JP2001264746A - Liquid crystal devices and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal device and an electronic device capable of performing clear display while reducing power consumption, and preventing variation in screen brightness and screen roughness during transmissive display. . A liquid crystal (40) is sandwiched between a pair of substrates (2, 32), and electrodes (8, 3) are provided on opposing surfaces of the substrates (2, 32).
8 are formed, and a plurality of display pixels 60 that are separated from each other in the substrate surface direction are formed by overlapping portions of the electrodes 8 and 38 on each substrate. Is formed with a reflective layer 4 made of a metal film, and the pixel 60 is formed in a rectangular shape.
A plurality of openings 4 a are formed in the reflective layer 4 inside the pixel 6.
0 are provided in a line along the long side direction, and the periphery of the opening 4 a is not in contact with the periphery of the pixel 60.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device and an electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a liquid crystal device, a liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates facing each other, and a display is performed by modulating light passing through the liquid crystal according to the alignment state of the liquid crystal. As a display system of such a liquid crystal device, a transmissive type, a reflective type, and a transflective type having both characteristics are known.

In the transmission type liquid crystal device shown in FIG. 14, transparent liquid crystal drive electrodes 280 and 280 made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or the like are provided on the opposing surfaces of the substrate 220 and the opposing substrate 240, respectively. Disposed above and controlling the alignment state of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal 260,
Light source (backlight) 400 provided outside substrate 220
The light irradiated from the LCD is modulated by the liquid crystal 260 and transmitted to the counter substrate 240 side to display an image.

In the liquid crystal device of the internal reflection type shown in FIG. 15, a liquid crystal driving electrode 280R (hereinafter, referred to as a reflection electrode) made of a light-reflective metal is provided on a surface of the substrate 220 facing the counter substrate 240. , A transparent liquid crystal drive electrode 280 made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or the like are provided on each substrate. A plurality of reflective electrodes 280R and liquid crystal drive electrodes 280 are provided in a direction orthogonal to each other, and each of these intersections constitutes a pixel. External light 420 incident from the counter substrate 240 side is reflected by the reflection electrode 280R via the liquid crystal 260, and returns to the incident side when the liquid crystal 26
The image is displayed by being modulated by the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules at 0. In the case of the reflection type, the display can be performed with ambient light such as a fluorescent lamp or natural light without providing a light source such as a backlight as in the transmission type, which is advantageous in terms of power consumption. It is widely used for equipment and the like.

However, in a reflection type liquid crystal device,
There is a problem that display becomes difficult when there is almost no ambient light. For this reason, in recent years, a liquid crystal device having both a reflection type and a transmission type (hereinafter, referred to as a transflective type liquid crystal device) has been proposed. By switching to the display mode, clear display can be performed even when the surroundings are dark, while reducing power consumption. In such a transflective liquid crystal device, the reflection electrode 280 is provided for each pixel.
An opening for light transmission is provided at the center of R. FIG. 16 is a plan view of a pixel of the transflective liquid crystal device. Substantially rectangular pixels are arranged on a matrix, and one rectangular opening 820 is provided near the center of the reflective electrode 280R corresponding to each pixel. In the case of transmissive display, light from the backlight is transmitted through this opening. That is, in the transflective liquid crystal device, at the time of transmissive display, the backlight which is a planar light source disposed below the substrate 220 is turned on, and the light of this backlight is transmitted through the light transmission opening 820. The transmitted light is modulated by the liquid crystal, passes through the opposite substrate 240, and is emitted to display an image. At the time of reflective display, light incident from the counter substrate 240 side is reflected at a portion other than the opening 820 of the reflective electrode 280R, and the reflected light is modulated by the liquid crystal 260 and transmitted through the counter substrate 240 and emitted.

[0006]

When such an opening 820 is provided in the vicinity of the center of the reflective electrode 280R corresponding to each pixel, when performing transmissive display, there is a possibility that an image quality defect called graininess may occur. is there. At the time of transmissive display, a portion other than the opening of the reflective electrode 280R has a function of blocking light from the backlight. For this reason, for example, the pixel has a width Bw corresponding to a distance between opposing sides of an opening of a pixel adjacent to the pixel in a long side direction (hereinafter, referred to as a long side direction).
A region extending in a short side direction of the pixel (hereinafter, referred to as a short side direction) is a light shielding region region. This light-shielded area is recognized as a black streak during transmission, and it is considered that roughness occurs. When the opening is provided in the electrode at the center of each pixel as described above, the light-shielding region tends to be wide in both the short side direction and the long side direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a transflective liquid crystal device and an electronic apparatus which reduce roughness of a screen in a transflective liquid crystal device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the liquid crystal device of the present invention, a liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, and a liquid crystal driving electrode is provided on each of the opposing surfaces of the substrates. A liquid crystal device in which a plurality of pixels are formed by overlapping portions of the electrodes, wherein the pixels are substantially rectangular, and a reflection layer made of a metal film is disposed on the facing surface of one of the substrates, A plurality of openings for transmitting light from the one substrate side to the other substrate side are provided in the reflective layer in each pixel in a line along a long side direction of the pixel. It is characterized by.

Further, a plurality of openings are provided in one row in each pixel, and the openings are also located near both ends in the long side direction of each pixel. Therefore, as compared with the case where one opening is provided for each pixel and the opening is provided at the center of each pixel, the transmission determined by the distance between the opposing peripheral edges of the outermost opening of each pixel adjacent in the long side direction. The width of the light-shielding region extending in the short-side direction of the pixel at the time (the light-shielding region is composed of the reflection film and the light-shielding layer between the outermost openings of the pixels adjacent to the pixel in the long-side direction) can be reduced. . For this reason, it is possible to prevent the light-shielding region from being visually recognized as a black streak and the screen from being rough.

It is preferable that the periphery of the opening does not contact the periphery of the pixel.

It is preferable that the opening is formed in a square shape, and the ratio of the long side to the short side of the opening is 5 to 1. The opening may be formed such that the short side of the opening is parallel to the short side of the pixel, or the long side of the opening is
The opening may be formed so as to be parallel to the short side of the pixel. With this configuration, since the length of the short side of the opening is not significantly shorter than the length of the long side, variation in the opening area due to variation in the length dimension of the short side of the opening is reduced. Can be reduced. For example, consider the case where the area of the opening in the pixel is 600 (μm ² ) with respect to the pixel. First, when four slit-shaped openings having a long side length of 50 μm and a short side length of 3 μm are arranged so that the long sides thereof are parallel to the long side of the pixel, when forming the slits, Assuming that the standard error of the length of the short side is ± 0.5 μm, the minimum value of the area of the opening is 50 × 2.5 × 4.
(Pieces) = 500 (μm ² ), and the maximum value is 50 ×
3.5 × 4 (pieces) = 700 (μm ² ). here,
Since the brightness of the screen is proportional to the opening area, if the panels having the smallest opening area and the largest opening area are compared, the brightness of the screen varies up to 40% depending on the individual liquid crystal panel. Will be. It is assumed that two slits having a small ratio of the long side to the short side are used instead of the slit-shaped opening described above. For example, as the opening, the length of the long side is 2
Consider a case where two openings having a length of 0 μm and a length of a short side of 15 μm are arranged. As in the case of the slit shape, when the standard error of the length of the short side is ± 0.5 μm, the area having the minimum value is 20 × 14.5 × 2 (pieces) = 580 (μm ² ),
The area having the maximum value is 20 × 15.5 × 2 (pieces) = 620
(Μm ² ), and the difference in variation can be reduced to about 6%. That is, by changing the shape of the opening from an elongated one to a flat one (a difference in length between the long side and the short side is small), the variation in the brightness of the screen for each pixel or each liquid crystal panel is reduced. be able to. That is, when the area of the predetermined opening is obtained, if the length of the long side or the short side of the opening is too small, the influence of the variation of the standard error is likely. Therefore, various opening patterns can be considered for each pixel to obtain a predetermined opening area.However, the ratio of the length of the long side and the length of the short side of the opening is set within a predetermined range, and the extremely short side By preventing the length from being shortened, it is possible to reduce the variation in the opening area due to the standard error.

In each of the pixels, it is preferable that the intervals between the sides of the adjacent openings are substantially the same.

Further, the distance between the sides of adjacent openings in each pixel is substantially the same as the distance between the sides of the openings facing each other between adjacent pixels along the direction in which the openings are arranged in a line. It is preferred that

With this configuration, the width of the light-shielding region formed between the openings facing each other between the adjacent pixels becomes smaller, and the roughness of the screen can be more effectively prevented.

The distance between the sides of adjacent openings in each of the pixels and the distance between the sides of the openings facing each other between adjacent pixels along a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the openings are arranged in a line are as follows. Preferably, they are substantially the same.

With this configuration, the width of the light-shielding region extending in a direction parallel to the direction in which the openings are arranged can be reduced, and the screen can be prevented from being rough.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A transflective liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Note that the “liquid crystal device” in the present invention has a structure in which liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, and at least one of the substrates (referred to as a reflective substrate) is provided with a liquid crystal driving electrode on a surface facing the other substrate. It refers to one in which a reflective layer described later is arranged.

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of a transflective liquid crystal device will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, a liquid crystal device 50 is a passive matrix type liquid crystal device, in which one substrate (reflection substrate) 2 and the other substrate 32 are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval.
A liquid crystal (not shown) is sandwiched between the reference numerals 32. On a surface (opposing surface) of one substrate 2 facing the other substrate, a strip-shaped reflective layer 4 extending in the vertical direction is provided, and a color filter layer and an insulating layer (not shown) are provided on the reflective layer 4. A data electrode 8 which is a strip-shaped liquid crystal drive electrode is provided through the intermediary of the data electrode 8. A scanning electrode 38, which is a strip-shaped liquid crystal driving electrode extending in the lateral direction, is provided on a surface (opposing surface) of the other substrate 32 facing one substrate. Each substrate 2,
For 32, a transparent substrate such as glass or plastic can be used.

This liquid crystal device 50 has a schematic plan shape as shown in FIG. 2, and a spacer for keeping the cell thickness constant between one substrate 2 and the other substrate 32 is appropriately used.
A liquid crystal is sealed between the substrates 2 and 32 at a predetermined interval on a peripheral portion of each substrate via a sealing material 44. A color filter layer described later is provided on the inner surface of one substrate 2. A display area 49 is formed inside the seal area, and a liquid crystal layer corresponding to a pixel which is an overlapping portion of the scan electrode 38 and the data electrode 8 is provided with a scan signal supplied via the scan electrode 38 and a data electrode. The alignment state of the liquid crystal is controlled by applying a differential voltage of the display signal supplied via the reference numeral 8. Further, on the front and back of the liquid crystal device 50, predetermined polarizing plates and phase difference plates (not shown) are appropriately attached. In the present invention, each pixel is, when the substrate is viewed from a direction perpendicular to the substrate plane,
The portions where the liquid crystal driving electrodes overlap each other, that is, the portions where the scanning electrodes and the data electrodes overlap. The pixels are arranged in a matrix.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional structure of the liquid crystal device 50. In this figure, a reflective layer 4 made of a metal film is formed in a strip shape on one substrate 2, and a plurality of openings 4a described later are provided in the reflective layer 4 corresponding to each pixel.
The reflective layer 4 is formed by sputtering or vapor-depositing a material having high reflectivity such as aluminum, silver, or an alloy thereof (for example, aluminum-palladium-copper alloy or silver-palladium-copper alloy). Can be. In particular, it is preferable to use a material having a reflectance of 85% or more, more preferably 90% or more, for the reflective layer.

In this embodiment, one of the strip-shaped color filter layers 10, 12, and 14 is formed on each reflection layer 4. Here, the color filter layers 10, 1
Reference numerals 2 and 14 each include a blue color filter layer ("B" shown), a green color filter layer ("G" shown), and a red color filter layer ("R" shown).
The color filter layer further has a light shielding layer 6 arranged between the pixels. By providing the light shielding layer 6, the contrast at the time of reflective display can be improved. In the present embodiment, the reflection film is arranged in a strip shape, and the reflection film is not arranged under the light shielding layer 6 in the vertical direction.
May be formed on the entire surface of the substrate except for the openings 4a in the pixels, at least in the sealing region, and a reflective film may be arranged below the light shielding layer 6 in the vertical direction. An insulating protective layer 20 made of, for example, an acrylic resin is formed on the surfaces of the color filter layers 10, 12, 14 and the light-shielding layer 6 for each color.
um Tin Oxide) and a data electrode 8 formed of a transparent electrode.
2 are formed. Further, an alignment film 48 is formed on the surface of the scanning electrode 38 on the other substrate 32, and the overlapping portion of the data electrode 8 and the scanning electrode 38 becomes each pixel, and the liquid crystal 4
0 is the driving area. As described above, the driving region of the liquid crystal 40 sandwiched between the data electrode 8 and the scanning electrode 38 is defined as a pixel 60. In the case of color display, it is defined as including a sub-pixel which is a dot of each color of RGB. The pixel 60 is comprised of an image display region D ₂ Metropolitan of the transmissive image display area D ₁ of the reflection mode. The pixels 60 are separated from each other so as to independently drive the liquid crystal. Further, the light shielding layers 6 are arranged in a lattice pattern between the pixels 60.

First, reflection display is performed as follows. Ambient light 80 incident from the other substrate 32 side is reflected by the upper surface of the reflective layer 4 located under the electrode 8 via the liquid crystal 40, and is emitted to the other substrate 32 side to be displayed as an image, thereby displaying a net image. The region is a portion where the reflective layer 4 is formed (region D _{1 in the} figure). On the other hand, since the incident light 80 is not reflected in the formation area of the opening 4a (illustrated area D ₂ ) and the formation area of the light shielding layer 6 (illustrated area D ₃ ), black display is performed.

The transmissive display is performed as follows.
First, light incident on the reflective layer 4 from the backlight 70 composed of a flat light source or the like through one of the substrates 2 passes through the aperture 4.
a through the liquid crystal 40 in this portion, and the other substrate 3
The light is emitted to the second side and an image is displayed, and the net image display area is a portion where the opening 4a is formed (illustrated area D ₂ ). In the portion where the reflective layer 4 which is a metal film is formed, almost no light is transmitted, and the light-shielding layer 6 also does not transmit light. Therefore, portions other than the opening 4a, that is, the reflective layer 4 and the light-shielding layer 6
The area where is arranged is a light-shielding area.

In the present invention, the size of the liquid crystal driving electrodes provided on each substrate is constant between the reflective display and the transmissive display. Area) does not change. The reflection layer 4 is formed separately from the electrode 8 and has no function as an electrode because it is electrically insulated by a protective layer between the reflection layer 4 and the electrode. Therefore, the opening area of the opening provided in the reflective layer can be adjusted independently of the function as the liquid crystal drive electrode. For example, a liquid crystal device mainly for transmissive display may be formed by increasing the ratio of the opening to the pixel, or a liquid crystal device mainly for reflective display by reducing the ratio of the opening. Here, in order to appropriately perform both the reflective display and the transmissive display, in each pixel 60, the total area of the openings 4a (sum of the opening areas of the respective openings) is 10 to 60% of the area of the pixels 60. It is preferred that If the total area of the openings 4a is less than 10%, the brightness at the time of transmissive display may be insufficient, and
This is because, when the value exceeds, the image display area in the reflective display is reduced, and the luminance in the reflective display is reduced.

Next, a method for preventing screen roughness according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 shows one substrate 2
5 is a top view showing the positional relationship between the opening 4a of the reflective layer 4 corresponding to the pixel, the light shielding layer 6, and the image display areas D ₁ and D ₂ during transmission and reflection. Each rectangular pixel 60 (6
0a, 60b, 60c, etc. are collectively represented by reference numeral 60) are arranged in a matrix, and the light-shielding layers 6 (6A, 6B) of the color filter layer are arranged in a lattice between the pixels. The reflective layer in each pixel 60 has four square openings 4 along the long side direction (vertical direction in the figure) of the pixel 60.
a, 4a, 4a, and 4a are provided in a line.
The intervals 4w between the opposing sides of the adjacent openings 4a in the pixel 60 are substantially the same. The color filter layers (denoted by B, G, and R) of each color are arranged in a stripe shape in the long side direction of the pixel corresponding to each pixel, but may be arranged in a mosaic arrangement or a delta arrangement.

[0027] Here, each pixel 60a, 60b, considering the case of performing transmissive display in 60c, etc., each opening 4a display area D _2, and the light shielding region of all other portions shielding region (transmissive display ). Further, at the time of transmissive display, the width of the light shielding region extending in the short side direction of the pixel and extending between the adjacent pixels in the long side direction of the pixel is such that the width of the adjacent pixel in the long side direction (the direction in which the openings 4a are arranged) The interval between the opposing sides of the openings 60a and 60b is 6T. 6T is represented by the following equation.

6T = 6w + 2 × (4S) (1) (6w: the width of the light-shielding layer 6A or the pixel interval adjacent in the pixel long side direction, 4S: the pixel 60 facing the side of the outermost opening 4a) In the case where the length of the opening in the short side direction of the pixel is the same, the present embodiment is compared with the case where one opening is provided at the center of each pixel with the same opening area. Then, the width of the light shielding region 6T of the present embodiment becomes smaller. That is, in the present invention, as described above, each pixel 6
A plurality of openings 4a are arranged in a row in 0, and the openings 4a are also arranged near the upper end and the lower end in the long side direction of the pixel 60. By doing so, the value of 4S in the equation (1) becomes smaller, so that the width 6T is suppressed from becoming significantly larger than the width 6w of the light shielding layer. The screen can be prevented from being visually perceived as rough.

When the intervals 4w are substantially the same, the interval between the opposing sides of the specific opening 4a does not become too wide, and this portion is not visually recognized as a black stripe pattern. Therefore, it is more preferable in terms of preventing screen roughness. In particular, when the distance 4w and the width 6T are substantially the same, it is possible to reduce the recognition of the light-shielding region in the pixel short side direction as a black stripe pattern over the entire screen.

On the other hand, the width 6S of the light-shielding region extending in the long side direction of the pixel (a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the openings are arranged in a predetermined pixel, that is, the opening of the pixel adjacent to the short side direction of the pixel is opposed). The width 6S is equal to the distance between the sides of the opening 4a facing each other between the adjacent pixels 60a and 60c, and the width 6S is the width of the light shielding layer 6B in the pixel long side direction or each pixel 60a. And 60c. Therefore, it is preferable that the side of each opening 4a in the pixel long side direction be as close as possible to the vertical periphery of the pixel 60 so that the light-shielding region in the pixel long side direction is hardly recognized as a black streak.

Further, in the present invention, a method for preventing the brightness of the screen during the transmissive display from varying for each liquid crystal device will be described with reference to FIG.
Are not in contact with the periphery of the pixel 60, and the shape of the opening is not a slit shape. In particular, when the opening 4a is formed in a square shape and the ratio of the length 4L of the long side of the opening to the length 4T of the short side of the opening is set to 5 to 1, the long side of the opening 4a is formed. There is no significant difference in the length of the short side and the short side, and the length of the short side does not become too short than the long side.
In this manner, when forming the opening, the dimension of the opening is changed by the influence of the standard error, particularly on the side having the shorter length of the opening, and as a result, as a result, each liquid crystal device or 1
In each pixel of the liquid crystal device, it is possible to prevent the opening area of the opening from fluctuating (fluctuation), and to reduce the fluctuation of the screen brightness at the time of transmission determined by the opening area. The above-mentioned standard error is determined by, for example, uneven development in a resist developing step when an opening is formed by patterning a reflective film, or uneven etching when etching using a resist as a mask.

The mode of forming an opening in a pixel is not limited to the above embodiment. For example,
As shown in FIG. 5, two openings 41a may be provided in the reflection layer 41 in the pixel 61 in the vertical direction. Also in this case, each opening 41a is positioned as much as possible at the upper end or the lower end of the pixel 61 so that the width 61T of the light-shielding region in the horizontal direction is not widened. What is necessary is just to prevent the screen from being roughened by being visually recognized. In particular, the distance 41w between the opposing sides of each opening 41a and the width 61
When T is substantially the same, the roughness of the screen can be effectively prevented as in the above-described embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, three openings 42a may be provided in the reflection layer 42 of the pixel 62 in the vertical direction.
Also in this case, the openings 42a may be positioned at the upper end and the lower end of the pixel 62 so that the width 62T of the light-shielding region in the horizontal direction does not increase.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when each opening 43a is provided in the reflection layer 43 in the pixel 63, the opening 43a
The long side 43L may be a horizontal side, and the short side 43T may be a vertical side. That is, the short sides or the long sides of the openings may be located along the direction in which the openings are arranged in a line in the pixel. Further, the opening may be substantially square.

(Second Embodiment) Next, an active matrix type liquid crystal device 50S according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of the liquid crystal device 50S. In this figure, a liquid crystal device 50S is an active matrix type liquid crystal device using a TFD (Thin Film Diode) element as an active element, and one substrate 2S and the other substrate 32S are arranged facing each other at a predetermined interval. , A liquid crystal is interposed therebetween. The opposing substrate 32S, which is an element substrate, is made of glass or the like, and a plurality of pixels formed of a matrix of transparent electrodes such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) are formed on the surface (opposing surface) of the element substrate 32S facing one of the substrates. An electrode 38S (liquid crystal drive electrode) and a TFD element 66 connected to each pixel electrode 38S are provided. Each pixel electrode 38S is formed in a substantially rectangular shape.
One of the corners is provided with a TFD element 66, which is a notch. The TFD element 66 is provided with a wiring 64 (usually a signal line but a scanning line 8S arranged on one substrate when it becomes a scanning line) for each column or row.
Are signal lines). On a surface of one substrate 2S facing the element substrate 32S, a scanning line 8S as a liquid crystal driving electrode is arranged from transparent ITO or the like. The orientation of the liquid crystal is controlled for each pixel 60S based on the voltage applied between the pixel electrode and the scanning line 8S.
Also in this example, as in the first embodiment, each pixel indicates a portion where the pixel electrode and the scanning line 8S overlap (a portion where the liquid crystal drive electrode overlaps and the liquid crystal can be driven). TFD is a non-linear current-voltage characteristic (diode characteristic)
Is a two-terminal switching element having, for example, T
An MIM structure (Metal Insulator Metal) having a Cr layer laminated on a Ta oxide film formed on the surface of the a layer can be used.

On the surface of one substrate 2S made of glass or the like, a reflective layer 4S is formed at least over the entire display area in the seal, and strip-shaped scanning lines (electrodes) 8S are formed thereon. . Then, in each pixel 60S, the reflective layer 4S has three pixels along the longitudinal direction of the pixel 60S.
The openings 4Sa are arranged side by side. In this embodiment, no color filter layer is formed,
The liquid crystal device 50S performs a monochrome display.
Further, no light shielding layer is formed between the pixels 60S.

The sectional structure of the liquid crystal device 50S is as shown in FIG.

In this figure, the above-described reflective layer 4S is formed on the surface of one substrate 2S, and the scanning lines 8S are formed on the reflective layer 4S via an insulating protective layer 20S. By doing so, the scanning line 8S, which is an electrode for driving the liquid crystal, is electrically insulated from the reflective layer 4S, and the shape of the reflective layer 4S can be freely designed. The alignment film 22 is formed on the scanning lines 8S and the exposed protective layer 20S.
S is formed.

In this embodiment, the pixel electrode 38S
Is the same as that of the liquid crystal device 50 described above in that the area where the scanning line 8S overlaps with the pixel 60S, and reflection and transmissive display is performed in this area, but a light shielding layer is formed in the area D ₃ ′ between the pixels 60S. It has not been. Therefore, the reflective layer 4S serves as a light-shielding region during transmissive display, but the reflective layer 4S during reflective display.
The incident light is reflected on the surface of S. However, in such a case, there is an advantage that the screen at the time of reflection becomes bright. Also in this example, as compared with the case where one opening is provided in each pixel, the width of the light-shielding region extending in the short side direction of the pixel in the transmissive display can be reduced, or the light-shielding region in the transmissive display can be reduced. Since the areas can be dispersed over the entire screen, the roughness of the screen can be effectively prevented. Further, by setting the ratio of the long side and the short side of the rectangular opening to a predetermined range, it is possible to prevent the opening area from varying for each pixel or for each liquid crystal device.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show a case where the color filter layer is not disposed on one of the reflective substrates, but as in the first embodiment, the color filters and the light-shielding layer are formed on the reflective layer. May be formed.

A liquid crystal device having such a two-terminal switching element has, for example, an equivalent circuit as shown in FIG. 10, and a liquid crystal layer 40 and a TFD between signal lines (data lines) and scanning lines. Switching elements 66 are connected in series. The scanning lines are connected to a scanning signal driving circuit 92, and the data lines are connected to a data signal driving circuit 91. Then, the scanning signal driving circuit 92 and the data signal driving circuit 91
Supplies a scanning signal and a data signal, respectively. Here, when the potential difference between the scanning signal and the data signal exceeds a predetermined voltage of the switching element 66, the element is turned on (selected state), while the potential difference is changed to the voltage of the switching element 66. When the value becomes below, the element is turned off (non-selected state).

The present invention is not limited to the structure described in each embodiment, but can be applied to various structures without departing from the present invention. For example, in each embodiment, the reflection layer 4
May be a scattering surface having irregularities on the surface.

[Electronic Equipment] Hereinafter, specific examples of electronic equipment having the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone.

In this figure, reference numeral 1000 denotes a portable telephone body, and reference numeral 1001 denotes a liquid crystal display unit using the above liquid crystal device.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an example of a wristwatch type electronic device.

In this figure, reference numeral 1100 denotes a watch main body, and reference numeral 1101 denotes a liquid crystal display unit using the above liquid crystal device.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a portable information processing device such as a word processor or a personal computer.

In this figure, reference numeral 1200 is an information processing device, reference numeral 1202 is an input unit such as a keyboard, and reference numeral 1 is
Reference numeral 204 denotes a main body of the information processing apparatus, and reference numeral 1206 denotes a liquid crystal display unit using the above liquid crystal device.

The electronic devices shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 are provided with a liquid crystal display unit using the above-described liquid crystal device, so that electronic devices with reduced screen roughness can be realized.

[0051]

As is apparent from the above description, a plurality of openings are provided in one row for each pixel, and the openings are also located at the upper end and the lower end of each pixel. Therefore, the width of the light-shielding region at the time of transmission determined by the distance between the outer edges of the outermost openings of each pixel can be made smaller than, for example, when one opening is provided in each pixel. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the light-shielding region from being visually recognized as a black streak and the screen being rough.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A 'of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing one substrate.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing another embodiment of the reflection layer on one substrate.

FIG. 6 is a top view showing still another embodiment of the reflection layer on one substrate.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing another embodiment of the reflection layer on one substrate.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B ′ of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an equivalent circuit of a liquid crystal device including a two-terminal switching element.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another example of the electronic device.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing still another example of the electronic apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a conventional transmissive display type liquid crystal display device.

FIG. 15 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a conventional reflective display type liquid crystal display device.

FIG. 16 is a top view showing an opening of a reflective electrode in a conventional transflective liquid crystal display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2, 2S One substrate 4, 4S, 41, 42, 43 Reflecting layer 4a, 4Sa, 41a, 42a, 43a Opening 4L, 43L Opening long side 4T, 43T Opening short side 6 Light shielding layer 8 Data electrode 8S scanning line 10 blue color filter layer 12 green color filter layer 14 red color filter layer 32, 32S other substrate 38 scanning electrode 38S pixel electrode 40, 40S liquid crystal 50, 50S liquid crystal device 60, 60S, 61, 62, 63 pixels

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, liquid crystal driving electrodes are respectively disposed on opposing surfaces of the respective substrates, and a plurality of pixels are formed by overlapping portions of the respective electrodes. Each of the pixels has a substantially rectangular shape, and a reflection layer made of a metal film is disposed on the facing surface of one of the substrates. A liquid crystal device, wherein a plurality of openings for transmitting light to a substrate side are provided in a row along a long side direction of the pixel. 2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a periphery of said opening is not in contact with a periphery of said pixel of said reflection layer. 3. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the opening is formed in a square shape, and a ratio of a long side to a short side of the opening is 5 to 1. 4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein, in each of the pixels, intervals between opposing sides of adjacent openings are substantially the same. 5. A space between opposing sides of adjacent openings in each pixel, and opposing sides of the openings opposing between adjacent pixels along a direction in which the openings are arranged in a line. The liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein the interval between the two is substantially the same. 6. The space between the opposing sides of the adjacent openings in each pixel, and the openings opposed between the pixels adjacent in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the openings are arranged in a line. 6. The liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein the distance between the opposing sides is substantially the same. 7. An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.