Abstract: An optical film includes a liquid crystal layer derived from a smectic phase, wherein an Nz factor of the liquid crystal layer is from 0.2 to 0.8. A display device that includes the optical film, and a method of producing an optical film is also provided.

Abstract: An edge light type backlight unit includes: a light source; a light guide plate which has an end surface, on which light emitted from the light source is incident, and propagates the light incident from the end surface; a rear-side reflective plate which is disposed on a surface side of the light guide plate; a perforated reflective plate which is disposed on a surface side of the light guide plate and has a plurality of fine holes, which penetrate from a surface on the light guide plate side to an emission-side surface facing the light guide plate-side surface and transmit light, and in which both the surface and the surface are reflection surfaces and a depolarization degree of the surface is 60% or less; and a circular polarization reflection film which is disposed on the surface side of the perforated reflective plate.

Abstract: A patterned phase difference film has an optically anisotropic layer alternately having a first phase difference region and a second phase difference region, in which the first phase difference region and the second phase difference region contain rod-like liquid crystals or discotic liquid crystals in the form of a hybrid alignment with mutually opposite rising directions of tilt angles, and has a hybrid alignment in which directions of in-plane slow axes and absolute values of in-plane phase differences of the first phase difference region and the second phase difference region are equal in a range of 54 to 74 nm, and in each of the first phase difference region and the second phase difference region, one of an absolute value of a phase difference at a polar angle of 40° and an absolute value of a phase difference at a polar angle of ?40° is 135 to 353 nm and the other is 8 to 28 nm.

Abstract: A direct backlight unit includes: a rear-side reflective plate; a light source which is disposed on a reflection surface side of the rear-side reflective plate; a perforated reflective plate which is disposed to face the rear-side reflective plate through the light source and has a plurality of fine holes, which penetrate from a light source-side surface to an emission-side surface facing the light source-side surface and transmit light, and in which both the light source-side surface and the emission-side surface are reflection surfaces and a depolarization degree of the emission-side surface is 60% or less; and a circular polarization reflection film which is disposed on the emission-side surface side of the perforated reflective plate.

Abstract: A light guide member includes a light guide layer that guides incident light and emits the light from at least one main surface; and a light transmission control layer that is integrally laminated to the light guide layer on a main surface side of the light guide layer that emits the light and controls a transmission amount of the light, in which the light transmission control layer has a polarization conversion layer in which the polarization conversion member is disposed on the entire surface, between two reflective polarizer layers.

Abstract: A light guide member includes a light guide layer that guides incident light and emits the light from at least one main surface and a light transmission control layer that is integrally laminated on the light guide layer on a main surface side of the light guide layer that emits the light and controls a region that transmits light, and the light transmission control layer has a polarization conversion layer in which a polarization conversion portion is patterned, between two reflective polarizer layers and having different reflection polarization directions.

Abstract: A patterned phase difference film has an optically anisotropic layer alternately having a first phase difference region and a second phase difference region, in which the first phase difference region and the second phase difference region contain rod-like liquid crystals or discotic liquid crystals in the form of a hybrid alignment with mutually opposite rising directions of tilt angles, and has a hybrid alignment in which directions of in-plane slow axes and absolute values of in-plane phase differences of the first phase difference region and the second phase difference region are equal in a range of 54 to 74 nm, and in each of the first phase difference region and the second phase difference region, one of an absolute value of a phase difference at a polar angle of 40° and an absolute value of a phase difference at a polar angle of ?40° is 135 to 353 nm and the other is 8 to 28 nm.

Abstract: An optical film includes a liquid crystal layer derived from a smectic phase, wherein an Nz factor of the liquid crystal layer is from 0.2 to 0.8. A display device that includes the optical film, and a method of producing an optical film is also provided.

Abstract: A direct backlight unit includes: a rear-side reflective plate; a light source which is disposed on a reflection surface side of the rear-side reflective plate; a perforated reflective plate which is disposed to face the rear-side reflective plate through the light source and has a plurality of fine holes, which penetrate from a light source-side surface to an emission-side surface facing the light source-side surface and transmit light, and in which both the light source-side surface and the emission-side surface are reflection surfaces and a depolarization degree of the emission-side surface is 60% or less; and a circular polarization reflection film which is disposed on the emission-side surface side of the perforated reflective plate.

Abstract: An edge light type backlight unit includes: a light source; a light guide plate which has an end surface, on which light emitted from the light source is incident, and propagates the light incident from the end surface; a rear-side reflective plate which is disposed on a surface side of the light guide plate; a perforated reflective plate which is disposed on a surface side of the light guide plate and has a plurality of fine holes, which penetrate from a surface on the light guide plate side to an emission-side surface facing the light guide plate-side surface and transmit light, and in which both the surface and the surface are reflection surfaces and a depolarization degree of the surface is 60% or less; and a circular polarization reflection film which is disposed on the surface side of the perforated reflective plate.

Abstract: This LCD cell device configuration reduces the deterioration in contrast when the display surface of the active matrix type liquid crystal display device of the in-plane switching mode is viewed from the direction of azimuth 45° without decreasing the viewing characteristic from a frontal direction. This is accomplished using an optical compensation film having a retardation axis which is parallel to or vertical to the transmission axes of the polarizer plates at the lower and upper side. By so selecting the in-plane retardation and the retardation in the thickness direction of the optical compensation film, the optical compensation film performs the function of a &lgr;/2 plate, to rotate the polarizing plane of the transmitted light.