the form of an indium tin oxide coating ito of a transparent glass substrate 50 overlying the cell array 28 the glass substrate 50 may be similar to those used in liquid crystal displays the ito top electrode 42 may be evaporated onto the top glass substrate 50 the ito top electrode 42 is transparent and the colored states 18 20 are viewed through the ito top electrode 42 underlying the cell array 28 is a glass bottom substrate 52 alternately the bottom substrate 52 may be a silicon wafer with patterned electrodes or an active matrix backplane to be described hereinafter it will be appreciated that the top and bottom electrodes 40 42 may also be formed from flexible material such as ito coated mylar u2122 mylar u2122 is a registered trademark of e i dupont corporation wilmington del it will also be appreciated that the viewed and the non viewed regions can be arranged laterally not shown so that the non viewed region although observable is significantly smaller in area with respect to the viewed region such as in laterally driven electrophoretic displays the electrodes 40 42 are connected to a pair of voltage sources 60 62 one voltage source 60 provides an ac alternating current field while the other voltage source 62 provides a dc direct current field as discussed the different colored particles 12 14 carry opposite charges 13 15 respectively current electrophoretic.