Provided is a liquid crystal panel which is capable of significantly reducing a thickness thereof as compared to conventional liquid crystal panels, and, when used in a liquid crystal display device using a liquid crystal cell such as an IPS-type liquid crystal cell, reducing oblique light leakage in a black state of the liquid crystal display device to enhance contrast. Each of a pair of polarizers on respective opposite sides of a liquid crystal cell has a thickness of 10 µm or less, and exhibits optical properties including a single transmittance of 40.0% or more and a polarization degree of 99.8% or more. A retardation layer laminated to one of the opposite sides of the liquid crystal cell has a thickness of 25 µm or less, with a moisture permeability of 200 g/m² or less, wherein a value of Δnxy1 and a value of Δnxz1 are, respectively, 0.0036 or more, and 0.0041 or more, and Re and Rth are, respectively, in the range of 90 nm to 140 nm and the range of 100 nm to 240 nm, where Δnxy1 represents a difference between a refractive index nx1 in a slow axis direction and a refractive index ny1 in a fast axis direction; Δnxz1 represents a difference between the refractive index nx1 in the slow axis direction and a refractive index nz1 in a thickness-wise direction, Re represents an in-plane retardation, and Rth represents a thicknesswise retardation expressed in the formula Rth = (nx1-nz1) × d1, where d1 represents a thickness of the first retardation layer.

The present invention provides a liquid-crystal display device that can achieve high contrast ratios in a wide range of viewing angles and reduce coloration during black display. The liquid-crystal display device according to the present invention includes a polarizer, a first quarter-wave plate adapted to satisfy nx > ny ≥ nz, a vertically aligned liquid crystal cell, a second quarter-wave plate provided with substantially the same Nz factor as the first quarter-wave plate and adapted to satisfy nx > ny ≥ nz, a birefringent layer adapted to satisfy nx < ny ≤ nz and, a polarizer, all of which are stacked in this order, wherein the liquid crystal cell includes a liquid crystal layer and blue, green, and red color filter layers and satisfies at least one of the expressions below: $$\mathrm{R}\left(\mathrm{B}\right)\mathrm{/}\mathrm{R}\left(\mathrm{G}\right)\mathrm{>}\mathrm{\Delta n}\left(\mathrm{B}\right)\mathrm{/}\mathrm{\Delta n}\left(\mathrm{G}\right)$$ $$\mathrm{R}\left(\mathrm{R}\right)\mathrm{/}\mathrm{R}\left(\mathrm{G}\right)<\mathrm{\Delta n}\left(\mathrm{R}\right)\mathrm{/}\mathrm{\Delta n}\left(\mathrm{G}\right)$$

where R(B), R(G), and R(R) represents perpendicular phase difference of the liquid crystal cell at wavelengths of 450 nm, 550 nm, and 650 nm, respectively, and Δn(B), Δn(G), and Δn(R) represent birefringence values of a liquid crystal material of the liquid crystal layer at wavelengths of 450 nm, 550 nm, and 650 nm, respectively.

An optical system comprising: an optical component operable to be associated with a reflective LC panel, the optical component comprising one or more birefringent films having, individually or collectively, an in-plane retardance that is substantially greater than the associated LC panel's in-plane OFF-state retardance; the optical component further being positioned in the optical system such that the optical component optimally compensates for the relative retardances between the optical component and the LC panel; and the optical component further being configured to compensate for out-of-plane retardance of the LC panel's OFF-state.

The present invention provides a transmissive liquid crystal display device which is less in display characteristics fluctuations, bright in display images, high in contrast and less in viewing angle dependency and comprises a backlight, a polarizer, a second optically anisotropic layer, a first optically anisotropic layer, a homogeneously aligned liquid crystal cell comprising upper and lower substrates facing each other and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the upper and lower substrates, and a polarizer, arranged in piles in this order from the backlight, wherein a liquid crystal film forming the first optically anisotropic layer, a liquid crystal film forming the second optically anisotropic layer and the liquid crystal cell have a predetermined relationship in the wavelength dispersion of birefringence, the first optically anisotropic layer, the second optically anisotropic layer and the liquid crystal cell upon application of an electric voltage for black image display, have a predetermined relationship in retardation, and the first optically anisotropic layer comprises a liquid crystal film with a fixed nematic hybrid orientation.

A liquid crystal display includes a lower panel (100), an upper panel (200) facing the lower panel and including a plurality of red color filters (230R), green color filters (230G), and blue color filters (230B), and a liquid crystal layer (3) interposed between the lower and upper panels. The liquid crystal layer has first, second and third cell-gap portions corresponding to the red, green and blue filters, respectively, and the first second and third cell-gap portions have cell gaps Dr, Dg and Db, respectively. A first compensation film (14,24) is disposed on an outer surface of one of the lower panel or the upper panel. A lower polarizer (12) is on the outer surface of the lower panel and an upper polarizer (22) is on the outer surface of the upper panel. The cell gaps Dr, Dg and Db may satisfy the equation 0µm≤Dg-Db and Dr-Dg≤0.5µm.