Provided is a liquid crystal element. The liquid crystal element includes a first substrate, a first electrode provided on the first substrate, a liquid crystal layer provided on the first electrode and including a liquid crystal portion and a hydrophobic portion, and a second electrode on the liquid crystal layer, wherein the hydrophobic portion is phase-separated from the liquid crystal portion, wherein the liquid crystal portion includes polymer materials, a first dye, and liquid crystal molecules dispersed in the polymer materials, wherein the hydrophobic portion is spaced apart from the first electrode, wherein the hydrophobic portion includes hydrophobic materials and a second dye, wherein the first dye is dissolved in the polymer materials, wherein the second dye is dissolved in the hydrophobic portion, wherein the polymer materials include photo-curable polymer materials.

Provided are a light controlling apparatus and a method of fabricating the same. The light controlling apparatus comprises: a first electrode unit and a second electrode unit facing each other; a liquid crystal unit between the first electrode unit and the second electrode unit, the liquid crystal unit including: a liquid crystal; a network having a first polymer polymerized from a first monomer having a similar shape as the liquid crystal and a second polymer polymerized from a second monomer having a shape different from the first monomer; and a wall having the first polymer and the second polymer.

A multiple glazing with variable scattering by liquid crystals includes first and second flat float glass sheets sealed on the edge of their internal faces by a sealing joint, in particular made of a given sealing material, in particular essentially organic, first and second electrodes, and a layer of liquid crystals with an average thickness E between 15 and 60 μm inclusive of these values and incorporating spacers. The thickness A of each of the first and second glass sheets is less than or equal to 5.5 mm, and each of the internal faces coated with the first and second electrodes has a dioptric defect score, expressed in millidioptres, of less than 12E/15 where the thickness E of the liquid crystals is in μm.

To display an image and the back side image in an overlapped state on a screen, with good visibility and see-through capability. The screen scanned with an image light from the projector has an optical layer and a plurality of control electrodes which are arranged side by side along the optical layer. The synchronous controller applies a voltage to the plurality of control electrodes, and, in a scanning period T of the image light, switches the optical state of the screen by the unit of the segmented region, between the visual state and the nonvisual state. The synchronous controller, in the period T, switches the optical state of a plurality of segmented regions 22 in synchronous with the scanning period of the image light, maintains the optical state of a projected region of the screen in the visual state by a voltage with two or more amplitudes.

According to an aspect, a liquid crystal display device includes: a first substrate provided with a first electrode portion that includes a plurality of strip electrodes arranged in a first direction and that is configured to generate a transverse electric field in the first direction; a liquid crystal layer in which liquid crystal molecules are oriented in the first direction when the transverse electric field is not generated; a second substrate facing the first substrate across the liquid crystal layer; and an electrode provided at the second substrate.

In example implementations, a display is provided. The display includes a collimated back light unit (BLU) comprising a light guide plate and a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layer formed over the collimated BLU, a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate, a liquid crystal layer formed over the TFT substrate, a color filter (CF) substrate, and a controller. The PDLC layer is to provide selective privacy areas on the display. The TFT substrate is to control emission of light from the plurality of LEDs. The CF substrate is to control a color of the light emitted from the plurality of LEDs. The controller is communicatively coupled to the plurality of LEDs and the POLO layer to activate a selected area of the PDLC layer to enable a privacy area on a corresponding area that is selected on the display.

A switchable window includes an electro-optical layer of or including an anisotropic gel of polymer stabilized highly chiral liquid crystal, for example, blue phase liquid crystal, encapsulated in, for example, a mesogenic polymer inclusive shell, that forms a self-assembled, three-dimensional photonic crystal that remains electro-optically switchable under a moderate applied voltage (e.g., electric field). The liquid crystal (LC) arrangement may be achieved via a polymer assembled blue phase liquid crystal system having a substantially continuous polymer structure case surrounding well-defined discrete bodies of liquid crystal material arranged in a cellular manner These assembled structures globally connect to form a matrix. This provides for reduction of angular birefringence of highly chiral LC systems, which advantageously reduces haze in applications such as switchable windows.

The present invention relates to a polymer containing scattering type VA liquid crystal device with very low hysteresis characteristics. The reduction of the hysteresis is achieved by providing a pretilt angle.

A speckle reduction system is provided and includes a speckle reduction component and a control module. The speckle reduction component includes electrode layers and a liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the electrode layers and configured to receive light from a coherent light source. The control module is configured to (i) supply a first voltage signal having a first voltage to the electrode layers to provide a first speckle pattern output, and (ii) supply a second voltage signal having a second voltage to the electrode layers to provide a second speckle pattern output, wherein the first voltage and the second voltage are greater than zero. The control module is configured to transition between providing the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal in less than at least one of half an integration time of a human eye or 8 milliseconds.

An optical device includes a first electrode and a second electrode that have translucency and are disposed facing each other, and an optical adjustment layer that is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The optical adjustment layer includes a first phase that includes an electrolyte including a metal having a visible light reflecting property, and a second phase that is dispersed in the first phase, and includes a variable refractive index material having a refractive index that is variable in a visible light range.