The present invention provides a liquid crystal composition comprising one or more compounds of general formula I and one or more compounds of general formula II; the liquid crystal composition of the present invention can work at very high and very low temperatures, has a very short response time and a better reliability to light and heat, and particularly exhibits no image retention or a significantly reduced image retention after a long time operation.

The present invention relates to a method of reducing ODF mura in liquid crystal (LC) displays of the polymer sustained alignment (PSA) type and to PSA LC displays made by this method.

The present invention relates to a process of preparing a light modulation element of the PS-ULH (polymer stabilised ULH) type, which allows to reduce the operational voltage and allows to improve the switching time of the light modulation element.

A liquid crystal composite that contains a liquid crystal composition satisfying at least one of characteristics such as high maximum temperature, low minimum temperature, small viscosity, large optical anisotropy and large positive dielectric anisotropy, and that is suitable for dimming, or having a suitable balance regarding at least two of the characteristics; and a liquid crystal dimming device having the liquid crystal composite. The liquid crystal composite contains a polymer and a liquid crystal composition containing a specific compound having large positive dielectric anisotropy. The liquid crystal composite may further contain a specific compound having high maximum temperature or low minimum temperature; or a specific compound having large negative dielectric anisotropy.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal composition comprising: at least one compound of general Formula I; at least one compound of general Formula II; at least one compound of general Formula M and at least one compound of general Formula N. The present invention also provides a liquid crystal display device comprising the liquid crystal composition. The liquid crystal composition provided in the present invention has a higher optical anisotropy, a higher clearing point, a higher dielectric anisotropy, a high transmittance and a larger average elastic constant. When the liquid crystal composition is used in the IPS liquid crystal display device, the transmittance of the display device can be effectively improved, so that the display device has a good display performance while also having good energy-saving and environment-friendly characteristics.

##STR00001##

The present invention provides, by using a photo-alignment film, a liquid crystal display device in which a good voltage holding ratio is retained for a long period of time and occurrence of image sticking and stain in a display screen is prevented. The liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes an active matrix liquid crystal panel and a backlight, the liquid crystal panel including a liquid crystal layer, a pair of substrates that sandwich the liquid crystal layer in between, and an alignment film disposed on a liquid crystal layer side surface of each of the substrates, each alignment film being a photo-alignment film formed from a material that exhibits a photo-alignment characteristic and containing carboxyl groups on the liquid crystal layer side, the liquid crystal layer containing a liquid crystal material and a nitrobenzene derivative.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal (LC) medium comprising polymerisable compounds, to a process for its preparation, to its use for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, and to LC displays comprising it.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal composition and a liquid crystal display device thereof. The liquid crystal composition comprises at least one compound of general formula I and at least one compound of general formula II. The liquid crystal composition has a larger vertical dielectric constant (.sub.), a larger ratio of the vertical dielectric constant to the absolute value of dielectric anisotropy (.sub./||), a larger K.sub.ave value and a higher transmittance while maintaining an appropriate clearing point, an appropriate optical anisotropy, and an appropriate absolute value of the dielectric anisotropy, such that the liquid crystal display device comprising the same has a better contrast, a faster response speed and a better transmittance while maintaining an appropriate range of operating temperature and an appropriate threshold voltage.

##STR00001##

The invention relates to a liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound of the formula I, ##STR00001## in which R.sup.1 and R.sup.1* each, independently of one another, denote an alkyl or alkoxy radical having 1 to 15 C atoms, where, in addition, one or more CH.sub.2 groups in these radicals may each be replaced, independently of one another, by ##STR00002##
in such a way that O atoms are not linked directly to one another, and in which, in addition, one or more H atoms may be replaced by halogen, A.sup.1 denotes ##STR00003## L.sup.1 denotes F, Cl, CF.sub.3, OCF.sub.3 or CHF.sub.2,
and to the use thereof for electro-optical purposes, in particular for shutter glasses, 3D applications, in TN, PS-TN, STN, TN-TFT, OCB, IPS, PS-IPS, FFS, PS-FFS and PS-VA-IPS displays.

Provided are a liquid crystal composition, a liquid crystal cured layer, an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device, each of which suppresses streak defects and has excellent temporal stability. The liquid crystal composition includes a liquid crystal compound and a basic compound, in which a pKa of a conjugate acid of the basic compound is 4 to 10.