The present invention relates to liquid-crystalline media (LC media) having negative or positive dielectric anisotropy comprising self-aligning mesogens (SAMs) which effect homeotropic (vertical) alignment of the LC media at a surface or the cell walls of a liquid-crystal display (LC display). The invention therefore also encompasses LC displays having homeotropic alignment of the liquid-crystalline medium (LC medium) without conventional imide alignment layers. The LC media may be supplemented by a polymerizable or polymerized component, which serves for stabilization of the alignment, for adjustment of the tilt angle and/or as passivation layer.

[Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable compound for use in the manufacture of a PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display device. The polymerizable compound has a sufficiently high polymerization rate. The PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display device has few or no display defects due to a change in pretilt angle, has an adequate pretilt angle, and has high responsiveness. The present invention also provides a liquid crystal display device having the liquid crystal composition.

[Solution] The object is achieved by using a liquid crystal composition containing one or two or more polymerizable compounds represented by the general formula (I).

The invention relates to substituted quinquephenyls of the formulae indicated in the claims and description. They are particularly suitable as UV-stabilizing component in liquid-crystalline media.

A liquid crystal medium comprising one or more compounds of formula PT and one or more compounds of formula GF and/or UI

##STR00001## in which the occurring groups and parameters have the meanings defined in claim 1. Also, high-frequency components comprising these media, especially microwave components for high-frequency devices, such as devices for shifting the phase of microwaves, tunable filters, tunable metamaterial structures, and electronic beam steering antennas, e.g. phased array antennas.

A polarizer with a high degree of alignment and an image display device including the polarizer. The polarizer is formed of a polarizer-forming composition containing a liquid crystal compound, a first dichroic material, and a second dichroic material, in which the polarizer has an array structure formed of the first dichroic material and the second dichroic material.

A liquid crystal compound is represented by the formula (1). For example, in the formula (1): R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each represent an alkyl having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, or an alkoxy having 1 to 9 carbon atoms; a ring A.sup.1 and a ring A.sup.2 each represent 1,4-cyclohexylene or 1,4-phenylene; Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 each represent a single bond, (CH.sub.2).sub.2, CHCH, COO, OCO, CF.sub.2O, OCF.sub.2, CH.sub.2O, or OCH.sub.2; and a and b each represent 0, 1, 2, or 3 and the sum of a and b is 4 or less. ##STR00001##

A polymerizable compound has a practical low melting point, excellent solubility in a general-purpose solvent, and can produce an optical film at low cost, exhibits low reflected luminance, and achieves uniform conversion of polarized light over a wide wavelength band, an optically anisotropic article.

Self-aligned liquid crystal materials and structures are disclosed. The structures can exhibit piezoelectric and flexoelectric properties.

The invention relates to a liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound of the formula I, ##STR00001##
in which R.sup.1, R.sup.1*, Z.sup.1, Z.sup.2 and L.sup.1-3 have the meanings defined herein, and to the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, PS-IPS or IPS effect.

The invention relates to a liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound of the formula I, ##STR00001##
in which
R.sup.1, R.sup.1*, Z.sup.1, Z.sup.2 and L.sup.1-3 have the meanings defined herein,
and to the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, PS-IPS or IPS effect.