Abstract: In a light guide body, a flat part is provided at an edge part of a fluorescent tube vicinal part (part that receives strong light), and a pear-skin texture pattern having a sine wave shape boundary is formed inside the flat part. Therefore, it is possible to alternately provide, along a direction to which the fluorescent tube extends, small pear-skin texture regions and small flat regions. In certain example embodiments, scattering intensity of the light guide body is set so that it becomes stronger gradually from the edge part close to the fluorescent tube toward the inside far from the fluorescent tube.

Abstract: A plurality of rare gas electric discharge lamps (14, 15) is disposed side by side on a side end surface of a light guide member (13) by making polarities of the rare gas electric discharge lamps (14, 15) coincident with each other. Poles (14a, 15a) of the rare gas electric discharge lamps (14, 15) at a grounding side thereof are electrically connected to each other. An inverter substrate (voltage control part) (21) is connected to the poles (14b, 15b) of the rare gas electric discharge lamps (14, 15) disposed at a voltage-applying side thereof. The inverter substrate (21) turns on one or both of the rare gas electric discharge lamps (14, 15) and changes a voltage to be applied to the rare gas electric discharge lamp (14). Thereby the luminance can be adjusted.

Abstract: In the present light guide body, a flat part is provided at an edge part of a fluorescent tube vicinal part (part that receives strong light), and a pear-skin texture pattern having a sine wave shape boundary is formed inside the flat part. Therefore, it is possible to alternately provide, along a direction to which the fluorescent tube extends, small pear-skin texture regions and small flat regions. That is, scattering intensity of the light guide body is set so that it becomes stronger gradually from the edge part close to the fluorescent tube toward the inside far from the fluorescent tube. The quantity of the light incident on the back surface becomes less from the edge part toward the internal side. Therefore, it is possible for the light guide body to uniformize a light scattering quantity of each portion of the back surface. As a result, the light guide body can uniformize the light emitted from a surface over the entire surface of the light guide body.

Abstract: An illumination device for illuminating a liquid crystal panel having a frame area and an effective display area surrounded by the frame area includes a light source for emitting light; an optical conductor including a light incident surface on which light emitted by the light source in allowed to be incident, a light output surface from which the light is allowed to be output, and a projection projecting from the light incident surface; and a light scattering section for scattering light, the light scattering section including an engaging portion which is engageable with the projection. The optical conductor and the light scattering section are located such that is an end of the projection of the optical conductors located outside the effective display area of the liquid crystal panel.

Abstract: A backlight 7 has light sources 2, a flat-plate-shaped light guide plate 3 for guiding the light emitted from the light sources 2 in a predetermined direction, a light shield louver 5, disposed so as to face the light guide plate 3, for shielding part of the light emerging from the light guide plate 3 according to angles of incidence, and a prism sheet 8 for converting the brightness distribution of the light incident on the light shield louver 5 into a predetermined brightness distribution. Owing to the prism sheet 8, the light incident on the light shield louver exhibits a brightness distribution such that brightness is at a minimum at an angle of incidence of 0°. Thus, the backlight 7, and a liquid crystal display device 1 employing it, permits light to emerge therefrom within a desired range of viewing angles while offering high brightness within that range, with reduced degradation of viewability.

Abstract: A backlighting device including: a light guide unit formed as a substantially flat panel of a first resin material having opposing surfaces and side faces, the light guide unit having a light guide section, wherein light enters the light guide unit through at least one of the side faces and is emitted from one of the opposing surfaces; and a light source element disposed adjacent to the at least one side face of the light guide section for irradiating light onto the at least one side face of the light guide section. The light guide unit further includes a light scattering section formed of a second resin material, the light scattering section substantially perpendicularly protruding from the at least one side face of the light guide unit, and the light scattering section overlies the light source element along a direction of travel of the light exiting from the light guide section so as to scatter the light irradiated by the light source element.

Abstract: A backlight 7 has light sources 2, a flat-plate-shaped light guide plate 3 for guiding the light emitted from the light sources 2 in a predetermined direction, a light shield louver 5, disposed so as to face the light guide plate 3, for shielding part of the light emerging from the light guide plate 3 according to angles of incidence, and a prism sheet 8 for converting the brightness distribution of the light incident on the light shield louver 5 into a predetermined brightness distribution. Owing to the prism sheet 8, the light incident on the light shield louver exhibits a brightness distribution such that brightness is at a minimum at an angle of incidence of 0°. Thus, the backlight 7, and a liquid crystal display device 1 employing it, permits light to emerge therefrom within a desired range of viewing angles while offering high brightness within that range, with reduced degradation of viewability.

Abstract: An illumination device includes a cold cathode fluorescent tube having a heat capacity of 0.035 Wsec/.degree. C. or less per unit length (1 cm) of a glass tube of a fluorescent section of the cold cathode fluorescent tube. The illumination device has a superior operation characteristic at a low temperature. The device is driven by a method and is implemented in a display device.

Abstract: A light-writing-type liquid crystal element which is provided with carrier-blocking layers that are installed on the transparent electrode side and on the light-shielding layer side of a photoconductive layer and that prevents carriers from entering the photoconductive layer. By adjusting the width of a depletion layer that is formed by the carrier-blocking layers and other factors, the energy-band structure of the photoconductive layer is kept asymmetric so that when a voltage is applied onto the photoconductive layer, the area on the writing-light incident-side of the photoconductive layer receives a higher voltage than that of the area on the liquid-crystal-layer side. Consequently, the photosensitivity of the photoconductive layer is improved, and the resolution as well as the contrast of the element can be improved.