Wide-viewing-angle flexible liquid crystal displays with optical compensation of polycarbonate substrates

Optical compensation of flexible vertically aligned liquid crystal displays (LCDs) utilizing polycarbonate substrates was proposed for a wide viewing-angle range and a high contrast ratio. We theoretically confirmed that the viewing-angle range of flexible LCDs can be improved by optical compensation considering the precisely evaluated optical anisotropy of polycarbonate substrates. We realized a good contrast ratio of and a wide viewing angle of 150° (contrast ratio ) by fabricating devices using polycarbonate substrates. It is, for the first time, shown that a high-image-quality flexible LCD for next-generation technology can be realized even when using thin, lightweight, and flexible plastic substrates.