Transmissive
Backlight is required. Displays not easily read in sunlight
Transflective
The reflective properties allow the display to be read in bright sunlight where the backlight fails. Transflective displays are typically more expensive due to the manufacturing process.
LCD Screen Viewing Angle
Look at the LCD front on and imagine a 45º cone coming out of a pixel. This is a general LCD viewing angle (differs between screens, but that is a general value for simple displays). If a screen has a 12 o’clock viewing angle that cone tips upwards towards the top by around 10º (differs between screens, but that is a general value). If the screen has a 6 o’clock viewing angle that cone tips downwards towards the bottom by around 10º. So looking at a screen front on there is generally no difference, the viewing angle only matters as you view from above or below (or side to side with 3 and 9 o’clock viewing angles).
The catch? What is front on? Just because a datasheet mechanical drawing shows a screen in a particular orientation it doesn’t mean that is the orientation the o’clock viewing angle is based on! If it doesn’t specifically say so then it’s best to ask or get a screen and verify for yourself. It sounds silly, but we’ve come across screens where the mechanical drawing is upside down with relation to viewing angle.
IPS displays
IPS (in-plane switching) gives the display the ability to be viewed from all angles.
Temperature Range
An operating temperature range of -20º to +70ºC is fairly typical for a TFT LCD display.