A filter for a display panel includes a base unit and an external light shielding sheet. The sheet includes a plurality of pattern units provided in spaced relation adjacent the base unit to absorb external light. The base unit includes a dye or pigment for absorbing light in a specific wavelength region, and refractive indexes of the pattern units are greater than a refractive index of the base unit. The pattern units may have the same or different refractive indexes.