A retarder film provides a first light retardation and can be heat processed in one or more selected areas to provide a second light retardation in the selected area(s). The retarder film may have an absorption characteristic such that the heat processing can be carried out by selectively exposing the film to a suitable radiant beam. The retarder film is composed of a stack of contiguous ultrathin layers configured to provide an effective optical medium for visible light. Visible light propagates through the stack as an effective medium having effective refractive indices along principal x-, y-, and z-axes. At least some of the ultrathin layers possess intrinsic birefringence, and the effective indices of the stack are functions of the intrinsic refractive indices of the constituent ultrathin layers. The heat processing is carried out so that the ultrathin layer stack structural integrity is not substantially altered in the processed area(s).

A display panel and a display apparatus are provided. The display panel includes a display substrate and a birefringence layer disposed on a display surface of the display substrate. The birefringence layer includes a first region; the first region is disposed at least in the display region; a plurality of repeating units are sequentially disposed in the first region along a first direction parallel to the display surface of the display substrate, and one repeating unit includes at least two refractive regions that are sequentially arranged along the first direction to form. Refractive indexes of the at least two refractive regions are different from each other. An interface between the at least two refractive regions forms an acute angle α with the display surface of the display substrate. A width of the repeating unit is smaller than a wavelength of light emitted from the display panel.

Provided is a liquid crystal display device and a polarizing plate capable of improving the contrast ratio in the front direction. The polarizing plate includes a pair of polarizers including a first polarizer and a second polarizer whose transmission axes are parallel to each other; a retarder between the paired polarizers; and a diffusion layer in at least one of a region between the paired polarizers or a region on a side without the retarder of the first polarizer.

A light modulation device is disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a light modulation device includes a first polymer film substrate, a second polymer film substrate, an active liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second polymer film substrates, wherein the active liquid crystal layer is capable of switching between a first orientation state and a second orientation state different from the first orientation state under an applied voltage, the first and second polymer film substrates have an in-plane retardation of 4,000 nm or more for light having a wavelength of 550 nm, a ratio of an elongation (E1) in a first direction to an elongation (E2) in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction of 3 or more, and wherein an angle formed by the first directions of the first and second polymer film substrates is in a range of 0 degrees to 10 degrees.

Provided are an optical modulation device and a driving method thereof. The optical modulation device includes an active area and a peripheral area disposed around the active area. A plurality of lower electrodes is disposed in the active area. The plurality of lower electrodes extends in a first direction. The plurality of lower electrodes includes a first lower electrode and a second lower electrode. A driver is configured to apply a driving signal to the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode. The driver includes a first channel connected with an upper end of the first lower electrode, a second channel connected with a lower end of the first lower electrode, a third channel connected with an upper end of the second lower electrode, and a fourth channel connected with a lower end of the second lower electrode.

A liquid crystal composition which prevents production of an alignment defect of a liquid crystal compound and also has excellent storage stability during dissolution in a solvent is provided. The liquid crystal composition is suitable for constituting a retardation film capable of favorable circular polarization conversion. The liquid crystal composition includes a polymerizable liquid crystal compound having 3 or more ring structures in the main chain, and aluminum. A content of the aluminum is 1 ppm or more and 170 ppm or less relative to the polymerizable liquid crystal compound.

The present invention relates to novel photoactive polymer materials and their use as orienting layer for liquid crystals, which are used for the production of non-structured and structured optical elements or electro-optical elements and multi-layer systems.

The present application relates to a light modulation device and a use thereof. The present application can provide a light modulation device having both excellent mechanical properties and optical properties by applying a polymer film that is also optically anisotropic and mechanically anisotropic to a substrate.

Regioselectively substituted cellulose esters having a plurality of aryl-acyl substituents and a plurality of alkyl-acyl substituents are disclosed along with methods for making the same. Such cellulose esters may be suitable for use in optical films, such as optical films having certain Nz values, −A optical films, and/or +C optical films. Optical films prepared employing such cellulose esters have a variety of commercial applications, such as, for example, as compensation films in liquid crystal displays and/or waveplates in creating circular polarized light used in 3-D technology.

There are disclosed a liquid crystal panel and method for the manufacture thereof, and a 3D display apparatus, for enabling left-eye and right-eye images to be separated directly by means of a liquid crystal cell and the manufacturing process of a naked-eye 3D mode liquid crystal cell to be simplified. The liquid crystal panel comprises an upper substrate, a lower substrate and a liquid crystal cell formed of liquid crystal molecules located between the upper and lower substrates. The liquid crystal cell comprises a display layer and a grating layer, the grating layer being arranged in proximity to the upper substrate, the grating layer comprising a light shielding region and a light transmitting region, the light shielding region comprising light shielding liquid crystal molecules, the light transmitting region comprising light transmitting liquid crystal molecules, the light shielding region and the light transmitting region being arranged alternately. The present disclosure provides a liquid crystal panel that is capable of separating left-eye and right-eye images directly by means of a liquid crystal cell and simplifying the manufacturing process of a naked-eye 3D mode liquid crystal cell.