The present invention relates to liquid crystalline (LC) medium, to a method of its production and to the use of such LC media in polymer network liquid crystalline (PNLC) light modulation elements operated in the normally transparent mode. Furthermore, the present invention relates to such light modulation elements, as such, to the use of such light modulation elements as light shutters for transparent OLED displays, to the use of such light modulation elements in smart windows, and to a method of production of such light modulation elements according to the present invention.

Disclosed are a liquid crystal (LC) medium containing a polymerisable compound, a process for its preparation, its use for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, especially in an LC display of the polymer sustained alignment (PSA) type, and to an LC display, especially a PSA display.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device that includes a particular color filter containing a material containing chiral liquid crystals and a particular pigment. The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that can prevent a decrease in the voltage holding ratio (VHR) of a liquid crystal layer and solve the problem of display defects, such as white spots, variations in alignment, and burn-in. Because liquid crystal display devices according to the present invention characteristically prevent a decrease in the voltage holding ratio (VHR) of a liquid crystal layer and reduces the occurrence of display defects, such as burn-in, the liquid crystal display devices are particularly useful as liquid crystal display devices in IPS mode and FFS mode for active-matrix driving and can be applied to household electrical appliances, automobiles, production facilities, measuring and analytical instruments, and communication devices.

The response of biological cells to applied stress is central to the functioning of living systems. The present disclosure is directed to systems, compositions and methods for rapidly reporting biomechanical properties of cells or cellular organelles at a single cell or population level.

A double layer liquid crystal device comprises a first and a second layer with orthogonal or crossed alignment of the liquid crystal phase of the two layers, in which the first and second layer have first and second alignment aids comprised of a polymerized or polymerizable molecular compound. The layers are aligned by UV photoalignment and vertical self-alignment by the aid of suitable additives.

The present invention provides a compound represented by the general formula (i), which has a partial structure K.sup.i1 represented by one of the general formulae (K-1) to (K-6) and has a ring B with at least one P-Sp- group and with at least one R.sup.i2 (R.sup.i2 denotes a linear or branched alkyl group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms or a linear or branched halogenated alkyl group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, —CH.sub.2— in the alkyl or halogenated alkyl group is optionally substituted with —CH═CH—, —O—, —COO—, or —OCO—, but —O— is not adjacent to another —O—). Thus, the compound in a liquid crystal composition adsorbs to substrates between which the liquid crystal composition (a liquid crystal layer) exists. The compound can hold vertically aligned liquid crystal molecules, can improve alignment stability, and can ensure low-temperature storage stability.

To provide a liquid crystal display device that has a high off-response speed and a good balance between drive voltage and transmittance, is stable over time, and also has a high voltage holding ratio. A liquid crystal display device in which a liquid crystal layer containing a polymer network (A) and a liquid crystal composition (B) is disposed between two substrates having an electrode on at least one side thereof and having transparent properties on at least one side thereof, and the loss factor (tan δ) (loss modulus/storage modulus) of the liquid crystal layer calculated from the storage modulus (Pa) and the loss modulus (Pa) in a sinusoidal vibration measured with a rheometer at 25° C. and at a measurement frequency of 1 Hz ranges from 0.1 to 1.

Polymerizable compounds, to processes and intermediates for the preparation thereof, liquid-crystal (LC) media comprising them, and the use of the polymerizable compounds and LC media for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, especially in LC displays of the polymer sustained alignment type, or a stabilizers in LC media and LC displays.

A problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition excellent in vertical alignment and compatibility and to provide a liquid crystal display device produced using the same. The problem is solved by a liquid crystal composition containing one or two or more kinds of self-aligning polymerizable monomers and one or two or more kinds of polymerizable monomers (or polymerizable compounds) having a specific chemical structure, and a liquid crystal display device produced using the same, specifically a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable monomer represented by General Formula (I) and a spontaneously aligning monomer which has a chemical structure different from that of the polymerizable monomer represented by General Formula (I), and has a polar group, and a liquid crystal display device containing the same.

Liquid-crystalline (LC) media having positive dielectric anisotropy and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) containing these media, especially displays addressed by an active matrix and in particular to LC displays of the TN, PS-TN, STN, TN-TFT, OCB, IPS, PS-IPS, FFS, HB-FFS PS-FFS, SA-HB-FFS, polymer stabilised SA-HB-FFS, positive VA or positive PS-VA type.