Abstract: An illuminating device capable of improving display luminance while decreasing light leakage in a range with a large view angle and a display unit are provided. In a light modulation device bonded to a light guide plate, a light modulation layer containing a bulk and microparticles is provided. Both the bulk and the microparticles have optical anisotropy, and each response speed to an electric field is different from each other. Thereby, by controlling the electric field, each optical axis orientation of the bulk and the microparticles is able to correspond with each other, or is able to be different from each other.

Abstract: A display device including a display module, a light source module, a turning optical film, a first compensation film and a second compensation film is provided. The display module includes a first substrate, a second substrate and a display medium. The light source module generates directional light. The display module is disposed above the light source module. The second substrate is disposed opposite to the first substrate. The display medium is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate and is optically isotropic. The turning optical film is disposed on the second substrate of the display module. The directional light enters the turning optical film and then exits the turning optical film to form an output light. The first compensation film is disposed on the first outer surface of the first substrate. The second compensation film is disposed between the second substrate and the turning optical film.

Abstract: An illumination device is provided and includes: a light guide member; a light source provided on one or more side faces of the light guide member; and a light modulating element including a pair of transparent substrates disposed to oppose each other with a gap therebetween, a first electrode provided on a surface of one of the transparent substrates, a second electrode provided on a surface of the other of the transparent substrates, and a light modulation layer provided in the gap and expressing a scattering property or a transparency to light from the light source in accordance with a magnitude of an electric field. The first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof is patterned, and a density of pattern of the first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof to which the patterning is applied is varied depending on a distance from the light source.

Abstract: Surface light source device includes: point light sources (13); light guide plate (1) having (i) two end parts in length direction, one of which serves as incident surface (2), and (ii) two end parts in thickness direction which serve as exit surface (7) and back surface (8), light guide plate (1) directing light, emitted from point light sources (13), incident on incident surface (2), so as to cause light to exit from substantially entire area of exit surface (7); and reflector (14) which reflects, toward incident surface (2), part of light which is emitted from point light sources (13) and is then reflected from incident surface (2). Incident surface (2) has elliptic arc (10) which is concave part having surface shape along elliptic arc identical to elliptic arc which is part of ellipse (31) having two focal points corresponding to point light sources (13) and reflector (14).

Abstract: A backlight system includes: a light-emitting section (1) having a plurality of light sources that emit beams of light at different dominant wavelengths from one another; and an imaging optical system (3) including a plurality of microlenses (3a) that focus beams of light emitted from the light-emitting section (1), the backlight system irradiating a liquid crystal panel with beams of light having passed through the imaging optical system (3), the liquid crystal panel including a plurality of pixels arrayed at a predetermined pitch from each other, on the assumption that the pitch at which the pixels are arrayed is denoted as P and the imaging optical system (3) has an imaging magnification of (1/n), the light sources (1) being arrayed at a pitch (P1) given as P1=n×P, the microlenses (3a) being arrayed at a pitch (P2) given as P2=(n/(n+1))×P.

Abstract: According to a conventional backlight device for use in a thin full-color display device in which pixels are subjected to a color separation by colored lights, a large chromatic aberration occurs, thereby causing a deterioration in image quality.

Abstract: A dichroic filter column (4) is provided on an incident surface (11). At least one of two end parts of a light guide plate (1) in a thickness direction is divided into a plurality of light guide paths (6), in a width direction of the light guide plate (1) by a plurality of cutout grooves (5). Portions of the plurality of light guide paths (6) on an incident surface (11) side are aligned in accordance with positions of a plurality of dichroic filters (31), respectively. The plurality of dichroic filters (31) are elements of the dichroic filter column (4).

Abstract: A lighting device includes: a light guide plate; a light source disposed on a side face of the light guide plate; and a light modulation element disposed on a surface or in the inside of the light guide plate and adhered to the light guide plate. The light modulation element has a pair of transparent substrates disposed separately and oppositely, a pair of electrodes provided on respective surfaces of the pair of transparent substrates, and a light modulation layer provided in a gap between the pair of transparent substrates. The light modulation layer includes a first region, having optical anisotropy, responsive to an electric field, and a second region, having optical anisotropy, unresponsive to an electric field. The second region has a striped structure with average striped texture size of 0.05 ?m to 10 ?m both inclusive in a short axis direction.

Abstract: A lighting device includes: a light guide plate; a light source; and a light modulation element disposed on a surface of or in the inside of the light guide plate, and adhered to the light guide plate. The light modulation element has a pair of transparent substrates, a first electrode provided on a surface of one of the transparent substrates, a second electrode provided on a surface of the other of the transparent substrates, and a light modulation layer, provided in a gap between the transparent substrates, exhibiting a light-scattering property or a light-transmitting property concerning light from the light source depending on intensity of an electric field. One or both of the first and second electrodes include partial electrodes. First partial electrodes of the partial electrodes are adjacent to second partial electrodes of the partial electrodes, and have irregular shapes on edges adjacent to the second partial electrodes.

Abstract: Conventional planar light source devices have a problem that increasing a utilization ratio of light results in a very narrow angle distribution of light. A planar light source device of the present invention has a light source (1), a light guide plate (2) for introducing light coming from the light source via a light-incident plane of the light guide plate and emits the light from almost all area of a light emission plane, and a light source side reflector (3) for reflecting the light coming from the light source and light which comes from the light source and is reflected by the light-incident plane of the light guide plate so that the reflected light is emitted to the light-incident plane of the light guide plate.

Abstract: A dichroic filter column (4) is provided on an incident surface (11). At least one of two end parts of a light guide plate (1) in a thickness direction is divided into a plurality of light guide paths (6), in a width direction of the light guide plate (1) by a plurality of cutout grooves (5). Portions of the plurality of light guide paths (6) on an incident surface (11) side are aligned in accordance with positions of a plurality of dichroic filters (31), respectively. The plurality of dichroic filters (31) are elements of the dichroic filter column (4).

Abstract: Surface light source device includes: point light sources (13); light guide plate (1) having (i) two end parts in length direction, one of which serves as incident surface (2), and (ii) two end parts in thickness direction which serve as exit surface (7) and back surface (8), light guide plate (1) directing light, emitted from point light sources (13), incident on incident surface (2), so as to cause light to exit from substantially entire area of exit surface (7); and reflector (14) which reflects, toward incident surface (2), part of light which is emitted from point light sources (13) and is then reflected from incident surface (2). Incident surface (2) has elliptic arc (10) which is concave part having surface shape along elliptic arc identical to elliptic arc which is part of ellipse (31) having two focal points corresponding to point light sources (13) and reflector (14).

Abstract: An illumination device is provided and includes: a light guide member; a light source provided on one or more side faces of the light guide member; and a light modulating element including a pair of transparent substrates disposed to oppose each other with a gap therebetween, a first electrode provided on a surface of one of the transparent substrates, a second electrode provided on a surface of the other of the transparent substrates, and a light modulation layer provided in the gap and expressing a scattering property or a transparency to light from the light source in accordance with a magnitude of an electric field. The first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof is patterned, and a density of pattern of the first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof to which the patterning is applied is varied depending on a distance from the light source.

Abstract: An illuminating device capable of improving display luminance while decreasing light leakage in a range with a large view angle and a display unit are provided. In a light modulation device bonded to a light guide plate, a light modulation layer containing a bulk and microparticles is provided. Both the bulk and the microparticles have optical anisotropy, and each response speed to an electric field is different from each other. Thereby, by controlling the electric field, each optical axis orientation of the bulk and the microparticles is able to correspond with each other, or is able to be different from each other.

Abstract: To realize a diffusion film in which arbitrary control of the diffuse light intensity distribution characteristics, and an angular range of diffusion does not change with respect to an incoming light from a specific angular range and a light-outgoing direction converting element that is high in efficiency of conversion of the outgoing direction, and has no limit in the angle of conversion of the outgoing direction, and to provide a thin-model high-quality projection display using the same as a screen.

Abstract: A display is provided that comprises a reflection board and a display element. The reflection board includes a plurality of first inclinations and a plurality of second inclinations which are alternately arranged to form an uneven reflective surface to reflect and diffuse incident light. The display element has controllable transparency at each pixel and is disposed in front of the reflective surface. The mean inclination angle of the first inclination occurs within a range of 10 to 25 degrees.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes: a liquid crystal panel including a pair of substrates being disposed so as to oppose to each other and having electrodes and alignment films formed respectively on the opposing surfaces thereof, and liquid crystal layer in which nematic liquid crystal encapsulated between the pair of substrates is aligned in the horizontal direction to be at substantially 0° in twist angle by giving a pretilt in a predetermined direction by the alignment film, a polarizing plate(s) being arranged on the front side and back side of the liquid crystal panel and being set in direction of polarization to provide a black level when a drive voltage to be applied between the electrodes is brought into an OFF state, and optical compensating means disposed between the polarizing plate(s) and the liquid crystal panel for performing optical compensation for the liquid crystal layer.

Abstract: In a measuring method for determining values of viscosity coefficients of a liquid crystal by fitting Ericksen-Leslie theoretical values to measured response characteristics, in the first step, ON response characteristics of a liquid crystal cell 10 with homogeneous alignment are initially measured, and a value of a rotational viscosity coefficient ?1 is determined from the measured ON response characteristics. Then, in the second step, OFF response characteristics are measured, and values of Miesovicz shear viscosity coefficients ?1 and ?2 are determined from the measured OFF response characteristics. In the calculation in the first step, the viscosity coefficients other than ?1 are assigned general values. In the calculation in the second step, ?1 is assigned the value determined in the first step.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display is provided. The liquid crystal display includes a pair of substrates. The pair of substrates are disposed opposite to each other, having electrodes disposed above the opposed faces of the substrates. A nematic liquid crystal layer is disposed between the substrates and has a positive dielectric anisotropy. The electrodes are disposed above at least one of the substrates have slits. The centers of the slits are displaced from the centers of the electrodes disposed above the other substrate.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display device is provided. In the liquid crystal display device, a whole face of an alignment layer disposed above a substrate is uniformly subjected to first alignment treatment (uniform treatment) such as rubbing treatment in an a direction. Second alignment treatment is performed in a b direction (second direction) making an angle of about 90 degrees with the a direction and in a c direction (third direction) opposite to the a direction such that regions narrow than regions subjected to the first alignment treatment. This allows micro-regions subjected to alignment treatment in the a, b, and/or c direction to be present at intersections of zones extending in the b or c direction. The micro-regions are located in light-shielding sections.