WO2016158834A1

WO2016158834A1 - Photo-alignment member, lighting device, liquid crystal display device and method for producing photo-alignment member

Info

Publication number: WO2016158834A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/059851
Authority: WO
Inventors: 奨越智; 昇平勝田; 康浅岡
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社
Priority date: 2015-04-01
Filing date: 2016-03-28
Publication date: 2016-10-06

Abstract

A liquid crystal display device according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided with: a light-transmitting base; a plurality of photo-alignment parts which are provided on a first surface of the base; a reflection part which is provided on the first surface at least in a position that does not overlap the photo-alignment parts when viewed from the normal direction of the base; and a low refractive index part which is provided in a position that partially overlaps the reflection part when viewed from the normal direction of the base and has a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the photo-alignment parts. Each of the photo-alignment parts has: a light input end face which is positioned on the base side; a light exit end face which is positioned on the opposite side of the base side and has a larger area than the light input end face; and an inclined surface which is positioned between the light input end face and the light exit end face.

Description

Photo-alignment member, illumination device, liquid crystal display device, and method of manufacturing photo-alignment member

The present invention relates to a photo-alignment member, a lighting device, a liquid crystal display device, and a method for manufacturing a photo-alignment member.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-075363 filed in Japan on April 1, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Liquid crystal display devices are widely used as portable electronic devices such as smartphones, or displays for televisions, personal computers, and the like. In recent years, the display has become particularly high-definition, and the development of a display that supports a super high-definition video (7680 Pixel × 4320 Pixel) having a resolution that is four times the width and width of the conventional full high-definition video (1920 Pixel × 1080 Pixel) is progressing. Generally, a liquid crystal display device has different display characteristics when the display screen is viewed from the front and display characteristics when the display screen is viewed from an oblique direction. This difference in display characteristics is greatly influenced by the alignment characteristics of light emitted from the liquid crystal display.

One of the causes of this difference in display characteristics is the alignment characteristics of light emitted from the backlight to the liquid crystal panel. For example, in Patent Document 1, a prism sheet or the like is used to control the alignment characteristics of light incident on a liquid crystal panel. Moreover, in patent document 2, the condensing sheet | seat etc. which have a predetermined structure are used.

JP 2014-219537 A JP 2009-258754 A

When a prism sheet or the like is disposed between the backlight and the liquid crystal panel as in Patent Document 1, light totally reflected by a predetermined surface of the prism sheet is oriented in the normal direction of the liquid crystal panel. On the other hand, there is a drawback that light reflected by a portion other than the predetermined surface is emitted in a direction greatly deviating from the normal direction of the liquid crystal panel. The direction greatly deviating from the normal direction of the liquid crystal panel means a high angle direction in which an angle (hereinafter referred to as polar angle) formed by the normal direction of the liquid crystal panel and the viewing direction of the observer is 50 ° or more. The light emitted in the high polar angle direction is called sidelobe light. The sidelobe light causes a brightness increase (light leakage) when the liquid crystal display device is viewed from an oblique direction, and causes a decrease in visibility in the oblique direction of the liquid crystal display.
The light collecting sheet of Patent Document 2 also controls the light emitted from the backlight, but the orientation is not sufficient.

One aspect of the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and has an object to provide a photo-alignment member that has high orientation and can enhance the light utilization efficiency of a liquid crystal display device. One of them. Another object of one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a lighting device used for improving the alignment controllability of a liquid crystal display device. Another object of one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device capable of controlling viewing angle characteristics.

In order to achieve the above object, a photo-alignment member according to an aspect of the present invention includes a light-transmitting base material, a plurality of light-alignment portions provided on the first surface of the base material, Of the first surface, at least a reflection portion provided at a position not overlapping with the photo-alignment portion when viewed from the normal direction of the base material, and partially overlapping with the reflection portion when viewed from the normal direction of the base material And a low refractive index portion having a lower refractive index than the refractive index of the light orientation portion, the light orientation portion having a light incident end face located on the substrate side, and the substrate side And a light exit end face larger than the light incident end face, and an inclined face located between the light entrance end face and the light exit end face. However, the low refractive index portion may be an air layer.

In the photo-alignment member according to one aspect of the present invention, the planar shape of the photo-alignment portion and the reflection portion may be a line shape extending in the first direction of the first surface.

In the photo-alignment member according to one aspect of the present invention, a width L in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction of the reflective portion and a height H of the photo-alignment portion are 0.2 <L / H. The relationship <2.0 may be satisfied.

In the photo-alignment member according to one aspect of the present invention, the width L of the reflecting portion in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the width s of the light incident end surface of the photo-alignment portion are s> 3 / The 7L relationship may be satisfied.

In the photo-alignment member according to one aspect of the present invention, an angle formed by the light exit end face and the inclined surface may be 60 ° or more and less than 90 °.

In the photo-alignment member according to one aspect of the present invention, the ratio of the area occupied by the reflective portion to the base material may be 70% or less.

In the photo-alignment member according to an aspect of the present invention, in a cross-sectional shape when the photo-alignment portion is cut in a cross section perpendicular to the first surface, an angle formed by the light emission end surface and the first inclined surface is The angle formed between the light exit end surface and the second inclined surface may be different.

An illumination device according to one aspect of the present invention is disposed between the light alignment member described above, a light source device disposed on a light incident end surface side of the light alignment member, and between the light alignment member and the light source device, And a structure for orienting light emitted from the light source device in a direction approaching the normal direction of the substrate.

In the illumination device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the light source device is disposed on a light guide, a light source provided on an end surface of the light guide, and a surface of the light guide opposite to the structure. And a reflecting plate.

In the lighting device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the structure has a triangular cross section cut in a plane perpendicular to the end surface and perpendicular to the light exit surface of the light guide, and in a direction parallel to the end surface. A plurality of extending protrusions may be used.

In the lighting device according to an aspect of the present invention, the light orientation portion may extend in a first direction of the base material, and the direction may coincide with the direction in which the convex portion extends.

A liquid crystal display device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the above-described lighting device and a liquid crystal panel disposed on a light alignment member side of the lighting device.

The liquid crystal display device according to one embodiment of the present invention further includes a light control member on a light emission side of the liquid crystal panel, and the light control member includes a second base material having light transmittance, and the second base. A light diffusing portion provided on the first surface of the material, and a position that does not overlap the light diffusing portion when viewed from the normal direction of the second base material in the first surface of the second base material. A second light source having a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the light diffusion portion provided at a position partially overlapping with the light shielding portion when viewed from the normal direction of the second base material. A refractive index portion, and the light diffusing portion has a second light exit end face located on the second base material side and a second light incident on the opposite side to the second base material side. An end face, and a reflecting face located between the second light exit end face and the second light incident end face. However, the second low refractive index portion may be an air layer.

The manufacturing method of the photo-alignment member which concerns on 1 aspect of this invention is a manufacturing method of the above-mentioned photo-alignment member, Comprising: The process of forming a reflection part in the 1st surface of a base material, The 1st surface of the said base material And a step of forming a photocurable resin layer on the reflective portion, and a step of diffusing light from a surface of the base material where the reflective portion is not formed to cure a part of the photocurable resin layer. And removing the uncured portion of the photo-curable resin layer to form the photo-alignment portion.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a photo-alignment member that has high photo-alignment properties and can sufficiently increase the light utilization efficiency of a liquid crystal display device. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an illumination device that can increase the light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device and can control the viewing angle dependency of the liquid crystal display device. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a liquid crystal display device that has high light utilization efficiency and can control viewing angle characteristics.

It is sectional drawing of the liquid crystal display device of 1st Embodiment of this embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal panel. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the drive circuit of a liquid crystal display device. It is a figure which shows the gate bus line and source bus line of a liquid crystal display device. It is a perspective schematic diagram of a photo-alignment member. It is the cross-sectional schematic diagram which expanded the principal part of the reflective layer. It is sectional drawing which showed typically the path | route of the light inject | emitted in the backlight unit which does not have a photo-alignment member. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a path of emitted light in the backlight unit according to one aspect of the present invention. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the condensing sheet described in patent document 2. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the definition of a polar angle and an azimuth. It is a front view of a liquid crystal display device. It is the result of measuring the luminance distribution in the vertical direction on the viewing side of the liquid crystal display device when the photo-alignment member is not provided and when the tilt angle of the photo-alignment portion of the photo-alignment member is changed. It is the figure which expanded the principal part at the time of cut | disconnecting in a surface parallel to the y-axis direction in case the inclination angle of a photo-alignment member is small. It is the figure which expanded the principal part at the time of cut | disconnecting in the surface parallel to the y-axis direction in case the inclination angle of a photo-alignment member is 90 degrees. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the path | route of the light which injected into the photo-alignment part. It is the result of simulating the luminance distribution in the vertical direction on the viewing side of the liquid crystal display device when the tilt angle of the photo-alignment member is changed, and is a diagram simulating the ratio of direct light and reflected light in the total light amount is there. It is the measurement result which measured the relationship between the width | variety of a reflection layer, the height of a photo orientation part, and an inclination angle. The relationship of the light utilization efficiency by the coverage of the reflective layer with respect to a base material is shown. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram when the width | variety of the light-incidence end surface at the time of cut | disconnecting a photo-alignment part by a surface parallel to a y-axis direction is comparatively wide. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram when the width | variety of the light-incidence end surface at the time of cut | disconnecting a photo-alignment part by a surface parallel to a y-axis direction is comparatively narrow. The brightness | luminance distribution of the transmitted light at the time of changing the width | variety of the light-incidence end surface of a light orientation part is shown. It is a perspective view which shows the mode of 1 process of the manufacturing method of the optical orientation member of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a continuation of the manufacturing process diagram. It is a continuation of the manufacturing process diagram. It is a continuation of the manufacturing process diagram. The top view which shows the 1st modification of a photo-alignment member. The top view which shows the 2nd modification of a photo-alignment member. The top view which shows the 3rd modification of a photo-alignment member. The top view which shows the 4th modification of a photo-alignment member. It is the cross-sectional schematic diagram which cut | disconnected the optical orientation member of the liquid crystal display device of 2nd Embodiment by the surface parallel to a y-axis direction. The result of having measured the luminance distribution of the y-axis direction of the photo-alignment member of 2nd Embodiment is shown. It is the figure which showed typically the function of the photo-alignment member of 2nd Embodiment, when there exists a light source only in the one end side of the y-axis direction of the light guide of a backlight. It is the figure which showed typically the function of the photo-alignment member of 2nd Embodiment, when there exists a light source in the both ends side of the y-axis direction of the light guide of a backlight. It is sectional drawing of the liquid crystal display device of 3rd Embodiment of this embodiment. It is the perspective view which looked at the light control member from the visual recognition side. It is the top view of a light control member, and sectional drawing from two directions. It is a top view which shows one light shielding layer among several light shielding layers. A graph showing the relationship between human eyesight and the size of an object that can be recognized by the human eye It is a schematic diagram which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between the director direction of the liquid crystal molecule of each domain in a pixel, a photo-alignment member, a light control member, and a polarizing plate. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of the 1st planar shape of the light-shielding part of this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of the 2nd planar shape of the light-shielding part of this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of the 3rd planar shape of the light-shielding part of this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of the 4th planar shape of the light-shielding part of this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of the 5th planar shape of the light-shielding part of this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of the 6th planar shape of the light-shielding part of this embodiment. FIG. 5 is an external view showing a thin television that is an application example of the liquid crystal display device of the first to third embodiments. FIG. 11 is an external view showing a smartphone that is an application example of the liquid crystal display device of the first to third embodiments. FIG. 5 is an external view showing a notebook personal computer that is one application example of the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments. It is a figure which shows the example of the 1st color arrangement | positioning of the color filter which comprises a liquid crystal display device. It is a figure which shows the example of the 2nd color arrangement | positioning of the color filter which comprises a liquid crystal display device. It is a figure which shows the example of the 3rd color arrangement | positioning of the color filter which comprises a liquid crystal display device. It is a figure which shows the example of the 4th color arrangement | positioning of the color filter which comprises a liquid crystal display device. It is a figure which shows the example of the 5th color arrangement | positioning of the color filter which comprises a liquid crystal display device.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the present embodiment, an example of a liquid crystal display device that includes a transmissive liquid crystal panel and is compatible with super high-definition (7680 pixel × 4320 pixel) video display will be described.
In all of the following drawings, in order to make each component easy to see, the scale of the size may be changed depending on the component.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal display device 1 of this embodiment includes a liquid crystal panel 2 and an illumination device (backlight unit) 8. The liquid crystal panel 2 includes a first polarizing plate 3, a first retardation film 4, a liquid crystal cell 5, a second retardation film 6, and a second polarizing plate 7.
In FIG. 1, the liquid crystal cell 5 is schematically illustrated, but the detailed structure thereof will be described later.
The backlight unit 8 includes a backlight 36, a light orientation member 37, and a prism sheet 38.
In the present embodiment, the backlight unit 8 corresponds to the illumination device recited in the claims.
In the present embodiment, the backlight 36 corresponds to the light source device in the claims. In the present embodiment, the prism sheet 38 corresponds to the structure of the claims.

The observer views the display image of the liquid crystal display device 1 from the surface opposite to the backlight unit 8 of the liquid crystal panel 2. In the following description, the side opposite to the backlight unit 8 of the liquid crystal panel 2 is referred to as a viewing side. The side on which the backlight unit 8 is disposed is referred to as the back side. In the following description, the x axis is defined as the horizontal direction of the screen of the liquid crystal display device 1. The y axis is defined as the vertical direction of the screen of the liquid crystal display device 1. The z axis is defined as the thickness direction of the liquid crystal display device 1. Further, the horizontal direction of the screen corresponds to the left-right direction when the observer views the liquid crystal display device 1 facing the front. The vertical direction of the screen corresponds to the up-down direction when the observer views the liquid crystal display device 1 facing the front.

In the liquid crystal display device 1 of the present embodiment, light emitted from the backlight unit 8 after being aligned in the z-axis direction is modulated by the liquid crystal panel 2, and a predetermined image, character, or the like is displayed by the modulated light.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the liquid crystal panel 2 will be described.
Here, an active matrix transmissive liquid crystal panel will be described as an example. However, the liquid crystal panel applicable to this embodiment is not limited to an active matrix transmissive liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel 2 applicable to the present embodiment may be, for example, a transflective (transmission / reflection type) liquid crystal panel. Furthermore, a simple matrix type liquid crystal panel in which each pixel does not include a switching thin film transistor may be used. Hereinafter, a thin film transistor is abbreviated as TFT.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the liquid crystal panel 2.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the liquid crystal cell 5 includes a TFT substrate 10, a color filter substrate 12, and a liquid crystal layer 11. The TFT substrate 10 functions as a switching element substrate. The color filter substrate 12 is disposed to face the TFT substrate 10. The liquid crystal layer 11 is sandwiched between the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12.

The liquid crystal layer 11 is sealed in a space surrounded by the TFT substrate 10, the color filter substrate 12, and a frame-shaped seal member (not shown). The sealing member bonds the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12 at a predetermined interval.

The liquid crystal panel 2 of the present embodiment performs display in a VA (Vertical Alignment) mode. A liquid crystal having a negative dielectric anisotropy is used for the liquid crystal layer 11. A spacer 13 is disposed between the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12. The spacer 13 is a spherical or columnar member. The spacer 13 keeps the distance between the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12 constant.

A TFT 19 having a semiconductor layer 15, a gate electrode 16, a source electrode 17, a drain electrode 18 and the like is formed on the surface of the transparent substrate 14 constituting the TFT substrate 10 on the liquid crystal layer 11 side. As the transparent substrate 14, for example, a glass substrate can be used.

A semiconductor layer 15 is formed on the transparent substrate 14. The semiconductor layer is made of a quaternary mixed crystal semiconductor material containing, for example, indium (In), gallium (Ga), zinc (Zn), and oxygen (O). As a material of the semiconductor layer, in addition to In—Ga—Zn—O-based quaternary mixed crystal semiconductor, CGS (Continuous Grain Silicon), LPS (Low-temperature Poly-Silicon), A semiconductor material such as α-Si (Amorphous Silicon) is used.

A gate insulating film 20 is formed on the transparent substrate 14 so as to cover the semiconductor layer 15.
As a material of the gate insulating film 20, for example, a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, or a laminated film thereof is used.

A gate electrode 16 is formed on the gate insulating film 20 so as to face the semiconductor layer 15. As the material of the gate electrode 16, for example, a laminated film of W (tungsten) / TaN (tantalum nitride), Mo (molybdenum), Ti (titanium), Al (aluminum), or the like is used.

A first interlayer insulating film 21 is formed on the gate insulating film 20 so as to cover the gate electrode 16. As a material of the first interlayer insulating film 21, for example, a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, or a laminated film thereof is used.

A source electrode 17 and a drain electrode 18 are formed on the first interlayer insulating film 21. A contact hole 22 and a contact hole 23 are formed in the first interlayer insulating film 21 and the gate insulating film 20 so as to penetrate the first interlayer insulating film 21 and the gate insulating film 20.
The source electrode 17 is connected to the source region of the semiconductor layer 15 through the contact hole 22. The drain electrode 18 is connected to the drain region of the semiconductor layer 15 through the contact hole 23. As a material for the source electrode 17 and the drain electrode 18, the same conductive material as that for the gate electrode 16 is used.

A second interlayer insulating film 24 is formed on the first interlayer insulating film 21 so as to cover the source electrode 17 and the drain electrode 18. As the material of the second interlayer insulating film 24, the same material as the first interlayer insulating film 21 described above or an organic insulating material is used.

A pixel electrode 25 is formed on the second interlayer insulating film 24. A contact hole 26 is formed through the second interlayer insulating film 24 in the second interlayer insulating film 24. The pixel electrode 25 is connected to the drain electrode 18 through the contact hole 26. The pixel electrode 25 is connected to the drain region of the semiconductor layer 15 using the drain electrode 18 as a relay electrode.
As the material of the pixel electrode 25, for example, a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide) is used.

With this configuration, when the scanning signal is supplied through the gate bus line and the TFT 19 is turned on, the image signal supplied to the source electrode 17 through the source bus line passes through the semiconductor layer 15 and the drain electrode 18 to form a pixel electrode. 25. The form of the TFT 19 may be the top gate type TFT shown in FIG. 2 or the bottom gate type TFT.

A first vertical alignment film 27 is formed on the entire surface of the second interlayer insulating film 24 so as to cover the pixel electrode 25. The first vertical alignment film 27 has an alignment regulating force for vertically aligning liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer 11. In the present embodiment, the first vertical alignment film 27 is subjected to an alignment process using an optical alignment technique. That is, in this embodiment, a photo-alignment film is used as the first vertical alignment film 27.

On the other hand, a black matrix 30, a color filter 31, a planarization layer 32, a counter electrode 33, and a second vertical alignment film 34 are sequentially formed on the surface of the transparent substrate 29 constituting the color filter substrate 12 on the liquid crystal layer 11 side. ing.

The black matrix 30 has a function of blocking light transmission in the inter-pixel region. The black matrix 30 is formed of, for example, a metal such as Cr (chromium) or a Cr / Cr oxide multilayer film, or a photoresist in which carbon particles are dispersed in a photosensitive resin.

The color filter 31 includes one of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) pigments for each sub-pixel having a different color that constitutes one pixel. One color filter 31 of R, G, and B is disposed to face one pixel electrode 25 on the TFT substrate 10. The color filter 31 may have a multicolor configuration of three or more colors of R, G, and B. For example, a four-color configuration with yellow (Y) added, a four-color configuration with white (W) added, or a yellow (Y), cyan (C), and magenta (M) added 6 A color configuration may be used.

The planarization layer 32 is composed of an insulating film that covers the black matrix 30 and the color filter 31. The planarizing layer 32 has a function of smoothing and leveling a step formed by the black matrix 30 and the color filter 31.

A counter electrode 33 is formed on the planarization layer 32. As the material of the counter electrode 33, a transparent conductive material similar to that of the pixel electrode 25 is used.

A second vertical alignment film 34 is formed on the entire surface of the counter electrode 33. The second vertical alignment film 34 has an alignment regulating force for vertically aligning the liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer 11. In the present embodiment, the alignment process is performed on the second vertical alignment film 34 using a photo-alignment technique. That is, in this embodiment, a photo-alignment film is used as the second vertical alignment film 34.

A first polarizing plate 3 is provided between the backlight unit 8 and the liquid crystal cell 5. The first polarizing plate 3 functions as a polarizer that controls the polarization state of light incident on the liquid crystal cell 5. A second polarizing plate 7 is provided on the viewing side of the liquid crystal cell 5. The second polarizing plate 7 functions as an analyzer that controls the transmission state of the light emitted from the liquid crystal cell 5. As will be described later, the transmission axis of the first polarizing plate 3 and the transmission axis of the second polarizing plate 7 are in a crossed Nicol arrangement.

Between the 1st polarizing plate 3 and the liquid crystal cell 5, the 1st phase difference film 4 for compensating the phase difference of light is provided. A second retardation film 6 is provided between the second polarizing plate 7 and the liquid crystal cell 5 to compensate for the phase difference of light.
As the retardation film (first retardation film 4, second retardation film 6) of the present embodiment, for example, a TAC film is used.

Next, a driving method of the liquid crystal display device 1 of the present embodiment will be described.
The liquid crystal display device 1 of the present embodiment has pixels of horizontal direction: 7680 pixels × vertical direction: 4320 pixels in order to display Super Hi-Vision images.
FIG. 3 is a schematic wiring diagram of the driver and timing controller (TCON) of the liquid crystal display device 1.
The liquid crystal display device 1 of the present embodiment has four TCONs 80, and the four TCONs 80 are input to the source driver 81 and the gate driver 82 in the upper right area, upper left area, lower right area, and lower left area of the screen 83, respectively. The signal is controlled.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an image display area of the liquid crystal display device 1.
As shown in FIG. 4, the TFT substrate 10 has a plurality of pixels PX arranged in a matrix. The pixel PX is a basic unit of display. A plurality of source bus lines SB are formed on the TFT substrate 10 so as to extend in parallel to each other. A plurality of gate bus lines GB are formed on the TFT substrate 10 so as to extend in parallel to each other. The plurality of gate bus lines GB are orthogonal to the plurality of source bus lines SB. On the TFT substrate 10, a plurality of source bus lines SB and a plurality of gate bus lines GB are formed in a lattice pattern.
A rectangular area defined by the adjacent source bus line SB and the adjacent gate bus line GB is one pixel PX. The source bus line SB is connected to the source electrode of the TFT. The gate bus line GB is connected to the gate electrode of the TFT.

In the liquid crystal display device 1 of the present embodiment, two source bus lines SB1, SB2 are formed for one column of pixels PX, and the first source bus line SB1 has an odd row (

Line

1, 3,...). ) Of pixels PX are connected, and pixels PX of even-numbered rows (

Lines

2, 4,...) Are connected to the second source bus line SB2. When scanning, two gate bus lines GB are selected, and signals are written to the pixels PX two rows at a time.

When a video signal is input from the outside, the video signal is divided into four and supplied to four TCONs 80, and two gate bus lines GB are simultaneously selected. Therefore, at the first timing, the video is displayed on the first row, the second row, the 2161th row, the 2162th row, and then the fourth row, the fourth row, the 2163th row, the 2164th row, and so on. Is displayed, and after the last gate bus line GB in the 4320th row is selected, the next video signal is written again from above.

The driving method is not limited to the simultaneous writing of the four lines, and scanning may be performed line by line when the wiring capacity is sufficiently small and the response speed of the liquid crystal is sufficiently high.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the backlight unit 8 which is a lighting device will be described in detail. The backlight unit 8 includes a backlight 36, a prism sheet 38, and a light orientation member 37.

The backlight 36 includes a light source 39, a light guide 40 and a reflection plate 41. The light source 39 is disposed on the end face of the light guide 40. As the light source 39, for example, a light emitting diode, a cold cathode tube, or the like is used.
The backlight 36 of the present embodiment is an edge light type backlight.

The light guide 40 has a function of guiding the light emitted from the light source 39 to the liquid crystal panel 2. As a material of the light guide 40, for example, a resin material such as an acrylic resin is used.

The light incident on the end surface of the light guide 40 from the light source 39 propagates by being totally reflected inside the light guide 40 and is emitted from the upper surface (light emission surface) of the light guide 40 with a substantially uniform intensity. A prism sheet 38 is disposed on the upper surface of the light guide 40.

The prism sheet 38 is disposed between the light orientation member 37 and the backlight 36, and orients the light incident from the backlight in the z-axis direction (normal direction of the base material).
In the present embodiment, the prism sheet 38 has a triangular cross section cut in the y-axis direction, and includes a plurality of convex portions extending in the x-axis direction. Therefore, the prism sheet 38 is perpendicular and convex with respect to the first surface portion 38a on the light guide 40 side, the second surface portion 38b having a predetermined angle with respect to the first surface portion 38a, and the first surface portion 38a. And a third surface portion 38c that is symmetrical to the second surface portion 38b around a plane (xZ plane) parallel to the extending direction (x-axis direction) of the portion. As the prism sheet 38, for example, a BEF sheet (trade name) manufactured by Sumitomo 3M may be used.
The angles formed by the first surface portion 38a and the second surface portion 38b, and the first surface portion 38a and the 23rd surface portion 38c are not particularly limited. A commercially available product can be used as appropriate in accordance with the orientation of light emitted from the prism sheet 38.

The light guide 40 and the prism sheet 38 constituting the backlight 36 may or may not be optically bonded via an adhesive. When the refractive index interface between the light guide 40 and the prism sheet 38 is filled with an adhesive layer and optically connected (the optical interface is eliminated), the interface reflection is reduced. Therefore, the light use efficiency can be increased. On the other hand, when the light guide 40 and the prism sheet 38 are not optically bonded (for example, an air interface is provided between them), the light guide 40 has an interface on the prism sheet 38 side and the light guide of the prism sheet 38. There will be a 40-side interface. That is, it is possible to further suppress the generated side lobe light from entering the liquid crystal panel 2 side. Therefore, the configuration of the interface between the light guide 40 and the prism sheet 38 can be appropriately designed depending on the mode of use.

Although not illustrated in the present embodiment, a scattering sheet may be disposed between the light guide 40 and the prism sheet 38. The light emitted from the upper surface of the light guide 40 is scattered by the scattering sheet and then collected by the prism sheet 38, and a part of the light is oriented in the z-axis direction. White PET may be used as the scattering sheet.
The scattering sheet is not limited to between the light guide 40 and the prism sheet 38, and may be provided between the prism sheet 38 and the light alignment member 37, and between the light alignment member 37 and the liquid crystal panel 2. In the drawn image drawn through the liquid crystal panel 2, unevenness including moire may occur. The arrangement of the scattering sheet, the scattering intensity, and the like can be appropriately set according to the position and degree of the unevenness.

Next, the photo-alignment member 37 will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the photo-alignment member 37 viewed from the viewing side. The photo-alignment member 37 includes a base material 42, a plurality of photo-alignment portions 43, a reflective layer 44, and a low refractive index portion (hollow portion) 45. The plurality of photo-alignment portions 43 are formed on the first surface 42 a (surface on the viewing side) of the base material 42. The reflective layer 44 is formed in a region other than the region where the photo-alignment portion 43 is formed on the first surface 42 a of the base material 42. Therefore, when the reflective layer 44 is viewed in plan, it is provided at least at a position on the first surface 42 a that does not overlap with the photo-alignment portion 43 when viewed from the normal direction of the base material 42. Here, “at least” means that the optical alignment portion 43 is inclined when viewed in a plan view, and therefore there is a region where the optical alignment portion 43 and the reflective layer 44 partially overlap. The hollow portion 45 is provided at a position that partially overlaps the reflective layer 44 when viewed from the normal direction of the substrate 42.
In the present embodiment, the reflective layer 44 corresponds to a reflective portion in the claims. In the present embodiment, the hollow portion 45 corresponds to a low refractive index portion in the claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, the photo-alignment member 37 is disposed on the prism sheet 38 with the photo-alignment member 43 facing the first polarizing plate 3 and the base material 42 facing the prism sheet 38 side. The photo-alignment member 37 is disposed on the first polarizing plate 3 side.
The photo-alignment member 37 and the first polarizing plate 3 may or may not be optically bonded via an adhesive. When the refractive index interface between the optical alignment member 37 and the first polarizing plate 3 is filled with an adhesive layer and optically connected (the optical interface is eliminated), the interface reflection is reduced. Therefore, the light use efficiency can be increased. On the other hand, when the optical alignment member 37 and the first polarizing plate 3 are not optically bonded (for example, having an air interface between them), the interface on the first polarizing plate 3 side of the optical alignment member 37 and the first polarization There is an interface on the optical alignment member 37 side of the plate 3. That is, the generated side lobe light can be prevented from entering the liquid crystal panel 2 side. Therefore, the configuration of the interface between the photo-alignment member 37 and the first polarizing plate 3 can be appropriately designed depending on the mode of use.

Examples of the base material 42 include base materials made of transparent resin such as triacetyl cellulose (TAC) film, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and polyethersulfone (PES) film. Preferably used. The base material 42 becomes a base when a material for the reflective layer 44 and the photo-alignment portion 43 is applied later in the manufacturing process. The base material 42 needs to have heat resistance and mechanical strength in a heat treatment step during the manufacturing process. Therefore, the base material 42 may be a glass base material in addition to the resin base material. However, it is preferable that the thickness of the base material 42 is thin enough not to impair heat resistance and mechanical strength. The reason is that as the thickness of the base material 42 increases, it becomes necessary to increase the thickness of the entire liquid crystal display device. Further, the total light transmittance of the base material 42 is preferably 90% or more as defined in JIS K7361-1. When the total light transmittance is 90% or more, sufficient transparency can be obtained.
In the present embodiment, a transparent resin substrate having a thickness of, for example, 100 μm is used as the substrate 42.

The reflective layer 44 is made of a material having a high reflectance from the ultraviolet light region to the visible light region. More specifically, the reflective layer 44 is preferably made of a material having an average reflectance of 80% or more with respect to a wavelength region of 250 nm to 800 nm. For example, aluminum, silver, chromium, chromium oxide, platinum, or the like can be used.
The reflective layer 44 does not need to be a flat metal layer in which regular reflection occurs. For example, the reflective layer 44 may be a scatterer including a filler or the like inside.

The reflective layer 44 is arranged in a line when viewed from the normal direction (z-axis direction) of the first surface 42 a of the base material 42. That is, the reflective layer 44 is a plane having a predetermined width extending in the x-axis direction, and a plurality of the reflective layers 44 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the y-axis direction. The width of the reflective layer 44 and the interval between the reflective layers 44 are combined with the height H from the light incident end face 43b to the light exit end face 43a of the light orientation section 43, which will be described later, and the angle θc formed between the light exit end face 43a and the reflective face 43c. It is preferable to set appropriately. In the present embodiment, as an example, the width of the reflective layer 44 is about 10 to 20 μm, and the distance between the reflective layers 44 is about 10 to 20 μm.

As shown in FIG. 6, the surface 44 a on the base material 42 side of the reflective layer 44 is opposite to the base material 42 of the reflective layer 44 at the end face when the reflective layer 44 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction. It is preferable to protrude with respect to the surface 44b. According to this configuration, the end surface when the reflecting surface 44 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction forms an inclined surface. Therefore, the light incident on the light alignment portion 43 from an oblique direction can be aligned in the normal direction of the liquid crystal panel 2 by the reflective layer 44. This inclined surface may be a flat surface or a curved surface. For example, the relationship between the protrusion width A of the surface 44a of the reflective layer 44 on the base 42 side and the surface 44b of the reflective layer 44 opposite to the base 42 and the thickness T of the reflective layer 44 is 0. It can be about 4.

The photo-alignment portion 43 is made of an organic material having optical transparency and photosensitivity such as acrylic resin and epoxy resin. Further, the total light transmittance of the photo-alignment portion 43 is preferably 90% or more in accordance with JIS K7361-1. When the total light transmittance is 90% or more, sufficient transparency can be obtained.

As shown in FIG. 5, the photo-alignment portion 43 has a line shape extending in the x-axis direction. The light alignment portion 43 has a light emission end surface 43a, a light incident end surface 43b, and a reflection surface 43c. The light incident end surface 43 b is a surface in contact with the base material 42. The light emission end surface 43a is a surface facing the light incident end surface 43b. The reflection surface 43 c is a tapered inclined surface of the photo-alignment portion 43. The reflecting surface 43c is a surface that reflects the light incident from the light incident end surface 43b. In this embodiment, the area of the light incident end face 43b is smaller than the area of the light exit end face 43a in all the light orientation portions 43.

As an example, the inclination angle of the reflection surface 43c of the light alignment portion 43 (angle θc formed between the light emission end surface 43a and the reflection surface 43c) is about 80 ° ± 5 °. However, it is preferable that the inclination angle θc of the reflection surface 43c of the light alignment portion 43 can sufficiently align the side lobe light in the z-axis direction. If the inclination angle θc is not too small and less than 90 °, the sidelobe light can be sufficiently efficiently oriented in the z-axis direction. A preferable range of the inclination angle θc will be described later in terms of the function of the photo-alignment portion 43.

The height H from the light incident end face 43 b to the light exit end face 43 a of the light orientation portion 43 is set to be larger than the layer thickness h of the reflective layer 44. In the case of this embodiment, the layer thickness h of the reflective layer 44 is about 150 nm as an example. The height H from the light incident end face 43b to the light exit end face 43a of the light orientation section 43 is about 10 to 20 μm as an example. From the viewpoint of producing the photo-alignment portion 43 by photolithography, it is preferably 50 μm or less. A portion surrounded by the reflection surface 43 c and the reflection layer 44 of the photo-alignment portion 43 is a hollow portion 45. Air exists in the hollow portion 45.

In addition, it is desirable that the refractive index of the base material 42 and the refractive index of the photo-alignment portion 43 are substantially equal. The reason is as follows. For example, consider a case where the refractive index of the base material 42 and the refractive index of the photo-alignment portion 43 are significantly different. In this case, when light incident from the light incident end face 43 b is emitted from the light alignment portion 43, unnecessary light refraction or reflection may occur at the interface between the light alignment portion 43 and the base material 42. In this case, there is a possibility that problems such as failure to obtain a desired photo-alignment property and a decrease in the amount of emitted light may occur.

In the case of this embodiment, air is interposed in the hollow portion 45 (outside the light orientation portion 43). Therefore, if the photo-alignment portion 43 is formed of, for example, a transparent acrylic resin, the reflection surface 43c of the photo-alignment portion 43 becomes an interface between the transparent acrylic resin and air. Here, the hollow portion 45 may be filled with another low refractive index material. However, the difference in the refractive index at the interface between the inside and the outside of the photo-alignment portion 43 is maximized when air is present rather than when any low refractive index material is present outside.
Therefore, according to Snell's law, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the critical angle is the smallest, and the incident angle range in which the light is totally reflected by the reflection surface 43c of the light orientation portion 43 is the widest. As a result, light loss is further suppressed, and high luminance can be obtained.
The hollow portion 45 of the present embodiment corresponds to the low refractive index portion in the claims.

Next, functions of the backlight system 8 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining functions of a backlight system including only a backlight and a prism sheet.
First, the function of the prism sheet 38 will be described with reference to FIG. The prism sheet 38 has a function of guiding a part of the light emitted from the light guide 40 in the normal direction (z-axis direction). On the other hand, sidelobe light emitted in the direction close to the y-axis direction at the same time is generated.

As shown in FIG. 7, the light emitted from the light source 39 is emitted to the prism sheet 38 while propagating by totally reflecting inside the light guide 40. Therefore, the light emitted from the light guide 40 is emitted while being inclined in the direction (y direction) from the end of the light guide 40 on the light source 39 side toward the opposite end. Therefore, most of the emitted light is refracted by the second surface portion 38b of the prism sheet 38 and emitted toward the liquid crystal panel 2 as indicated by the light L1. In other words, the prism sheet 38 can guide part of the light emitted from the light guide 40 in the normal direction.

On the other hand, a part of the light emitted from the light guide 40 enters the third surface portion 38c of the prism sheet 38. The third surface portion 38 c is inclined in the same direction as the light emitted from the light guide 40. Therefore, the light incident on the third surface portion 38c is often totally reflected. As shown by the light L2, the totally reflected light is refracted by the second surface portion 38b and is emitted in a direction close to the y-axis direction. For this reason, the light incident on the third surface portion 38c cannot guide the light emitted from the light guide 40 in the normal direction, and becomes sidelobe light.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining the function of the backlight system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a light orientation member 37 is disposed on the prism sheet 38 on the liquid crystal panel 2 (see FIG. 1) side. The extending direction of the light orientation part 43 and the extending direction of the convex part of the prism sheet 38 are the same. By matching the extending directions in this way, the side lobe light generated in the prism sheet 38 can be more efficiently oriented in the normal direction.
As shown in FIG. 8, the light (light L 2) that has become sidelobe light enters the photo-alignment member 37. The incident light passes through the base material 42, is refracted by the reflecting surface 43c of the orientation portion 43, and is oriented in the normal direction. That is, the light orientation member 37 can orient the light that has become sidelobe light by the prism sheet 38 in the normal direction.

Of the light emitted from the backlight 36, the light (light L1) incident on the second surface portion 38b of the prism sheet 38 is emitted as it is toward the liquid crystal panel by the photo-alignment member 37 or is once aligned. After being refracted by the reflecting surface 43c, the light is further oriented in the z-axis direction and emitted. Therefore, the light L 1 is not disturbed by the light alignment member 37.

On the other hand, the photo-alignment member 37 has a reflective layer 44. The reflective layer 44 has a function of reflecting a part of light incident from the prism sheet 38 side. Therefore, a part of the light emitted from the backlight 36 is reflected by the reflective layer 44 and returned to the backlight 36 side as indicated by the light L3. However, the backlight 36 includes a reflecting plate 41 on the side opposite to the light exit surface. Therefore, the light reflected toward the backlight 36 as indicated by the light L3 is reflected again by the reflector 41. The reflected light reenters the light alignment portion 43 of the light alignment member 37 as indicated by light L4. Therefore, even if it has the reflective layer 44, since the reflected light (light L3) can be reused by the reflective plate 41 (light L4), the light utilization efficiency does not extremely decrease. In FIG. 7, only the light L 4 reflected by the reflecting plate 41 is illustrated, but there is also an optical path that is reflected at each interface between the prism sheet 38 and the light guide 40 and re-enters the light orientation unit 43.

Thus, the photo-alignment member 37 has a function of aligning light emitted from the backlight 36 in the z-axis direction. Therefore, the backlight system 8 of the present embodiment can efficiently orient the light generated by the light source 36 in the z-axis direction. That is, most of the light emitted from the backlight system 8 is incident from the normal direction (z-axis direction) of the liquid crystal panel 2. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency of the liquid crystal display device 1 can be maximized by using the backlight system 8 of the present embodiment.

Note that the light collecting sheet of Patent Document 2 also controls the orientation of light emitted from the backlight.
However, the orientation controllability is not sufficient. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing the light collecting sheet of Patent Document 2. As shown in FIG. In the condensing sheet 1000 of Patent Document 2, the reflection unit 1001 and the light guide unit 1002 are arranged on different surfaces of the transparent layer 1003. This is also clear from the manufacturing method described in FIG. In FIG. 1 of Patent Document 2, since the scale is changed and illustrated, the transparent layer 1003 is shown thinner than the light guide unit 1002. However, in practice, the thickness of the transparent layer 1003 is more than several times the thickness of the light guide unit 1002. This is clear from the fact that the light guide portion 1002 is obtained by curing a photosensitive resin, and the transparent layer 1003 uses a transparent film.

As shown in the light L5, the condensing sheet 1000 of Patent Document 2 condenses incident light by total reflection at the interface 1002b between the light guide portion 1002 and the gap portion 1004 in a direction close to the normal direction of the liquid crystal panel. ing. Total reflection is a phenomenon that occurs when light enters from the high refractive index side to the low refractive side. Therefore, in order to obtain the orientation shown in the light L5, light needs to enter from the light guide portion 1002 toward the gap portion 1004.

Ideally, all the light that has passed between the reflecting portions 1001 is incident on the light guide portion 1002 in order to obtain a condensing characteristic by total reflection. However, when the reflective unit 1001 and the light guide unit 1002 are arranged on different surfaces of the transparent layer 1003, there is a space corresponding to the thickness of the transparent layer 1003 between the reflective unit 1001 and the light guide unit 1002. Therefore, light that has entered the light collecting sheet from a direction almost parallel to the transparent layer 1003 may pass through the transparent layer 1003 and may enter the gap portion 1004 without entering the light guide portion 1002. Since the light incident on the gap 1004 enters the interface 1002b from the gap 1004 side, it is refracted as shown by the light L2 and becomes sidelobe light. Therefore, even if the condensing sheet described in Patent Document 2 is used together with the backlight of the liquid crystal display device, sufficient alignment controllability cannot be realized.

Here, from the viewpoint of the light use efficiency, the inclination angle θc of the inclined surface of the alignment portion 43 (the angle formed by the light emitting end surface 43a and the reflecting surface 43c) shown in FIG. 6 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction. A preferable range of the width L of the reflective layer 44 and the interval s between the adjacent reflective layers 44 will be described. The interval s between the reflective layers 44 is equal to the width of the light incident end face 43 b of the light orientation portion 43.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the definition of the polar angle and the azimuth angle.
Here, as shown in FIG. 10, the angle formed by the observer's line-of-sight direction F with respect to the normal direction E of the screen of the liquid crystal display device 1 is defined as a polar angle θ. The angle formed by the direction of the line segment G when the line-of-sight direction F of the observer is projected on the screen with reference to the positive direction (0 ° direction) of the x-axis is defined as an azimuth angle φ.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the liquid crystal display device 1.
As shown in FIG. 11, on the screen of the liquid crystal display device 1, the horizontal direction (x-axis direction) is the azimuth angle φ: 0 ° -180 ° direction. The vertical direction (y-axis direction) is the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° direction. In this embodiment, the transmission axis P1 of the first polarizing plate 3 is arranged in the direction of azimuth angle φ: 45 ° -225 °, and the transmission axis P2 of the second polarizing plate 7 is set to have an azimuth angle φ: 135 ° -315 °. Arranged in the direction.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, the photo-alignment portions 43 of the photo-alignment member 37 are arranged along the x-axis. That is, the light orientation member 37 of this embodiment controls light in the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 °.

FIG. 12 shows the viewing-side orientation of the liquid crystal display device 1 when the photo-alignment member 37 is not provided (referred to as Ref in the drawing) and when the tilt angle θc of the photo-alignment portion 43 of the photo-alignment member 37 is changed. This is a result of measuring the luminance distribution in the direction of angle φ: 90 ° -270 °. The horizontal axis represents the polar angle, and the vertical axis represents the normalized luminance obtained by normalizing the luminance in the normal direction of the liquid crystal display device 1 as 1.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the photo-alignment member 37 is not provided, the luminance distribution has an inflection point in the vicinity of the polar angle of 50 °, and the luminance is increased on the high angle side where the polar angle is 60 ° or more. This increase in luminance is considered to be caused by sidelobe light. Therefore, the light alignment member 37 preferably aligns light incident at a polar angle of 60 ° or more toward the liquid crystal panel 2. Therefore, the light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device 1 can be increased.

FIG. 13A is an enlarged view of a main part when the optical alignment portion 43 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction when the inclination angle θc of the photo-alignment portion 43 is small, and FIG. 13B is an inclination angle θc of the photo-alignment portion 43 of 90. It is the figure which expanded the principal part at the time of cut | disconnecting in the surface parallel to the y-axis direction in the case of (degree).
As shown in FIG. 13A, when the inclination angle θc of the light alignment portion 43 of the light alignment member 37 is small, the light incident on the light alignment portion 43 from the light incident end surface 43b is not reflected by the reflection surface 43c. The ratio of the light L7 that passes through the direct light exit end face 43a (hereinafter referred to as “direct light”) increases. That is, the ratio of the light L8 reflected by the photo-alignment portion 43 is reduced. Since the photo-alignment member 37 has a function of aligning the light incident on the photo-alignment portion 43 in the z-axis direction, this photo-alignment characteristic cannot be sufficiently obtained when the ratio of the direct light L7 increases.
As shown in FIG. 13B, when the inclination angle θc of the light alignment portion 43 of the light alignment member 37 is 90 °, the light incident on the light incident end surface 43b is directly emitted from the light emitting end surface 43a on the opposite side in the y-axis direction. Is done. This is because the reflecting surface 43 is a surface perpendicular to the y-axis direction. In this case, the photo-alignment member 37 cannot realize the function of aligning the light incident on the photo-alignment unit 43 in the z-axis direction. Therefore, the inclination angle θc of the photo-alignment portion 43 of the photo-alignment member 41 needs to be less than 90 °.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the path of light incident on the light alignment portion 43 at an incident angle of 60 °, where the refractive index of the light alignment portion 43 of the light alignment member 37 is 1.6. As shown in FIG. 14, the light incident on the light incident end face 43b of the light alignment section 43 from the air side with a refractive index of 1.0 at an incident angle of 60 ° (a typical incident angle at which sidelobe light is generated) The light is refracted at 32 ° and guided in the photo-alignment portion. Therefore, when the angle between the light incident end surface 43b and the reflecting surface 43c is less than 32 °, the refracted light is not reflected by the reflecting surface 43c but directly enters the light emitting end surface 43a. This light is refracted again when exiting from the light exit end face 43a, exits at a refraction angle of 60 °, and becomes sidelobe light. At this time, the angle between the light incident end face 43b and the reflecting face 43c being less than 32 ° means that the angle θc formed by the light emitting end face 43a and the reflecting face 43c is greater than 58 °. Generally, the refractive index of a resin that can be used for the photo-alignment portion 43 is limited to about 1.6 from the viewpoint of cost.
Therefore, if the condition of the inclination angle greater than 58 ° shown in this example is satisfied, most of the incident light can be incident on the reflecting surface 43c. Therefore, if the angle θc formed by the light emitting end face 43a and the reflecting surface 43c is 60 ° or more, the photo-alignment member 41 exhibits high alignment performance even when the refractive index of the photo-alignment portion 43 and the incident angle of light are changed. The light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device 1 can be increased.
Here, the case where the refractive index of the photo-alignment portion 43 is 1.60 and the incident angle of light is 60 ° is described as an example. Actually, there is also light incident at a smaller incident angle. Therefore, if the angle θc formed by the light exit end face 43a and the reflecting surface 43c is not larger than 58 °, the effect of aligning the sidelobe light in the z-axis direction cannot be obtained at all. is not.

FIG. 15 shows the result of simulating the luminance distribution in the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° on the viewing side of the liquid crystal display device 1 when the tilt angle θc of the photo-alignment member is changed, and the total light amount It is the figure which simulated the ratio of the direct light and reflected light in. At this time, as an example, the height of the photo-alignment portion 43 is 20 μm, the width of the reflection layer 44 is 20 μm, and the line interval of the reflection layer 44 (the width in the y-axis direction of the light incident end face 43c of the photo-alignment portion 43) is 15 μm. did. The horizontal axis represents the polar angle, and the vertical axis represents the normalized luminance obtained by normalizing the luminance in the normal direction of the liquid crystal display device 1 as 1. Here, “reflected light” means light that has been once reflected by the reflecting surface 43 c of the light alignment portion 43.
As shown in FIG. 15, when the inclination angle θc is 88 ° or more, part of the alignment light can be confirmed on the high polar angle side of 60 ° or more. On the other hand, when the inclination angle θc is less than 75 degrees, the proportion of the reflected light in the total light amount is small. Therefore, from the viewpoint of aligning the light emitted to the high polar angle side of the liquid crystal display device 1 to the low polar angle side, the tilt angle θc is more preferably 75 ° or more and less than 88 °.

The width L of the reflective layer 44 when the photo-alignment portion 43 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction is preferably narrow. By narrowing the width L of the reflective layer 44, the coverage of the reflective layer 44 with respect to the base material 42 can be reduced. If the coverage of the reflective layer 44 becomes too high, most of the light emitted from the backlight 36 is reflected by the reflective layer 44. Considering that the reflectance of the reflective layer 44 is not 100%, it is preferable that the light reflected by the reflective layer 44 out of the light emitted from the backlight 36 is small.

The light alignment portion 43 is inclined so as to spread from the light incident end surface 43b toward the light emitting end surface 43a. For this reason, if the width L of the reflective layer 44 is narrow, the light emission end faces 43a may be connected to each other. Therefore, the width L of the reflective layer 44 is limited by the inclination angle θc of the photo-alignment portion 43 and the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43.

FIG. 16 shows measurement results obtained by actually measuring the relationship between the width L of the reflective layer 44, the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43, and the inclination angle θc. The horizontal axis represents the width L of the reflective layer 44 divided by the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43, and the vertical axis represents the tilt angle θc. For example, when the width L of the reflective layer 44 / the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43 is 0.6, it means that the adjacent photo-alignment portions 43 are connected when the inclination angle θc is 82.5 ° or less. Therefore, when the width of the reflective layer 44 is narrow (the width L of the reflective layer 44 / the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43 is small), the photo-alignment portion 43 can set only a large inclination angle θc and is selected. The width of the obtained inclination angle θc is narrow. On the other hand, when the width of the reflective layer 44 is wide (the width L of the reflective layer 44 / the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43 is small), the width of the inclination angle θc that the photo-alignment portion 43 can take becomes wide. Considering that the inclination angle θc is preferably 60 ° or more and less than 90 °, the ratio of the width L of the reflective layer 44 to the height H of the photo-alignment portion 43 is 0.2 <L / H <2.0. It is preferable to satisfy.

FIG. 17 shows the relationship of light utilization efficiency with respect to the coverage of the reflective layer 44 on the base material 42. The light use efficiency means the ratio of the total light amount of light after passing through the photo-alignment member 37 to the total light amount emitted from the backlight 36. At this time, as an example, the reflectance of the reflective layer 44 is 85%, and the probability that the light once reflected by the reflective layer 44 re-enters the light incident end face 43b of the light orientation portion 43 (hereinafter referred to as a recycling rate) is 90%. did.
Considering the use as the liquid crystal display device 1, the light utilization efficiency as the backlight unit 8 is preferably 60% or more. Therefore, the coverage of the reflective layer 44 with respect to the base material 42 is preferably 70% or less.

The width of the light incident end face 43b when the light orientation part 43 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction is preferably set as appropriate in accordance with the orientation controllability desired. FIG. 18A is a schematic cross-sectional view when the width of the light incident end face 43b is relatively wide when the light alignment section 43 is cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction, and FIG. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram in case the width | variety of the light-incidence end surface 43b at the time of cut | disconnecting in the surface parallel to an axial direction is comparatively narrow.
As shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, even when light is incident on the photo-alignment member 37 at the same incident angle, if the width of the light incident end face 43b is relatively narrow, the light passes through the liquid crystal panel 2 as direct light L7. Less light is emitted.

FIG. 19 shows the luminance distribution of transmitted light when the width (interval between adjacent reflective layers 44) s of the light incident end face 43b of the light orientation section 43 is changed. At this time, the inclination angle θc was fixed at 80 °, and the width L of the reflective layer 44 was fixed at 15 μm. The width s of the light incident end face 43b was set to 5 μm, 10 μm, 15 μm, and 20 μm, and the case where the photo-alignment member 41 was not provided was indicated as Ref for reference. As shown in FIG. 19, when the width of the light incident end face 43s is narrowed, the light spreading toward the high polar angle side is reduced. This is because the amount of light emitted to the liquid crystal panel 2 side as the direct light L7 is reduced. On the other hand, when the width s of the light incident end face 43b is narrowed, the total amount of transmitted light is reduced. This is because the amount of light incident on the reflecting surface 44 increases.
That is, it is preferable to reduce the width of the light incident end face 43 b of the light alignment portion 43 when it is desired to enhance the light alignment even at the expense of the amount of light emitted from the liquid crystal display member 1. Conversely, when it is desired to increase the total light amount while allowing a certain amount of light spread, it is preferable to widen the light incident end face 43b of the light alignment portion 43.

As described above, from the viewpoint of setting the coverage ratio of the reflective layer 44 to the base material 42 to 70% or less, the width s of the light incident end face 43b of the light alignment portion 43 with respect to the width L of the reflective layer 44 is s> It is preferable to satisfy the 3 / 7L relationship. Further, the relationship between the width s of the light incident end face 43b and the width L of the reflective layer 44 only needs to satisfy this relationship as an average value of the entire photo-alignment member 41.
For example, the width L of the reflective layer 44 may be set randomly so that interference fringes (moire) do not occur when used in combination with the liquid crystal panel 2.

(Manufacturing method of liquid crystal display device)
20 to 23 are perspective views showing the manufacturing process of the photo-alignment member 37 step by step.
The manufacturing method will be described focusing on the manufacturing process of the photo-alignment member 37 constituting the liquid crystal display device 1 having the above configuration.

The outline of the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel 2 will be described first.
First, the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12 are respectively produced. Thereafter, the surface of the TFT substrate 10 on which the TFT 19 is formed and the surface of the color filter substrate 12 on which the color filter 31 is formed are arranged to face each other. Thereafter, the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12 are bonded together via a seal member. Thereafter, liquid crystal is injected into a space surrounded by the TFT substrate 10, the color filter substrate 12, and the seal member. The first retardation film 4, the first polarizing plate 3, the second retardation film 6, and the second polarizing plate 7 are bonded to both surfaces of the liquid crystal cell 5 thus formed using an optical adhesive or the like. The liquid crystal panel 2 is completed through the above steps.
The manufacturing method of the TFT substrate 10 and the color filter substrate 12 may be a conventional method, and the description thereof is omitted.

A manufacturing process of the photo-alignment member 37 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 20, a polyethylene terephthalate base material 42 having a thickness of 100 μm is prepared. Next, a metal film 46 having a thickness of 150 nm is formed on one surface of the base material 42 by sputtering, vapor deposition, or the like.
Next, the dry resist film 46A is bonded onto the metal film using a warming laminator or the like. The dry resist film 46A may be a positive resist or a negative resist. Hereinafter, it will be described as a negative resist. Moreover, it is not restricted to a dry resist, A liquid resist film may be formed using a slit coater or the like.

Using an exposure apparatus, exposure is performed by irradiating the dry resist film 46A with light L through a photomask 48 in which a plurality of opening patterns 47 whose planar shape is, for example, a linear shape is formed. At this time, an exposure apparatus using a mixed line of i-line having a wavelength of 365 nm, h-line having a wavelength of 404 nm, and g-line having a wavelength of 436 nm is used. The exposure dose is 100 mJ / cm ² .

After exposure using the photomask 48 described above, the dry resist film 46A made of a negative resist is developed using a dedicated developer and dried at 100 ° C. As a result, a resist pattern having a planar shape, for example, a line shape is formed on the metal film 46.
The metal film 46 is etched through this resist pattern. Etching may be either dry etching or wet etching. After etching, the remaining resist is removed, so that a plurality of metal layers 44 having a planar shape such as a line shape as shown in FIG. In the case of the present embodiment, the transparent negative resist is exposed using the metal layer 44 made of a negative resist as a mask in the next step, and the hollow portion 45 is formed.
Therefore, the position of the opening pattern 47 of the photomask 48 corresponds to the position where the hollow portion 45 is formed.

The line-shaped metal layer 44 corresponds to a non-formation region (hollow portion 45) of the photo-alignment portion 43 in the next step. In this example, the plurality of opening patterns 47 are all regularly arranged in a line. On the other hand, the widths and intervals of the plurality of opening patterns 47 may be set at random.
By setting at random, the occurrence of moire can be avoided when combined with a liquid crystal display.

In this embodiment, after the metal film is formed, the metal layer 44 is formed by photoetching, but the present invention is not limited to this. In addition, for example, the metal layer 44 may be formed by a lift-off process using a sacrificial layer. Further, the metal layer 44 may be directly deposited on the base material through the mask pattern.

When a resist pattern is continuously formed by a roll-to-roll process by a photolithography method, a cylindrical photomask and a rolling mask photolithography method in which exposure is performed with a UV lamp in the cylinder instead of a flat photomask. Can also be used.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 22, a dry resist made of an acrylic resin is bonded to the upper surface of the metal layer 44 as a light diffusing portion material using a warming laminator. Thereby, the coating film 49 with a film thickness of 20 μm is formed. The dry resist may be a negative resist or a positive resist.
Further, instead of laminating a dry resist, a liquid resist film may be formed using a slit coater or the like. When forming a liquid resist film, it is necessary to volatilize the solvent in the resist. This can be realized by heating the base material 42 on which the coating film 49 is formed with a heater and pre-baking the coating film 49 at a temperature of 95 ° C.

Next, the coating layer 49 is irradiated with diffused light F from the base material 42 side as a mask to perform exposure. At this time, an exposure apparatus using a mixed line of i-line having a wavelength of 365 nm, h-line having a wavelength of 404 nm, and g-line having a wavelength of 436 nm is used. The exposure amount is 500 mJ / cm ² .
Thereafter, the base material 42 on which the coating film 49 is formed is heated with a heater, and post-exposure baking (PEB) of the coating film 49 is performed at a temperature of 95 ° C.

Next, the coating film 49 made of a transparent resist is developed using a dedicated developer, post-baked at 100 ° C., and as shown in FIG. Form on one side. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 22, since the exposure is performed using the diffused light F, the transparent negative resist constituting the coating film 49 is radially spread so as to spread outward from the non-formation region of the metal layer 44. To be exposed. Thereby, the forward tapered hollow portion 45 is formed.
The photo-alignment portion 43 has a reverse tapered shape. The inclination angle of the reflection surface 43 c of the light alignment portion 43 can be controlled by the degree of diffusion of the diffused light F.

As the light F used here, parallel light, diffused light, or light whose intensity at a specific emission angle is different from that at another emission angle, that is, light having strength at a specific emission angle can be used. When parallel light is used, the inclination angle of the reflection surface 43c of the light alignment section 43 is a single inclination angle of about 60 ° to 90 °, for example. When diffused light is used, the tilt angle changes continuously, and the cross-sectional shape becomes a curved inclined surface. When light having strength at a specific emission angle is used, an inclined surface having a slope angle corresponding to the strength is obtained. Thus, the inclination angle of the reflecting surface 43c of the photo-alignment portion 43 can be adjusted. Thereby, it becomes possible to adjust the light diffusibility of the light orientation member 41 so that the target visibility can be obtained.

As one of means for irradiating the base material 42 with the parallel light emitted from the exposure apparatus as light F, for example, a diffusion plate having a haze of about 50 is arranged on the optical path of the light emitted from the exposure apparatus. You may irradiate light through.
Further, when developing with a developer, the developer may be pressurized and sprayed onto a transparent negative resist to promote removal of unnecessary resist.

As described above, the optical alignment member 37 of this embodiment is completed through the steps of FIGS.
The total light transmittance of the photo-alignment member 37 is preferably 90% or more. When the total light transmittance is 90% or more, sufficient transparency can be obtained, and the optical performance required for the light control member can be sufficiently exhibited. The total light transmittance is as defined in JIS K7361-1. In this embodiment, an example in which a liquid resist is used has been described, but a film resist may be used instead of this configuration.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 2, the completed light alignment member 37 is directed to the prism sheet 38 side, and the light alignment portion 43 is placed on the liquid crystal panel 2 via an adhesive layer (not shown). to paste together.

When the photo-alignment member 37 is attached to the liquid crystal panel 2 via the adhesive layer, a heat and pressure treatment may be performed. By applying the heat and pressure treatment, the adhesion of the photo-alignment member 37 to the liquid crystal panel 2 is improved, and the inclination angle of the reflection surface 43c of the photo-alignment portion 43 is increased depending on the pressure, thereby improving the photo-alignment. it can. As a method for the heat and pressure treatment, for example, an autoclave device, a warming laminator, or the like can be used.
Through the above steps, the liquid crystal display device 1 of the present embodiment is completed.

The liquid crystal display device 1 having this configuration can suppress the brightness increase that occurs in the y-axis direction. For this reason, when the liquid crystal display is viewed from the high polar angle side in the y-axis direction, it is possible to suppress a decrease in contrast or black and white reversal. Further, since light leakage to the high polar angle side in the y-axis direction can be suppressed, an effect of preventing peeping can be obtained.

The present invention is not necessarily limited to the configuration of the liquid crystal display device 1 shown as the first embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Here, FIGS. 24A to 24D are plan views showing modifications of the photo-alignment member 37. FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 24A, the reflective layer 44A includes a plurality of lines arranged in parallel in the y-axis direction on the base material 42A and a plurality of lines arranged in parallel in the x-axis direction. May be configured to be orthogonal to each other. This configuration can be rephrased as a so-called lattice pattern. In this configuration, the reflection surface 43cA of the photo-alignment portion 43A also has the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction. Therefore, the alignment characteristics of light can be enhanced in both the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction.

For example, as shown in FIG. 24B, a configuration in which a plurality of circular reflective layers 44B are arranged on the base material 42B may be employed. In this configuration, since the reflecting surface 43cB of the photo-alignment portion 43B exists in all directions, the photo-alignment characteristics in all directions can be improved.

For example, as shown in FIG. 24C, a configuration in which a plurality of elliptical reflective layers 44C are arranged on the base material 42C may be employed. Moreover, as shown to FIG. 24D, the structure by which multiple rhombus-shaped reflection layers 44D are arrange | positioned on the base material 42D may be sufficient. As shown in FIGS. 24C and 24D, in the case of a reflective layer having a minor axis and a major axis, the photo-alignment characteristics in the minor axis direction can be particularly enhanced from the relationship of the area ratio of the reflecting surface of the reflective layer. Therefore, when used for a liquid crystal display or the like, the minor axis direction can be set in accordance with the directionality to be controlled.

Further, the backlight 36 is not limited to the edge type backlight, and a direct type backlight may be used. Since the direct type backlight usually has directivity, when it is used in a liquid crystal display device, a scattering plate is provided to avoid occurrence of luminance unevenness. As the scattering plate, either an isotropic scattering plate or an anisotropic scattering plate may be used. Whichever scattering plate is used, the light transmitted through the scattering plate is directed in various directions. Therefore, the amount of light incident on the liquid crystal panel can be increased by controlling the orientation with the photo-alignment member. That is, the light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device can be increased.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 to 27B.
The basic configuration of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the configuration of the reflection surface of the light alignment portion in the light alignment member is different from that of the first embodiment.
Therefore, in this embodiment, description of the basic composition of a liquid crystal display device is abbreviate | omitted, and demonstrates a photo-alignment member.

FIG. 25 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the optical alignment member of the liquid crystal display device of the second embodiment cut along a plane parallel to the y-axis direction.
A photo-alignment member 51 shown in FIG. 25 includes a base material 52, a reflective layer 54, and a photo-alignment part 53.
In the cross section cut by a plane parallel to the y-axis direction, the light orientation portion 53 has a light incident end face 53b on which light is incident, a light exit end face 53a from which light is emitted, a first inclined face 53c, and a second inclined face. 53d. The inclination angle θ1 formed by the light emitting end face 53a and the first inclined face 53c is different from the inclination angle θ2 formed by the light emitting end face 53a and the second inclined face 53d. In FIG. 25, the inclination angle θ1 is larger than the inclination angle θ2.

Therefore, the light incident on the first inclined surface 53c of the photo-alignment portion 53 is aligned in the z-axis direction, and the light incident on the second inclined surface 53d of the photo-alignment portion 53 is in the positive direction of the y-axis. Oriented. That is, the light transmitted through the light alignment member 51 is aligned in the z-axis direction and the positive direction of the y-axis.

FIG. 26 shows the result of measuring the photo-alignment property in the y-axis direction of the photo-alignment member of the second embodiment by the luminance distribution. The horizontal axis is the polar angle, and the vertical axis is the normalized luminance normalized with the luminance of light emitted in the front direction as 1. As shown in FIG. 26, in the second embodiment, the photo-alignment member 51 has an asymmetric luminance distribution around a polar angle of 0 °. This is because there is light that is totally reflected by the second inclined surface 53d and oriented in the positive direction of the y-axis as described above.

The photo-alignment member 51 of the second embodiment can be applied to, for example, a liquid crystal display on an upper part of a train door. It is assumed that the liquid crystal display installed on the upper part of the train door is viewed from obliquely below the liquid crystal display. On the other hand, it is difficult to assume that the liquid crystal display is viewed from an obliquely upward direction. In such a case, the light emitted upward from the liquid crystal display can be aligned downward by using the light alignment member 51 of the second embodiment. Therefore, the visibility at the time of visually recognizing from diagonally below the liquid crystal display can be enhanced.

Moreover, it is preferable that the light incident on the photo-alignment member 51 enters from both sides of the photo-alignment member 51 in the y-axis direction. That is, it is preferable that the backlight 57 disposed on the lower surface side of the photo-alignment member 51 includes the light sources 56 at both ends.
FIG. 27A is a diagram schematically illustrating the function of the light alignment member of the second embodiment when the light source is provided only at one end side in the y-axis direction of the light guide of the backlight, and FIG. It is the figure which showed typically the function of the photo-alignment member of 2nd Embodiment, when there exists a light source in the both ends side of the y-axis direction of the light guide of light.
As shown in FIG. 27A, when the light source 56 is provided only on one end side of the backlight 57, the light emitted from the backlight 57 is directed in the direction of guiding the light through the light guide. Therefore, most of the light emitted from the backlight 57 enters the first inclined surface 53c. Therefore, it is difficult to increase the proportion of light that is oriented in the y-axis direction after passing through the photo-alignment member 51.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 27B, when the light sources 56 are provided at both ends of the backlight 57, the light emitted from the backlight 57 is directed in both directions of the y-axis. Therefore, the light emitted from the backlight 57 is incident on both the first inclined surface 53c and the second inclined surface 53d. Therefore, the proportion of light emitted from the backlight 57 that is oriented in the y-axis direction can be increased.

[Third Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The basic configuration of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and differs from the first embodiment in that a light control member is provided on the light emission side of the liquid crystal panel 2.

FIG. 28 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device of the third embodiment. A liquid crystal display device 101 according to the third embodiment includes a backlight unit 8, a liquid crystal panel 2, and a light control member 61.

Hereinafter, the light control member 61 will be described in detail.
FIG. 29 is a perspective view of the light control member 61 as viewed from the viewing side. FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram of the light control member 61. In FIG. 30, the upper left side is a plan view of the light control member 61. The lower left side is a cross-sectional view along the line AA in the plan view of the upper left side. The upper right stage is a cross-sectional view along the line BB in the plan view of the upper left stage.

As shown in FIG. 29, the light control member 61 includes a base material 62, a light diffusion portion 63, a plurality of light shielding layers 64, and a plurality of hollow portions 65. The plurality of light shielding layers 64 are formed on the first surface 62 a (surface opposite to the viewing side) of the base material 62. The light diffusion part 63 is formed in a region other than the region where the light shielding layer 64 is formed on the first surface 62 a of the base material 62. In other words, the light shielding layer 64 is provided on the first surface 62 a at a position that does not overlap with the light diffusion portion 61 when viewed from the normal direction of the base material 62. The hollow portion 65 is provided at a position that partially overlaps the light shielding layer 64 when viewed from the normal direction of the substrate 62.
In the present embodiment, the base material 62 corresponds to the second base material in the claims. In the present embodiment, the hollow portion 65 corresponds to the second low refractive index portion in the claims. In the present embodiment, the light shielding layer 64 corresponds to a light shielding portion.

28, the light control member 61 is disposed on the second polarizing plate 7 with the light diffusion portion 63 facing the second polarizing plate 7 and the base material 62 facing the viewing side. The light control member 61 is fixed to the second polarizing plate 7 through the adhesive layer 66.

The same material as the base material 42 of the optical alignment member 41 of the first embodiment can be used for the base material 62. In the present embodiment, a transparent resin substrate having a thickness of 100 μm, for example, is used for the substrate 62.

The light shielding layer 64 is randomly arranged as viewed from the normal direction of the first surface 62a of the base material 62. For example, the light shielding layer 64 is made of an organic material having light absorption and photosensitivity such as a black resist and black ink. In addition, a metal film such as Cr (chromium) or a Cr / Cr oxide multilayer film may be used.

The light diffusing portion 63 is made of an organic material having optical transparency and photosensitivity such as acrylic resin and epoxy resin. Further, the total light transmittance of the light diffusing portion 63 is preferably 90% or more according to JIS K7361-1. When the total light transmittance is 90% or more, sufficient transparency can be obtained.

As shown in FIG. 30, the light diffusion part 63 has a light emission end face 63a, a light incident end face 63b, and a reflection face 63c. The light emission end surface 63 a is a surface in contact with the base material 62. The light incident end surface 63b is a surface facing the light emitting end surface 63a. The reflection surface 63 c is a tapered inclined surface of the light diffusion portion 63. The reflecting surface 63c is a surface that reflects the light incident from the light incident end surface 63b. In the present embodiment, in all the light diffusion portions 63, the area of the light incident end face 63b is larger than the area of the light emitting end face 63a.
In the present embodiment, the light incident end surface 63a corresponds to the second light incident end surface of the claims. In the present embodiment, the light emission end face 63b corresponds to a second light emission end face in the claims. In the present embodiment, the light reflecting surface 63c corresponds to the reflecting surface in the claims.

The light diffusion part 63 is a part that contributes to the transmission of light in the light control member 61. As shown in the lower left of FIG. 30, among the light incident on the light diffusing unit 63, the light L9 is emitted from the light emitting end face 63a without being reflected by the reflecting surface 63c. Of the light incident on the light diffusing portion 63, the light L10 is totally reflected by the reflecting surface 63c of the light diffusing portion 63 and guided in a state of being substantially confined inside the light diffusing portion 63, and the light emitting end face 63a. Is injected from.

The light control member 61 is arranged so that the base material 62 faces the viewing side. Therefore, of the two opposing surfaces of the light diffusion portion 63, the surface with the smaller area becomes the light emission end surface 63a. On the other hand, the surface with the larger area becomes the light incident end surface 63b.

An inclination angle of the reflection surface 63c of the light diffusion portion 63 (an angle θc formed between the light incident end surface 63b and the reflection surface 63c) is, for example, about 80 ° ± 5 °. However, the inclination angle θc of the reflection surface 63c of the light diffusion portion 63 is not particularly limited as long as it is an angle that can sufficiently diffuse incident light when emitted from the light control member 9.

The height t1 from the light incident end surface 63b of the light diffusing portion 63 to the light emitting end surface 63a is set larger than the layer thickness t2 of the light shielding layer 64. In this embodiment, the layer thickness t2 of the light shielding layer 64 is about 150 nm as an example. The height t1 from the light incident end face 63b of the light diffusing portion 63 to the light emitting end face 63a is, for example, about 10 to 20 μm. A portion surrounded by the reflection surface 63 c and the light shielding layer 64 of the light diffusion portion 41 is a hollow portion 65. Air exists in the hollow portion 65.

In addition, it is desirable that the refractive index of the base material 62 and the refractive index of the light diffusion portion 63 are substantially equal. The reason is as follows. For example, consider a case where the refractive index of the base material 62 and the refractive index of the light diffusion portion 63 are greatly different. In this case, when light incident from the light incident end face 63 b exits from the light diffusion portion 63, unnecessary light refraction or reflection may occur at the interface between the light diffusion portion 63 and the base material 62. In this case, there is a possibility that problems such as failure to obtain a desired viewing angle and a decrease in the amount of emitted light may occur.

In the present embodiment, air is interposed in the hollow portion 65 (outside the light diffusion portion). Therefore, if the light diffusion part 63 is formed of, for example, a transparent acrylic resin, the reflection surface 63c of the light diffusion part 63 is an interface between the transparent acrylic resin and air. Here, the hollow portion 65 may be filled with another low refractive index material. However, the difference in the refractive index at the interface between the inside and the outside of the light diffusing portion 63 is maximized when air is present rather than when any low refractive index material is present outside.
Therefore, according to Snell's law, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the critical angle is the smallest, and the incident angle range in which the light is totally reflected by the reflecting surface 63c of the light diffusion portion 63 is the widest. As a result, light loss is further suppressed, and high luminance can be obtained.

In the light control member 61 of this embodiment, as shown in the upper left of FIG. 30, a plurality of light shielding layers 64 are provided on the first surface 62 a of the base material 62. The planar shape of the light shielding layer 64 viewed from the normal direction of the substrate 62 is an elongated rhombus. That is, the light shielding layer 64 has an anisotropic shape having a major axis and a minor axis. As shown in FIG. 30, the ratio (B1 / B2) of the major axis dimension B1 to the minor axis dimension B2 of the rhombus that is the planar shape of the light shielding layer 64 is, for example, 1 or more and 3 or less.
The long axis dimension B1 of the light shielding layer 64 is, for example, 10 to 20 μm, and the short axis dimension B2 of the light shielding layer 64 is, for example, 5 to 10 μm. In the light control member 61 of the present embodiment, in each light shielding layer 64, the minor axis dimension B2 itself and the major axis dimension B1 themselves are different, but the ratio of the major axis dimension B1 to the minor axis dimension B2 is substantially equal.

The ratio of the occupied area of the light shielding layer 64 to the total area of the first surface 62a of the substrate 62 is, for example, 30% ± 10%.

30. As shown in the lower left and upper right of FIG. 30, the portion corresponding to the lower part of the light shielding layer 64 is a square pyramid-shaped hollow portion 65. The light control member 61 has a plurality of hollow portions 65 corresponding to the plurality of light shielding layers 64. In parts other than the plurality of hollow portions 65, a light diffusion portion 63 is integrally provided.

In the light control member 61 of this embodiment, the major axis direction of the rhombus that forms the planar shape of the light shielding layer 64 is substantially aligned with the x-axis direction. Hereinafter, the major axis direction of the rhombus may be referred to as the major axis direction of the light shielding layer 64. The short axis direction of the rhombus forming the planar shape of the light shielding layer 64 is substantially aligned with the y axis direction. Hereinafter, the minor axis direction of the rhombus may be referred to as the minor axis direction of the light shielding layer 64. Since the reflection surface 63c of the light diffusion portion 63 corresponds to each side of the rhombus that forms the planar shape of the light shielding layer 64, considering the direction of the reflection surface 63c of the light diffusion portion 63, the reflection surface 63c of the light diffusion portion 63 Among them, the proportion of the reflecting surface 63c parallel to the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction is extremely small, and the reflecting surface 63c that forms an angle with the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction occupies the majority. Therefore, when the traveling direction of light is projected onto the xy plane, the light Lx incident from the x-axis direction and reflected by the reflecting surface 63c travels in the y-axis direction, enters from the y-axis direction, and is reflected from the reflecting surface 63c. The light Ly reflected at has a high rate of traveling in the x-axis direction. Further, as will be described later, when the two types of light are compared, the light Lx diffused from the x-axis direction parallel to the long axis of the light shielding layer 63 toward the y-axis direction parallel to the short axis is large.

Note that the planar shape of the light shielding layer 64 may partially include shapes such as a circle, an ellipse, a polygon, and a semicircle. Further, a part of the light shielding layer 64 may be overlapped.

31 and 32 are diagrams for explaining the size of the light shielding layer 64 in plan view.
FIG. 31 is a plan view showing one light shielding layer 64 among the plurality of light shielding layers 64. FIG. 32 is a graph showing the relationship between human visual acuity and the size of an object that can be recognized by human eyes. In FIG. 32, the horizontal axis represents human visual acuity. The vertical axis represents the size of an object that can be recognized by human eyes.

In the light control member 61, the size of the light shielding layer 64 in plan view should be reduced to some extent. The reason is that if the size of the light shielding layer 64 in a plan view is too large, the light shielding layer 64 may be recognized as a dot when an observer views the display image of the liquid crystal display device 1. .

As shown in FIG. 31, the length of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction is B1. The length of the light shielding layer 64 in the minor axis direction is B2. In order to make it difficult for the light shielding layer 64 to be recognized as dots, the length B1 of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction is preferably 100 μm or less. Hereinafter, a method for deriving the length B1 of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction will be described.

32, there is a certain relationship between the human eyesight and the size of the object that can be recognized by the human eye. A range AR1 above the curve C shown in FIG. 32 is a range in which an object can be recognized by human eyes. On the other hand, the range AR2 below the curve C is a range in which an object cannot be recognized by human eyes. This curve C is defined by equation (3) derived from the following equation.

In the human eye, the visual acuity α is derived from the following equation (1) when the minimum viewing angle is β (minutes).

Α = 1 / β (1)

The minimum viewing angle β is derived from the following equation (2), where V (mm) is the size of an object that can be recognized by the human eye, and W (m) is the distance from the human eye to the object.

Β = (V / 1000) / {W × 2π / (360/60)} (2)

From the above formulas (1) and (2), the visual acuity α is expressed by the following formula (3).

Α = {W × 2π / (360/60)} / (V / 1000) (3)

When the above equation (3) is transformed, the size V of the object that can be recognized by human eyes is expressed by the following equation (4).

V = [{W × 2π / (360/60)} × 1000] / α (4)

When using a portable electronic device such as a cellular phone, the distance W from the human eye to the object is about 20 to 30 cm. Here, as an example, the distance W from the human eye to the object is 25 cm.

The minimum visual acuity for obtaining a driving license is 0.7. In this case, the size V of the object that can be recognized by the human eye is 100 μm. If the size V of the object is 100 μm or less, it will be difficult to recognize the object with human eyes. That is, the length B1 in the major axis direction of the light shielding layer 64 is preferably 100 μm or less. Thereby, it is suppressed that the light shielding layer 64 is recognized as a dot on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 1. In this case, the length B2 of the light shielding layer 64 in the minor axis direction is set to be shorter than the length B1 of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction and 100 μm or less.

Furthermore, the size V of an object that can be recognized by the human eye with a visual acuity of 2.0 is 40 μm. If the size V of the object is 40 μm or less, it is considered that almost no object can be recognized by human eyes. In other words, the length B1 in the major axis direction of the light shielding layer 64 is more preferably 40 μm or less. This reliably suppresses the light shielding layer 64 from being recognized as dots on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 1. In this case, the length B2 of the light shielding layer 64 in the minor axis direction is set to be shorter than the length B1 of the light shielding layer 40 in the major axis direction and 40 μm or less.

85V type Super Hi-Vision compatible display is about 103Pixel / Inch, 60V type is about 146Pixel / Inch. When the color filter is composed of three colors of R, G, and B, the pixel size is about 82 μm × 246 μm for the 85V type and 58 μm × 174 μm for the 60V type. As described above, when the size of the light shielding layer 64 is 40 μm or less, it is not visually recognized as a dot. However, when many light shielding layers 64 are arranged over a plurality of pixels, light emitted from different pixels is mixed, resulting in a decrease in resolution. Accordingly, it is desirable that the dimension of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction is 1/3 to 1/2 with respect to the width of the pixel. For example, in the case of 60V type high vision, it is desirable that the dimension of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction is, for example, 19 μm or less. However, when the hollow portion 65 is formed by a photolithography process described later, it has been clarified through experiments that the thickness of the light diffusion portion 63 is desirably equal to or less than the width of the light shielding layer 64. From this point of view, for example, when the dimension of the light shielding layer 64 in the major axis direction is 15 μm, it is desirable that the thickness of the light diffusion portion 63 be 15 μm or less.

Below, the effect when the light control member 61, the VA mode liquid crystal panel 2, and the backlight unit 8 are combined will be described.
The light alignment member 37 of the backlight unit 8 contributes to improving the viewing angle characteristics by controlling the alignment of light incident on the liquid crystal panel 2. The light control member 61 can enhance the viewing angle characteristics by controlling the light emission direction after passing through the liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement relationship of the pixel 70 including the VA mode liquid crystal included in the liquid crystal display device 1, the light control member 61, and the light alignment portion 43 of the light alignment member 37. Actually, as shown in FIG. 1, the pixel 50 is arranged on the light alignment member 37, and the light control member 61 is further arranged thereon. For convenience of illustration, in FIG. The member 61 and the photo-alignment member 37 are described in parallel. Further, on the right side of the photo-alignment member 37, the transmission axis P1 of the first polarizing plate 3 and the transmission axis P2 of the second polarizing plate 7 are illustrated.

The pixel 70 in this embodiment employs a VA structure in which one pixel 70 is divided into two domains of a first domain 70a and a second domain 70b, a so-called two-domain VA structure. Here, a rectangular pixel is divided into two by a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction to form a vertically long domain. The liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the pixel 70 are aligned substantially vertically when no voltage is applied. In FIG. 33, the liquid crystal molecules 71 are illustrated in a conical shape. The vertex of the cone means the end of the liquid crystal molecule 71 on the back side. The bottom surface of the cone indicates the end of the liquid crystal molecule 71 on the viewing side. In the present embodiment, the major axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules 71 is set as the director direction of the liquid crystal molecules 71. The direction of the director of the liquid crystal molecules 71 is defined as the direction from the end on the back side of the liquid crystal molecules 71 toward the end on the viewing side. The director of the liquid crystal molecules 71 is indicated by an arrow D. The direction of the director of the liquid crystal molecules 71 coincides with the long side direction of the pixel or the long side direction of the domain.

As shown in FIG. 33, the liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the first domain 70a and the liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the second domain 70b are inclined in directions different from each other by 180 ° in the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° direction. Oriented. Specifically, the liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the first domain 70a are inclined such that the polar angle θ at the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° is greater than 0 °. The liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the second domain 70b are inclined such that the polar angle θ at the azimuth angle φ: 270 ° is greater than 0 °.

By aligning the liquid crystal molecules 51 in this way, in the first domain 70a, the liquid crystal molecules 71 have an azimuth angle φ: 90 ° and a polar angle of 90 ° at the center in the thickness direction of the liquid crystal layer 11 when a voltage is applied. Tilt down closer to °. In the second domain 70b, at the central portion in the thickness direction of the liquid crystal layer 11 when a voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules 71 are tilted so that the azimuth angle φ is 270 ° and the polar angle approaches 90 °. That is, at the central portion in the thickness direction of the liquid crystal layer 11 when a voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the first domain 70a and the liquid crystal molecules 71 included in the second domain 70b have an azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270. In the ° direction, they fall down in directions different from each other by 180 °. Note that the liquid crystal molecules 71 in the vicinity of the first alignment film 27 and the second alignment film 34 remain substantially vertical even when a voltage is applied because the alignment is regulated by the first alignment film 27 and the second alignment film 34. is there.

Therefore, this VA mode liquid crystal panel has different viewing angle characteristics in the direction of azimuth angle φ: 0 ° -180 ° and viewing angle characteristics in the direction of azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 °. This is because the liquid crystal molecules are aligned so as to fall only in the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 °.
When the polar angle θ of the observer's viewpoint is changed in the azimuth angle φ: 0 ° -180 °, the viewpoint moves in the minor axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules, so the birefringence difference of the liquid crystal molecules is so large Absent. On the other hand, when the polar angle θ of the observer's viewpoint is changed in the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 °, the viewpoint is moved in the major axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules, and further along the direction in which the liquid crystal molecules are tilted. The birefringence difference of the liquid crystal molecules is large.

This can be discussed similarly by fixing the liquid crystal molecules and changing the light incident direction. Light is incident on the liquid crystal molecules while changing the incident angle of light in the direction of azimuth φ: 90 ° -270 °. Since the birefringence difference is large in the major axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules, the luminance of light emitted from the liquid crystal panel is likely to change. Therefore, the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal display device can be further controlled by controlling the angle of light incident on the liquid crystal panel.

As described in the first embodiment, the photo-alignment member 37 according to one aspect of the present invention can control the photo-alignment characteristics in the y-axis direction. Therefore, the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal display device can be enhanced by using the photo-alignment member 37 and the liquid crystal panel at the same time.

On the other hand, considering that the liquid crystal molecules are tilted when a voltage is applied, it is preferable to control not only the incident light but also the direction of the light emitted after passing through the liquid crystal panel.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 33, the direction in which the liquid crystal molecules 71 are tilted when a voltage is applied, that is, the direction D of the director of the liquid crystal molecules and the minor axis direction of the light shielding layer 64 of the light control member 61 are substantially matched. The light control member 61 is disposed on the surface. Since the direction D of the director of the liquid crystal molecules and the absorption axes P1 and P2 of the first polarizing plate 3 and the second polarizing plate 7 form an angle of 45 °, the short axis direction of the light shielding layer 64 of the light control member 61 and the first polarization The plate 3 and the absorption axes P1 and P2 of the second polarizing plate 7 form an angle of 45 °.

In other words, when viewed from the normal direction of the base material 62, the rhombus that is the planar shape of the light shielding layer 64 has absorption axes P 1 and P 2 of one of the first polarizing plate 3 and the second polarizing plate 7. It has a straight portion that makes an angle of less than 45 °. In the case of the present embodiment, this straight line portion corresponds to the four sides of the rhombus. In this case, when the traveling direction of the light is projected onto the xy plane, the light Lx incident from the x-axis direction and reflected by the reflecting surface 63c travels in the y-axis direction, enters from the y-axis direction, and is reflected by the reflecting surface. The light Ly reflected by 63c has a high rate of traveling in the x-axis direction. Further, when the amount of light Lx that enters from the x-axis direction and travels in the y-axis direction is compared with the amount of light Ly that enters from the y-axis direction and travels in the x-axis direction, it enters from the x-axis direction. The amount of light Lx traveling in the y-axis direction is larger than the light Ly entering from the y-axis direction and traveling in the x-axis direction.
The reason for this will be described below with reference to FIGS. 34A to 34F.

34A to 34F show light-shielding layers having various shapes and arrangements and how light is reflected. In FIGS. 34A to 34F, the traveling direction of light is indicated by an arrow. This arrow indicates the traveling direction of light on the xy plane, and the actual traveling direction of light is the z axis. It has a directional component. The angles φ1 to φ6 are angles formed by the light incident direction and the light emitting direction when projected onto the xy plane.

For example, in order to change the traveling direction in the azimuth direction of light incident from the x-axis direction, a reflecting surface having an angle larger than 0 ° and smaller than 90 ° with respect to the x-axis may be used.
First, as shown in FIG. 34A, a planar light shielding layer 140 in which one side of a square is rotated by 45 ° with respect to the x axis and the y axis is considered. In this case, the reflecting surface 141c makes an angle of 45 ° with respect to the x-axis. Suppose that the reflection surface 141c is arranged in the direction perpendicular to the formation surface of the light shielding layer 140 toward the back side of the paper surface of FIG. 34A. In this case, the light L11 incident on the reflecting surface 141c from the negative side of the x axis toward the positive side is reflected by the reflecting surface 141c, changes its direction by 90 ° on the xy plane, and travels in a direction parallel to the y axis. . That is, the angle φ1 formed by the incident direction and the emission direction of the light L1 projected onto the xy plane is 90 °.

However, considering the light control member of the present embodiment, the reflecting surface 141c is not arranged in the vertical direction with respect to the light shielding layer 140, but on the far side of the paper surface as shown in FIG. 34B. The light-shielding layer 140 is inclined obliquely toward the broken-line square (the outer shape of the hollow portion) shown inside the solid-line square indicating the outer shape of the light shielding layer 140. In this case, the angle φ2 is smaller than 90 °, and the light L12 incident on the reflecting surface 141c from the negative side of the x axis toward the positive side is reflected by the reflecting surface 141c and then in a direction parallel to the y axis. It does not advance, but proceeds in a direction inclined to the negative side of the x axis from the direction parallel to the y axis.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 34C and FIG. 34D, consider the case where the diamond-shaped light shielding layer 40 is arranged so that the major axis direction is in the x-axis direction as in this embodiment. In this case, as shown in FIG. 34C, assuming that the reflection surface 63c is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the formation surface of the light shielding layer 64, the angle φ3 is larger than 90 ° and is positive from the negative side of the x axis. The light L13 incident on the reflecting surface 63c toward the side does not travel in the direction parallel to the y axis after being reflected by the reflecting surface 63c, and is tilted to the positive side of the x axis from the direction parallel to the y axis Proceed to However, as shown in FIG. 34D, the actual reflecting surface 63c is inclined obliquely toward the broken rhombus (the outer shape of the hollow portion) shown inside the solid rhombus indicating the outer shape of the light shielding layer 64. . As a result, the angle φ4 can be set to 90 °, and the light L14 incident on the reflecting surface 141c from the negative side of the x axis toward the positive side is reflected by the reflecting surface 141c and then in a direction parallel to the y axis. move on.

As a comparative example, as shown in FIGS. 34E and 34F, let us consider a case where a diamond-shaped light shielding layer 64 is arranged so that the major axis direction is in the y-axis direction, unlike the present embodiment. In this case, as shown in FIG. 34E, assuming that the reflecting surface 63c is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the formation surface of the light shielding layer 64, the angle φ5 is smaller than 90 ° and is positive from the negative side of the x-axis. The light L5 incident on the reflecting surface 63c toward the side is not reflected in the direction parallel to the y axis after being reflected by the reflecting surface 63c, and is inclined to the negative side of the x axis from the direction parallel to the y axis. Proceed to However, as shown in FIG. 34F, since the actual reflecting surface 63c is inclined, the angle φ6 is further smaller than the angle φ5 and enters the reflecting surface 141c from the negative side of the x axis toward the positive side. The reflected light L16 is reflected by the reflecting surface 141c, and then travels in a direction inclined to the negative side of the x axis from the direction parallel to the y axis.

As described above, when the planar shape of the light shielding layer 140 is a square, when the light shielding layer 64 having a rhombic planar shape is arranged so that the major axis direction is in the x-axis direction, the light shielding layer 64 having a rhombus planar shape is formed. When the three cases are compared when the major axis direction is oriented in the y-axis direction, the amount of light incident on the reflecting surface from the direction parallel to the x-axis and traveling in the direction parallel to the y-axis is The number of cases in which the light shielding layer 64 having a rhombic planar shape is arranged so that the major axis direction faces the x-axis direction is the largest.
Therefore, when comparing the amount of light incident from the x-axis direction and traveling in the y-axis direction with the amount of light incident from the y-axis direction and traveling in the x-axis direction, the light is incident from the x-axis direction. Thus, the amount of light traveling in the y-axis direction is larger than the light traveling from the y-axis direction and traveling in the x-axis direction.

In other words, in the case of the present embodiment, light incident on the light control member 9 from the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 0 ° -180 ° is emitted from the light diffusing portion 64 arranged corresponding to the planar shape of the diamond-shaped light shielding layer 64. The light is reflected by the reflecting surface 63c and emitted in the direction of the azimuth φ: 90 ° -270 °. At this time, since the inclination angle θc of the light diffusing portion 63 is smaller than 90 °, the polar angle θ in the light traveling direction changes in a direction larger than that before entering the light control member 61. If the light control member 61 is not used, there is a large difference in viewing angle characteristics between the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° direction and the φ: 0 ° -180 ° direction. In order to improve this problem, the light control member 61 is used to intentionally move the light traveling in the azimuth angle φ: 0 ° -180 ° direction to the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° direction having a poor viewing angle characteristic. What is necessary is just to mix. Thereby, the difference of the viewing angle characteristic for every direction is relieved. Thereby, the variation in luminance change is averaged, and the difference in viewing angle characteristics depending on the polar angle θ in the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° can be improved.

As described above, by combining the light control member 61 and the light alignment member 37 of the present embodiment with the liquid crystal display device adopting the two-domain VA method, the azimuth angle φ which is the direction of the director of the liquid crystal molecules 71: 90 ° − The viewing angle characteristics in the 270 ° direction are improved from both the incident side and the outgoing side of the liquid crystal panel. In the conventional liquid crystal display device adopting the two-domain VA method, the viewing angle characteristics in the direction of the azimuth angle φ: 0 ° -180 ° perpendicular to the direction in which the liquid crystal molecules are tilted are good. By combining the light control member 61 and the light orientation member 37, the viewing angle characteristics in the azimuth angle φ: 90 ° -270 ° direction are further improved, and the difference in viewing angle characteristics due to the azimuth is reduced. . Particularly in a high-definition display, the viewing angle characteristics can be improved while maintaining a high transmittance without complicating the structure in the cell.

In the third embodiment, the two-domain VA type liquid crystal panel has been described. However, the liquid crystal panel is not limited to the two-domain VA type. In addition, it can be suitably used for a liquid crystal panel having different gamma characteristics depending on the orientation of a TN liquid crystal or the like.

The light control member 61 can be manufactured in the same manner as the light alignment member 37 only by changing the reflection layer 44 of the light alignment member 37 to the light shielding layer 64.

[Fourth Embodiment]
The liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be applied to various electronic devices.
Hereinafter, an electronic apparatus provided with the liquid crystal display device of the first to third embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 35 to 37. FIG.
The liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be applied to, for example, a thin television 250 shown in FIG.
A thin television 250 illustrated in FIG. 35 includes a display portion 251, a speaker 252, a cabinet 253, a stand 254, and the like.
As the display unit 251, the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be suitably applied. By applying the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above to the display unit 251 of the flat-screen television 250, an image with a small viewing angle dependency can be displayed.

The liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be applied to, for example, the smartphone 240 shown in FIG.
A smartphone 240 illustrated in FIG. 36 includes a voice input unit 241, a voice output unit 242, an operation switch 244, a display unit 245, a touch panel 243, a housing 246, and the like.
As the display unit 245, the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be suitably applied. By applying the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above to the display unit 245 of the smartphone 240, an image with a small viewing angle dependency can be displayed.

The liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be applied to, for example, a notebook personal computer 270 shown in FIG.
A notebook computer 270 illustrated in FIG. 37 includes a display portion 271, a keyboard 272, a touch pad 273, a main switch 274, a camera 275, a recording medium slot 276, a housing 277, and the like.
As the display unit 271, the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above can be suitably applied. By applying the liquid crystal display devices of the first to third embodiments described above to the display unit 271 of the notebook computer 270, it is possible to display an image with a small viewing angle dependency.

It should be noted that the technical scope of some aspects of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the aspect of the present invention.

The light control member in the above embodiment has a configuration in which at least one of an antireflection structure, a polarizing filter layer, an antistatic layer, an antiglare treatment layer, and an antifouling treatment layer is provided on the viewing side of the base material. May be. According to this configuration, it is possible to add a function to reduce external light reflection, a function to prevent the adhesion of dust and dirt, a function to prevent scratches, and the like according to the type of layer provided on the viewing side of the substrate. Further, it is possible to prevent deterioration of viewing angle characteristics with time.

Particularly, as an example of the antireflection structure, a configuration in which an antiglare layer is provided on the viewing side of the base material of the light control member may be used. As the antiglare layer, for example, a dielectric multilayer film that cancels external light using light interference is used.

As another example of the antireflection structure, a so-called moth-eye structure may be provided on the viewing side of the base material of the light control member. In some embodiments of the present invention, the moth-eye structure includes the following structures and shapes. The moth-eye structure is a concavo-convex shape with a period equal to or less than the wavelength of visible light, and is a shape or structure using the principle of a so-called “Moth-eye” configuration. The period of the unevenness is controlled to be equal to or less than the wavelength of visible light (λ = 380 nm to 780 nm). The two-dimensional size of the convex portions constituting the concavo-convex pattern is 10 nm or more and less than 500 nm. Reflection is suppressed by continuously changing the refractive index for light incident on the base material from the refractive index of the incident medium (air) to the refractive index of the base material along the depth direction of the unevenness.

In addition, regarding the domains in the liquid crystal display device, the areas of the two domains may be different, and the director direction of the liquid crystal molecules may not be completely different by 180 °. Further, some aspects of the present invention are applied when there are at least two domains in a pixel, and there may be more than two domains. In that case, the minor axis direction of the light shielding layer of the light control member may be arranged in accordance with the azimuth direction in which the viewing angle characteristics are desired to be improved.

Further, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 38A, one pixel PX of the liquid crystal panel 2 is configured by three rectangular red (R), green (G), and blue (B) subpixels. In the example, these three subpixels are arranged in the horizontal direction (arrow H direction) with the long side direction directed in the vertical direction (arrow V direction) of the screen. The arrangement of the sub-pixels is not limited to this example. For example, as shown in FIG. 38B, the three sub-pixels R, G, B are oriented in the vertical direction with the long side direction in the horizontal direction (arrow H direction) of the screen. They may be arranged in the direction of arrow V.

Further, as shown in FIG. 38C, one pixel of the liquid crystal panel 2 is composed of four rectangular sub-pixels of red (R), green (G), blue (B), and yellow (Y), These four subpixels may be arranged in the horizontal direction (arrow H direction) with the long side direction directed in the vertical direction (arrow V direction) of the screen. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 38D, four sub-pixels R, G, B, and Y are arranged in the vertical direction (arrow V direction) with the long side facing in the horizontal direction (arrow H direction) of the screen. May be. Or, as shown in FIG. 38E, one pixel of the liquid crystal panel is composed of four square subpixels R, G, B, and Y, and two rows and two columns in the horizontal and vertical directions of the screen. May be arranged.

In addition, the specific configuration regarding the material, the number, the arrangement, and the like of each component of the liquid crystal display device and the light control member is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a polarizing plate and a retardation plate are arranged outside the liquid crystal panel has been described. Instead of this configuration, a polarizing layer and a retardation layer are provided inside a pair of substrates constituting the liquid crystal panel. It may be formed.

Some embodiments of the present invention can be used for a liquid crystal display device, a lighting device, and a light alignment member.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,101 ... Liquid crystal display device, 2 ... Liquid crystal panel, 3 ... 1st polarizing plate, 7 ... 2nd polarizing plate, 8 ... Backlight unit (illuminating device), 36,57 ... Backlight (light source device), 37, 51 ... light orientation member, 42, 42A, 42B, 42C, 42D, 52 ... base material, 43, 53 ... light orientation part, 43a, 53a ... light emission end face, 43b, 53b ... light incidence end face, 43c ... reflection face ( Inclined surface), 44, 44A, 44B, 44C, 44d, 54 ... reflective layer (reflective part), 45 ... hollow part (low refractive index part), 38 ... prism sheet (structure), 39, 56 ... light source, 40 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Light guide, 41 ... Reflector, 53c ... 1st inclined surface, 53d ... 2nd inclined surface, 61 ... Light control member, 62 ... Base material (2nd base material), 63 ... Light diffusion part, 64 ... Light-shielding layer, 65 ... hollow part (second low refractive index part)

Claims

A substrate having optical transparency;
A plurality of photo-alignment portions provided on the first surface of the substrate;
A reflection portion provided at least in a position not overlapping with the photo-alignment portion when viewed from the normal direction of the base material in the first surface;
A low refractive index portion that is provided at a position that partially overlaps with the reflective portion as viewed from the normal direction of the substrate, and that has a lower refractive index than the refractive index of the photo-alignment portion,
The light orientation portion includes a light incident end face located on the substrate side, a light exit end face located on the opposite side of the substrate side and larger than the light incident end face, and between the light incident end face and the light exit end face. An optical orientation member having an inclined surface located on the surface.
2. The photo-alignment member according to claim 1, wherein planar shapes of the photo-alignment portion and the reflection portion are line shapes extending in a first direction of the first surface.
The width L in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction of the reflective portion and the height H of the photo-alignment portion satisfy a relationship of 0.2 <L / H <2.0. The photo-alignment member described.
The width L of the reflection part in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the width s of the light incident end face of the light orientation part satisfy a relationship of s> 3 / 7L. A photo-alignment member according to any one of the above.
The light alignment member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an angle formed by the light emitting end face and the inclined surface is 60 ° or more and less than 90 °.
The photo-alignment member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a ratio of an area occupied by the reflection portion to the base material is 70% or less.
In a cross-sectional shape when the light orientation portion in a cross section perpendicular to the first surface is viewed in cross section,
The photo-alignment member according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein an angle formed between the light emitting end surface and the first inclined surface is different from an angle formed between the light emitting end surface and the second inclined surface.
The photo-alignment member according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A light source device disposed on the light incident end face side of the light orientation member;
A lighting device comprising: a structure that is disposed between the light orientation member and the light source device and orients light emitted from the light source device in a direction approaching a normal direction of a substrate.
The said light source device is provided with the light guide, the light source provided in the end surface of the said light guide, and the reflecting plate arrange | positioned at the surface on the opposite side to the said structure of the said light guide. Lighting equipment.
10. The structure according to claim 9, wherein the structure has a plurality of convex portions extending in a direction parallel to the end surface, the cross section being cut in a plane perpendicular to the end surface and perpendicular to the light emitting surface of the light guide. The lighting device described.
The lighting device according to claim 10, wherein the light orientation portion of the light orientation member extends in one direction of the base material, and the direction coincides with a direction in which the convex portion extends.
A liquid crystal display device comprising: the illuminating device according to any one of claims 8 to 11; and a liquid crystal panel disposed on a light alignment member side of the illuminating device.
A light control member is further provided on the light emission side of the liquid crystal panel,
The light control member includes: a second base material having light permeability; a light diffusion portion provided on a first surface of the second base material; and a first surface of the second base material. Among them, a light shielding portion provided at a position not overlapping with the light diffusion portion when viewed from the normal direction of the second base material, and a part of the light shielding portion when viewed from the normal direction of the second base material A second low refractive index portion provided at a position and having a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the light diffusing portion,
The light diffusing section includes a second light emitting end face located on the second base material side, a second light incident end face located on the opposite side to the second base material side, and the second light. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, further comprising a reflection surface positioned between an emission end surface and the second light incident end surface.
A method for producing a photo-alignment member according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Forming a reflecting portion on the first surface of the substrate;
Forming a photocurable resin layer on the first surface of the substrate and the reflective portion;
A step of entering diffused light from a surface of the base material on which the reflective portion is not formed and curing a part of the photocurable resin layer;
A method for producing a photoalignment member, comprising: removing an uncured portion of the photocurable resin layer to form the photoalignment portion.