A waveplate is provided. The waveplate includes a first liquid crystal (“LC”) layer including LC molecules that are in-plane switchable by an external field to switch the waveplate between states of different phase retardances. The waveplate includes a second LC layer and a third LC layer sandwiching the first LC layer. Azimuthal angles of effective refractive index ellipsoids of the second LC layer and the third LC layer are different.

An optical element is provided. The optical element includes a positive-C film including a liquid crystal (“LC”) layer. The optical element also includes a positive-A film. The optical element also includes a negative biaxial retardation film disposed between the positive-A film and the positive-C film.

A phase difference compensation element, including: a transparent substrate; a first optical anisotropic layer that includes an inorganic material, and has a C-plate retardance; and a second optical anisotropic layer that includes an inorganic material, and includes an oblique angle vapor deposition film that does not have an O-plate retardance, wherein the phase difference compensation element including the first optical anisotropic layer and the second optical anisotropic layer in combination has a quasi-O-plate retardance.

A liquid-crystal display device includes a pair of substrates, a liquid-crystal material layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates, and an optical compensation element having an optical compensation layer, the optical compensation layer including a stack group in which high-refractive-index obliquely deposited films and low-refractive-index obliquely deposited films are alternately deposited, the high-refractive-index obliquely deposited films and the low-refractive-index obliquely deposited films having a same tilt direction with respect to a normal line of a surface on which the films are deposited.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical laminate in which an optically anisotropic layer provided as an upper layer has good liquid crystal alignment properties, and a polarizing plate and an image display device using the optical laminate. An optical laminate of the present invention is an optical laminate including: a first optically anisotropic layer; and a second optically anisotropic layer, in which the first and second optically anisotropic layers are directly laminated, each of the first and second optically anisotropic layers consists of a liquid crystal layer, and a photo-alignment polymer having a photo-alignment group and at least one type of polar group selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl group and a ketone group is present in a surface of the second optically anisotropic layer on a side in contact with the first optically anisotropic layer.

Provided is a liquid crystal display device capable of improving light utilization efficiency, without stacking a plurality of microlenses having a three-dimensional shape.

The liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate including a microlens corresponding to each pixel; a second substrate disposed to face the first substrate; and a liquid crystal material layer sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate, in which a first transparent material layer including a material having a first refractive index is formed in the first substrate, and a material having a second refractive index different from the first refractive index is disposed in a portion of the first transparent material layer corresponding to a region between adjacent pixels, and a second transparent material layer including a material having a third refractive index is formed in the second substrate, and a material having a fourth refractive index different from the third refractive index is disposed in a portion of the second transparent material layer corresponding to the region between adjacent pixels.

The invention provides a display device in which the tint is difficult to observe in a case where white display is visually confirmed from a front direction, and the tint is also difficult to observe at any azimuthal angle in a case where white display is visually confirmed from an oblique direction. A display device of the invention includes, from a viewing side, an anisotropic light absorbing layer and a self light emitting display element which emits at least red light, green light, and blue light, the self light emitting display element has a microcavity structure, the anisotropic light absorbing layer is formed of a composition containing a dichroic substance and a liquid crystal compound, the dichroic substance has a maximum absorption wavelength of 400 to 500 nm, and the anisotropic light absorbing layer satisfies a requirement represented by Expression (1) and a requirement represented by Expression (2),

1.50<Amax(60)/A(0)  Expression (1)

1.00≤Amax(60)/Amin(60)≤1.20.  Expression (2)

The phase difference compensation element that is used in combination with a liquid crystal cell provided with a liquid crystal layer in which an optical axis of liquid crystal molecules is inclined and that compensates for a phase difference of light generated in the liquid crystal layer, the phase difference compensation element includes a substrate and a phase difference film having at least one oblique vapor deposition layer on at least one substrate surface of the substrate, and the phase difference compensation element is disposed in an aspect in which an intersecting angle between a slow-axis direction of the phase difference film and a fast-axis direction of the liquid crystal layer, which is a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the inclined optical axis of the liquid crystal molecules is projected onto the substrate surface, is −25° to +25°.

Provided is a phase difference plate including a substrate and a phase difference film which is an oblique film, in which, in a case where three principal refractive indices in a biaxial refractive index ellipsoid exhibiting the refractivity anisotropy are defined as nx, ny, and nz, Conditional Expression (1) is satisfied, and in a case where an incidence angle in a direction inclined to the X-axis side with respect to the normal line is regarded as positive, a phase difference ratio Re(30) ratio, which is a ratio of Re(+30) of a phase difference of the incidence light with an incidence angle of +30° to Re(−30) of a phase difference of the incidence light with an incidence angle of −30°, satisfies Conditional Expression (2).

ny>nx>nz  (1)

Re(30) ratio=Re(30)/Re(−30)=1.1 to 4.0  (2)

A beam deflector includes a first wavelength selective polarizer configured to convert a polarization state of light in a first wavelength band into a first polarization state, a first liquid crystal deflector including liquid crystal molecules and an optical path change surface to deflect light incident from the first wavelength selective polarizer, and a controller configured to control the first liquid crystal deflector to adjust an angle of the first optical path change surface.