KR20060002398A - Liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device in which a lenticular lens unit is formed on an upper portion of the liquid crystal display unit, and an electrode is formed in the lenticular lens unit to enable a three-dimensional display. In the present invention, the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal display may use both the VA mode and the TN mode, and includes a half-wave plate when using the TN mode.

The liquid crystal display device formed as described above has two components in total, thereby making it easy to align the components and improving the production yield. In addition, there is an advantage that the manufacturing cost is low.

Lenticular lens, three-dimensional display, half-wave plate

Description

Liquid crystal display {LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY}

1 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display using a lenticular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display using a lenticular lens according to another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a state in which a voltage of a thin film transistor array panel is not applied and a switching voltage is not applied.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a state where a voltage of a thin film transistor array panel is applied and a switching voltage is not applied.

5 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a state in which a switching voltage is applied without applying a voltage of a thin film transistor array panel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 1 with a voltage applied to a thin film transistor array panel and a switching voltage also applied.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 2 in a state in which the voltage of the thin film transistor array panel is not applied and the switching voltage is not applied.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 2 in a state where a voltage of a thin film transistor array panel is applied and a switching voltage is not applied.                 

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 2 in a state in which a switching voltage is applied without applying a voltage of a thin film transistor array panel.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 2 with the voltage of the thin film transistor array panel applied and the switching voltage also applied.

11 is a view showing still another embodiment of the lenticular lens unit.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

12: lower polarizer 22: upper polarizer

100: thin film transistor display panel 200: color filter display panel

250: color filter 300: liquid crystal

400: lenticular lens unit 410: lenticular lens

420: polymer 430: the lenticular lens lower substrate

440: lenticular lens unit upper substrate 450: lower electrode

460: upper electrode

500: half-wave plate 600: switch element

610: switch element liquid crystal 620: switch element lower substrate

630: switch element upper substrate

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device capable of three-dimensional display.                         

The services to be realized for the high speed of information based on the high-speed information communication network today are the multimedia service centered on the digital terminal which processes text, voice, and video at high speed from the simple listening and speaking service such as the current telephone. It is expected to develop and ultimately evolve into a super-spatial realistic 3D stereoscopic information communication service that can see, feel and enjoy realistic and three-dimensionally beyond time and space.

In general, three-dimensional images representing three-dimensional image is made by the principle of stereo vision through two eyes. The parallax of two eyes, that is, binocular disparity that appears because two eyes are about 65mm apart, is the most important factor of three-dimensional effect. This can be called. In other words, the left and right eyes each look at different two-dimensional images, and when these two images are transmitted to the brain through the retina, the brain accurately fuses each other to reproduce the depth and reality of the original three-dimensional image. This ability is commonly referred to as spreography.

The stereoscopic image display device uses binocular disparity, and according to whether the viewer wears separate glasses, stereoscopic polarization and time division, autostereoscopic parallax-barrier, lenticular and blinding There is a lighting (blinking light) method.

While the former can enjoy stereoscopic images, many people need to wear separate polarized glasses or liquid crystal shutter glasses, and the latter has a structure in which an image splitter and a cylindrical lens array are combined on the display, respectively. As the observation range is fixed, it is limited to a small number of people, but there is a characteristic of not wearing a separate glasses type, so it tends to be preferred. The spectacle stereoscopic image display device causes inconvenience and unnaturalness because the viewer must wear special glasses. On the other hand, many studies have been conducted in the non-glasses stereoscopic image display apparatus because the observer directly observes the screen and the above-mentioned disadvantages disappear.

The stereoscopic image display device has a structure in which a lenticular lens layer is disposed on a liquid crystal display device. The liquid crystal display is one of the most widely used flat panel display devices. The liquid crystal display includes two display panels on which a field generating electrode is formed and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. It is a display device which controls the transmittance | permeability of the light which passes through a liquid crystal layer by rearranging.

However, a conventional liquid crystal display device in which a lenticular lens layer is disposed to implement a planar image and a stereoscopic image has a structure as follows.

The lower polarizing plate is attached to the rear surface of the liquid crystal display unit including the thin film transistor display panel, the color filter display panel, the liquid crystal, and the like, and the lenticular lens portion is attached to the upper surface (the upper surface of the color filter display panel). The switch element is attached to the upper portion of the lenticular lens portion.

The switch element is formed including the liquid crystal between the switch element upper substrate and the lower substrate and both substrates. Electrodes are formed on the substrate of the switch element so as to apply an electric field. Such a switch element is manufactured to select a 2D / 3D image.

In the conventional liquid crystal display, light is emitted to the outside through the lower polarizer, the liquid crystal display, the lenticular lens unit, the switching element, and the upper polarizer.

Since the conventional structure is formed by combining three parts (liquid crystal display part, lenticular lens part, switching element), it is necessary to prevent misalignment of each part, and adhesive is used when combining the three parts. The disadvantage is that sorting is difficult. Yields are low due to difficulty in alignment and overall cost increases due to the use of three parts.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device having a structure different from the conventional structure and capable of a three-dimensional display with high yield and low cost.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display capable of three-dimensional display by forming an electrode in the lenticular lens portion.

Specifically, a liquid crystal display having a plurality of pixels, a lower polarizer positioned below the liquid crystal display, an upper portion of the liquid crystal display, including a lenticular lens and a polymer, and electrodes formed on the upper and lower portions thereof. The liquid crystal display device includes a lenticular lens unit and an upper polarizing plate positioned above the lenticular lens unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

In the drawings, the thickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc., are exaggerated for clarity. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the specification. When a part of a layer, film, region, plate, etc. is said to be "on" another part, this includes not only the other part being "right over" but also another part in the middle. On the contrary, when a part is "just above" another part, there is no other part in the middle.

A liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention. 1 shows a case of a TN mode liquid crystal display device. 2 illustrates the case of a VA mode liquid crystal display. 1 and 2 have a difference in the presence or absence of the half-wave plate 500.

First, a TN mode liquid crystal display device according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display including a thin film transistor array panel 100, a color filter display panel 200, a liquid crystal 300, and a color filter 250 between the upper polarizer 22 and the lower polarizer 12. It includes a half-wave plate 500 attached to the upper portion and the lenticular lens unit 400 formed on the upper portion.

Looking at the lenticular lens unit 400 in detail, the lenticular lens unit 400 is a lenticular lens 410 and a polymer 420 formed thereon, and the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer ( The lenticular lens unit lower substrate 430 and the lenticular lens unit upper substrate 440 to which the 420 is attached are formed. The lower electrode 450 is formed on the lower substrate 430, and the upper electrode 460 is formed on the upper substrate 440, respectively.

The lower polarizing plate 12 is attached to have a transmission axis of 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction.

Looking at the liquid crystal display formed on the lower polarizing plate 12, as follows.

First, the thin film transistor array panel 100 includes a gate line and a data line, and has a pixel area defined by the gate line and the data line. A thin film transistor is formed in a portion of the pixel region, and the pixel electrode formed in the pixel region is controlled by the thin film transistor. The thin film transistor controls the pixel electrode. When the voltage input through the gate line is higher than or equal to a predetermined level, the thin film transistor transfers the voltage coming into the data line from the source side to the drain side of the thin film transistor, and corresponds to the pixel electrode connected to the drain electrode. This is to take. According to the shape of the pixel electrode, it is classified into a transmissive liquid crystal display, a reflective liquid crystal display, and a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display having both properties, and any type of liquid crystal display can be formed. In the present embodiment, the transmission type will be described.

On the other hand, the liquid crystal 300 is formed on the thin film transistor array panel 100. The liquid crystal 300 is formed in such a manner as to be injected between the thin film transistor array panel 100 and the color filter panel 200, and the liquid crystal 300 includes a twisted nematic (TN) mode, an electrically controlled birefringence (ECB) mode, and the like. VA (vertically aligned) mode or the like is possible, and the present embodiment uses a liquid crystal in TN mode.

 The color filter display panel 200 is formed on the liquid crystal 300. The color filter panel 200 includes a color filter 250, and although not illustrated, a black matrix, a common electrode, and the like are formed.

The half-wave plate 500 is attached to the upper portion of the liquid crystal display having the configuration as described above. The half-wave plate 500 is formed when the liquid crystal of the TN mode is used in the liquid crystal display. The half-wave plate 500 has a property of rotating the vibration axis of light 45 degrees. In this embodiment, the slow axis of the half-wave plate 500 is attached to be 67.5 degrees or 22.5 degrees. The attachment angle of the half-wave plate 500 may be attached at an angle other than the above angle.

The lenticular lens unit 400 is formed on the half-wave plate 500. Looking at the configuration of the lenticular lens unit 400 as follows.

First, there is a lower substrate 430 and an upper substrate 440. A lenticular lens 410 is formed on the lower substrate 430, and a lower electrode 450 is formed on the opposite side of the lenticular lens 410. . In addition, a polymer 420 is formed on the upper substrate 440, and an upper electrode 460 is formed on the opposite side of the polymer 420.

The lenticular lens unit 400 including the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer 420 is formed in such a manner as to fill the liquid crystal after patterning electrodes capable of applying an electric field to both sides of both substrates 430 and 440. do. Here, the liquid crystal is formed in the concave lens shape as shown in the polymer 420 on the upper substrate 440, and after the lower substrate 430 is bonded, the liquid crystal is horizontally aligned so that the liquid crystal can enter the concave lens-shaped mold It is then filled in a sealing manner.

When an electric field is applied to the upper electrode 460 and the lower electrode 450 of the lenticular lens unit 400, the horizontally aligned liquid crystals are aligned in the vertical direction.

Since the liquid crystal is horizontally aligned, the lenticular lens 410 has various refractive indices according to the change of the liquid crystal. In the present exemplary embodiment, the horizontal refractive indices of the horizontally aligned liquid crystals are formed to be the same as the refractive index of the polymer 420. In the vertical incidence, the refractive indices are different from the polymer 420. The refractive index may be reversed to the above. Meanwhile, when voltage is applied to the lenticular lens unit 400, the liquid crystal is vertically aligned, and the refractive index in the vertical alignment is the same as that of the polymer 420.

An upper polarizer 22 is attached to the upper portion of the lenticular lens unit 400. The upper polarizer 22 has a horizontal polarization axis in this embodiment and is formed to block light in the vertical direction.

Hereinafter, light transmission will be described by dividing a case where voltage is applied to the pixel electrode and a case where voltage is applied to the upper and lower electrodes 450 and 460 of the lenticular lens unit 400.

First, the lower polarizer 12 at the bottom converts unpolarized light into 45 degree linearly polarized light. Since the linearly polarized light of 45 degrees is incident to the liquid crystal display, the polarization of the light varies depending on whether or not voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100 in the liquid crystal display.

First, a case in which no voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100 will be described. Since the incident light is 45 degree linearly polarized light, when it passes through the liquid crystal layer with light having both a horizontal component and a vertical component, the light rotates by 90 degrees and changes to 135 degrees linearly polarized light.

On the other hand, when a voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100, since the director of the liquid crystal is perpendicular to the panel, light passes through the LCD without interaction with the liquid crystal and is output as 45 degree linearly polarized light.

The light output as described above is incident on the half-wave plate 500, and the polarization axis is rotated with a horizontal wave of 135 degrees and the polarization axis is rotated with a vertical wave of 90 degrees.

Light passing through the half-wave plate 500 is incident on the lenticular lens unit 400. The lenticular lens unit 400 includes an upper electrode 460 and a lower electrode 450, and the output light is different depending on whether or not a voltage is applied to the electrodes 450 and 460. First, in the present exemplary embodiment, when the voltage is applied and the liquid crystals are arranged in the vertical direction, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer 420 are the same, and thus the light is processed without refraction. However, when no voltage is applied, the light in the vertical direction is refracted because it has a different refractive index, but the light in the horizontal direction is straight because it has the same refractive index.

An upper polarizer 22 is formed on the lenticular lens unit 400, and the polarizer 22 is formed to block vertical polarization components. Therefore, when a vertical wave is incident, the light is blocked and appears black, and when a horizontal wave is incident, all of the output is displayed and is bright white.

As described above, the transmission of light is illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6. In the drawings, the lower polarizer 12, the liquid crystal display, and the half-wave plate 500 are not illustrated, and only the lenticular lens unit 400 and the upper polarizer 22 are illustrated.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics in a state where the voltage of the thin film transistor array panel is not applied and the switching voltage is not applied, and FIG. 4 is a view showing the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics when the switching voltage is not applied, and FIG. 5 illustrates the light transmission characteristics when the switching voltage is applied without applying the voltage of the thin film transistor array panel according to the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a state where a voltage of a thin film transistor array panel is applied and a switching voltage is also applied.

Referring to each of the angles again, first, in FIG. 3, light transmitted through the lower polarizer 12 enters the liquid crystal display with 45 degree linear light. In the case of FIG. 3, since no voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100, the light rotates by 90 degrees and changes to 135 degrees of linearly polarized light. Thereafter, while passing through the half-wave plate 500, the polarization axis rotates to change to a horizontal wave of 0 degrees, and the horizontal wave is incident on the lenticular lens unit 400. Since no voltage is applied to the lenticular lens unit 400 and a horizontal wave is incident, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer 420 are the same, and thus the light is straight without being refracted. After that, the light is incident on the upper polarizer 22, and the polarization is made while passing through the lenticular lens unit 400 to change from a horizontal wave to a vertical wave. After that, the light is incident on the upper polarizer 22. Since the upper polarizer 22 is formed to remove the vertical component in the present embodiment, light is not transmitted but is displayed in a black state.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 4, light transmitted through the lower polarizer 12 has 45 degree linear light and enters the liquid crystal display. In the case of FIG. 4, since voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100, light is output as 45 degree linearly polarized light without interaction with the liquid crystal. Thereafter, while passing through the half-wave plate 500, the polarization axis rotates to change into a vertical wave of 90 degrees, and the vertical wave is incident on the lenticular lens unit 400. Since no voltage is applied to the lenticular lens unit 400 and is incident as a vertical wave, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer 420 are different from each other, and thus light is refracted to pass. While passing through the lenticular lens unit 400, the vertical wave is converted into a horizontal wave, and then incident on the upper polarizing plate 22. In this embodiment, since the upper polarizing plate 22 is formed to remove vertical components, all light is It is transmitted and displayed in the white state.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 5, light transmitted through the lower polarizer 12 has 45 degree linear light and enters the liquid crystal display. In FIG. 4, since no voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100, the light rotates by 90 degrees and changes to 135 degrees of linearly polarized light. Thereafter, while passing through the half-wave plate 500, the polarization axis rotates to change to a horizontal wave of 0 degrees, and the horizontal wave is incident on the lenticular lens unit 400. Since the voltage is applied to the lenticular lens unit 400, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer 420 are the same, whereby the light passes without refraction. Thereafter, the light is incident on the upper polarizing plate 22. Since the polarization is not performed while passing through the lenticular lens unit 400, the upper polarizing plate 22 is incident as a horizontal wave. Since the upper polarizing plate 22 is formed to remove the vertical component in the present embodiment, all the light is transmitted and displayed in a white state.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 6, light transmitted through the lower polarizer 12 has 45 degree linear light and enters the liquid crystal display. In the case of FIG. 6, since voltage is applied to the thin film transistor array panel 100, light is output as 45 degree linearly polarized light without interaction with the liquid crystal. Thereafter, while passing through the half-wave plate 500, the polarization axis rotates to change into a vertical wave of 90 degrees, and the vertical wave is incident on the lenticular lens unit 400. Since the voltage is applied to the lenticular lens unit 400, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens 410 and the polymer 420 are the same, whereby the light passes without refraction. Thereafter, the light is incident on the upper polarizing plate 22. Since the polarizing is not performed while passing through the lenticular lens unit 400, the upper polarizing plate 22 enters into the vertical wave. Since the upper polarizer 22 is formed to remove vertical components in the present embodiment, light is blocked and displayed in a black state.

In this embodiment, the half-wave plate 500 is formed on the liquid crystal display, but may be formed between the lower polarizer 12 and the liquid crystal display.

2 illustrates an embodiment of a VA mode liquid crystal display. The difference from the TN mode liquid crystal display of FIG. 1 is that the half-wave plate 500 is not formed. In the present embodiment, the liquid crystal display is formed using the single domain VA mode.

The light transmitted through the lower polarizer 12 has a linear flat light of 45 degrees. When the light is incident on the liquid crystal display, a horizontal wave is output when no voltage is applied to the thin film transistor, and a vertical wave is applied when the light is applied. Is output. Therefore, it is not necessary to form the half-wave plate 500 as shown in FIG.

In addition, unlike the embodiment of the TN mode of FIG. 1, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the upper polarizer 22 is formed to block a horizontal polarization component. Therefore, when a horizontal wave is incident, light is blocked and appears black, and when a vertical wave is incident, all of the output is output and appears as a bright white state.

7 to 10 show the transmission of light in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics in a state in which the embodiment of FIG. 2 does not apply a voltage and a switching voltage of the thin film transistor array panel, and FIG. 8 illustrates the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating light transmission characteristics when the switching voltage is not applied, and FIG. 9 illustrates the light transmission characteristics when the switching voltage is applied without applying the voltage of the thin film transistor array panel according to the embodiment of FIG. 2. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the light transmission characteristics of the embodiment of FIG. 2 with the voltage of the thin film transistor array panel applied and the switching voltage also applied.

In the VA mode liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 2, the vertical horizontal waves shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 can be formed without the half-wave plate, and the horizontal waves are removed using the upper polarizer 22 to thereby remove the horizontal wave. It has almost the same transmission characteristics as those shown in FIG. 6.

11 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the lenticular lens unit.                     

11 illustrates only the lenticular lens unit 400, and unlike FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper electrode 460 and the lower electrode 450 are formed on the upper and lower portions of the lenticular lens 410. Since the upper portion of the lenticular lens 410 is formed as a curved surface, the upper electrode 460 is formed on the curved surface, and the lower electrode 450 is formed of the lenticular lens unit lower substrate 430 and the lenticular lens 410. It is formed in a plate shape in between.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

As described above, by forming the liquid crystal display device, the number of components is reduced to two, so that alignment is easy, and thus the yield can be improved. In addition, manufacturing costs are reduced.

Claims (16)

A liquid crystal display including a plurality of pixels and a liquid crystal, A lower polarizer disposed under the liquid crystal display, A lenticular lens unit formed on an upper portion of the liquid crystal display and including a lenticular lens and a polymer and having electrodes formed on upper and lower portions thereof; An upper polarizing plate positioned above the lenticular lens unit Liquid crystal display comprising a. In claim 1, And a liquid crystal inserted into the lenticular lens. In claim 2, Wherein the liquid crystal is horizontally aligned when voltage is applied, and is vertically aligned when voltage is not applied. In claim 2, Wherein the liquid crystal has one of a TN mode, an ECB mode, and a VA mode. In claim 1, And a lower electrode formed below the lenticular lens and an upper electrode formed above the polymer. In claim 1, And a lower electrode formed below the lenticular lens and an upper electrode formed above the lenticular lens. In claim 1, And a half-wave plate formed between the liquid crystal display unit and the lenticular lens unit. In claim 7, And the half-wave plate is attached such that the slow axis of the half-wave plate is 67.5 degrees or 22.5 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. In claim 7, The liquid crystal display used in the liquid crystal display has a TN mode. In claim 7, The upper polarizing plate has a horizontal axis as a transmission axis.  In claim 7, When a voltage is applied to an electrode of the lenticular lens unit, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens and the polymer are the same. A liquid crystal display device configured to have the same refractive index for light in a horizontal direction. In claim 1, The liquid crystal display used in the liquid crystal display has a VA mode. In claim 12, The upper polarizing plate has a transmission axis of 90 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction.  In claim 12, When a voltage is applied to an electrode of the lenticular lens unit, the refractive indexes of the lenticular lens and the polymer are the same. A liquid crystal display device configured to have the same refractive index for light in a horizontal direction. In claim 1, The lower polarizer has a transmission axis of 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction. In claim 1, The liquid crystal display has a pixel electrode, and the pixel electrode is formed of a transparent electrode, an opaque electrode, or a translucent electrode.

Images