A methacrylic resin composition containing 10 to 99 parts by mass of a methacrylic resin (A) containing 80% by mass or more of a methyl methacrylate unit, and 90 to 1 part by mass of a block copolymer (B) containing 10 to 60% by mass of a methacrylic acid ester polymer block (b1) and 90 to 40% by mass of an acrylic acid ester polymer block (b2), where the total of the methacrylic resin (A) and the block copolymer (B) is 100 parts by mass, where a weight-average molecular weight Mw.sub.(A) of the methacrylic resin (A), a maximum weight-average molecular weight Mw.sub.(b1) of the methacrylic acid ester polymer block (b1) and a maximum weight-average molecular weight Mw.sub.(b2) of the acrylic acid ester polymer block (b2) satisfy (1): 0.5≦Mw.sub.(A)/Mw.sub.(b1)≦2.5 and (2): 40000≦Mw.sub.(b2)≦120000.

A liquid crystal display including a first substrate, a thin film transistor disposed on the first substrate, a first electrode connected to the thin film transistor, and a first alignment layer disposed on the first electrode, wherein the first alignment layer includes polyimide and a capping group connected to a main chain end of the polyimide, and the capping group contains at least one of a first compound represented by the following Chemical Formula 1, and a second compound represented by the following Chemical Formula 2: ##STR00001## A1 and A2 are, independently of each other, an aromatic compound having 4 to 20 carbon atoms or an aliphatic cyclic compound having 4 to 20 carbon atoms; and B1 and B2 are, independently of each other, a crosslinking reaction group containing an alkylene group (—C.sub.nH.sub.2n—, n is a natural number).

A resin of the present disclosure includes a resin and a compound represented by General Formula I below. ##STR00001## wherein each of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5, R.sup.6, R.sup.7 and R.sup.8 represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, or an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having a carbon number within a range from 1 to 8, and X represents a divalent linking group constituted by at least one species selected from among a single bond, an ether bond, and an alkylene group having a carbon number within a range from 1 to 15.

A liquid crystal display device includes a TFT substrate having a first alignment film and an opposing substrate having a second alignment film with liquid crystals sandwiched therebetween. One of the first and second alignment films, comprises a first polyimide produced via polyamide acid ester containing cyclobutane as a precursor and a second polyimide produced via polyamide acid as a precursor. The polyamide acid has a higher polarity than that of the polyamide acid ester. The one of the first and second alignment films is responsive to photo-alignment. A first side of the one of the first and second alignment films is adjacent to the liquid crystals, and a second side thereof is closer to one of the TFT substrate and the counter substrate than the first side. The first side contains more of the first polyimide and less of the second polyimide than the second side.

The present invention relates to an optically anisotropic sheet comprising a substrate and a liquid crystal cured layer laminated together, wherein the substrate has a surface roughness of 1.0 nm or less in a field of view of 1 μm.sup.2 and a water contact angle of 70° or more.

A glazing, which may be translucent, includes at least one design, which may be transparent. The glazing includes a substrate having two main outer surfaces, at least one of which is a textured surface, made of a dielectric material having a refractive index n1 and at least a part of the textured surface of the substrate is coated with a sol-gel layer made of a dielectric material having a refractive index n2.

An optical system with an electronically variable iris. The optical system comprises an optical lens. A number of transparent conductive layers is coupled to an optical surface of the optical lens. A liquid crystal film is separated into a number of portions by the number of transparent conductive layers, wherein a transmissive state of each portion, from the number of portions of the liquid crystal film, with respect to light is configured to change in response to application of a voltage to the number of transparent conductive layers.

An optical system with an electronically variable iris. The optical system comprises an optical lens. A number of transparent conductive layers is coupled to an optical surface of the optical lens. A liquid crystal film is separated into a number of portions by the number of transparent conductive layers, wherein a transmissive state of each portion, from the number of portions of the liquid crystal film, with respect to light is configured to change in response to application of a voltage to the number of transparent conductive layers.

In a process for the purification of a liquid-crystal mixture (7), the liquid-crystal mixture (7) is passed through a first electrodialysis cell (2) and a concentrate solution (14) is passed through a second electrodialysis cell (8) which is adjacent to the first electrodialysis cell (2) and is separated by an ion-exchanger membrane (9), and an electric field transverse to a direction of passage of the liquid-crystal mixture (7) through the first electrodialysis cell (2) is generated with the aid of an anode/cathode arrangement (15, 16) arranged outside the electrodialysis cells (2, 8) so that ionized constituents of the liquid-crystal mixture (7) are discharged at the ion-exchanger membrane (9) and removed from the liquid-crystal mixture (7).

In a process for the purification of a liquid-crystal mixture (7), the liquid-crystal mixture (7) is passed through a first electrodialysis cell (2) and a concentrate solution (14) is passed through a second electrodialysis cell (8) which is adjacent to the first electrodialysis cell (2) and is separated by an ion-exchanger membrane (9), and an electric field transverse to a direction of passage of the liquid-crystal mixture (7) through the first electrodialysis cell (2) is generated with the aid of an anode/cathode arrangement (15, 16) arranged outside the electrodialysis cells (2, 8) so that ionized constituents of the liquid-crystal mixture (7) are discharged at the ion-exchanger membrane (9) and removed from the liquid-crystal mixture (7).