The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 29, 2003
Filed:
Jan. 11, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G02F 1/1337 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G02F 1/1337 ;
Abstract
A pi-cell liquid crystal device comprises a nematic liquid crystal layer ( ) disposed between alignment layers ( ) which provide a pretilt such that, at a zero applied field, the energy of the H-state is less than the energy of the V-state, which is less than the energy of the T-state. A drive arrangement ( ) switches the pi-cell by applying a first electric field, at which the energy of the V-state is less than the energy of each of the H-state and the T-state, or a second smaller electric field, at which the energy of the H-state is less than the energy of each of the V-state and the T-state. The T-state may thus be avoided while maintaining high switching speeds.