Deviation in phase difference of the light passing each of the red, green, and blue dots, i.e., ${\text{2π*(α*d}}_{\text{R}}{\text{*Δn}}_{\text{R}}{\text{+Re}}_{\text{R}}{\text{)/λ}}_{\text{R}}$, ${\text{2π*(α*d}}_{\text{G}}{\text{*Δn}}_{\text{G}}{\text{+Re}}_{\text{G}}{\text{)/λ}}_{\text{G}}$, and ${\text{2π*(α*d}}_{\text{B}}{\text{*Δn}}_{\text{B}}{\text{+Re}}_{\text{B}}{\text{)/λ}}_{\text{B}}$, are matched when thickness of a liquid crystal layer 7 at red, green, and blue dots are d_R, d_G, and d_B; wavelength of a visible light passing each dot is λ_R, λ_R, and λ_B; refractive index anisotropy of the liquid crystal layer 7 in the visible light wavelengths λ_R, λ_R, and λ_B is Δn_R, Δn_G, and Δn_B; and retardations of a retardation plate are Re_R, Re_G, and Re_B. This enables the achievement of a reflective color LCD with high achromatic color during white display and high contrast display.

A wide viewing angle polarizing plate has a laminate of a birefringent film having an in-plane average phase difference of from 50 nm to 200 nm made of a transparent resin film having microscopic regions dispersed therein and a polarizing plate. The birefringent film comprises a transparent resin film having microscopic regions dispersed therein and satisfies the relationships Δn² ≤ 0.03 and Δn¹ > Δn² supposing that the direction of the axis along which linearly polarized light exhibits the maximum transmission is Δn² direction, the difference in refractive index between microscopic regions in Δn² direction and other portions is Δn², the direction perpendicular to Δn² direction is Δn¹ direction and the difference in refractive index between microscopic regions in Δn¹ direction and other portions is Δn¹, and Δn¹ direction and the retardation axis of said birefringent film and the transmission axis of said polarizing plate are parallel to each other and a liquid crystal display comprising same.

A birefringent element (2, 12, 24) is patterned such that for light of a first polarisation the element (2, 12, 24) acts as a first refractive optical element and for light of a second polarisation the optical response of the element (2, 12, 24) changes. The element (2, 12, 24) can be used in conjunction with a polarisation selecting means (22), such as a liquid crystal device, to provide an electrically controllable optical element that can be used in light beam manipulation applications.

A display device comprises a source 1 of light of a first polarization, a source of light of a second polarization different from the first polarization, an optical system arranged to image the light emitted by the light sources through a spatial light modulator (SLM) to produce an image of the source of light of the first polarization at a first viewing zone and an image of the second source of light at a second viewing zone, the SLM including a plurality of picture elements arranged to modulate the light emitted by the sources of light, and a plurality of polarization adjusting means each being optically aligned with at least one respective picture element, the polarization adjusting means comprising a first group arranged to permit the transmission of light of the first polarization and substantially prevent transmission of light of the second polarization, and a second group arranged to permit the transmission of light of the second polarization and substantially prevent transmission of light of the first polarization such that the image on the SLM which can be viewed from the first viewing zone is that of the picture elements optically aligned with the polarization adjusting means of the first group and the image which can be viewed from the second viewing zone is that of the picture elements optically aligned with the polarization adjusting means of the second group. The polarization adjusting means may comprise an array of polarizing elements 5a, 5b, or alternatively may comprise an array of wave plates 33. The optical system may comprise a lens 3 or array of lenses provided between the light sources 1, 2 and the SLM 4. A spatial light modulator which may be used in 3D displays of stereoscopic or autostereoscopic type comprises substrates (19, 21) between which is disposed a liquid crystal layer (20). The layer comprises two sets of pixels (12, 13) for displaying left and right eye images. A pixellated polarisation adjustor (31, 32; 33, 34) is disposed between one of the substrates (21) and the liquid crystal layer (20) so as to minimise parallax effects. The pixels (12, 13) of the liquid crystal layer (20) are operated in the same mode i.e. all normally black or all normally white.

A multi-colored pixel for a twisted nematic liquid crystal display including red, green, and blue subpixels, wherein each subpixel includes a pair of substrates, a pair of polarizers (202,220), opposing electrodes, and a color personalized retardation film (208,210,212) which compensates for the different wavelength of each color. The personalized retardation films of the different color subpixels results in elimination of the multi-gap approach and substantially eliminates the problem of different color leakages at different viewing angles, including normal. Also, one polymer based element, preferably a polyimide, functions as both a color filter and a retardation film in certain embodiments of this invention.

A birefringent element (2, 12, 24) is patterned such that for light of a first polarisation the element (2, 12, 24) acts as a first refractive optical element and for light of a second polarisation the optical response of the element (2, 12, 24) changes. The element (2, 12, 24) can be used in conjunction with a polarisation selecting means (22), such as a liquid crystal device, to provide an electrically controllable optical element that can be used in light beam manipulation applications.

An optical film according to an embodiment includes: a first phase retardation layer; and a second phase retardation layer, wherein the first phase retardation layer and the second phase retardation layer are stacked in sequence, the first phase retardation layer has an in-plane retardation value from about 240 nanometers (nm) to about 300 nm for incident light having a wavelength of about 550 nm (referred to as a "standard wavelength"), the second phase retardation layer has an in-plane retardation value of about 110 nm to about 160 nm for incident light having the standard wavelength, and an out-of-plane retardation value of the first phase retardation layer and an out-of-plane retardation value of the second phase retardation layer for incident light having the standard wavelength have opposite signs.

A retardation substrate is provided, which includes a substrate (210) and an optically anisotropic solidified liquid crystal layer (230) which is supported by the substrate and formed as a continuous film made from a same material. The solidified liquid crystal layer comprises first to third regions each having two sub-regions which are a sub-region A and a sub-region B, an in-plane birefringence of the 1A sub-region is larger than that of the 2A sub-region, the in-plane birefringence of the 3A sub-region is smaller than that of the 2A sub-region, and an in-plane birefringence of the 1B sub-region is the same as that of the 3B sub-region, smaller than that of the 1A sub-region and larger than that of the 3A sub-region.

A phase difference element, in which imbalance hardly occurs between right and left pictures during displaying a three-dimensional image, and a display device having the phase difference element are provided. A base film 31 of the phase difference element 30 includes, for example, a thin resin film having optical anisotropy. A slow axis AX3 of the base film 31 points in a vertical or horizontal direction, and points in a direction intersecting with a slow axis AX1 of a right-eye region 32A of the phase difference element 30 and with a slow axis AX2 of a left-eye region 32B thereof. Thus, influence due to optical anisotropy of the base film 31 is exerted on each light being transmitted by the base film 31, so that the influence is not extremely greatly exerted on only one of light corresponding to a right eye and light corresponding to a left eye, the respective light being transmitted by the base film 31.