A liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes: a liquid crystal cell having a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween; a pair of polarizing plates interposing the liquid crystal cell therebetween; and a phase compensation element provided between at least one of the polarizing plates and the liquid crystal cell. A refractive index anisotropy value of the liquid crystal layer along a plane parallel to a surface of the liquid crystal cell is smaller in a black display than in a white display. The phase compensation element has three principal refractive indices nx, ny and nz respectively along x, y and z axes thereof which are perpendicular to one another, and when nx and ny are the principal refractive indices along a plane parallel to a surface of the liquid crystal cell with nz being the principal refractive index along a thickness direction of the liquid crystal cell, wherein the x axis is parallel to an absorption axis of one of the polarizing plates closer to a viewer viewing the liquid crystal display device, and the principal refractive indices nx, ny and nz satisfy the following expressions: nz<(nx+ny)/2; and nx.noteq.ny.