90 ° optical rotation again by the birefringence effect of the liquid crystal layer 19 are twisted, the transmission axis of the front reflective polarizer 20 The light I ₆ of the polarization component P along 20p is emitted to the front side of the liquid crystal element 10, and the light I ₆
Are transmitted through the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 and emitted to the front side,
Bright display is displayed by the emitted light I _7.

[0058] At this time, the light I ₅ incident from the rear side to the liquid crystal element 10 is disturbed to some extent on the polarization state by the diffusion in the diffusion layer 22 after being reflected by the rear reflecting polarizer 21 and a light, therefore the light I ₅ is approximately 90 ° optical rotation again by the birefringence effect of the liquid crystal layer 19, the light I ₆ incident on the front reflective polarizer 20 is emitted on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 Part of the light is reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 and returns to the rear.

However, the light (not shown) reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 and returned to the rear side is not reflected by the liquid crystal element 1.
0 and the diffusing layer 22 are transmitted again to change the polarization state, and the light of the polarization component S along the reflection axis 21s of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 is reflected by the rear-side reflection polarization plate 21 again, and The light passes through the diffusion layer 22 and the liquid crystal element 10 again and is incident on the front-side reflection polarizing plate 21, and the light of the polarization component P along the transmission axis 21 p of the front-side reflection polarization plate 21 is emitted to the front side.

Therefore, the light reflected by the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 and returned to the rear side passes through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 and leaks to the rear side very little. Efficiently emits outside light to the front side,
A bright bright display can be obtained.

On the other hand, the electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10
When an electric field having a strength that causes the liquid crystal molecules 19a to rise and align substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12 is applied therebetween,
The birefringence of the liquid crystal layer 19 almost disappears.

Therefore, at this time, as shown in FIG. 4B, the light transmitted through the front reflective polarizing plate 20 and incident on the liquid crystal element 10 from the front side (the transmission axis 2 of the front reflective polarizing plate 20).
The light I ₁ ′ of the polarization component P along 0p is emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 without substantially changing the polarization state, and the light I ₂ ′ is transmitted through the diffusion layer 22 and diffused, and the diffused light is diffused. I
₃ ′ is incident on the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21.

Therefore, when the electric field is applied, the light I ₃ ′ incident on the rear reflection polarizing plate 21 is a diffused light of the polarization component P along the transmission axis 21p of the rear reflection polarizing plate 21. The light I ₃ ′ passes through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 and is emitted to the rear side, and the display becomes dark.

Incidentally, of the light I ₄ ′ transmitted through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 and emitted to the rear side, some light is
Reflected by the backlight 35, the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21
Again and returns to the front side.

However, this return light (not shown) becomes light in which the polarization state is disturbed to some extent due to the diffusion in the diffusion layer 22, and the light is transmitted through the liquid crystal element 10 and transmitted to the front-side reflective polarizer 20. Since the light is incident, the only part of the return light that passes through the front-side reflective polarizer 20 and exits to the front side is only light having a polarization component along the transmission axis 20p of the front-side reflective polarizer 20. The light of the polarization component along the reflection axis 20s of the polarizing plate 20 is reflected to the rear side by the front-side reflecting polarizing plate 20.

Therefore, the light reflected by the backlight 35 at the time of the dark display is slightly leaked to the front side, so that a dark display having a sufficient contrast ratio with respect to the brightness of the bright display can be obtained. Can be.

[0067] When the reflective display, among the outside light I ₀ incident from the front side, the light of the polarized component along the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizer 20 is incident after passing through the front reflective polarizer 20 Therefore, the incident of light is approximately half of the external light I ₀ incident from the front side.

However, in this liquid crystal display device, one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light is reflected and the other polarization component of the incident light is transmitted behind the liquid crystal element 10. In this case, as described above, the light of the polarization component S along the reflection axis 21s of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 out of the light transmitted through the liquid crystal element 10 is disposed on the rear side. Reflected by the reflective polarizing plate 21,
The reflected light is applied to the liquid crystal element 10 and the front reflective polarizer 2.
0, and the light is emitted to the front side. Therefore, an absorption polarizer is disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element, and a reflection plate is disposed on the rear side. There is no light absorption, so that light incident from the front side can be efficiently emitted to the front side.

In addition, this liquid crystal display device has a liquid crystal element 1
Since a reflection polarizing plate 20 that reflects light of one polarization component and transmits light of the other polarization component among two polarization components of the incident light orthogonal to each other is disposed on the front side of 0, As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, of the external light I ₀ incident from the front side, the polarization component S along the reflection axis 20 of the reflection polarization plate 20 disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10. The light I ₁ ′ is reflected to the front side by the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20, and the brightness of the entire screen can be raised by the reflected light I ₁ ′.

As described above, in the liquid crystal display device, the light incident from the front side and transmitted through the front-side reflective polarizer 20 and the liquid crystal element 10 is reflected by the rear-side reflective polarizer 21 as a rear-side member for display. , Of the light incident from the front side,
The light of the polarization component along the reflection axis 20s of the front-side reflection polarizing plate 21 is reflected by the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 so as to raise the brightness of the entire screen. Using outside light with high efficiency,
A bright screen can be obtained.

[0071] In FIG. 4, for convenience, the incident direction of external light I _0, although the direction along the normal of the front reflective polarizer 20, a reflection type liquid crystal display device, with respect to the normal of the screen In general, the direction inclined to the upper edge of the screen to some extent is used in the brightest direction in the use environment, so that the external light I ₀ is mainly transmitted to the front reflective polarizer 20. , The light I ₁ ′ of the polarization component S along the reflection axis 20 s of the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 is incident on the front-side reflection polarizing plate 2.
The light is reflected forward at a reflection angle corresponding to the incident angle to zero.

On the other hand, since the display of the liquid crystal display device is observed from the front direction of the screen (the direction near the normal to the screen), the reflection of external light reflected to the front by the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 is reflected. Of the light I ₁ ′, light that contributes to raising the brightness of the screen, that is, light that can be seen by a display observer is reflected light emitted in the front direction, and emitted in a direction oblique to the front direction. The reflected light is invisible to the display observer.

Therefore, in this liquid crystal display device, the brightness of the entire screen is raised by the reflected light I ₁ ′ of the external light reflected to the front side by the front reflective polarizing plate 20, but the reflected light I ₁ is raised. ', The rise of the darkness of the dark display is small, so that a sufficient contrast can be obtained, and the screen is hardly seen by the reflected light I ₁ '.

Next, the transmissive display performed by turning on the backlight 35 will be described. In the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, as described above, the transmission axis 21p of the rear reflective polarizer 21 is set to the front reflective polarizer. 20 is substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the liquid crystal element 10, the transmission display using the illumination light from the backlight 35 is performed.
This is a so-called normally black mode display in which a display when an electric field is not applied between 3 and 14 is a dark display.

FIG. 5 shows a transmission path of incident light in the transmission display of the liquid crystal display device. FIG. 5A shows a transmission path when an electric field is not applied between the electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10. FIG. 2B shows electrodes 13 and 1 of the liquid crystal element 10.
4 shows a transmission path when an electric field having a strength that causes the liquid crystal molecules 19a to rise and align substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12 is applied.

[0076] When this transmission display, as in FIGS. 5 (a) and (b), 2 one polarization component S which are orthogonal to each other of the illumination light (unpolarized light) I ₁₀ from the backlight 35, P
Among them, the light of the polarization component S along the reflection axis 21s of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 is reflected to the rear side by the rear-side reflection polarization plate 21 (not shown). light of polarization component P along the transmission axis 21p is, next to linear polarized light I ₁₁ passes through the rear reflective polarizer 21, the transmitted light I ₁₁ is, then the liquid crystal element 10 is diffused by the diffusion layer 22 Light enters from the side.

The light I ₁₂ incident on the liquid crystal element 10 is
The light is emitted to the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 under the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer 19 according to the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19a which is changed by the electric field applied between the electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10.

That is, the electrodes 13 of the liquid crystal element 10
When no electric field is applied between the liquid crystal molecules 14, the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19 a is the initial twist alignment.
(A), light transmitted through the rear reflective polarizer 21 and diffused by the diffusion layer 22 and incident on the liquid crystal element 10 from the rear side (along the transmission axis 21p of the rear reflective polarizer 21). The diffused light (I ₁₂ ) of the polarized light component P is
a is emitted to the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 by about 90 ° optical rotation by the birefringence effect of the liquid crystal layer 19 are twisted, the light I ₁₃ is incident to the front reflective polarizer 20.

Therefore, the electrodes 13 of the liquid crystal element 10,
14 when no electric field is applied between the front reflective polarizer 20
The light I ₁₃ incident from the rear side is a diffusion of the light polarization component S along the reflection axis 20s of the front reflective polarizer 20, thus, most of the light I ₁₃ is the front reflective polarizer 20 The light is reflected to the rear side, and the display becomes dark.

The light (not shown) reflected rearward by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 passes through the liquid crystal element 10, the diffusion layer 22, and the rear reflective polarizing plate 21, and is emitted to the rear side. However, of the light, a certain amount of light is reflected by the backlight 35, passes through the rear reflective polarizing plate 21 again, and returns to the front side.

However, this return light becomes light whose polarization state has been disturbed to some extent due to diffusion in the diffusion layer 22, and the light is transmitted through the liquid crystal element 10 and becomes the front reflection polarizing plate 2.
0, the only part of the return light that passes through the front-side reflective polarizer 20 and exits to the front side is only light of a polarization component along the transmission axis 20p of the front-side reflective polarizer 20. The light of the polarization component along the reflection axis 20s of the front reflective polarizing plate 20 is reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 to the rear side.

For this reason, the light reflected by the backlight 35 at the time of the dark display is slightly leaked to the front side, so that a dark display having a sufficient contrast ratio with respect to the brightness of the bright display described later is obtained. be able to.

The electrodes 13 and 14 of the liquid crystal element 10
When an electric field having a strength that causes the liquid crystal molecules 19a to rise and align substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12 is applied therebetween,
Since the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer 19 is almost eliminated, at this time, as shown in FIG. 5B, the light was transmitted through the rear reflective polarizer 21 and the diffusion layer 22 and entered the liquid crystal element 10 from the rear side. light (rear light of the diffused light of the polarization component P along the transmission axis 21p of the reflective polarizer 21) I ₁₂ is, the polarization state is emitted to the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 almost without changing its optical I ₁₃ '
Is incident on the front reflective polarizing plate 20.

Therefore, when the electric field is applied, the light ₁₃ ′ emitted to the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is a diffused light of the polarization component P along the transmission axis 20 p of the front-side reflective polarizer 20, and the light ₁₃ ′ Most of I ₁₃ ′ is the front reflective polarizer 20.
And transmitting emitted on the front side of the bright display is displayed by the emitted light I _14.

At this time, the light I ₁₃ ′ incident on the front reflective polarizing plate 20 is a light whose polarization state has been disturbed to some extent by diffusion in the diffusion layer 22 after passing through the rear reflective polarizing plate 21. Therefore, a part of the light I ₁₃ ′ is reflected by the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 and returns to the rear side, but the light (not shown) is transmitted to the liquid crystal element 10 and the diffusion layer 22. Again to change the polarization state, of which the light of the polarization component along the reflection axis 21 s of the rear-side reflective polarizer 21 is reflected back again by the rear-side reflective polarizer 21, and the diffusion layer 22 and the liquid crystal The light passes through the element 10 again and is incident on the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20, and the light of the polarization component along the transmission axis 20p of the front-side reflection polarization plate 20 is emitted to the front side.

Therefore, the light reflected by the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 and returned to the rear side is transmitted through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 and leaks to the rear side very little. The incident illumination light is efficiently emitted to the front side, and a bright bright display can be obtained.

This transmissive display is performed by turning on the backlight 35 when sufficient external light is not obtained. Therefore, the brightness of the screen is raised by the reflection of the external light by the front reflective polarizing plate 20. Is almost none.

[0088] the transmission axis 21 of the transmissive display when, among the illumination light I ₁₀ incident from the rear, the rear reflective polarizer 21
Since the light of the polarization component along the p enters and passes through the side reflective polarizer 21 Thereafter, the incident of light is approximately half of the illuminating light I ₁₀ incident from the rear, the rear reflective polarizing Board 2
Since the loss of light in the path in which the light that has passed through 1 and is incident on the front side is emitted to the front side is small, even in the case of the transmissive display using the illumination light emitted from the backlight 35, the illumination light incident from the rear side is highly efficient. And a bright screen can be obtained.

As described above, in this liquid crystal display device, the reflective polarizing plate 20 is disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10, and the rear surface member composed of the reflective polarizing plate 21 is disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10. Therefore, at the time of reflective display using external light, of the orthogonally polarized light components of the external light incident from the front side, one of the polarized light components is reflected by the reflective polarizing plate to increase the brightness of the entire screen. The height can be raised, so that the incident light from the front side can be effectively used, and a bright screen can be obtained.

Further, in the above embodiment, since the diffusion layer 22 is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 disposed on the rear side, the above-described reflection display is also possible.
Also in the case of the transmissive display, the diffused light can be emitted to the front side to obtain a display with a uniform luminance distribution, and the external scene such as the face of the display observer and its background can be displayed on the rear reflective polarizing plate 21.
It is possible to eliminate the so-called reflection of the outside scene, which is reflected on the surface.

As described above, the diffusion layer 22 may be any one of a transparent film having a roughened surface, a transparent film in which light scattering particles are dispersed, and a lens film having fine lenses arranged on one surface. However, when a roughened film or a scattered particle dispersion film is used, the haze value is preferably set to about 30 to 32, and a roughened film or a scattered particle dispersion film having such a haze value is used. Thereby, a display with high front luminance can be obtained.

The diffusion layer 22 is more preferably the lens film. According to this lens film, a higher front luminance can be obtained, and the lens film does not change the polarization state of the transmitted light. In both the transmissive display mode and the transmissive display mode, it is possible to increase the emission rate of the incident light, and obtain a brighter display with good contrast.

In the above embodiment, the diffusion layer 22 is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear reflection polarizing plate 21.
Instead of providing the diffusion layer 22, the front surface of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 21 may be subjected to a roughening treatment so that light is diffused by the rear-side reflection polarization plate 21.

Further, in the above embodiment, the initial alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 19a of the liquid crystal element 10 is set to the twist alignment having a twist angle of about 90 °, and the transmission of the front reflective polarizer 20 disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is performed. The axis 20p is substantially parallel to the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a in the vicinity of the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10, and the transmission axis 21p of the rear reflective polarizing plate 21 disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 is Since the liquid crystal molecules 19a of the liquid crystal element 10 are in the initial twist alignment state, the liquid crystal molecules 19a are substantially parallel to the transmission axis of the reflective polarizing plate 20.
By applying an electric field between the four layers, the display contrast ratio between when the liquid crystal molecules are vertically aligned and oriented substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12 can be increased, and good contrast can be obtained.

Further, the front reflective polarizing plate 20 may be arranged so that its transmission axis 20p is substantially perpendicular to the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a near the front substrate 11 of the liquid crystal element 10.

In this case, the rear reflection polarizing plate 21 is
The transmission axis 21p is set to the transmission axis 2 of the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20.
By arranging the display substantially in parallel with 0p, as in the above-described embodiment, normally-white mode display is performed in the case of reflective display using external light, and transmissive display using illumination light emitted from the backlight 35 is performed. In the case of, normally black mode display can be performed.

The rear reflective polarizer 21 may be arranged such that the transmission axis 21p is substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizer 20, and thus the rear reflective polarizer 21 is disposed. By doing so, a normally black mode display can be performed in a reflective display using external light, and a normally white mode display can be performed in a transmissive display using illumination light emitted from the backlight 35. .

As described above, the liquid crystal display device is different from the liquid crystal display device in the reflective display using external light and the backlight 3
The display brightness is inverted between the case of the transmissive display using the illumination light emitted from the liquid crystal device 5 and the liquid crystal element 10 is driven to be inverted when the backlight 35 is turned on so that the light and darkness is reversed. For example, it is possible to eliminate the inversion of the brightness of the display between the reflective display and the transmissive display.

The electrodes 13, 14 of the liquid crystal element 10
The electric field applied between the liquid crystal molecules is preferably controlled stepwise in a range in which the liquid crystal molecules 19a rise from the initial twist alignment state substantially perpendicularly to the surfaces of the substrates 11 and 12, and are aligned.
In this manner, in both the reflective display and the transmissive display, the intensity of the light emitted to the front side is changed stepwise, and an image having a gradation in brightness can be displayed.

In the above embodiment, the light transmitted through each pixel region of the liquid crystal element 10 is absorbed by the color filters 15R, 15G, and 15B corresponding to the pixel region to absorb the wavelength light in the absorption wavelength band. Fifteen
In order to color R, 15G, and 15B, that is, any one of red, green, and blue, the light emitted from each pixel region is red, green, or blue.
Green, blue colored light and therefore these red, green,
By changing the intensity of the blue emission light stepwise, a multicolor image such as a full-color image can be displayed.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which hatching is omitted. In this embodiment, the front surface of the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment is described.
That is, a diffusion layer 23 is provided on the front surface of the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 as diffusion means for diffusing the light reflected by the front-side reflection polarization plate 20.

The liquid crystal display of this embodiment is provided with a diffusion layer 23 on the front side of the front reflective polarizing plate 20, but the other structure is the same as that of the liquid crystal display of the first embodiment. Therefore, duplicate description is omitted by attaching the same reference numerals to the drawings.

The diffusion layer 23 provided on the front surface of the front reflective polarizing plate 20 is provided with a diffusion layer 22 provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and a rear reflective polarizing plate 21 disposed on the rear side as a rear surface member. Similarly, a transparent film with a roughened surface,
It is composed of a transparent film in which light scattering particles are dispersed, a lens film in which fine lenses are arrayed on one surface, and the like, and is attached to the front surface of the front reflective polarizing plate 20.

Also in the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the light incident on the liquid crystal display 10 at the time of the reflection display using the external light is the front reflection polarized light among the orthogonal components of the incident light from the front. Although the light of the polarization component along the transmission axis 20p of the plate 20 is the light of the polarization component along the reflection axis 20s of the front-side reflection polarization plate 20 out of the incident light from the front side, this front-side reflection polarization plate 20 Then, the light is emitted to the front side, which is the viewing side of the display, and the reflected light raises the brightness of the entire screen. Therefore, the incident light from the front side can be effectively used, and a bright screen can be obtained.

Further, according to the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, in the reflective display mode, the reflected light of the external light entering from the front side and reflected to the front side by the front side reflection polarizing plate 20 is reflected by the front side reflection polarizing plate. Since the light is diffused by the diffusion layer 23 provided on the front surface of the front surface 20, glare on the screen due to the reflected light of the external light reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 can be eliminated.

In this liquid crystal display device, the light leaking to the front from the dark display region is transmitted by the diffusion layer 23 provided on the front side of the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 in both the reflective display and the transmissive display. Since the light is diffused, the leakage of light in the front direction (near the direction along the normal line of the screen), which is the viewing direction of the display, can be reduced to make the dark display darker and further increase the contrast.

Further, in this liquid crystal display device, the transmitted light diffused by the diffusion layer 22 provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear-side reflective polarizer 21 is used for both the reflective display and the transmissive display. When the light is emitted to the front side, the front reflection polarizing plate 20
Is further diffused by the diffusion layer 22a provided on the front surface of the display device, a display with a more uniform luminance distribution can be obtained, and the reflection of the outside scene on the rear reflective polarizer 20 in the reflective display is further improved. Can be eliminated.

When a roughened film or a scattered particle dispersion film is used as the diffusion layer 23 provided on the front side of the front reflection polarizing plate 20, the haze value is set to about 3
It is preferable to set the value to about 0 to 32. By doing so, a display with high front luminance can be obtained.

The diffusion layer 23 is more preferably a lens film in which minute lenses are arrayed on one surface, and a higher front luminance can be obtained with this lens film.

However, in this embodiment, the rear diffusion layer 22 is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear reflection polarizing plate 21, and the front diffusion layer 23 is provided on the front surface of the front reflection polarizing plate 20. When the front diffusion layer 23 is provided on the front surface of the front reflection polarizing plate 20, the rear diffusion layer 22 may be omitted.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, a reflective polarizing plate 20 is disposed in front of a liquid crystal element 10.
On the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10, 2
A rear surface member composed of an absorbing polarizer 25 that absorbs light of one polarized component and transmits light of the other polarized component, and a reflecting plate 26 provided on the rear surface of the absorbing polarizer 25. 24 are arranged.

In this embodiment, the liquid crystal element 10 and the reflective polarizer 20 disposed on the front side thereof are the same as those used in the first embodiment.
Overlapping description will be omitted by attaching the same reference numerals to the drawings.

The liquid crystal element 10 has liquid crystal molecules twist-aligned at a twist angle of about 90 ° as shown by the dashed arrow in the figure. In this embodiment, the reflected polarized light on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is used. The plate 20 is disposed such that its transmission axis 20p is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a in the vicinity of the front substrate of the liquid crystal element 10 (substantially perpendicular in the drawing). The absorption polarizer 25 is disposed with its transmission axis 25a substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizer 20.

In this embodiment, the liquid crystal element 10
The front surface of the front reflective polarizing plate 20 is roughened, and the front surface is a diffusion surface 23a for diffusing the light reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 in which a part of the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 is omitted from hatching. The uneven surface is formed side by side.

This liquid crystal display device performs only reflective display using external light. In this embodiment, a rear member 24 arranged on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 is composed of an absorbing polarizing plate 25 and Since the absorption polarizing plate 25 is disposed with the transmission axis 25a thereof substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20, the light is reflected on the display. Is a normally white mode.

That is, when an electric field is not applied between the electrodes of the liquid crystal element 10 (when the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules is the initial twist alignment), the light passes through the front reflective polarizing plate 20 and enters the liquid crystal element 10, Almost 9 due to the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer
Light that is rotated by 0 ° and emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 is transmitted through the absorption polarizing plate 25 and reflected by the reflection plate 26, and the reflected light is reflected by the absorption polarization plate 25, the liquid crystal element 10, and the front-side reflected polarized light. The light passes through the plate 20 and is emitted to the front side, and the display becomes bright.

When an electric field is applied between the electrodes of the liquid crystal element 10 so that the liquid crystal molecules rise almost vertically and are oriented, the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer is almost eliminated. The light incident on the liquid crystal element 10 is emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 without substantially changing the polarization state, and the light is absorbed and scattered by the absorption polarizer 25, and the display becomes a dark display.

Also in the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the light incident on the liquid crystal display 10 is the polarized light along the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizing plate 20 among the orthogonally polarized light components of the incident light from the front side. Component light, of the incident light from the front side, the reflection axis 20s of the front side reflection polarizing plate 20
Is reflected by the front-side reflective polarizer 20 and is emitted to the front side, which is the display observation side, and the reflected light raises the brightness of the entire screen, so that the incident light from the front side And a bright screen can be obtained.

Further, according to the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the reflected light of the external light incident from the front side and reflected to the front side by the front side reflection polarizing plate 20 is reflected by the front side reflection polarizing plate 2.
Since the light is diffused by the diffusing surface 23a on the front surface of the front polarizing plate 20, the glare of the screen due to the reflected light of the external light reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 can be eliminated, and the absorption polarizing plate 25 which is the rear member 24 can be removed. The light reflected by the rear reflecting plate 26 and emitted to the front side is reflected by the front-side reflecting polarizing plate 2.
Since the light is diffused by the diffusing surface 23a on the front side of 0, a display with a uniform luminance distribution can be obtained, and reflection of the outside scene on the reflecting plate 26 of the rear surface member can be eliminated.

In this embodiment, the rear member 24
With the absorbing polarizing plate 25 and the reflecting plate 26 provided on the rear surface thereof.
Therefore, the dark display can be made darker, and the contrast can be increased.

In this embodiment, the transmission axis 25a of the absorption polarizing plate 25, which is the rear member 24, is substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflection polarizing plate 20, but the absorption polarizing plate 25 is When the transmission axis 25a is
May be arranged substantially in parallel with the transmission axis 20p. By arranging the absorption polarizer 25 in this manner, a normally black mode display can be performed.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, a reflective polarizing plate 20 is disposed in front of a liquid crystal element 10.
On the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10, a rear surface member 24 including an absorption polarizing plate 25 and a reflection plate 26 provided on the rear surface is arranged, and the liquid crystal element 10 and the reflection polarizing plate 20 arranged on the front side thereof are arranged. And a diffusion layer 27 for diffusing the transmitted light.

Note that the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment is similar to that of FIG.
The liquid crystal display device according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 14 is provided with the diffusion layer 27 between the liquid crystal element 10 and the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20, and the other configuration is the same as that of the third embodiment. Therefore, duplicate description will be omitted by attaching the same reference numerals to the drawings.

According to the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the diffusion layer 2 is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the reflective polarizing plate 20 on the front side thereof.
7 is provided, in addition to the effect of the third embodiment, the light reflected by the reflection plate 26 on the rear surface of the absorption polarizing plate 25 and emitted to the front side is output from the diffusion layer 27 and the front reflection polarizing plate. The diffused surface 23a on the front surface of the light source 20 diffuses the light twice, thereby obtaining a display with a more uniform luminance distribution and an effect that the reflection of the outside scene on the reflection plate 26 can be more reliably eliminated. it can.

The diffusion layer 27 may be any of a transparent film having a roughened surface, a transparent film in which light scattering particles are dispersed, and a lens film having fine lenses arranged on one surface. When using a roughened film or a scattering particle dispersion film, the haze value is preferably about 30 to 32, and by using a roughened film or a scattering particle dispersion film having such a haze value, A display with high front luminance can be obtained.

The diffusion layer 27 is more preferably the lens film. According to this lens film, a higher front luminance can be obtained, and the lens film does not change the polarization state of the transmitted light. In both the transmissive display mode and the transmissive display mode, it is possible to increase the emission rate of the incident light, and obtain a brighter display with good contrast.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, a reflective polarizing plate 20 is disposed in front of a liquid crystal element 10, and On the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10, a rear surface member 28 including a reflective polarizing plate 29 and a light absorbing film 30 provided on the rear surface thereof as light absorbing means is arranged.
A diffusing layer 32 for diffusing transmitted light is provided between the rear surface member 28 and the reflective polarizing plate 29 of the rear surface member 28.

Note that the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment is similar to that of FIG.
Rear member 24 of the liquid crystal display device of the third embodiment shown in FIG.
Is replaced with a rear member 28 composed of the reflective polarizing plate 29 and a light absorbing film 30 provided on the rear surface,
The liquid crystal element 10 and the reflective polarizing plate 29 of the rear surface member 28
And the other configuration is the same as that of the third embodiment, and the same description will be omitted by attaching the same reference numerals to the drawings.

The liquid crystal element 10 has liquid crystal molecules twist-aligned at a twist angle of about 90 °, as indicated by the dashed arrow in the figure. In this embodiment, the reflected polarized light on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 is used. The plate 20 is disposed such that its transmission axis 20p is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the liquid crystal molecule orientation direction 11a in the vicinity of the front substrate of the liquid crystal element 10 (substantially perpendicular in the drawing). The reflective polarizing plate 29 is arranged with its transmission axis 29p substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizing plate 20.

This liquid crystal display device performs only reflective display using external light. In this embodiment, the rear member 24 disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 is composed of the reflective polarizing plate 29 and the rear surface. And a reflective polarizing plate (hereinafter, referred to as a rear reflective polarizing plate).
29 is arranged in such a manner that its transmission axis 29p is substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflective polarizing plate 20 arranged on the front side of the liquid crystal element 10, so that the display is in a normally white mode.

That is, when no electric field is applied between the electrodes of the liquid crystal element 10 (when the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules is the initial twist alignment), the light transmitted through the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20 and incident on the liquid crystal element 10 Is rotated by approximately 90 ° due to the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer, and the reflection axis 2
Since the light becomes a light having a polarization component along 9 s and is emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10, the light is reflected by the rear reflection polarizing plate 29, and the reflected light is reflected by the liquid crystal element 10 and the front reflection polarization. The light passes through the plate 20 and is emitted to the front side, and the display becomes bright.

When an electric field is applied between the electrodes of the liquid crystal element 10 so that the liquid crystal molecules rise almost vertically and are aligned, the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer is almost lost, and the liquid crystal layer is transmitted through the front reflective polarizing plate 22. The light incident on the liquid crystal element 10 is
Since the light is emitted to the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 with almost no change in the polarization state, the light is transmitted through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 and is absorbed and scattered by the light absorbing film 30 provided on the rear surface, so that the display is performed. The display becomes dark.

Also in the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the light incident on the liquid crystal display 10 is one of the orthogonally polarized light components of the incident light from the front side, which are polarized along the transmission axis 20p of the front reflection polarizing plate 20. Component light, of the incident light from the front side, the reflection axis 20s of the front side reflection polarizing plate 20
Is reflected by the front-side reflective polarizer 20 and is emitted to the front side, which is the display observation side, and the reflected light raises the brightness of the entire screen, so that the incident light from the front side And a bright screen can be obtained.

Further, according to the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the reflected light of the external light incident from the front side and reflected to the front side by the front side reflection polarizing plate 20 is reflected by the front side reflection polarizing plate 2.
Since the light is diffused by the diffusing surface 23a on the front surface of the display panel 0, glare on the screen due to the reflected light of the external light reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate 20 can be eliminated.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the rear member 2
4 is composed of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 and the light absorbing film 30 provided on the rear surface, so that the dark display can be made darker and the contrast can be increased.

Further, in this embodiment, since the diffusion layer 32 is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 which is the rear surface member 24, the light is reflected by the rear-side reflection polarization plate 29 and becomes the front side. Is diffused doubly by the diffusion layer 32 and the diffusion surface 23a on the front surface of the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 to obtain a uniform luminance distribution display and to the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29. The reflection of the outside scene can be eliminated.

In this embodiment, the diffusion layer 32
A transparent film having a roughened surface, a transparent film in which light scattering particles are dispersed, a lens film in which minute lenses are arrayed on one surface, or the like may be used. When used, the haze value is preferably about 30 to 32. By using a roughened film or a scattered particle dispersion film having such a haze value, a display with high front luminance can be obtained.

The diffusion layer 32 is more preferably the lens film. According to this lens film, a higher front luminance can be obtained, and the lens film does not change the polarization state of the transmitted light. In both the transmissive display mode and the transmissive display mode, it is possible to increase the emission rate of the incident light, and obtain a brighter display with good contrast.

In this embodiment, the transmission axis 29p of the rear reflection polarizing plate 29, which is the rear member 28, is substantially orthogonal to the transmission axis 20p of the front reflection polarizing plate 20, but the rear reflection polarizing plate 29 May be arranged such that the transmission axis 29p is substantially parallel to the transmission axis 20p of the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20,
By arranging the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 in this manner, a display in a normally black mode can be performed.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, a reflective polarizing plate 20 is disposed in front of a liquid crystal element 10, and A rear reflective polarizer 29 is provided on the rear side of the liquid crystal element 10 and an absorbing polarizer 31 provided on the rear surface thereof as light absorbing means.
And a diffusion layer 32 for diffusing transmitted light is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the reflective polarizing plate 29 of the rear surface member 28 '.

Note that the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment is similar to that of FIG.
0 of the liquid crystal display device of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG.
Is replaced by a rear surface member 28 'provided with an absorbing polarizer 31 as a light diffusing means on the rear surface of the rear reflective polarizer 29, and the other configuration is the same as that of the fifth embodiment. The same effect is obtained, so duplicate explanations
The same reference numerals are given to the drawings and the description is omitted.

In this embodiment, the absorption polarizing plate 31
Is arranged so that its transmission axis 31a is substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis 29p of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29, and transmits through the front-side reflection polarization plate 20 and the liquid crystal element 10 to form the rear surface member 2
Of the light incident on 8 ', the light transmitted through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 (the light having a polarization component along the absorption axis 29p that is transmitted through the rear-side reflection polarization plate 29) is absorbed.

Therefore, also in the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, of the light incident from the front side, passing through the front reflective polarizer 20 and the liquid crystal element 10 and entering the rear reflective polarizer 29, The light transmitted through the rear reflection polarizing plate 29 can be absorbed by the absorbing polarizing plate 31, so that the dark display can be made darker and the contrast can be increased.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention. The liquid crystal display device of this embodiment is different from the liquid crystal display device of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. A backlight 35 that is lit when the liquid crystal display device is used in an environment where external light of sufficient brightness cannot be obtained is disposed behind the rear surface member 28 '(on the rear side of the absorbing polarizer 31). is there.

The backlight 35 is a surface light source that emits illumination light having a uniform luminance distribution toward the entire rear surface of the absorbing polarizing plate 31 of the rear member 28 '. The light guide plate emits the light from the entire front surface, and a light source such as a fluorescent lamp is arranged to face the end face of the light guide plate.

This liquid crystal display device performs reflection display using external light incident from the front side in an environment where external light of sufficient brightness can be obtained, and is used when external light of sufficient brightness cannot be obtained. The backlight 35 is turned on to perform transmissive display using illumination light emitted from the backlight 35. In the case of reflective display using external light, FIG.
To the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The light enters from the front side, and the front reflection polarizing plate 20 and the liquid crystal element 1
0, the light of the polarization component along the reflection axis 29s of the rear reflection polarizing plate 29 of the rear member 28 'is
The light reflected by the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 and emitted to the front side, and the light of the polarization component along the transmission axis 29p of the rear-side reflection polarization plate 29 passes through the rear-side reflection polarization plate 29 and is reflected on the rear surface. The light is absorbed by the absorbing polarizing plate 31.

On the other hand, in the case of the transmissive display using the illumination light from the backlight 35, the illumination light from the backlight 35 is transmitted to the rear reflection polarizing plate 29 and the absorption polarizing plate 31 provided on the rear surface. From the rear side of the absorption polarizer 31, of which light transmitted through the absorption polarizer 31 and the rear reflective polarizer 29 is incident on the liquid crystal element 10.

That is, the rear surface member 28 ′ is provided on the rear surface of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29, on the absorption polarizing plate 31.
Are arranged such that the transmission axis 31a is substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis 29p of the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29. Therefore, the reflection axis 29s of the rear-side reflection polarization plate 29 is Since the light is substantially parallel to the transmission axis 31a, of the two orthogonal polarization components of the illumination light from the backlight 35, the polarization component having a vibration plane along the transmission axis 31a of the absorption polarizer 31 is used. The light is transmitted through the absorbing polarizer 31, but is reflected by the rear reflective polarizer 2.
9 reflects to the rear side.

However, the absorption polarizing plate 31 has a degree of polarization of about 95%.
About 95% of the light passing through and incident on the rear-side reflection polarizer 29 is the transmission axis 31 of the absorption polarizer 31.
a about 5% of the remaining light is a polarization component along a direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 31a of the absorption polarizer 31, that is, the rear reflection polarizer 2
9 is leakage light of a polarization component along the transmission axis 29p. About 5% of the leakage light passes through the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 and enters the liquid crystal element 10.

The light incident on the liquid crystal element 10 is emitted to the front side of the liquid crystal element 10 due to the birefringence effect of the liquid crystal layer according to the alignment state according to the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules. The reflection axis 2 of the front reflection polarizing plate 20
The light of the polarization component along 0s is reflected to the rear side, and the light of the polarization component along the transmission axis 20p of the front reflection polarizing plate 20 passes through the front reflection polarizing plate 20 and is emitted to the front side.

Therefore, the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment can perform both a reflective display using external light and a transmissive display using illumination light from the backlight 35.

In this liquid crystal display device, the amount of light incident on the liquid crystal element 10 during the transmissive display using the illumination light from the backlight 35 is not so large. By emitting light, a display with sufficient brightness can be obtained.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device showing an eighth embodiment of the present invention. The liquid crystal display device of this embodiment is different from the liquid crystal display device of the seventh embodiment shown in FIG. A diffusion layer 3 is provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the front-side reflective polarizing plate 20.
3 is provided.

According to the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, the space between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear reflective polarizer 29 as the rear member 24 and the space between the liquid crystal element 10 and the front reflective polarizer 20 are respectively provided. Since the diffusion layers 32 and 33 are provided, the light reflected by the rear-side reflection polarizing plate 29 and emitted to the front side is diffused by the diffusion layers 32 and 33 and the diffusion surface 23 a on the front surface of the front-side reflection polarization plate 20. The light is diffused three times to obtain a display with a more uniform luminance distribution, and the rear reflection polarizing plate 29
The reflection of the outside scenery to can be almost completely eliminated.

In this embodiment, the diffusion layer 33 provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the front-side reflection polarizing plate 20 is provided by a diffusion layer provided between the liquid crystal element 10 and the rear-side reflection polarization plate 29 which is the rear surface member 24. Similarly to the layer 32, any of a transparent film having a roughened surface, a transparent film in which light scattering particles are dispersed, and a lens film in which minute lenses are arranged on one surface may be used. When using a roughened film or a scattering particle dispersion film, the haze value is preferably about 30 to 32, and by using a roughened film or a scattering particle dispersion film having such a haze value, Further, a display with high front luminance can be obtained.

The diffusion layer 33 is more preferably the lens film. According to this lens film, a higher front luminance can be obtained, and the lens film does not change the polarization state of transmitted light. In both the transmissive display mode and the transmissive display mode, it is possible to increase the emission rate of the incident light and obtain a brighter display with good contrast.

The liquid crystal element 10 used in the first to eighth embodiments has color filters 15R, 15G, and 15B respectively corresponding to the plurality of pixel regions. It may not be provided with a color filter, and is not limited to the active matrix type, but may be a simple matrix type or a segment type.

Further, the liquid crystal display of each of the above embodiments is
The liquid crystal molecules 19a are of the TN type using the liquid crystal element 10 in which the initial alignment state is twisted at a twist angle of about 90 °.
ST with twist orientation of 0 ° to 270 ° twist angle
N (super twisted nematic) type liquid crystal display device, homogenous alignment type liquid crystal display device in which liquid crystal molecules of liquid crystal element are homogeneously aligned in one direction, ferroelectric or antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device, a pair of liquid crystal element It can also be applied to a liquid crystal display device of a horizontal electric field driving system in which a plurality of segment electrodes and a plurality of common electrodes opposed thereto are arranged on the inner surface of one of the substrates. Is the direction of the transmission axis of the reflective polarizer disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element and the direction of the transmission axis of the reflective polarizer or the absorption polarizer as the rear member. Depending on the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules at the time of setting, if the display is set to be a bright display when in one alignment state and set to a dark display when in the other alignment state There.

[0160]

According to the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light is reflected at the front side of the liquid crystal element, and the other polarization component is transmitted. And a rear surface member that reflects at least a part of light transmitted through the liquid crystal element and emitted to the rear side is disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element. Since the light of the one polarization component of the light is reflected by the reflective polarizing plate to raise the brightness of the entire screen, the incident light from the front side is effectively used to provide a bright screen. Obtainable.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the front surface of the reflective polarizer disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element is provided.
By doing so, it is possible to eliminate glare on the screen due to the reflected light of the external light reflected by the front reflective polarizing plate.

Further, in this liquid crystal display device, at least one of between the liquid crystal element and the reflective polarizer and between the liquid crystal element and the rear member disposed on the rear side. It is desirable to provide a diffusion layer for diffusing transmitted light, and by providing this diffusion layer, it is possible to emit diffused light to the front side, to obtain a display with a uniform luminance distribution, and to obtain a display observer's face and the like. It is possible to eliminate the so-called reflection of the outside scene, that is, the appearance of the outside scene such as the background reflected on the rear member.

In this case, the diffusion layer is preferably a lens film having minute lenses arranged on one surface,
According to this lens film, a display with high front luminance can be obtained, and since the lens film does not change the polarization state of the transmitted light, the emission rate of the incident light is reduced both in the reflective display and the transmissive display. It is possible to obtain a display that is higher, brighter, and has better contrast.

Further, in this liquid crystal display device, the rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element reflects one of two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light, and reflects the other polarization component. It is desirable to use a reflective polarizing plate that transmits the polarized light component. By doing so, the brightness of the reflective display can be further increased.

Further, it is more preferable that the rear surface member is constituted by the reflective polarizing plate and light absorbing means provided on the rear surface of the reflective polarizing plate. In this way, the dark display can be made darker. And increase the contrast.

The light absorbing means may be a light absorbing film or an absorbing polarized light which absorbs one polarized light component and transmits the other polarized light component among two polarized light components of incident light which are orthogonal to each other. It may be a plate, any light absorbing means,
High contrast can be obtained.

As described above, when the rear surface member is a reflective polarizing plate, or when it is constituted by the reflective polarizing plate and the light absorbing means, the initial alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal element is substantially 90 °. With a twist orientation of
The reflective polarizing plate on the front side of the liquid crystal element is arranged so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel or substantially perpendicular to the orientation direction of liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of the front substrate of the liquid crystal element. It is desirable to arrange the plate so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis of the front-side reflective polarizing plate, whereby a display with sufficient contrast can be obtained. .

Further, when the rear member is a reflective polarizer, or when the rear member is composed of the reflective polarizer and the absorption polarizer, the illumination light is emitted behind the rear member. It is preferable to arrange a backlight to perform reflection display using external light incident from the front side in an environment where external light of sufficient brightness can be obtained, thereby providing sufficient brightness. When external light cannot be obtained, transmissive display using illumination light emitted from the backlight can be performed.

The rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element absorbs one of the two orthogonal polarization components of the incident light and transmits the other polarization component. And a reflection plate provided on the rear surface of the absorption polarizing plate. The dark display can be made darker and the contrast can be increased.

In this case, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal element are initially aligned in a twisted state with a twist angle of about 90 °, and the reflective polarizing plate on the front side of the liquid crystal element is set to have its transmission axis set to the front substrate of the liquid crystal element. Is arranged substantially parallel or substantially orthogonal to the orientation direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of,
It is desirable to arrange the absorption polarizing plate as the rear member so that its transmission axis is substantially parallel to or substantially perpendicular to the transmission axis of the front reflection polarizing plate, and by doing so, sufficient contrast is obtained. Can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which hatching is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing optical characteristics of a reflective polarizing plate.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a liquid crystal molecule alignment direction near each substrate of the liquid crystal element in the first embodiment and directions of a reflection axis and a transmission axis of a pair of reflective polarizers.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a transmission path of incident light when an electric field is not applied between electrodes of a liquid crystal element and when an electric field is applied between the electrodes of a liquid crystal element in reflective display in the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a transmission path of incident light when no electric field is applied between electrodes of a liquid crystal element and when an electric field is applied between the electrodes of the liquid crystal element in the transmissive display in the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which hatching is omitted.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a reflective polarizer used in the third embodiment, in which a part of the reflective polarizer is omitted.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 liquid crystal element 11a liquid crystal molecule alignment direction near front substrate 12a liquid crystal molecule alignment direction near rear substrate 13, 14 electrodes 15R, 15G, 15B color filter 16, 17 alignment film 19 liquid crystal layer 19a: liquid crystal molecules 20: reflective polarizer 20s: reflective axis 20p: transmission axis 21: reflective polarizer (rear member) 21s: reflective axis 21p: transmission axis 22: diffusion layer 23: diffusion layer (front surface of front reflection polarizer) 23a: Diffusing surface (diffusion means on the front side of the front reflective polarizing plate) 24 ... Rear member 25 ... Absorbing polarizing plate 25a ... Transmission axis 26 ... Reflector 27 ... Diffusion layer 28, 28 '... Rear member 29 ... Reflective polarizing plate 29s ... Reflective axis 29p ... Transmissive axis 30 ... Light absorbing film (light absorbing means) 31 ... Absorptive polarizing plate (light absorbing means) 31a ... Transmissive axis 32,33 ... Diffusion layer 35 ... Backlight

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G02F 1/13357 G02F 1/1335 530 (72) Inventor Kazuhito Sato 5291, 2951 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo O Computer Co., Ltd. Hachioji Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Sawano 5 Kashi at 2951 Ishikawacho, Hachioji City, Tokyo O Computer Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Keiichi Ishida 5 Kashi at 2951 Ishikawacho Hachioji City, Tokyo H-Oji Computer Laboratory F-term (reference) 2H042 BA03 BA20 2H049 BA02 BA05 BA42 BB03 BB50 BB63 BC22 2H091 FA08X FA08Z FA16Z FA26X FA31X FA41Z FB02 FD09 GA13 HA07 KA10 LA16 LA17

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal layer for controlling a polarization state of transmitted light in accordance with an applied electric field is provided between a front substrate on a display observation side and a rear substrate facing the front substrate. A liquid crystal element, and a reflection polarizer disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal element and reflecting light of one polarization component and transmitting light of the other polarization component among two polarization components of incident light that are orthogonal to each other. And a rear surface member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element and reflecting at least a part of light transmitted through the liquid crystal element and emitted to the rear side. 2. A diffusing means for diffusing light reflected by said reflective polarizing plate is provided on a front surface of said reflective polarizing plate disposed in front of said liquid crystal element.
3. The liquid crystal display device according to 1. 3. Transmitted light is transmitted to at least one of between a liquid crystal element and a reflective polarizer disposed on the front side thereof and between the liquid crystal element and a rear member disposed on the rear side thereof. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further comprising a diffusion layer for diffusing. 4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 3, wherein the diffusion layer is formed of a lens film having fine lenses arranged on one surface. 5. A rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element,
2. A reflection polarizing plate that reflects light of one polarization component and transmits light of the other polarization component among two polarization components of incident light that are orthogonal to each other.
3. The liquid crystal display device according to 1. 6. A rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element,
A reflection polarizing plate that reflects light of one polarization component and transmits light of the other polarization component among two polarization components of the incident light that are orthogonal to each other; and a light absorbing unit provided on the rear surface of the reflection polarization plate 2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, comprising: 7. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the light absorbing means comprises a light absorbing film. 8. The light absorbing means includes two light beams orthogonal to each other.
7. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the liquid crystal display device comprises an absorbing polarizer that absorbs one polarized light component and transmits the other polarized light component. 9. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal molecules have an initial alignment state of a twist alignment having a twist angle of about 90 °, and the transmission axis of the reflective polarizing plate on the front side of the liquid crystal element is set near the front substrate of the liquid crystal element. Are arranged substantially parallel or substantially perpendicular to the orientation direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the reflective polarizer as a rear member, the transmission axis of which is substantially parallel or substantially parallel to the transmission axis of the front reflective polarizer. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 5, wherein the liquid crystal display device is arranged orthogonally. 10. A backlight for emitting illumination light is provided behind the rear member.
Or the liquid crystal display device according to 8. 11. A rear member disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal element absorbs one polarized light component and transmits the other polarized light component of two polarized light components of incident light that are orthogonal to each other. 2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, comprising an absorption polarizer and a reflector provided on a rear surface of the absorption polarizer. 12. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal molecules have an initial alignment state of a twist alignment having a twist angle of about 90 °, and the transmission axis of the reflection polarizer on the front side of the liquid crystal element is set near the front substrate of the liquid crystal element. Are arranged substantially parallel or substantially perpendicular to the orientation direction of the liquid crystal molecules, and the absorption polarizer as the rear surface member has its transmission axis substantially parallel or substantially parallel to the transmission axis of the front reflection polarizer. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 11, wherein the liquid crystal display device is arranged orthogonally.