A display which thickness is allowed to be reduced is provided. A display includes: a display panel; and a back-face member having rigidity and provided on a back face of the display panel, the back-face member covering the back face, or the back face and other part of the display panel.

Heterocyclic liquid crystal compositions that can allow for the adjustment of their refractive indices by the application of an electric field, such as those described by the following formula: ##STR00001##
are disclosed. Also disclosed are selectively dimmable reverse-mode polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) elements and devices using the aforementioned compositions, which are transparent when no voltage is applied and opaque when a voltage is applied.

A liquid crystal cell, a manufacturing method thereof and a use thereof are provided in the present disclosure. The liquid crystal cell is in a normally transparent mode, and has excellent transmittance-variable characteristics in a transparent mode and a scattering mode and excellent haze characteristics in the scattering mode. Such liquid crystal cell may be applied to various light modulation devices, such as a smart window, a window protective film, a flexible display element, a light shielding plate for transparent displays, an active retarder for 3D image displays or a viewing angle control film.

A liquid crystal composition includes at least one of a monofunctional compound represented by Formula (1) defined herein and a monofunctional compound represented by Formula (2) defined herein, and at least one of a difunctional compound represented by Formula (3) defined herein and a multifunctional compound represented by Formula (4) defined herein.

A privacy display comprises a polarised output spatial light modulator, reflective polariser, plural polar control retarders and a polariser. In a privacy mode of operation, on-axis light from the spatial light modulator is directed without loss, whereas off-axis light has reduced luminance. Further, display reflectivity is reduced for on-axis reflections of ambient light, while reflectivity is increased for off-axis light. The visibility of the display to off-axis snoopers is reduced by means of luminance reduction and increased frontal reflectivity to ambient light. In a public mode of operation, the liquid crystal retardance is adjusted so that off-axis luminance and reflectivity are unmodified.

Pixel electrodes adjacent to each other along a first axis are supplied with pixel potentials having opposite polarities with respect to a potential of a common electrode. The pixel electrode includes straight parts. Electric fields between the straight parts and the common electrode are applied to negative type liquid crystal material. An electric field between the straight parts of the adjacent pixel electrodes is applied to the negative type liquid crystal material. An opposite substrate includes a second region opposed to a first region between the straight parts of the adjacent pixel electrodes. At least a part of visible light transmitted through the first region is transmitted through the second region. Angles of the straight parts with respect to an axis perpendicular to direction of initial alignment of the liquid crystal material have a size of not less than 15° and not more than 30°.

The present invention relates to a negative dielectric anisotropic liquid crystal composition, a liquid crystal display element, and a liquid crystal display. The negative dielectric anisotropic liquid crystal composition of the present invention comprises a first component composed of one or more compounds represented by formula I and a second component composed of one or more polymerizable compounds: The negative dielectric anisotropic liquid crystal composition disclosed by the present invention has a low rotary viscosity, a fast response speed and a good stability, and is very suitable for manufacturing liquid crystal display elements, particularly suitable for PS (polymer-stabilized) or PSA (polymer-stabilized alignment)-type liquid crystal displays. ##STR00001##

A privacy display comprises a polarised output spatial light modulator, reflective polariser, plural polar control retarders and a polariser. In a privacy mode of operation, on-axis light from the spatial light modulator is directed without loss, whereas off-axis light has reduced luminance. Further, display reflectivity is reduced for on-axis reflections of ambient light, while reflectivity is increased for off-axis light. The visibility of the display to off-axis snoopers is reduced by means of luminance reduction and increased frontal reflectivity to ambient light. In a public mode of operation, the liquid crystal retardance is adjusted so that off-axis luminance and reflectivity are unmodified.

The liquid crystal composition having a negative dielectric anisotropy contains two ring compound having a large optical anisotropy and a negatively large dielectric anisotropy as the first component, three ring compound having a large maximum temperature and a large dielectric anisotropy as the second component, three ring compound having a large optical anisotropy and a large dielectric anisotropy as the third component, and two ring compound having a small viscosity as the fourth component. The liquid crystal display device contains the compositions.

Liquid crystal lenses of different apertures with suppressed chromatic aberration utilizing twisted vertical alignment configuration are demonstrated. A plurality of substrates are provided with electrodes, including a patterned electrode to generate a lens effect. The liquid crystal material is homeotropically aligned, such as via alignment layers. Setting the ratio between cell thickness and chiral pitch of the cholesteric liquid crystals provides correction of axial chromatic aberrations of electrically-tunable focal lengths in the device.