Display device and electronic apparatus

• US 8,184,145 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2005
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yabuta, Koji, Fukushima, Hiroshi, Takatani, Tomoo
• Primary Examiner(s): Dalencourt, Yves
• Application Number:
  US11/576,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20080084471A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,423 Days
• Field of Search: 348/42, 345/173, 345/174, 345/87, 349/142
• US Class Current: 348/42
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1323 Arrangements for providing a switchable viewing angle
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133753 with different alignment orientations or pretilt angles on a same surface, e.g. for grey scale or improved viewing angle
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133757 with different alignment orientations
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13471 in which all the liquid crystal cells or layers remain transparent, e.g. FLC, ECB, DAP, HAN, TN, STN, SBE-LC cells G02F1/13475 takes precedence

Abstract

In a SW-LCD, an orienting film is divided into first and second regions having different directions of orientation, and a transparent electrode film is also patterned so as to be divided into regions respectively corresponding to the first and second regions. In the first region, a viewing angle in right and left directions is controlled. In the second region, a viewing angle in upper and lower directions is controlled. With this, a display device is realized which makes it possible to switch between a wide viewing angle display mode and a narrow viewing angle display mode, which controls a viewing angle in both upper and lower directions and in right and left directions in the narrow viewing angle display mode, and which makes it possible to prevent an image from being seen obliquely from the right and left directions and from the upper and lower directions.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

an image display device arranged to display an image; and

a display switching device arranged to electrically switch between (i) an image to be seen in a single image display mode and (ii) an image to be seen in a multiple image display mode, wherein

in the single image display mode, the display switching device allows an image displayed by the image display device to be seen from any direction,

in the multiple image display mode, the display switching device (a) allows an image displayed by the image display device to be seen from a front direction and (b) allows an image obtained by superimposing, on an image displayed by the image display device, a pattern image formed by the display switching device to be seen from an oblique direction, and

the display switching device being divided into a first region and a second region, in the single image display mode, the display switching device allows an image, displayed by the image display device, to be seen from any direction in both of the first and second regions,

in the multiple image display mode, the display switching device being arranged to independently control (I) allowing an image to be seen from right and left directions, which image is obtained by superimposing, on an image displayed by the image display device, a pattern image causing the first region to be a non-transmission region, and (II) allowing an image to be seen from upper and lower directions, which image is obtained by superimposing, on an image displayed by the image display device, a pattern image causing the second region to be a non-transmission region.

2. The display device as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the display switching device includes a liquid crystal layer provided between a pair of substrates, and further includes (i) a first polarizing device arranged to cause linear polarized light having a fixed polarization direction to be incident on the display switching device and (ii) a second polarizing device arranged to extract linear polarized light having a fixed polarization direction from light emitted from the display switching device;

the liquid crystal layer includes liquid crystal molecules whose orientation directions are divided so that a long axis direction and a polarization direction of linear polarized light incident on the liquid crystal molecules are substantially parallel to each other in one of the first and second regions, and are substantially perpendicular to each other in the other one of the first and second regions, the long axis direction corresponding to a direction which the liquid crystal molecules have when projected from a direction orthogonal to the substrates;

the second polarizing device extracts linear polarized light emitted from the liquid crystal molecules;

in the single image display mode, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented so that the long axis extends substantially parallel or substantially perpendicular to the substrates, in both of the first and second regions; and

in the multiple image display mode, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented so that the long axis is tilted with respect to the substrates, in at least one of the first and second regions.

3. The display device as set forth in claim 2, wherein a viewing angle is controlled with respect to the first and second regions, independently, in the multiple image display mode, by patterning transparent electrode films in the first and second regions, separately, via which electrode films a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer.

4. An electronic apparatus, comprising a display apparatus as set forth in claim 1.