PURPOSE: To obtain a liquid crystal display device high in visibility both at the time of turning on and off of an illumination device by providing the illumination device with light transmissivity and illuminating function in a single direction.
CONSTITUTION: The illumination device 1 is arranged on the back side of a liquid crystal panel 2 and a reflector 3 is arranged on the back side of the panel 2. The illumination device 1 is provided with such function as projecting a light beam on the reflector 3 side and transmitting the light beam reflected on the reflector 3 almost without being dispersed. That means, when there is sufficient external light, the illumination device 1 is used in off-state, and in such a case, the illumination device 1 works as a simple transparent plate without deteriorating visibility nor affecting display quality. When the illumination device 1 is used in on-state at a dark place with insufficient external light, the panel 2 is illuminated with indirect light by the reflector 3 by the illumination device 1 and the light reflected on the reflector 3 is transmitted as it is because the illumination device 1 functions as the simple transparent plate in the same way as it is turned off. Therefore, the high visibility is held.
AKAHA FUMIAKI
YAGASAKI TORU
IECHIKA HISASHI
