An optical film of the present invention includes a positive A-plate and a positive C-plate, in which the Re(450), Re(550), and Re(650) of the positive A-plate satisfy the relationship of Re(450)≦Re(550)≦Re(650), the positive A-plate is formed of a cured product of a composition including the liquid crystal compound A, and the positive C-plate is formed of a cured product of a composition including the liquid crystal compound C.

The present application relates to a device for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, to compounds, windows and uses of the devices and compounds.

A laminate including a vertically oriented liquid crystal cured film and a horizontally oriented phase difference film is provided. The vertically oriented liquid crystal cured film is a cured product of a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound and a dichroic coloring matter. The composition includes, as the dichroic coloring matter, at least one type of dichroic coloring matter having maximum absorption between a wavelength of 400 nm and a wavelength of 750 nm. The vertically oriented liquid crystal cured film is a cured product of the polymerizable liquid crystal composition that is cured in a state in which the polymerizable liquid crystal compound is oriented in a vertical direction with respect to a flat plane of the liquid crystal cured film, and satisfies the following formula (1) and the following formula (2):

0.001≤AxC≤0.3   (1);

AxC(z=60)/AxC>2   (2).

The invention relates to novel anisotropic compounds of formula

##STR00001##

as well as to liquid crystalline mixtures, films and electro-optical devices comprising the compound.

Provided is an optically anisotropic layer having an excellent surface condition, with which an image display device having an excellent contrast can be manufactured; and an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device, each having the optically anisotropic layer. The optically anisotropic layer is obtained by immobilizing a polymerizable liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable rod-shaped liquid crystal compound exhibiting a liquid crystal state of a smectic phase and an additive in a liquid crystal state of a smectic phase, in which a molecular length A (Å) of the polymerizable rod-shaped liquid crystal compound, a layer interval B (Å) of the smectic phase of the optically anisotropic layer, and a molecular length C (Å) of the additive satisfy a relationship of Expression (1-1), 0.5×B≤C≤0.6×A . . . (1-1).

The present invention is to provide an optical film having optically anisotropic layer having excellent durability, and a polarizing plate and an image display device using the same. An optical film of the present invention is an optical film having at least an optically anisotropic layer, in which the optically anisotropic layer is a layer obtained by polymerizing a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a predetermined liquid crystal compound and a polymerization initiator, and an extrapolated glass transition starting temperature of the optically anisotropic layer is 70° C. or higher.

Disclosed is a mixture containing polymerizable compounds having Formulas (III) and (IV) wherein Ar.sup.1 and Ar.sup.2 are divalent aromatic hydrocarbon or heteroaromatic ring group having D1 or D2 as a substituent; D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 are C1-C20 organic group having at least one aromatic ring selected from the group consisting of aromatic hydrocarbon ring and heteroaromatic ring; A.sup.11-A.sup.22 and B.sup.11-B.sup.22 are alicyclic or aromatic group which may have a substituent, Y.sup.11-Y.sup.22 and L.sup.11-L.sup.22 are single bond, —O—, —CO—, —CO—O—, —O—CO—, —NR.sup.21—CO—, —CO—NR.sup.22—, —O—CO—O—, —NR.sup.23—CO—O—, —O—CO—NR.sup.24— or —NR.sup.25—CO—NR.sup.26— where R.sup.21—R.sup.26 are hydrogen or C1-C6 alkyl group; R.sup.4—R.sup.9 are hydrogen, methyl group or chlorine; one of f and k is integer of 1 to 3 with the other being integer of 0 to 3; g, j, m and q are integer of 1 to 20; and h, i, n and p are 0 or 1. ##STR00001##

A polymerizable liquid crystal compound represented by the following general formula (1):

##STR00001##

(the symbols in the general formula (1) are as described in the DESCRIPTION.)

The present invention provides a composition to form an optically anisotropic film exhibiting excellent reverse wavelength dispersibility, an optically anisotropic film, a circularly polarizing plate; a display device; and a near-infrared absorbing coloring agent. The composition includes a liquid crystal compound or a polymer, and a near-infrared absorbing coloring agent having a structural moiety including a coloring agent skeleton and a mesogenic group that is bonded to the coloring agent skeleton, in which the near-infrared absorbing coloring agent satisfies Condition 1 where an absolute value λ1 of a square root of a first eigenvalue and an absolute value λ2 of a square root of a second eigenvalue satisfy a relationship of Formula (A) λ2/λ1≤0.60; and Condition 2: An angle between a direction of a transition moment of absorption of the infrared absorbing coloring agent and a direction of an eigenvector of the first eigenvalue is 75.0° or more.

An object of the present invention is to provide a phase difference plate for an organic EL display device having excellent light resistance, an organic EL display device, and a method for producing a phase difference plate. The phase difference plate for an organic EL display device of an embodiment of the present invention has a phase difference layer formed from a composition containing a polymer having a repeating unit A including a photo-alignment group and a polymerizable liquid crystal compound having reciprocal wavelength dispersion, in which the photo-alignment group includes a double bond structure of C═C or C═N.