PURPOSE: To improve lightness of the TN-type display element without losing its advantages by changing one of the polarizing plates of the TN-type liquid crystal display device to the specific wavelength plate and disposing a light reflecting plate to the side of said wavelength plate thereby orienting the liquid crystal molecules to the specific twisted angles.

CONSTITUTION: The liquid cyrstal cell is so made that the liquid crystal molecules orient twisted at 40W50°. It is disposed with a polarizing plate 1 on one side and a 1/4 wavelength plate 2 and reflecting plate 3 on the other. The axis of polarization of the polarizing plate 1 is made the same as the orientation direction of a transparent substrate 4 and the main axis of the wavelength plate 2 is aligned to the orientation direction of the transparent substrate 5. At this time, the incident light is made to the linearly polarized light by the polarizing plate 1, thence it is rotated 40W50° by the liquid crystal 11 to become the linearly polarized light of the same direction as the main axis of the plate 2. Hence, the transmitted light of the plate 2 is straightly reflected by the plate 3, by which reflected light 6 is obtained. On the other hand, when voltage is applied between the transparent electrodes 9, 10, the liquid crystal molecules perpendicularly orient and therefore rotatory polarization is lost and the transmitted light of the liquid crystal cell assumes angles of 40W50° to the main axis of the plate 2, and reflected light 8 is cut off by the polarizing plate 1. Hence, only one sheet of polarizing plate is required.