Reflective twisted nematic displays where the output polarizer is eliminated are analyzed and demonstrated. The absence of the rear output polarizer has many advantages, including much higher brightness and higher resolution. In this article, we examine the solution space for the design of such reflective displays. Both the cases of a simple reflective display and the use of a retardation film within the display to compensate for color dispersion are explored. It is shown that excellent black and white displays can be obtained using film compensation. Experimentally, over 90&percent; reflectance from a compensated reflective display has been obtained with low color dispersion. The optical response of this reflective display was also found to be quite fast and suitable for video rate applications. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.