JP2002244137A - Liquid crystal display panel and image display applying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel, having superior visual field angle, wherein gradation inversion is hardly generated without necessitating additional processes, an additional material, e.g. a resist material, etc., or the like and damaging productivity, and impairing yield and quality. SOLUTION: A transverse electric field electrode 7, extended in the transverse direction of a pixel and generating a transverse electric field to a liquid crystal layer 3, is provided in the vicinity of a pixel electrode 9 for each pixel of an array substrate 1. Thereby, when voltage is applied to the transverse electric field electrode, the raising direction of a liquid crystal molecule 3a in a first region in the vicinity of the transverse electric field electrode is set different from the raising direction of a liquid crystal molecule in a second region, other than the first region.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly to a technique for improving a viewing angle characteristic of a liquid crystal display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, liquid crystal display panels have begun to be used for monitors and televisions due to their improved display characteristics and larger screen sizes. In particular, high-end models are required to have a wide viewing angle characteristic. IPS method (transverse electric field application method)
And the VA method (vertical alignment method) have begun to be introduced partially, but there is a problem that a high yield cannot be obtained in the production because high precision is required.

In view of the above, efforts have been made to increase the viewing angle of a twisted nematic liquid crystal display panel which has been widely adopted and can obtain a high yield.

In this twisted nematic method, the vertical viewing angle dependence is large, and especially when the viewing angle is increased in the azimuth at which the maximum contrast can be obtained, a gradation inversion phenomenon occurs.
The image quality is greatly deteriorated. In view of this, a configuration has been proposed in which the orientation direction of liquid crystal molecules is divided into two in one pixel to eliminate gradation inversion, and some of these configurations have been put to practical use.

A conventional twisted nematic alignment type active matrix type wide viewing angle liquid crystal display panel will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of such a conventional alignment division type wide viewing angle liquid crystal display panel, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a plan structure thereof. 7 and FIG.
Is an array substrate, and 2 is a counter substrate. A liquid crystal layer 3 is sandwiched between the array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2.

A wide viewing angle film 14 and a polarizing plate 13 are provided on the surface of the array substrate 1 opposite to the liquid crystal layer 3, and a TF is provided for each pixel on the surface of the array substrate 1 on the liquid crystal layer 3 side.
The T element 10 and the pixel electrode 9 are provided, and the gate wiring 11 and the source electrode 12 of the TFT element 10 are provided, and the alignment film 4a is formed to cover them.

A wide viewing angle film 14 and a polarizing plate 13 are disposed on the surface of the opposite substrate 2 opposite to the liquid crystal layer 3, and the color filter layer 6 is disposed on the surface of the opposite substrate 2 on the side of the liquid crystal layer 3. , A black matrix 6a, and a common electrode 8, and an alignment film 4b is formed to cover them.

The alignment films 4a and 4b are subjected to an alignment division alignment process to form two regions 31 and 32 in which the pretilt directions of the liquid crystal molecules 3a (the rising directions of the liquid crystal molecules) are opposite. When voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules 3a rise, but the regions 31 and 32 in which the rising directions of the liquid crystal molecules 3a are opposite to each other can prevent grayscale inversion in a halftone.

The alignment processing method of the alignment division will be described with reference to FIG. First, the alignment film 4 made of polyimide is applied and cured on the substrate, and the entire surface is rubbed in the direction A by the rubbing roller 20 while moving the substrate in the direction M (FIG. 9A).

Then, a resist material 2 is formed by spin coating.
1 is applied to the entire surface of the substrate and prebaked. After that, about half of each pixel is exposed and developed by the proximity method to remove the resist material 21 in a predetermined range of each pixel. Further, the substrate is rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the moving direction M, and the portion where the resist material 21 is removed and the alignment film 4 is exposed is moved by the rubbing roller 20 to a position B opposite to the direction A.
A rubbing process is performed in the direction (FIG. 9B).

Thereafter, the resist material on the entire surface of the substrate is peeled off, thereby completing the alignment process for one substrate (FIG. 9C).

The alignment process including the two rubbing process steps is performed on each of the two array substrates 1 and the opposing substrate 2, and the periphery thereof is bonded with a seal adhesive via a fine spherical spacer having a diameter of about 5 μm. The gap is filled with a liquid crystal material to complete the liquid crystal cell.

[0014]

However, in the structure of the prior art, in order to form the alignment film 4 on one substrate, not only the rubbing treatment is performed twice as described above, but also the coating of the resist material 21 is performed. In order to perform orientation division such as exposure, development, and peeling, many additional steps are required, and productivity has been greatly impaired.

Further, since the resist material 21 is applied and stripped on the alignment film 4 after the rubbing treatment, the alignment property is deteriorated, and the surface of the alignment film 4 is contaminated with impurities contained in the resist material 21. This causes display unevenness in the liquid crystal display panel, and has a serious problem of impairing yield and quality.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its object is to eliminate the need for an additional step or an additional material such as a resist material, and to reduce the productivity, yield, and quality without impairing the process. An object of the present invention is to provide an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having excellent viewing angle characteristics in which tone reversal is unlikely to occur.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention comprises a counter substrate having at least an inner surface provided with a common electrode made of a transparent conductive material; An active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having an array substrate provided with active elements and pixel electrodes corresponding to pixels, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the counter electrode and the array substrate, wherein each pixel of the array substrate A horizontal electric field electrode for generating a horizontal electric field with respect to the liquid crystal layer. The horizontal electric field electrode is provided when a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode. Is characterized in that the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the first region near the first region is different from the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the second region other than the first region.

According to this configuration, by providing the horizontal electric field electrode extending in the lateral direction of the pixel near the pixel electrode, the first region of the liquid crystal layer near the horizontal electric field electrode can be used when the voltage is applied.
The lines of electric force in the oblique direction are generated by the correlation between the lines of electric force in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and the intersection angle between the liquid crystal molecules having a predetermined pretilt angle and the lines of electric force in the oblique direction becomes 90 ° or more, and the liquid crystal molecules become Stand up counterclockwise. On the other hand, in the second region other than the first region, when a voltage is applied, substantially vertical electric lines of force are generated, and the intersection angle between the liquid crystal molecules having a predetermined pretilt angle and the vertical lines of electric force is 90 ° or less. Then, the liquid crystal molecules rise clockwise.

Thus, without performing the alignment division on each substrate, that is, without performing two rubbing treatments, it is possible to form a boundary portion where the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules is reversed by one rubbing treatment. This eliminates the need for an additional step required for the second rubbing treatment, thereby improving the productivity of a liquid crystal display panel having excellent viewing angle characteristics. Further, in the rubbing treatment, it is not necessary to use a resist material containing impurities, so that the yield and quality of the liquid crystal display panel are not impaired.

In order to achieve the above object, a second liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention comprises a counter substrate having at least an inner surface provided with a common electrode made of a transparent conductive material, and an active substrate corresponding to a plurality of pixels. An array substrate on which elements and pixel electrodes are disposed, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the counter electrode and the array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer between each of the counter substrate and the array substrate for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer. An active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having an alignment film formed therebetween, wherein the liquid crystal display panel is disposed in the vicinity of a pixel electrode of each pixel of the array substrate so as to extend in the horizontal direction of the pixel, and is disposed horizontally with respect to the liquid crystal layer. A lateral electric field electrode for generating an electric field; and a concave or convex part formed on the surface of the alignment film corresponding to at least one of the array substrate and the counter substrate near the lateral electric field electrode. When a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode, the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the first region near the horizontal electric field electrode where the concave portion or the convex portion is formed is changed to the liquid crystal in the second region other than the first region. It is characterized in that it is configured to be different from the rising direction of the molecule.

According to this structure, in addition to the advantage of the first liquid crystal display panel, when the size of one pixel of the liquid crystal display panel is large, by providing a concave portion or a convex portion on the surface of the alignment film, The first region where the liquid crystal molecules rise in the counterclockwise direction can be widened, and the occurrence of gradation inversion can be suppressed, and the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal display panel can be improved.

In the second liquid crystal display panel, the horizontal electric field electrode is disposed at a portion where the convex portion corresponding to the array substrate is rubbed down during the rubbing treatment of the array substrate, and the convex portion corresponding to the opposite substrate is provided. A portion which is formed at a predetermined distance from the horizontal electric field electrode in the vertical direction of the pixel and extends in the horizontal direction of the pixel, and a portion where the convex portion corresponding to the counter substrate is worn down during the rubbing process of the counter substrate is a horizontal electric field. The first region is formed on the liquid crystal layer between the horizontal electric field electrode on the array substrate and the convex portion on the counter substrate when a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode and is formed toward the electrode. Is preferred.

In the second liquid crystal display panel, it is preferable that the horizontal electric field electrode is disposed so as to partially overlap the pixel electrode in the vertical direction of the pixel.

[0024] In the second liquid crystal display panel, it is preferable that the protruding portion on the opposing substrate is formed by overlapping color layers of at least two color filters.

In the first and second liquid crystal display panels, it is preferable that a voltage at the same level as that of the common electrode disposed on the inner surface of the counter substrate is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode.

Further, the first and second liquid crystal display panels have at least one of an array substrate and a counter substrate corresponding to a boundary where the rising directions of liquid crystal molecules are different when a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode. It is preferable to provide a light-shielding layer in the portion. This makes it possible to completely prevent light from leaking from the boundary even when the backlight at the time of practical use of the liquid crystal display panel has a very high luminance.

In this case, it is preferable that the light-shielding layer is formed by a pattern of a black matrix provided on the counter substrate, or by at least two color layers of a color filter formed on the counter substrate. Thus, without using an additional material, when the backlight has a high luminance, a pattern of a black matrix is used. On the other hand, when the backlight has a low luminance, at least two color layers of a color filter are used. The light-shielding layer can be formed by overlapping.

In the first and second liquid crystal display panels, the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules when no voltage is applied is preferably a twisted nematic arrangement or a homogeneous arrangement.

In the first and second liquid crystal display panels, it is preferable that the pretilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules at the center of the pixel when no voltage is applied is set to 2 ° or more and 6 ° or less. The reason why the upper limit of the pretilt angle is set to 6 ° is that if it exceeds 6 °, it becomes difficult to operate the liquid crystal display panel stably. Also,
The reason for setting the lower limit of the pretilt angle to 2 ° is as follows.
If the angle is less than 2 °, an orientation defect of the reverse tilt domain occurs due to irregularities on the substrate surface or an abnormal electric field generated near the pixel electrode.

To achieve the above object, an image display application device according to the present invention is provided with a first or second liquid crystal display panel.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a sectional structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a planar structure thereof.

In the first embodiment, a horizontal electric field electrode is provided near a part of each pixel electrode, so that a horizontal electric field is generated in a part of each pixel when a voltage is applied. By making the rising direction different from that of the other portions, an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having excellent viewing angle characteristics in which gradation inversion hardly occurs is obtained.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid crystal display panel according to the present embodiment mainly includes an array substrate 1, a counter substrate 2, and a liquid crystal layer 3 sandwiched between these substrates. A polarizing plate 13 is attached to each outer surface of the substrate 2.

A pixel electrode 9 and a TFT element 10 are provided on the array substrate 1 so as to correspond to each display pixel, and a gate wiring 11 and a source wiring 12 for applying a voltage to the TFT element 10. Are formed by a thin film photoetching process.

On the other hand, R (red), G
One of three colors (green) and B (blue) for each pixel, a color filter layer 6 formed for each pixel, a light-shielding layer 5 for preventing light from leaking between adjacent pixels, and a common layer covering the entire display area. An electrode 8 is provided. Each of the common electrode 8 and the pixel electrode 9 is made of indium tin oxide (ITO) having a relatively high transmittance, and has a thickness of about 150 nm.

The alignment films 4a and 4a are formed on the surfaces of the array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2, respectively. These alignment films 4a and 4b are coated with an alignment film material made of polyimide by an offset printing method so as to cover the display area, and heated and baked to a film thickness of about 100 nm in an alignment film coating / firing step, and further rubbing. In the processing step, the surface is rubbed by a rubbing roller 20 (FIG. 9) around which a rubbing cloth is wound to perform orientation processing in a predetermined direction (X direction and Y direction in FIGS. 1 and 2).

By filling a positive nematic liquid crystal between the array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2 which have been subjected to the alignment treatment, the liquid crystal molecules 3a are oriented at a certain angle with respect to the substrate surface in the polar angle direction. Contact with a tilt. This angle is referred to as a pretilt angle (θp in FIG. 1). The pretilt angle is determined by an alignment film material, a liquid crystal material, and rubbing conditions, and is generally in a range of 2 ° to 10 °. It is.

Further, the liquid crystal material contains 0.3% of a left-handed chiral material mixed therein, and the liquid crystal material is rotated clockwise 90 degrees from the X direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a near the array substrate 1 as shown by a direction T in FIG. ° twist the liquid crystal molecules 3 near the opposing substrate 2
The liquid crystal molecules 3a are continuously arranged in the Y direction of a. Note that the thickness of the liquid crystal layer in this embodiment is 5 μm.

Further, in the vicinity of above the pixel electrode 9 in FIG.
The horizontal electric field electrode 7 is disposed, and the same voltage as that of the common electrode 8 on the counter substrate 2 is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode 7. When a display voltage is applied to this panel, the liquid crystal
The lines of electric force as shown by the thin lines are generated. The lines of electric force are generated not only in the vertical direction between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 8 but also in the horizontal direction between the pixel electrode 9 and the horizontal electric field electrode 7.

Only the vertical lines of electric force act on the left liquid crystal molecules 3a in FIG. 1, and the lines of electric force intersect with the liquid crystal molecules 3a at the center of the liquid crystal layer 3 at an intersection angle θu. Since this is 90 ° or less, the liquid crystal molecules 3a rise clockwise.

On the other hand, on the right side near the horizontal electric field electrode 7, a horizontal electric field is generated near the electrode, and on the left side, the common electrode 8
Due to the correlation with the vertical electric field, the line of electric force is directed obliquely to the right. The liquid crystal molecules 3a existing in this portion include:
An oblique electric field acts. Since the intersection angle θu ′ between the liquid crystal molecules 3a at the right center in FIG. 1 and the lines of electric force is larger than 90 °, the liquid crystal molecules 3a rise counterclockwise.

The rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a is determined by the pretilt angle θp and the direction of the line of electric force, and the boundary BR in the rising direction is located at a position 15 μm leftward from the right end of the pixel electrode 9 in FIG. occured. Since the light cannot be rotated at the boundary BR, the light passes through the boundary BR.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, Cr and C
The boundary BR is shielded from light by the light-shielding layer 5 that forms the black matrix 6a made of a laminated film of rOx. In consideration of the variation in the occurrence position of the boundary BR and the bonding accuracy between the array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2,
The width of the light shielding layer 5 was 10 μm.

A polarizing plate 13 is adhered to the outer surfaces of the array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2, and a wide viewing angle film 14 using optical compensation is mounted to realize a wide viewing angle.

Next, the optical characteristics of the above configuration will be described.

As the viewing angle characteristics, on the left side of the boundary BR in FIG. 1, the viewing direction is lower and the gray scale inversion of dark display occurs.
On the other hand, on the right side of the boundary BR, the gray scale inversion of dark display occurs when the viewing direction is on the upper side. This is because the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a is directly related to the viewing angle characteristics.

As described above, since the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a is reversed in one pixel, that is, there is a region having completely opposite viewing angle characteristics, in a macroscopic observation, a characteristic obtained by combining both regions is observed. In other words, it is possible to widen the angle of actual inversion.

In the liquid crystal display panel in which the horizontal electric field electrode 7 is not provided, the grayscale inversion angle at 8 grayscales is 3 in the downward direction.
In contrast to 0 °, the liquid crystal display panel according to the present embodiment was able to expand to 40 °. In addition, it was confirmed that not only the gradation inversion but also the viewing angle dependency, such as the contrast ratio and the color change at all gradations, was improved.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the rubbing process is performed only once for each substrate, and does not require an additional step or an additional material such as a resist material, thereby impairing productivity, yield, and quality. In addition, an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having a wide angle at which grayscale inversion occurs and excellent viewing angle characteristics can be realized.

Although the same voltage as that of the common electrode 8 on the counter substrate 2 is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode 7 in this embodiment, a voltage different from that of the common electrode 8 may be applied. For example, so that the potential difference between the horizontal electric field electrode 7 and the pixel electrode 9 is larger than the potential difference between the counter electrode 8 and the pixel electrode 9,
By applying a voltage to the lateral electric field electrode 7, the lateral electric field generating region can be widened, and the effect of improving the viewing angle can be increased.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1, a region where the rising of the liquid crystal molecules 3a is reversed is formed only by the lateral electric field. When the size of one pixel of the display panel is large (when the pixel pitch in the vertical direction is about 200 μm or more), the observation angle at which the grayscale inversion occurs is not completely improved.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, the horizontal electric field electrode 7
Is provided in the vicinity of, and the initial alignment state is also different from other portions, so that a region where the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a is opposite to that of other portions is widened, thereby increasing the pixel pitch in the vertical direction. Even if it is increased to about 300μm,
In the 8-gradation display, there is no gradation inversion, and an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel excellent in other viewing angle dependence and excellent viewing angle characteristics is stably realized.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sectional structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a planar structure thereof.

The schematic configuration of the second embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, but has two changes.

First, the first modification is that the pixel electrode 9 on the array substrate 1 is provided with the first convex portion 9a which partially overlaps the horizontal electric field electrode 7 in the vertical direction of the pixel. Thereby, about 300 n from the surface of the other part of the alignment film 4a
An m-shaped first convex portion 4a 'is formed. Also,
An inorganic insulating film 15 made of SiNx is provided between the pixel electrode 9 and the horizontal electric field electrode 7, whereby not only insulation between the two electrodes but also electric capacity is obtained, which is used to assist the pixel potential. Use as capacity.

Next, the second modification is that a multicolor color filter is partially laminated on the normal color filter layer 6 of the counter substrate 2 and the horizontal electric field electrode 7 in FIG. A second protrusion 6b extending in the horizontal direction of the pixel is provided at a position 40 μm away from the center of the pixel. Thereby, the second convex portion 6 formed by the multicolor filter is formed.
a common electrode 8 made of an ITO film and an alignment film 4b
Is formed on the entire surface, but the second convex portion 4b ′ protruding from the surface of the other part of the alignment film 4b by about 1200 nm.
Is obtained.

As described above, the first projection 9a and the second projection 6b are provided, and the first projection 9a and the second projection 6b are further correlated with the rubbing directions X and Y of the array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2, respectively. The rubbed portions of the portion 4a 'and the second convex portion 4b' are both located between the horizontal electric field electrode 7 and the second convex portion 6b on the counter substrate 2.

In the portions where the two convex portions 4a 'and 4b' are rubbed, the surfaces of the alignment films 4a and 4b are not sufficiently rubbed by the rubbing cloth, and the liquid crystal molecules 3a are formed by the shape effect. 4a and 4b have a pretilt angle θ
Even if contact is made at 5 ° as p, for example, the convex portions 4a ′, 4
If the oblique slope of b ′ is 5 ° or more, the intersection angle θu ′ (FIG. 1) becomes 90 ° or more even with a vertical electric field, and the liquid crystal molecules 3a rise counterclockwise when an electric field is applied. That is, this means that the pretilt angle θp of this portion is negative.

Therefore, not only the effect of the horizontal electric field by the horizontal electric field electrode 7 but also the shape effect of the rubbing portions of the convex portions 4a 'and 4b' by the two convex portions 9a and 6b are opposed to the horizontal electric field electrode 7. The liquid crystal molecules 3a between the liquid crystal molecules 3a and the second convex portions 6b on the substrate 2 surely rise in the opposite direction to other portions. Thereby, the range of the reverse rise of the liquid crystal molecules 3a can be set wider than in Embodiment 1.
The elimination of the viewing angle dependency can be more sufficiently realized.

It should be noted that all of the components in the present embodiment can be realized only by changing the pattern of the film having the normal panel structure.
This embodiment can be easily realized without any change in the production process and without lowering the productivity or quality.

In this embodiment, a multi-color filter is laminated on the color filter layer 6 to form the second convex portion 6b.
However, fine protrusions made of resin may be formed on the common electrode 8. Further, when the light-shielding layer 5 forming the black matrix 6a of the counter substrate 2 is formed of an organic film, the thickness is as large as about 1000 nm, so that the above-described boundary is formed at the boundary in the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a. By merely providing the light shielding layer 5, a convex shape is obtained, and the same effect can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the light shielding layer 5 is provided corresponding to the boundary BR in the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a to completely prevent light from leaking from the boundary BR. No problem arises even when the backlight has a very high luminance. On the other hand, if the backlight has a relatively low brightness of about 100 candela or less, the second convex portion 6b can be formed without providing the light shielding layer 5 corresponding to the boundary BR in the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a. It is possible to sufficiently maintain the image quality and the contrast ratio only by using the light-shielding characteristic in which the transmittance is reduced due to the color overlap of the two colors of the color filter layer 6.

By forming a hole in the underlayer of the pixel electrode 9 of the array substrate 1 to form a recess corresponding to the boundary BR in the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules 3a,
An effect similar to that in the case where the convex portion 6b is formed on the color filter layer 6 of the counter substrate 2 can be obtained.

(Embodiment 3) As described above, Embodiments 1 and 2
Although the liquid crystal display panel having a twist arrangement has been described above, the present invention can be similarly applied to a liquid crystal display panel having a homogeneous alignment in which liquid crystal molecules are aligned substantially in parallel.

This is referred to as Embodiment 3 of the present invention, and FIG.
6 shows a cross-sectional structure thereof, and FIG. 6 shows a planar structure thereof. In the present embodiment, the basic configuration is exactly the same as that of the second embodiment, but only in the rubbing direction, as in the X and Y directions in FIG. Is from the bottom, and the liquid crystal molecules 3
“a” is configured not to be twisted.

Accordingly, no chiral material was added to the liquid crystal material used here.

Also in the present embodiment, it was possible to obtain display characteristics excellent in viewing angle characteristics as compared with a normal homogeneous alignment panel.

In the above embodiment, if the pretilt angle θp determined by the alignment film material, the liquid crystal material, and the rubbing condition is large (about 7 ° or more), it is difficult to operate the liquid crystal display panel stably. Therefore, it is desirable to adopt a material system and a rubbing treatment condition which make the pretilt angle θp 6 ° or less.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A horizontal electric field electrode is provided near a part of each pixel electrode, or a concave part or a convex part is provided on the alignment film surface in the vicinity of the horizontal electric field electrode, and a liquid crystal molecule is formed in a part of each pixel. By adopting a configuration in which the rising direction is different from other parts, there is no need for an additional process or additional materials such as a resist material, and the viewing angle at which grayscale inversion does not easily occur without impairing productivity, yield, or quality It is possible to realize an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having excellent characteristics.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a planar structure of the liquid crystal display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a planar structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a planar structure of a liquid crystal display panel according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a conventional liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a planar structure of a conventional liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a first rubbing step (a), a second rubbing step (b), and a resist peeling step (c) in a conventional liquid crystal display panel alignment processing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Array substrate 2 Counter substrate 3 Liquid crystal layer 3a Liquid crystal molecule 4a, 4b Alignment film 4a 'First convex portion on array substrate 1 4b' Second convex portion on counter substrate 2 5 Light shielding layer 6 Color filter layer Reference Signs List 6a Black matrix 6b Second convex portion 7 Horizontal electric field electrode 8 Common electrode 9 Pixel electrode 9a First convex portion of pixel electrode 9 10 TFT element 11 Source wiring 12 Gate wiring 13 Polarizing plate 14 Wide viewing angle film 15 Inorganic insulating film Reference Signs List 20 rubbing roller 21 resist material X alignment direction of alignment film 4a on array substrate 1 Y alignment direction of alignment film 4b on counter substrate 2 T twist direction of liquid crystal molecules 3a A, B alignment direction in conventional pixel division method θp Pretilt angles θu, θu ′ of liquid crystal molecules 3a at the center of liquid crystal layer 3 Intersecting angles between liquid crystal molecules 3a and lines of electric force

Claims (12)

[Claims] A counter substrate having at least an inner surface provided with a common electrode made of a transparent conductive material; an array substrate having active elements and pixel electrodes provided corresponding to a plurality of pixels; An active matrix type liquid crystal display panel having a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between an array substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed in the vicinity of a pixel electrode of each pixel of the array substrate so as to extend in a lateral direction of a pixel. A horizontal electric field electrode for generating a horizontal electric field with respect to the first electric field, and a first electric field near the horizontal electric field electrode when a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode.
A liquid crystal display panel wherein a rising direction of liquid crystal molecules in a region is different from a rising direction of liquid crystal molecules in a second region other than the first region. 2. A counter substrate on which a common electrode made of a transparent conductive material is disposed on at least an inner surface thereof; an array substrate on which active elements and pixel electrodes are disposed corresponding to a plurality of pixels; An active matrix having a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between an array substrate and an alignment film formed between each of the counter substrate and the array substrate and the liquid crystal layer for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer; A liquid crystal display panel of the type, comprising: a horizontal electric field electrode for generating a horizontal electric field with respect to the liquid crystal layer; A concave portion or a convex portion formed on a surface of the alignment film corresponding to at least one of the array substrate and the counter substrate in the vicinity of the horizontal electric field electrode; When a voltage is applied to the electrode, the rising direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the first region near the horizontal electric field electrode where the concave portion or the convex portion is formed is the same as that in the second region other than the first region. A liquid crystal display panel, wherein the liquid crystal display panel is configured to be different from a rising direction of liquid crystal molecules. 3. The horizontal electric field electrode is disposed at a portion where a convex portion corresponding to the array substrate is rubbed down during a rubbing process on the array substrate, and the convex portion corresponding to the counter substrate has a pixel shape. In the vertical direction, at a position at a predetermined distance from the horizontal electric field electrode, formed to extend in the horizontal direction of the pixel, the portion to be worn down of the convex portion corresponding to the counter substrate at the time of rubbing treatment of the counter substrate is the Formed toward the horizontal electric field electrode, and when a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode,
The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 2, wherein the first region is formed in the liquid crystal layer between the horizontal electric field electrode on the array substrate and the convex portion on the counter substrate. 4. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 2, wherein the horizontal electric field electrode is disposed so as to partially overlap the pixel electrode in a vertical direction of the pixel. 5. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 2, wherein the convex portions on the counter substrate are formed by overlapping color layers of at least two color filters. 6. The device according to claim 1, wherein a voltage at the same level as that of a common electrode disposed on an inner surface of the counter substrate is applied to the lateral electric field electrode. Liquid crystal display panel. 7. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein when a voltage is applied to the horizontal electric field electrode, at least one of the array substrate and the counter substrate corresponds to a boundary portion in which rising directions of liquid crystal molecules are different. The liquid crystal display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a light shielding layer. 8. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 7, wherein the light shielding layer is formed by a black matrix pattern provided on the counter substrate. 9. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 7, wherein the light shielding layer is formed by overlapping at least two color layers of a color filter formed on the counter substrate. 10. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules when no voltage is applied is a twisted nematic arrangement or a homogeneous arrangement. 11. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein a pretilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules at a central portion of the pixel when no voltage is applied is set to 2 ° or more and 6 ° or less. LCD panel. 12. An image display application device comprising the liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1. Description: