The present invention relates to a polarizing plate including a polarizer and a polyester film formed on an upper side of the polarizer, wherein the polyester film has a maximum thermal shrink angle of about 10 or less, and any one of a refractive index of x-axis direction nx at a wavelength of 550 nm and a refractive index of y-axis direction ny at a wavelength of 550 nm of about 1.65 or more; a method of preparing the polarizing plate; and a liquid crystal display apparatus comprising the polarizing plate.

Arrays of integrated analytical devices and their methods for production are provided. The arrays are useful in the analysis of highly multiplexed optical reactions in large numbers at high densities, including biochemical reactions, such as nucleic acid sequencing reactions. The integrated devices allow the highly sensitive discrimination of optical signals using features such as spectra, amplitude, and time resolution, or combinations thereof. The arrays and methods of the invention make use of silicon chip fabrication and manufacturing techniques developed for the electronics industry and highly suited for miniaturization and high throughput.

The present invention provides a method for improving visibility of an image display device which is capable of providing an image display device excellent in anti-reflection properties and bright-field contrast even using an optical layered body including a light-transmitting substrate having in-plane birefringence, such as a polyester film. The method of the present invention is a method for improving visibility of an image display device that has an optical layered body including a light-transmitting substrate having in-plane birefringence and an optical functional layer disposed on one surface of the substrate. The method includes the step of disposing the optical layered body such that the slow axis showing a greater refractive index of the light-transmitting substrate is in parallel with the vertical direction of a display screen of the image display device.

A method of drawing a material into sheet form includes forming a preform comprising at least one material as a large aspect ratio block wherein a first transverse dimension of the preform is much greater than a second transverse dimension substantially perpendicular to the first transverse dimension. A furnace having substantially linearly opposed heating elements one spaced from the other is provided and the heating elements are energized to apply heat to the preform to create a negative thermal gradient from an exterior surface along the first transverse dimension of the preform inward toward a central plane of the preform. The preform is drawn in such a manner that the material substantially maintains its first transverse dimension and deforms across its second transverse dimension.

Provided are [1] an optical laminate comprising a substrate film, a transparent conductive layer and a surface protection layer in this order, wherein an average value of a surface resistivity measured according to JIS K6911 is in the range of 1.010.sup.7 / or more and 1.010.sup.10 / or less, and a standard deviation of the surface resistivity is 5.010.sup.8 / or less, [2] an optical laminate comprising a substrate film, a transparent conductive layer and a surface protection layer in this order, wherein the substrate film is a cycloolefin polymer film, a ratio of a thickness of the substrate film to a thickness of the entire optical laminate is 80% or more and 95% or less, and a rate of elongation of the optical laminate at a temperature of 150 C., as measured using a dynamic viscoelasticity measuring apparatus under conditions of a frequency of 10 Hz, a tensile load of 50 N and a rate of temperature increase of 2 C./min, is 5.0% or more and 20% or less, and [3] an optical laminate comprising a cellulose-based substrate film, a stabilization layer and a conductive layer in this order, wherein an average value of a surface resistivity measured according to JIS K6911 is in the range of 1.010.sup.7 / or more and 1.010.sup.12 / or less, and a value obtained by dividing a standard deviation of the surface resistivity by the average value is 0.20 or less; as well as a method for producing the optical laminate, a front panel and an image display device.

A method for producing a retardation film comprising the steps of: co-extruding or simultaneously casting a thermoplastic resin A and a thermoplastic resin B to obtain a laminated film comprising a layer of the thermoplastic resin A and a layer of the thermoplastic resin B; and uniaxially stretching the laminated film at least twice to cross a molecular orientation axis in the layer of the thermoplastic resin A and a molecular orientation axis in the layer of the thermoplastic resin B each other at almost right angles.

There is provided a stretched laminate formed by stretching a laminate including: a non-stretched thermoplastic polyurethane film; and a non-stretched polyvinyl alcohol-based film attached to at least one surface of the thermoplastic polyurethane film, wherein the polyvinyl alcohol-based film has a thickness of 10 m or less after stretching. In addition, there are provided a method of manufacturing a thin polarizer using the stretched laminate, a thin polarizer manufacturing by the method, and a polarizing plate including the thin polarizer.

Provided are a base film, a laminate, and a method of forming a polarizing film. Particularly, a base film which may effectively form a polarizing film having a thickness of approximately 10, 8, 7, 6, or 5 m or less and exhibiting excellent functions such as polarizing performance, a laminate, and a method of forming the same are provided. Therefore, a polarizing film may be formed by preventing tearing or curling during an elongation process, and easily elongating a polarizing material such as a polyvinylalcohol-based resin.

A method of drawing different materials includes forming a first material into a preform body defining at least one channel extending therethrough having a first cross-sectional area. A first element formed of a second material is inserted into the channel and with the preform body creates a preform assembly. The first element has a cross-sectional area that is less than the cross-sectional area of the channel, and the second material has a higher melting temperature than the first material. The preform assembly is heated so that the first material softens and the preform assembly is drawn so that the preform body deforms at a first deformation rate to a smaller cross-sectional area and the first element substantially maintains a constant cross-sectional area throughout the drawing process. Upon completion of the drawing step, the cross-sectional area of the channel is equivalent to the cross-sectional area of the first element.

A polarizing plate includes a polarizer and a protective film formed on at least one surface of the polarizer. A transverse direction (TD) shrinkage stress ratio SR.sub.A of the polarizing plate ranges from about 1% to about 10%, as calculated using Equation 1:
SR.sub.A (%)=(S1/S2)100(1)
In Equation 1, S1 is the TD shrinkage stress of the protective film, and S2 is the TD shrinkage stress of the polarizer.