A four-domain in-plane-switching LCD

We have developed a 4-domain in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS-LCD) with a novel electrode structure, where data electrodes and common electrodes are perpendicular to each other, These two electrodes are formed in different layers isolated by a dielectric thin film, with larger tolerance to error of alignment between these two electrodes than conventional IPS-LCD. When a voltage difference is applied to the electrodes, liquid crystal molecules will re-orient in different directions due to the non-uniform distribution of the electric field. This results in a 4-domain LCD with vanishingly small color-shift for viewing angle over 60 degrees in the horizontal and vertical directions. The overlapping areas of these two electrodes form a part of a storage capacitor for TFT-LCD application, which helps to enlarge the aperture ratio. The test cell results are demonstrated.