Patent Application
20160313612
The present invention belongs to the field of display technology, and specifically relates to a liquid crystal lens and a display device.
With the continuous development of the display technology, three-dimensional (3D) display has become an important development tendency in the field of display. The basic principle of the 3D display is to make different images seen by the left eye and the right eye of a person and then subjected to visual processing by the brain so that the images which the person sees become stereoscopic.
At present, the 3D display is classified into two major categories, i.e., glasses-free 3D display and glasses 3D display. The glasses-free 3D display is to process images on a display panel to generate stereoscopic images, so that users can experience the 3D display with naked eyes rather than by means of 3D glasses.
The liquid crystal lens is a way of realizing the glasses-free 3D display, and the liquid crystal lens is generally provided on the display panel. As shown in
However, in a liquid crystal lens in the prior art, a strong lateral electric field will be formed between two adjacent strip electrodes, resulting in poor display.
Specifically, as shown in
In view of the aforementioned problem in an existing liquid crystal lens, the present invention provides a liquid crystal lens and a display device capable of effectively improving the imaging effect.
A technical solution employed to solve the aforementioned technical problem is a liquid crystal lens, including: a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate; a plurality of layers of strip electrodes are provided on a surface, facing the second substrate, of the first substrate, and counter electrodes arranged at least opposite to the strip electrodes are provided on a surface, facing the first substrate, of the second substrate; wherein,
any two strip electrodes adjacent in a horizontal direction are arranged in different layers, the strip electrodes in different layers are insulated from each other and there is no overlap between their projections on the first substrate.
In a case where the number of the strip electrodes on the first substrate of the liquid crystal lens of the present invention is the same as that of the strip electrodes arranged on the first substrate of the existing liquid crystal lens, as the strip electrodes of the embodiment are alternately arranged in different layers at intervals, the distance between two adjacent strip electrodes in a height direction (longitudinal direction) is increased. According to a field strength formula: E=U/d, an increased distance in the height direction indicates an increased value of d in this formula, consequently, the intensity of a lateral electric field formed between two adjacent strip electrodes is decreased, thus eliminating or alleviating the problem of a dissatisfactory phase delay curve of the liquid crystal lens resulting from the influence of the strong lateral electric field formed between the two adjacent strip electrodes on liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer in the prior art; and furthermore, the imaging effect of the electric control liquid crystal lens is improved.
Preferably, the counter electrodes may be a plate electrode.
Preferably, two layers of strip electrodes are arranged on the surface, facing the second substrate, of the first substrate, the first layer of strip electrodes include a plurality of first strip electrodes, the second layer of strip electrodes include a plurality of second strip electrodes, and the first strip electrodes and the second strip electrodes are alternately arranged in the horizontal direction at intervals.
Preferably, voltages applied to the strip electrodes on the first substrate are 0 V during 2D image display.
Preferably, the first substrate provided with the strip electrodes is divided into a plurality of units, each of which includes n adjacent strip electrodes, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 2; and
voltages applied to the strip electrodes in each of the units are different during 3D image display.
Further preferably, there are 6 strip electrodes included in each of the units.
Preferably, a planarization layer is arranged between two adjacent layers of strip electrodes on the first substrate.
Further preferably, thickness of the planarization layer ranges from 2 μm to 5 μm.
Preferably, a plurality of protrusive structures are arranged on the first substrate, and the second strip electrodes are arranged on the protrusive structures.
A technical solution employed to solve the aforementioned technical problem is a display device, including the aforementioned liquid crystal lens.
As the display device of the present invention includes the aforementioned liquid crystal lens, the display device of the present invention can effectively avoid poor display resulting from the strong lateral electric field formed between two adjacent strip electrodes.
In order to make those skilled in the art understand the technical solutions of the present invention better, the present invention will be further described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific implementations.
As shown in
In a case where the number of the strip electrodes 102 on the first substrate 101 of the liquid crystal lens in this embodiment is the same as that of the strip electrodes 102 arranged on the first substrate 101 of an existing liquid crystal lens, as any two strip electrodes adjacent in a horizontal direction are arranged in different layers at intervals in the present embodiment, the distance between two adjacent strip electrodes in a height direction (longitudinal direction) is increased. According to a field strength formula: E=U/d, an increased distance in the height direction indicates an increased value of d in this formula, consequently, the intensity of the lateral electric field formed between two adjacent strip electrodes 102 is decreased, thus eliminating or alleviating the problem in the prior art that, a strong lateral electric field generated between two adjacent strip electrodes 102 influences the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer and thus the phase delay curve of the liquid crystal lens is dissatisfactory, and imaging effect of the liquid crystal lens is poor.
The phase delay curve generated by the liquid crystal lens of the present embodiment is shown in
As each counter electrode on the second substrate 201 is generally applied with same voltage during image display, preferably, the counter electrodes may be a plate electrode 202. Of course, the counter electrodes may also be slit electrodes, as long as there are counter electrodes arranged at positions, corresponding to the strip electrodes 102 on the first substrate 101, on the second substrate 201. In this case, the slit widths of slit electrodes on the second substrate 201 may be adjusted so that the deflecting direction of the liquid crystal molecules at positions corresponding to the slits is substantially the same as that of the liquid crystal molecules at position s corresponding to the electrodes.
In order to simplify the structure of the liquid crystal lens, preferably, two layers of strip electrodes are arranged on a surface, facing the second substrate 201, of the first substrate 101. As shown in
2D image display and 3D image display may be realized by arranging the liquid crystal lens of the present embodiment on a light-exiting surface of an existing display panel.
Preferably, voltages applied to the two layers of strip electrodes 102 arranged on the first substrate 101 are 0 V during 2D image display, that is, there is no voltage applied to the strip electrodes 102. Thereby, 2D images are displayed by the existing display panel.
Preferably, the first substrate 101 including a plurality of strip electrodes 102 is divided into a plurality of regions (units), so that each unit includes n adjacent strip electrodes 102, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Different voltages are applied to the strip electrodes 102 in each unit during 3D image display, so that the deflection of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled through voltages applied to the two layers of strip electrodes 102. In this way, the left eye and the right eye of a user can see two images at different positions, i.e. a left eye image and a right eye image. Thereby, the user feels that a 3D image is formed in front of his/her eyes. Voltages applied to any two adjacent strip electrodes 102 in the two layers of strip electrodes 102 are different, that is to say, a voltage difference exists; however, as there is a height difference between the two layers of strip electrodes 102, according to the field strength formula: E=U/d, the distance in the height direction (i.e. the value of d) is increased, and consequently, the intensity of the lateral electric field formed between two adjacent strip electrodes 102 is decreased, which eliminates or alleviates the problem in the prior art that, as a strong lateral electric field generated between two adjacent strip electrodes 102 influences the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer, glitches occur in the phase delay curve of the liquid crystal lens, thus resulting in poor imaging effect of the liquid crystal lens. Further preferably, there are 6 strip electrodes 102 included in each unit. Of course the number of the strip electrodes 102 included in each unit is not limited to 6, and may be set according to specific situations.
Preferably, a planarization layer 103 is arranged between two adjacent layers of strip electrodes 102, so that a certain height difference exists between two adjacent layers of strip electrodes 102, and two adjacent layers of strip electrodes 102 are insulated from each other. Specifically, as shown in
It should be noted that the adjacent strip electrodes 102 in the present embodiment refer to two adjacent strip electrodes 102 in two adjacent layers rather than two adjacent strip electrodes 102 arranged in the same layer.
This embodiment provides a display device, including the liquid crystal lens in Embodiment 1. The display device may be any product or component having a display function, such as a mobile phone, a tablet, a TV set, a display, a laptop, a digital photo frame, a navigator, etc.
As the display device of the present embodiment includes the liquid crystal lens in Embodiment 1, the display device of the present embodiment can effectively avoid poor display resulting from a strong lateral electric field formed between two adjacent strip electrodes 102.
The display device of the present embodiment is preferably a 3D display device, which can also realize 2D display. Specifically, 3D display or 2D display may be realized by changing voltages applied to the strip electrodes 102. Specific implementations of 3D display and 2D display are the same as those of the prior art, and will not be described in detail here.
Of course, the display device of the present embodiment may further include other conventional structures such as a display drive unit, etc.
It should be understood that the aforementioned implementations are merely exemplary implementations for describing the principle of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. For a person of ordinary skill in the art, various variations and improvements may be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, and those variations and improvements should be regarded as falling into the protection scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201410645970.7 | Nov 2014 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2015/076850 | 4/17/2015 | WO | 00 |
