Compensation films for LCDs

[0002] This application is a Continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/318,773 filed Dec. 13, 2002 now abandoned. Reference is made to commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/281,595, entitled COMPENSATION FILMS FOR LCDS, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

[0003] The present invention relates to an optical compensation film useful for application to a liquid crystal display, particularly to a twisted nematic liquid crystal display. It comprises two layers having different tilt angles and different retardation values within prescribed limitations.

[0004] The following terms have the definitions as stated below.

[0005] Optic axis herein refers to the direction in which propagating light does not see birefringence.

[0006] A-plate, C-plate and O-plate herein are the plates in which the optic axis is in the plane of the plate, perpendicular to the plate and tilted with respect to the plane of the plate, respectively.

[0007] Polarizer and Analyzer herein refer to elements that polarize electromagnetic wave. One closer to the source of the light is generally called polarizer while the one closer to the viewer is called analyzer.

[0008] Viewing direction herein is defined as a set of polar viewing angle α and azimuthal viewing angle β as shown in FIG. 1 with respect to a liquid crystal display 101. The polar viewing angle α is measured from display normal direction 103 and the azimuthal viewing angle β spans between an appropriate reference direction 105 in the plane of the display surface 107 and the projection 108 of the arrow 109 onto the display surface 107. Various display image properties, such as contrast ratio, color and brightness are functions of angles α and β.

[0009] Azimuthal angle φ and tilt angle θ are herein used to specify the direction of an optic axis. For the transmission axes of the polarizer and the analyzer, only the azimuthal angle φ is used, as their tilt angle θ is zero. FIG. 2 shows the definition of the azimuthal angle φ and tilt angle θ to specify the direction of the optic axis 201 with respect to the x-y-z coordinate system 203. The x-y plane is parallel to the display surface 107, and the z-axis is parallel to the display normal direction 103. The azimuthal angle φ is the angle between the x-axis and the projection of the optic axis 201 onto the x-y plane. The tilt angle θ is the angle between the optic axis 201 and the x-y plane.

[0010] ON (OFF) state herein refers to the state with (without) an applied electric field to the liquid crystal display 101.

[0011] Isocontrast plot herein shows a change in a contrast ratio from different viewing directions. Isocontrast line, on which the contrast ratio is constant (such as 10, 50 and 100), is plotted in polar format. The concentric circle corresponds to polar viewing angle α=20°, 40°,60° and 80° (outer most circle) and the radial lines indicates azimuthal viewing angle β=0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270° and 315°. The area enclosed within the isocontrast line with contrast ratio, for example, 10 is the viewing angle range with contrast ratio 10 or higher.

[0012] Lamination herein means a process of making a single sheet of film by uniting two or more films.

[0013] Liquid crystals are widely used for electronic displays. In these display systems, a liquid crystal cell is typically situated between a pair of polarizer and analyzers. An incident light polarized by the polarizer passes through a liquid crystal cell and is affected by the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal, which can be altered by the application of a voltage across the cell. The altered light goes into the analyzer. By employing this principle, the transmission of light from an external source, including ambient light, can be controlled. The energy required to achieve this control is generally much less than required for the luminescent materials used in other display types such as cathode ray tubes (CRT). Accordingly, liquid crystal technology is used for a number of electronic imaging devices, including but not limited to digital watches, calculators, portable computers, electronic games for which light-weight, low-power consumption and long-operating life are important features.

[0014] Contrast, color reproduction, and stable gray scale intensities are important quality attributes for electronic displays, which employ liquid crystal technology. The primary factor limiting the contrast of a liquid crystal display (LCD) is the propensity for light to “leak” through liquid crystal elements or cells, which are in the dark or “black” pixel state. Furthermore, the leakage and hence contrast of a liquid crystal display are also dependent on the direction from which the display screen is viewed. Typically the optimum contrast is observed only within a narrow viewing angle range centered about the normal incidence (α=0°) to the display and falls off rapidly as the polar viewing angle α is increased. In color displays, the leakage problem not only degrades the contrast but also causes color or hue shifts with an associated degradation of color reproduction.

[0015] LCDs are quickly replacing CRTs as monitors for desktop computers and other office or house hold appliances. It is also expected that the number of LCD television monitors with a larger screen size will sharply increase in the near future. However, unless problems of viewing angle dependence such as coloration, degradation in contrast, and an inversion of brightness are solved, LCD's application as a replacement of the traditional CRT will be limited.

[0016] Among various LCD modes, Twisted Nematic (TN) LCD is one of the most prevalent ones. FIG. 3A is a schematic of a TN-LCD 313. A liquid crystal cell 301 is positioned between a polarizer 303 and an analyzer 305. Their transmission axes 307, 309 are crossed, meaning that the transmission (or equivalently, absorption) axes of a polarizer and an analyzer form angle 90±10°. Inside the liquid crystal cell, the optic axis of liquid crystal shows azimuthal rotation of 90° in the OFF state across the cell thickness direction. In FIG. 3A, the direction of the liquid crystal optic axis 311 at the cell surfaces is indicated by a single head arrow. At the surface, the liquid crystal optic axes 311 have a small tilt angle θ_swith respect to the cell surfaces in order to prevent the reverse twist. Namely, the tilt is consistent with the sense (clock or counter-clock wise) of the azimuthal rotation in the liquid crystal optic axis in the cell thickness direction. Un-polarized incoming light is linearly polarized by the polarizer 303 and its plane of polarization rotates 90° while traveling through the liquid crystal cell 301. The plane of polarization of out-coming light from the cell 301 is parallel to the transmission axis 309 of analyzer 305 and will transmit through the analyzer 305. With sufficiently high-applied voltage, the liquid crystal becomes perpendicular to the cell plane except in the close vicinity of the bounding plates. In this ON state, the incoming polarized light essentially does not see birefringence and thus it is blocked by the analyzer. This mode (bright OFF state and dark ON state) is called Normally White Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal Display (NW-TN-LCD) mode.

[0017] In the display normal viewing direction (α=0°), one can obtain high contrast between the ON and OFF states. However, when the display is viewed from an oblique direction, the propagating light sees birefringence in ON state, thus it is not completely blocked by the analyzer. The isocontrast plot of the display 313 is shown in FIG. 3B. The lines 315, 317, 319 are isocontrast lines for contrast ratios 10, 50 and 100, respectively. The azimuthal angle β is measured from a reference direction 105 (shown in FIG. 1), which is chosen to be at 45° relative to the transmission axis 307 of the polarizer 303 (namely, β=45°, 225° line corresponds to 307). The display fails to maintain contrast ratio 10 or higher in the range required for many applications. Viewing angle range with contrast 10 or higher is limited as the area enclosed within the isocontrast line 10, 315, is small. The isocontrast line 10 runs through α=500 for the horizontal viewing direction (β=0°, 180°). In the vertical direction, α=30°, 58° for β=90°, 270°, respectively. Within the viewing angle range outside of the line 315, the contrast ratio between the On and the Off state becomes less than 10, or worse, a gray scale inversion occurs.

[0018] One of the common methods to improve the viewing angle characteristic of TN-LCD is to use the compensation films. In some cases, the compensation films consist of optically anisotropic layer deposited on the substrate. The substrate can be flexible film such as triacetyl-cellulose or rigid such as glass. The optically anisotropic layer is generally made of liquid crystal polymers. As it is necessary to align the optic axis of the liquid crystal polymer in the desired direction (making the anisotropic layer as A, C or O-plate), an alignment layer is often deposited between the optically anisotropic layer and substrate or between the two optically anisotropic layers. The thickness of the anisotropic layer depends on the property of its constituent material and LCD to which it is applied. The compensation films are typically inserted anywhere between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizers. The function of compensation film, in general, is to undo the retardation experienced by the propagating light while traveling through the liquid crystal cell. By using the compensation film in the ON state of NW-TN-LCD, birefringence experienced by the obliquely propagating light is cancelled by the film. This gives us uniform dark state resulting in improved viewing angle characteristic.

[0019] Various compensation methods have been suggested. U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,352 discloses the usage of combinations of O-plates. The basic idea is to compensate the ON state of TN-LCD by a stack of O-plates that have similar or complementary optical symmetries of the ON state liquid crystal cell. This was done by approximating the ON state of TN-LCD by three representative parts: two regions closed to the cell bounding plates and cell middle section. In the middle of the cell, the liquid crystal optic axis is almost perpendicular to the cell plane with large change in the azimuthal angle of liquid crystal optic axis. In the vicinity of the bounding plates, tilt in liquid crystal optic axis is small with almost fixed azimuthal angle. In comparison to the previous compensation technology, the stability of gray scale as well as viewing angle characteristic has been improved.

[0020] European Patent Application 1143271A2 discloses compensation film comprising two layers of O-plates. The tilt angle of optic axis increases continuously or stepwise in the film thickness direction in the first O-plate whereas it decreases continuously or stepwise in the second O-plate. These two O-plates are disposed on the substrate with negative C-plate property or biaxial plate having optical property close to that of negative C-plate. In negative C-plates, the ordinary refraction index is larger than the extraordinary one, and the optic axis is perpendicular to the plates. The film is used one side of the liquid crystal cell. The average tilt angle of two O-plates may assume different values. Examples 8 and 16, for example use combinations of average tilt angles 42° and 31°, and 20° and 89°, respectively.

[0021] Van de Witte et al. also disclosed in WO 97/44409 that the combination of two O-plates are used to compensate the Twisted Nematic Displays. The compensation films are applied for both sides of the liquid crystal cell. This case, too, the two O-plates can take different tilt angles, for example, 40° and 50°. The tilt angles are preferably larger than 10° but no more than 70°.

[0022] Chen et al. suggested (SID99, pp.98-101 “Wide-viewing-angle photo-aligned plastic films for TN-LCDs”) the use of crossed O-plates to compensate the dark state of NW-TN-LCD. FIG. 4A shows structures of NW-TN-LCD 441 with O-plates 403 (also referred as optically anisotropic layer). In addition to the liquid crystal cell 401, four O-plates are placed between crossed polarizer 411 and analyzer 413. Optic axes 415 in all of four O-plates 403 tilt with the same angle, 20° with respect to the plate plane. Also the retardations (or equivalently thickness, if all of the O-plates 403 are made of the same material) of the four O-plates 403 are the same and are 60 nm. The negative C-plates 421 represent the optical property of the triacetyl cellulose substrate. The retardation of the substrate R_subwith negative C-plates property defined by R_sub=(ne_s−no_s)d_sare set at −60 nm, where ne_sand no_sare extraordinary and ordinary refraction indices of the substrate, respectively, and ds is the thickness of the substrate 421. The azimuthal angles of optic axes and transmission axes of analyzer and polarizer are given in the parenthesis. The azimuthal angle of the O-plate is equal to that of the transmission axes 423, 425 of the polarizer 411 or the analyzer 413. FIG. 4B shows the isocontrast plot of the display 441. The lines 427, 429 and 431 are isocontrast lines of contrast ratios 10, 50 and 100 respectively. With the O-plate compensation, the viewing angle characteristic was improved. The viewing angle range with contrast ratio 10 or higher (or, the area enclosed by the isocontrast line 10, 427 in the isocontrast plot shown in FIG. 4B) expanded compared to its counter part in the isocontrast plot shown in FIG. 3B.

[0023] The compensation film disclosed in the co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 10/281,595 uses lower tilt angle and higher retardation values for O-plates compared to the display 441 (e.g., 10° tilt angle and 100 nm for retardation). This replacement improved the vertical viewing characteristic of the display 441.

[0024] The prior art compensators using O-plate improved the viewing angle characteristic by reducing the light leakage in the ON state. However, viewing angle characteristic still remain unsatisfactory. For example, in the prior art display 441 shown in FIG. 4A, large viewing angle range with contrast ratio 10 or less (namely, the area outside of the isocontrast line 10, 427 in the isocontrast plot shown in FIG. 4B of prior art display shown in FIG. 4A) remains. The display with this viewing angle characteristic is certainly not applicable for LCD-TV or application that needs large viewing angle range, such as avionics displays. Also, prior arts do not focus on the systematic optimizations of parameters, e.g., the retardation and tilt angle combination along with the optical properties of the substrate. Thus, the range of parameters that offers functional compensation films is limited. Therefore there is a strong need for new compensation films that offer significantly higher contrast for wider viewing angle range than the displays with prior art compensation films. Also, the need is there to have a wider range of parameters for compensation films that lead to flexible manufacturing conditions.

[0025] The invention provides an optical compensation film for liquid crystal displays comprising, a first and a second optically anisotropic layers containing positively birefringent material disposed on a substrate, wherein the optic axis of said first optically anisotropic layer tilts in a first plane with an average tilt angle between 25° and 70°, and the optic axis of said second optically anisotropic layer tilts in a second plane with an average tilt angle between 0° and 40°, and said average tilt angle of said first optically anisotropic layer and said average tilt angle of said second optically anisotropic layer are different, and said first and said second planes are perpendicular to the plane of said optical compensation film with the angle between said first and said second planes being 90±10°, and the retardation defined by (ne₁−no₁)d₁of said first optically anisotropic layer is between 50 nm and 160 nm and the retardation defined by (ne₂−no₂)d₂of the said second optically anisotropic layers is between 0 nm and 80 nm, and said retardation of said first optically anisotropic layer and said retardation of said second optically anisotropic layer are different, where ne₁and no₁are extraordinary and ordinary indices of refraction of said positively birefringent material of said first optically anisotropic layer, respectively, and ne₂and no₂are extraordinary and ordinary indices of refraction of said positively birefringent material of said second optically anisotropic layer, respectively, and d₁and d₂are thickness of the said first and said second optically anisotropic layer, respectively.

[0026] The compensation film can be used in conjunction with a twisted nematic liquid crystal display for an improved viewing angle characteristic. The invention also includes a display incorporating the film of the invention.

[0027] While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter of the present invention, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from, the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0028] FIG. 1 shows the definition of a viewing angle direction;

[0029] FIG. 2 shows the definition of the tilt and azimuthal angles to specify a direction of an optic axis;

[0030] FIG. 3A is a prior art NW-TN-LCD without compensation;

[0031] FIG. 3B is an isocontrast plot of the prior art NW-TN-LCD shown in FIG. 3A;

[0032] FIG. 4A is a prior art NW-TN-LCD with O-plate compensation films having 20° tilt and retardation at 60 nm. The substrate has a retardation of R_sub=−60 nm;

[0033] FIG. 4B is an isocontrast plot of the prior art NW-TN-LCD shown in FIG. 4A;

[0034] FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are elevation schematics of the compensation film;

[0035] FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are diagrams showing the structure of the compensation film, in which the tilt of the optic axis is constant and varying across the thickness direction, respectively;

[0036] FIGS. 7A through 7E are graphs showing the range of retardations R₁and R₂for different combination of the tilt angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently θ_av1and θ_av2) and R_sub. The compensation films having R₁and R₂within the shaded area allow a contrast ratio 10 line extending to polar viewing angle (α=60° or higher at azimuthal viewing angles β=0°, 90°, 180° and 270°;

[0037] FIG. 8A is a NW-TN-LCD with compensation film having parameters θ_C1=50°, θ_C2=5° (or equivalently θ_av1=50°, θ_av1=5°), R₁=100 nm, R₂=40 nm and R_sub=−160 nm according to the invention;

[0038] FIG. 8B is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD shown in FIG. 8A;

[0039] FIG. 8C is a NW-TN-LCD with compensation film having parameters θ_C1=50°, θ_C2=5° (or equivalently θ_av1=50°, θ_av1=5°), R₁=100 nm, R₂=40 nm. Two substrates have different retardation R_sub1=−106 nm and R_sub2=−54 nm;

[0040] FIG. 8D is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD shown in FIG. 8C;

[0041] FIG. 9A is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD with compensation film with θ_C1=50°, θ_C2=50° (or equivalently θ_av1=50°, θ_av2=50°), R₁=60 nm, R₂=60 nm and R_sub=−60 nm;

[0042] FIG. 9B is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD with compensation film with θ_C1=5°, θ_C2=5° (or equivalently θ_av1=5°, θ_av2=5°, R₁=60 nm, R₂=60 nm and R_sub=−60nm;

[0043] FIG. 9C is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD with compensation film with θ_C1=20°, θ_C2=20° (or equivalently θ_av1=20°, θ_av2=20°), R₁=100 nm, R₂=100 nm and R_sub=60nm;

[0044] FIG. 9D is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD with compensation film with θ_c1=50°, θ_C2=5° (or equivalently θ_av1=50°, θ_av2=5°), R₁=100 nm, R₂=100 nm and R_sub=−160 nm;

[0045] FIG. 9E is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD with compensation film with θ_C1=50°, θ_C2=50° (or equivalently θ_av1=5°, θ_av2=50°), R₁=40 nm, R₂=40 nm and R_sub=−160 nm;

[0046] FIG. 9F is an isocontrast plot of the NW-TN-LCD with compensation film with θ_C1=50°, θ_C2=50° (or equivalently θ_av1=50°, θ_av2=50°), R₁=100 nm, R₂=40 nm and R_sub=−160 nm.

[0047] Reference will now be made to the drawings in which the various elements of the present invention will be given numerical designations and in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention. It is to be understood that elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms well known to those skilled in the art.

[0048] An optical compensation film for liquid crystal displays of the present invention comprises a first and a second optically anisotropic layers containing positively birefringent material disposed on a substrate, wherein the optic axis of said first optically anisotropic layer tilts in a first plane with an average tilt angle between 25° and 70°, and the optic axis of said second optically anisotropic layer tilts in a second plane with an average tilt angle between 0° and 40°, and said average tilt angle of said first optically anisotropic layer and said average tilt angle of said second optically anisotropic layer are different, and said first and said second planes are perpendicular to a plane of said optical compensation film, and an angle between said first and said second plane is 90±10°, and the retardation defined by (ne₁−no₁)d₁of said first optically anisotropic layer is between 50 nm and 160 nm and the retardation defined by (ne₂−no₂)d₂of the said second optically anisotropic layers is between 0 nm and 80 nm, and said retardation of said first optically anisotropic layer and said retardation of said second optically anisotropic layer are different, where ne₁and no₁are extraordinary and ordinary indices of refraction of said positively birefringent material of said first optically anisotropic layer, respectively, and ne₂and no₂are extraordinary and ordinary indices of refraction of said positively birefringent material of said second optically anisotropic layer, respectively, and d₁and d₂are thickness of the said first and said second optically anisotropic layer, respectively. In the following, the present invention will be explained in detail.

[0049] FIG. 5A shows the elevation view of the optical compensation film 500, which contains a positively birefringent material oriented with its optic axis tilted in a plane perpendicular to the film plane. Two birefringent material layers or optically anisotropic layers 501, 503 are deposited on the substrate 509, which is parallel to the film plane. The first layer 501 and second layer 503 have different average tilt angle in the optic axis and retardation. The average tilt angle θ_avis the average of tilt angle over the thickness of the optically anisotropic layer, $i.e.,\frac{{\int }_0^d\theta \left(z\right)dz}{d},$

[0050] where θ(z) is the tilt angle at the height of z measured in the thickness direction of the optically anisotropic layers, 501, 503, with the thickness d. If the tilt angle is constant throughout the thickness direction of the anisotropic layer, namely θ(z)=θ_C, then we have θ_av=θ_C. If the tilt angle varies linearly throughout in the thickness direction of the optically anisotropic layer, θ_avis equal to the average of the tilt angle at z=0 and z=d, thus θ_av={θ(z=0)+θ(z=d)}/2. The retardation of optically anisotropic layer is defined by (ne−no)d at the wavelength of 550 nm, where ne and no are the extraordinary and ordinary refractive indices of the positively birefringent material, respectively, and d, the thickness of the birefringent material layer or optically anisotropic layer. Thus thickness of the two anisotropic layers with the same retardation must be equal provided their birefringence (ne−no) are the same. There are cases in which the two optically anisotropic layers contain different positively anisotropic materials. Namely, the first optically anisotropic layer contains positively birefringent material with ne₁and no₁while the second optically anisotropic layer contains positively birefringent material with ne₂and no₂.

[0051] As is well known in the art, optical materials may have up to three different principal indices of refraction and can be classified as either isotropic or anisotropic based on the relationship of these indices. When all three of its principal indices are equal, a material is said to be isotropic. When anisotropic, a material can be either uniaxial, or biaxial. If two principal indices are equal, a material is called uniaxial. A uniaxial material is uniquely characterized, as having an ordinary index, referred as no, an extraordinary index ne and two angles describing the orientation of its optical axis, the axis of ne. When ne is greater than no, a uniaxial material is positively birefringent. When ne is smaller than no, a uniaxial material is negatively birefringent. Controlling birefringent behavior is particularly useful in the fabrication and application of optical films. When all three refractive indices are different, a material is said to be biaxial, uniquely specified by its principal indices nx₀, ny₀, nz₀, and three orientation angles. Some of biaxial materials show weak biaxiality meaning that two of their three principal indices are very close, which is often considered equally as the ordinary refractive index for a uniaxial material. In the following, “optically anisotropic layer” is used to refer the birefringent material layer.

[0052] The substrate 509 functions as a mechanical support and has certain optical property. The material for substrate can be polymer or other optically transparent material. The substrate can take flexible or rigid form as long as it has enough strength for manufacturing process and actual application. Optically, it has a characteristic of negative C-plate, namely, C-plate with a relation ne_s<no_s, where ne_sand no_sare extraordinary and ordinary refraction indices of substrate. The out-of-plane retardation R_sub=(ne_s−no_s)d_sof the substrate defined at the wavelength of 550 nm with thickness d_sis preferably in the range of −250 nm to −80 nm. A substrate with biaxial optical property can also be used. In this case, the optically property of the substrate is specified by three independent indices of refraction, nx_s, ny_s, and nz_s, where nx_sis the maximum index of refraction and ny_sis the minimum index refraction both in the plane of the substrate and nz_sis the index of refraction in the thickness direction of the substrate. For the biaxial plate to be used as a substrate, the difference between nx_sand ny_sis small, that is (nx_s−ny_s)/(nx_s+ny_s)<0.05, and the relation nx_s>ny_s>nz_sis satisfied. In this case the out-of-plane retardation, R_subis defined by R_sub={nz_s−(nx_s+ny_s)/2} at the wavelength of 550 nm. The substrate can comprise of multiple of layers or coatings to attain the sufficient negative value of R_sub. For example, if a sheet of polymer film gives R_sub=−60 nm, one obtains R_sub=−120 nm by laminating two sheets of the same film. Or if necessary, films with insufficient negative value of R_subcan be coated with a layer of organic or inorganic compound. As is well known to someone who is skilled in the art, a layer of particular polymer, such as polyimide or discotic liquid crystal compounds gives high negative value of R_sub. Optically isotropic materials, such as glass or some polymer films, can be a substrate when coated or laminated with layers or a layer having sufficient negative value of R_sub.

[0053] Alignment layers 505, 507 enforce the predetermined azimuthal φ and tilt θ angles of optic axis in the first and the second optically anisotropic layers 501, 503. In a typical case, the alignment direction is generated by mechanically rubbing the surface of the alignment layer. In general, the alignment layer contains a polymeric material such as polyvinyl alcohol or polyimide. By changing rubbing speed, rubbing pressure and other controllable parameters, one can generate prescribed angle of optic axis in the first and the second optically anisotropic layers 501, 503. Also, electromagnetic radiation of the alignment layer or photo-alignment method is known to generate the specific orientation of the optic axis. In this case, the direction of optic axis in the optically anisotropic layer is controlled by the material contained in the alignment layer, amount of an exposure, wavelength of the radiation, the thickness of alignment layer and other possible parameters. The alignment layer needs to be sensitive to the wavelength of radiation. Typically, a radiation in ultraviolet region is used for polymeric alignment layer containing UV sensitive functional group such as cinnamate group.

[0054] FIG. 5B shows the alternate configuration of the compensation film 515. The optically anisotropic layers, 501, 503 are sandwiched between the two substrates 509, 511 that may or may not be identical to each other. Alignment layers are 505 and 507. This case potentially arises when the compensation films are manufactured by laminating two separate optically anisotropic layers disposed on two separate substrates. The laminating interface is located between the two anisotropic layers, 501 and 503. Other possible lamination case for a compensation film 517 is shown in FIG. 5C. Where the laminating interface is now located between the optically anisotropic layer 501 and the substrate 511. The sum of the retardations of the two substrates (R_sub1for 509 and R_sub2for 511) R_sub1+R_sub2=R_subis, preferably, in the range between −250 nm to −80 nm. It is also possible to laminate two films on the substrate sides, that is, lamination interface is located between the two-substrate sides.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 5D, the compensation film 519 without alignment layers 505, 507 is also possible. The optic axis direction in optically anisotropic layers 501, 503 is controlled by an external force such as electric, magnetic field or shear flow forces. Then the optic axis direction is frozen by, for example, polymerization or quenching of the optically anisotropic layers while the external field is being applied. Also, as is well known in the art, layers of inorganic compounds deposited by certain methods and with conditions, give desired direction of optic axes as well as the retardation.

[0056] An optically anisotropic layer is characterized by the indices of refraction, retardation (or equivalently thickness) and the direction of optic axis. The direction of optic axis is specified by its tilt θ and azimuthal angles φ. FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show the structure of the film 500 schematically. The optic axis of the first optically anisotropic layer 601 is tilted in a first plane 608, and the optic axis of the second optically anisotropic layer 603 is tilted in a second plane 607. Both first plane 608 and second plane 607 are perpendicular to the film plane or substrate 609. The angle formed between the first plane 608 and the second plane 607 is 90±10°. Preferably, the compensation films are used in the LCD such that the first plane 608 contains transmission axis of an adjacent element that polarizes electromagnetic wave (polarizer or analyzer). Plane 608 also contains the optic axis of liquid crystal on the cell surface closest to the compensation film. Therefore, the transmission axis of polarizing element is parallel to the liquid crystal optic axis on the cell surface adjacent to the polarizing element. The mode with this particular angular relation between the transmission axis and liquid crystal optic axis is called Extraordinary mode. Two optically anisotropic layers 601, 603 are deposited on the alignment layers 605. The substrate 609 supports the whole structure as well as giving necessary optical property for the compensation films. Arrows indicate the direction of optic axis in the optically anisotropic layers. The optic axis in the optically anisotropic layer tilts in the plane perpendicular to the liquid crystal cell plane and the plane of the substrate 609. The tilt angle θ may stay constant as θ_C1and θ_C2(FIG. 6A) or vary in the thickness direction of the optically anisotropic layer from θ_V1to θ_V2or θ_V3to θ_V4(FIG. 6B).

[0057] In the varying case, the average tilt angle ${\theta }_{av}=\frac{{\int }_0^d\theta \left(z\right)dz}{d}$

[0058] is used instead of entire tilt profile θ(z) to specify the tilt angle within the optically anisotropic layers. One obtains comparable optical properties from an optically anisotropic layer with a constant tilt θ_Cand an optically anisotropic layer with varying tilt having θ_av=θ_C.

[0059] Although a compensation film having similar structure as shown in FIGS. 5A through 6B are well known, the compensation film 500 of the present invention possesses combination of different tilt angle of optic axis and retardation between the two optically anisotropic layers that are given in a particular range given below. The combination in the given range of tilt and the retardation provide much improved viewing angle performance of TN-LCD. In the constant tilt angle case as shown in FIG. 6A, the tilt angle θ_C1of the first optically anisotropic layer 601 is preferably in the range 25° ≦θ_C1≦70° or more preferably 40°≦θ_C1≦60°. On the other hand, the tilt angle θ_C2for the second anisotropic layer 603 is preferably 0°≦θ_C2≦40° or more preferably 0°≦θ_C2≦20°. In case of varying tilt angle as shown in FIG. 6B, the average of the tilt angle θ_av1for the first layer 601 are preferably in the range 25°≦θ_av1≦70° or more preferably 40°≦θ_av1≦60°. For the second optically anisotropic layer 603, the average tilt angle θ_av2is given 0°≦θ_av2≦40° or more preferably 0°≦θ_av2≦20°. The tilt angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently θ_av1and θ_av2) assume different values. Preferably, the difference between the two angles, θ_C1−θ_C2(or equivalently, θ_av1−θ_av2) is no less than 10° or more preferably is no less than 30° but not more than 60°. Various combinations, such as varying tilt in the first optically anisotropic layer 601 and constant tilt in the second one 603 can equally function as a compensation film.

[0060] The retardation of the first optically anisotropic layer R₁is defined as (ne₁−no₁)d₁, where d₁is the thickness of the first optically anisotropic layer. The retardation of the second optically anisotropic layer R₂is equally defined as (ne₂−no₂)d₂. The value of R₁is in the range 50 nm ≦R₁≦160 nm and R₂is in the range 0 nm ≦R₂≦80 nm. R₁and R₂are different and the difference is preferably no less than 10 nm or more preferably no less than 20 nm but not more than 100 nm. For a given R_sub, the preferable values for the retardation, R₁and R₂for the first 601 and the second 603 optically anisotropic layers depend on each other and also on the combination of angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently, θ_av1and θ_av2) between the two layers, 601 and 603. FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C, FIG. 7D, and FIG. 7E show the range of the preferable values for R₁and R₂for a given combination of tilt angles and R_subas tabulated in the Table 1.

[0061] The compensation films having R₁and R₂within the shaded area allows a contrast ratio 10 line extending to polar viewing angle α=60° or higher at azimuthal viewing angles β=0°, 90°,180° and 270°.

[0062] FIG. 8A is the schematic of the NW-TN-LCD 851 with the compensation film 500 according to the invention. The optically anisotropic layers 801 and 803 (corresponding to layers 601, 603, respectively, in FIGS. 6A and 6B) are shown separately disposed on the substrate 829. The alignment layers are not shown in FIG. 8A. The TN liquid crystal cell 809 is placed between two pairs of optically anisotropic layers 803. Arrows 819 indicate the direction of liquid crystal optic axis at the cell surfaces. The direction of optic axis in optically anisotropic layers is shown by the arrows 811. In the figure, the tilt angles of optic axis in the first 801 and the second 803 optically anisotropic layers are shown as a constant, θ_C1=50° and θ_C2=5°. However, as mentioned above, they can be replaced by anisotropic layers with varying tilt having θ_av1=θ_C1=50° and θ_av2=θ_C2=5°. The retardations are R₁=100 nm for layer 801 and R₂=40 nm for layer 803. The substrate 829 is a negative C-plate with the retardation (ne_s−no_s)d_s=−160 nm. The double-headed arrows 823, 825 show the transmission axes of polarizer 831 and analyzer 833, which have azimuthal angle φ of 130° (or 315°) and 45° (or 225°), respectively. Azimuthal angles of optic axes and the transmission axes are given in the parenthesis. Optic axis of the optically anisotropic layers 801, 803 have the same azimuthal angle φ (either 45° or 135°) as the transmission axis of polarizer or analyzer. Alternatively, one can use the compensation film 515 with the structure such as in FIG. 5B. The corresponding display 855 is shown in FIG. 8C. There are additional substrate layers 853 between the second anisotropic layer 803 and the liquid crystal cell 809. Tilt angles and retardations of the optically anisotropic layers 801, 803 are the same as the display 851 shown in FIG. 8A. The retardation of the substrates 829 and 853 are R_{sub 1}=−106 nm and R_sub2=−54 nm, respectively thus R_sub=−160 nm.

[0063] FIG. 8B and FIG. 8D are isocontrast plots for the display 851 and 855 shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8C, respectively. The lines 837 and 839 are isocontrast lines with contrast ratio 50 and 100, respectively.

[0064] For a comparison, FIG. 4B shows the isocontrast plot of the display 441 (shown in FIG. 4A) with a prior art compensation film in which the optically anisotropic layer 403 having tilt angle θ=20° and retardation of 60 nm with a substrate having R_sub=−60 nm. The lines 427, 429, 431 are isocontrast lines for contrast ratio 10, 50 and 100, respectively.

[0065] It can be seen both in FIG. 8B and FIG. 8D that the area enclosed by the isocontrast line 100, 839, is much larger than their counter part by the line 431 in the isocontrast plot shown in FIG. 4B. In fact, the display 851 has a contrast ratio higher than 100 almost every viewing angle. The display 853 has achieved much wider viewing angle range with contrast ratio 50 or higher in comparison to the prior art display 441. On the other hand, the prior art display 441 still has significant viewing angle portion with contrast less than 10 that is located outside of the isocontrast line 10 in the isocontrast plot shown in FIG. 4B.

[0066] Table 2 shows average viewing angle (average value of polar viewing angle α at β=0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) that corresponds to the particular contrast ratios (50, 100 and 200) for the prior art display 441 in FIG. 4A (Prior Art Display 1), prior art display according to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/281,595 (Prior Art Display 2), and the display 851 in FIG. 8A. Prior Art Display 2 is the same as Prior Art Display 1 (441) except that the O-plates have the tilt angle 10° and the retardation 100 nm. A display with a better viewing angle characteristic has a larger average viewing angle of α at the same contrast ratio. It is demonstrated that display 851 of the invention has significantly wider viewing angle range for the same contrast ratio in comparison to both of the Prior Arts Displays 1 and 2. For example, average viewing angle range with contrast 100 or higher is expanded to 67° from 32° and 36°. Table 2. Comparison of average viewing angle between the prior art compensation film and the one according to the current invention.

[0067] FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C, FIG. 7D and FIG. 7E clearly show that the retardations, R₁and R₂, and tilt angles of the first and the second optically anisotropic layers as well as the substrate retardation R_subneed to be optimized simultaneously. For fixed value of R_subthe retardations R₁and R₂depend on each other, and their range differs for a different tilt angle combination. According to FIG. 7B, for example, at R_sub=−160 nm, if the average tilt of the first layer is 50° and that of the second is 5° and R₁is 80 nm, then we have preferable value for R₂given by 15 nm≦R₂≦55 nm. If the angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently, θ_av1and θ_av2) are respectively 40° and 10°, and R₁=80 nm, we have preferable range 35 nm≦R₂≦55 nm as indicated by FIG. 7A. The necessity of the simultaneous optimization is clearly demonstrated in the contrast plots FIGS. 9A through 9F. They are isocontrast plots of NW-TN-LCD such as shown in FIG. 4A or FIG. 8A but with different parameter for tilt angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently θ_av1and θ_av2), and retardations R₁and R₂, and R_subas given in Table 3. In FIGS. 9A through 9F, the lines 901, 903 and 905 correspond to isocontrast line with contrast ratio 10, 50 and 100, respectively.

[0068] FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B show that simultaneous change in the tilt angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently, θ_av1and θ_av2) does not necessarily improve the performance of displays. Neither one of them has a wider viewing angle range compared to the prior art display 441 shown in FIG. 4A. This is evidenced by the fact that both FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B has smaller area enclosed within the isocontrast line 10, 901. In FIG. 9A, isocontrast line 10 runs at α=41°, 43°, 41° and 39° at β=0°, 90°, 180°, 270°, respectively. It is clearly not satisfactory for the actual application. FIG. 9B shows somewhat better performance than FIG. 9A, however, the poor performance in the vertical direction makes this case unsatisfactory.

[0069] When the tilt angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently, θ_av1and θ_av2) are kept at 20° and the R₁and R₂are changed, the viewing angle range does not exhibit significant improvement over that of prior art display 441. The example is shown in FIG. 9C with R₁and R₂being set at 100 nm. Its isocontrast plot shown in FIG. 9C, the area enclosed within the line 901 is almost equivalent to that within the line 427.

[0070] Combination of different angles with the same values for R₁and R₂with larger negative value of R_subshows no significant change in the display performance. This is demonstrated by the isocontrast plots shown in FIG. 9D and FIG. 9E. FIG. 9D exhibits some improvement in the diagonal viewing direction (β=45°, 135°, 225°, 315°) in comparison to the prior art display 441, at the same time, degradation in the contrast ratio at β=0°, 90°, 180° and 270° is severe. For example, the isocontrast ratio 10 line 901 runs at α=46°, 35°, 46°, 57° for β=0°, 90°, 180° and 270° respectively, in FIG. 9D. On the other hand, it runs at α=59°, 55°, 59° and 58° in the FIG. 4B. FIG. 9E shows improvement over the prior display 441 in a wide azimuthal viewing angle range (0°≦β≦205°, 337°≦β≦360° (=0°)), however it shows major contrast degradation in the viewing angle range centered around β=270°.

[0071] Taking different R₁and R₂while keeping the same tilt angles θ_C1and θ_C2(or equivalently, θ_av1and θ_av2) gives only limited improvement. FIG. 9F is an example. In this case, the performance is better than the prior art display 441. However, it is far inferior to the display 851 and 851 shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8C as it is clear from a comparison among the isocontrast plots shown in FIG. 8B, FIG. 8D and FIG. 9F.

[0072] Some of the prior art compensation film design favors a stack of two identical O-plates where azimuthal angle between the optic axes of two plates is 90°. Therefore it is not surprising that the compensation film with tilt angle θ=20° and retardation of 60 nm was discovered by Chen et al. (SID99, pp.98-101 “Wide-viewing-angle photo-aligned plastic films for TN-LCDs”). A compensation film having an even higher tilt angle between 25° and 65° was also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,352. EP Application 1143271A2 and WO 97/44409 discusses the combination of different tilt angles between the two O-plates. However, it is a surprising result that particular combinations of two tilt angles θ_C1, θ_C2(or equivalently θ_av1and θ_av2), the retardations R₁, R₂, and the retardation of the substrate R_subresult in unforeseeable and significant improvements in the viewing angle range.

[0073] Additional benefit of the current invention is that it offers wide range of parameters θ_C1, θ_C2(or equivalently θ_av1and θ_av2), R₁, R₂and R_subof the compensation film that has superior performance than the prior art displays, such as the one 441 shown in FIG. 4A. It offers wide tolerance in R₁and R₂for some combinations of tilt angles. As shown in the FIG. 7B, when θ_C1=50° and θ_C2=5° (or equivalently θ_av1=50° and θ_av2=5°) the possible range of the R₁and R₂are given by 60 nm≦R₁5≦140 nm and 15 nm≦R₂≦60 nm. The wide range has also been achieved in the tilt angles. For the combination of R₁=100 nm and R₂=45 nm, the allowable range for θ_C1, and θ_C2(or equivalently for (θ_av1and θ_av2) are, 40°<θ_C1≦60° and 0°≦θ_C1≦5°. Thus the invention offers excellent manufacturing flexibility.

[0074] The entire contents of the patents and other publications referred to in this specification are incorporated herein by reference.

[0075] 101 liquid crystal display

[0076] 103 normal direction of display surface

[0077] 105 azimuthal reference direction for azimuthal angle

[0078] 107 display surface

[0079] 108 projection of viewing direction arrow on the display surface

[0080] 109 arrow indicating the viewing direction

[0081] 201 direction of optic axis specified by azimuthal angle φ and tilt angle θ

[0082] 203 x-y-z coordinate system

[0083] 301 liquid crystal cell

[0084] 303 polarizer

[0085] 305 analyzer

[0086] 307 transmission axis of polarizer

[0087] 309 transmission axis of analyzer

[0088] 311 optic axes of liquid crystal at the liquid crystal cell surfaces

[0089] 313 prior art Twisted Nematic liquid crystal display (TN-LCD)

[0090] 315 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 10

[0091] 317 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 50

[0092] 319 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 100

[0093] 401 liquid crystal cell

[0094] 403 O-plate or optically anisotropic layer

[0095] 411 polarizer

[0096] 413 analyzer

[0097] 415 optic axis direction in optically anisotropic layer 403

[0098] 421 negative C-plate representing the substrate

[0099] 423 transmission axis of polarizer

[0100] 425 transmission axis of analyzer

[0101] 427 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 10

[0102] 429 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 50

[0103] 431 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 100

[0104] 441 NW-TN-LCD according to the prior art

[0105] 500 compensation film

[0106] 501 first optically anisotropic layer

[0107] 503 second optically anisotropic layer

[0108] 505 alignment layer

[0109] 507 alignment layer

[0110] 509 substrate

[0111] 511 substrate

[0112] 515 compensation film

[0113] 517 compensation film

[0114] 519 compensation film

[0115] 601 first optically anisotropic layer

[0116] 603 second optically anisotropic layer

[0117] 605 alignment layer

[0118] 607 second plane

[0119] 608 first plane

[0120] 609 substrate

[0121] 801 first optically anisotropic layer

[0122] 803 second optically anisotropic layer

[0123] 809 liquid crystal cell

[0124] 811 optic axis of anisotropic layer

[0125] 819 liquid crystal optic axis at the surface of the liquid crystal cell

[0126] 823 transmission axis of polarizer

[0127] 825 transmission axis of analyzer

[0128] 829 substrate

[0129] 831 polarizer

[0130] 833 analyzer

[0131] 837 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 50

[0132] 839 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 100

[0133] 851 NW-TN-LCD according to the invention

[0134] 853 substrate

[0135] 855 NW-TN-LCD according to the invention

[0136] 901 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 10

[0137] 903 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 50

[0138] 905 isocontrast line corresponding to contrast ratio 100

[0139] d thickness of the optically anisotropic layer

[0140] d₁thickness of the first optically anisotropic layer

[0141] d₂thickness of the second optically anisotropic layer

[0142] d_sthickness of the substrate

[0143] ne extraordinary refractive index of the positively birefringent material

[0144] no ordinary refractive index of the positively birefringent material

[0145] ne₁extraordinary refractive index of the positively birefringent material of the first optically anisotropic layer

[0146] no₁ordinary refractive index of the positively birefringent material of the first optically anisotropic layer

[0147] ne₂extraordinary refractive index of the positively birefringent material of the second optically anisotropic layer

[0148] no₂ordinary refractive index of the positively birefringent material of the second optically anisotropic layer

[0149] ne_sextraordinary index of the substrate

[0150] no_sordinary index of the substrate

[0151] nx_sthe maximum index of refraction in the plane of the substrate with the biaxial optical property

[0152] ny_sthe minimum index of refraction in the plane of the substrate with the biaxial optical property

[0153] nz_sthe index of refraction in the thickness direction of the substrate with the biaxial optical property

[0154] R₁retardation of the first optically anisotropic layer

[0155] R₂retardation of the second optically anisotropic layer

[0156] R_subretardation of the substrate

[0157] R_sub1retardation of the substrate

[0158] R_sub2retardation of the substrate

[0159] α polar viewing angle

[0160] β azimuthal viewing angle

[0161] φ azimuthal angle of optic axis

[0162] θ tilt angle of optic axis

[0163] θ_Cconstant tilt angle of optic axis of optically anisotropic layers

[0164] θ_avaverage tilt angle of optic axis of optically anisotropic layers

[0165] θ_C1constant tilt angle of optic axis of the first optically anisotropic layer

[0166] θ_C2constant tilt angle of optic axis of the second optically anisotropic layer

[0167] θ_av1average tilt angle of optic axis of the first optically anisotropic layer

[0168] θ_av2average tilt angle of optic axis of the second optically anisotropic layer

[0169] θ_V1tilt angle of optic axis

[0170] θ_V2tilt angle of optic axis

[0171] θ_V3tilt angle of optic axis

[0172] θ_V4tilt angle of optic axis

[0173] θ_sliquid crystal tilt angle at the surfaces