The invention relates to liquid crystal mixtures comprising a photoalignment component A) comprising one or more photoreactive mesogens of formula I,

##STR00001## wherein R.sup.11, R.sup.21, A.sup.11, A, Z, X.sup.11, X.sup.21, Y.sup.11, Y.sup.12, Sp.sup.11, Sp.sup.21, o, and p have one of the meanings as given in claim 1, a liquid-crystalline component B), comprising one or more nematogenic compounds, and a polymerizable component C) comprising one or more polymerizable compounds of formula P,

P.sup.a-Sp.sup.a-P.sup.b  P wherein P.sup.a, P.sup.b and Sp.sup.a have one of the meanings as given in claim 1. Further, the invention relates to a method of production of such LC media, to the use of such media in LC devices, and to a LC device comprising a LC medium according to the present invention. The present invention further relates to a process for the fabrication such liquid crystal display and to the use of the liquid crystal mixtures according to the invention for the fabrication of such liquid crystal display.

Liquid-crystalline (LC) media having positive dielectric anisotropy and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) containing these media, especially displays addressed by an active matrix and in particular to LC displays of the TN, PS-TN, STN, TN-TFT, OCB, IPS, PS-IPS, FFS, HB-FFS, XB-FFS, PS-FFS, SA-HB-FFS, SA-XB-FFS, polymer stabilised SA-HB-FFS, polymer stabilised SA-XB-FFS, positive VA or positive PS-VA type.

The present invention relates to compositions comprising a combination of benzothiadiazole and thiadiazoloquinoxaline derivatives, to liquid-crystalline media containing the compositions, and to the use of the compositions and the media in optical, electronic and electro-optical devices, in particular in devices for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, for example in switchable windows.

A positive dielectric anisotropic liquid crystal composition includes one or more compounds of formula I and one or more compounds of formula II: ##STR00001##
wherein R1 represents cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl or cyclopentyl, R2, R3 and R4 are as defined in the specification, and a liquid crystal display device. The liquid crystal composition has positive dielectric properties, a high charge retention ratio, a low rotary viscosity, a fast response time, and especially a high transmittance, and is suitable for manufacturing a TFT-LCD with a high transmittance and a fast response.

The invention relates to a liquid crystal device comprising at least two opposing transparent substrates, at least one liquid crystal switching layer sandwiched between said opposing substrates comprising one or more polymerised photoreactive mesogens of formula I,

R.sup.11-Sp.sup.11-X.sup.11[-A-Z].sub.o-A.sup.11-CY.sup.11═CY.sup.12[—C═O].sub.x[—O].sub.y-A[-Z-A].sub.p—X.sup.21-Sp.sup.21-R.sup.21  I

wherein R.sup.11, R.sup.21, A.sup.11, A, Z, X.sup.11, X.sup.21, Y.sup.11, Y.sup.12, Sp.sup.11, Sp.sup.21, o, p, x and y have one of the meanings as given in claim 1, and one or more nematogenic compounds, an electrode structure provided on one or both of the opposing substrates, wherein one or more of said substrates are additionally provided with an optical grating or a lens structure adjacent to the LC switching layer. The invention is further related to a method of production of said liquid crystal device, to the use of said Liquid Crystal device in various types of optical and electro-optical devices, and to electro-optical devices comprising the liquid crystal device.

To provide a liquid crystal composition having at least one or a suitable balance regarding two of characteristics such as high maximum or low minimum temperature of a nematic phase, small viscosity, suitable optical anisotropy, large dielectric anisotropy, large specific resistance, high stability to ultraviolet light or heat and a large elastic constant; and an AM device including the composition and having a short response time, a large voltage holding ratio, low threshold voltage, a large contrast ratio, a long service life and so forth. The liquid crystal composition contains a quencher as an additive component and a specific compound having large positive dielectric anisotropy as a first component, and a liquid crystal display device includes the composition. The composition may contain a specific compound having high maximum temperature or small viscosity as a second component, or a specific compound having negative dielectric anisotropy as a third component.

Provided is a polar compound having high chemical stability, high capability of aligning liquid crystal molecules, high solubility in a liquid crystal composition, and a large voltage holding ratio when used in a liquid crystal display device. The compound is represented by formula (1):

##STR00001##

in which, for example, R.sup.1 is alkyl having 1 to 15 carbons; MES is a mesogen group having at least one ring; Sp.sup.1 is a single bond or alkylene having 1 to 10 carbons; M.sup.1 and M.sup.2 are hydrogen; and R.sup.2 is a group represented by formulas (1a) to (1c):

##STR00002##

in which, Sp.sup.2 and Sp.sup.a are a single bond or alkylene having 1 to 10 carbons; S.sup.1 is >CH—; S.sup.2 is >C<; and X.sup.1 is —OH.

The present invention relates to polymerisable compounds, to processes and intermediates for the preparation thereof, to liquid-crystal (LC) media comprising them, and to the use of the polymerisable compounds and LC media for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, especially in LC displays of the polymer sustained alignment (PS, PSA) and self-aligning (SA) type.

Shown is a liquid crystal composition satisfying at least one or having suitable balance regarding at least two of characteristics such as high maximum or low minimum temperature of a nematic phase, large optical anisotropy, large positive dielectric anisotropy and high stability to ultraviolet light, a liquid crystal display device including such a composition, particularly including an encapsulated composition, and a liquid crystal display device including the composition serving as a constituent of 3D lens. The liquid crystal composition contains a specific compound having large optical anisotropy as a first component, and a specific compound having large optical anisotropy and positive dielectric anisotropy as a second component; a specific compound having large positive dielectric anisotropy as a third component; and a specific compound having large optical anisotropy and further having high maximum or low minimum temperature as a fourth component, and the liquid crystal display device includes the composition.

There is provided a liquid crystal composition which enables a significant reduction in crystallization temperature as compared with addition of a homolog while having a similar skeleton structure, which has an excellent compatibility, and which enables an increase in the absolute value of negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈). The liquid crystal composition contains two or more compounds which each have two to four ring structures between two side chains. At least one of the ring structures is a 2,3-difluorobenzene skeleton. The two side chains are bonded to different ring structures. The positions of the 2,3-difluorobenzene skeletons are different from each other, and the number of the ring structures are the same as each other.