An optical film for a liquid crystal display of the present invention laminating a polarizing plate and a retardation film so that an absorption axis of the polarizing plate and a slow axis of the retardation film are perpendicular or parallel to each other, wherein the polarizing plate comprises a transparent protective film on both surfaces of a polarizer and the transparent protective film has an in-plane retardation Re.sub.1=(nx.sub.1-ny.sub.1).times.d.sub.1 is 10 nm or less and a thickness direction retardation Rth={(nx.sub.1+ny.sub.1)/2-nz.sub.1}.times.d.sub.1 is in the range of from 30 nm to 100 nm, and the retardation film has an Nz value represented by Nz=(nx.sub.2-nz.sub.2) /(nx.sub.2-ny.sub.2) is in the range of from 0.1 to 0.8 and an in-plane retardation Re.sub.2=(nx.sub.2-ny.sub.2).times.d.sub.2 is in the range of from 60 to 300 nm. The optical film of the invention realizes a high contrast ratio over a wide range and a better view in a case where the optical film is applied to a liquid crystal display driving in IPS mode.