Continuous viewing angle distribution control of liquid crystal displays using polarization-dependent prism array film stacked on directional backlight unit

We present a polarization-dependent prism array film for controlling the viewing angle distribution of liquid crystal (LC) display panels without loss of light efficiency. On a directional backlight unit, our polarization-dependent prism array film, made into a stacked bilayer with a well-aligned liquid crystalline reactive mesogen (RM) layer on the UV-imprinted prism structure, can continuously control the light refraction function of the prism array by electrically switching incident polarization states of a polarization-controlling layer prepared by a twisted nematic LC mode. The viewing angle control properties of the polarization-dependent prism array film are analyzed under different prism angle and refractive index conditions of the RM layer. A simple analytic model is also presented to describe the intermediate viewing angle distributions with continuously varying applied voltages and incident polarization states.