We propose a novel mechanism of short-term image-sticking phenomenon in in-plane switching liquid crystal displays (IPS LCDs) that is related to ionic relaxation generated by a vertical electric field caused by a flexoelectric effect. We discuss the differences between electric fields caused by the flexoelectric effect and those caused by DC bias voltage.

Although transmittance changes like a quadratic function due to the DC offset voltage in FFS mode LCD, its bottom position and flicker minimum DC offset voltage varies depending on the gray level due to the flexoelectric effect. We demonstrated how the influence of the flexoelectric effect changes depending on the electrode width or black matrix position.