display panel 12 having a polymer dispersed liquid crystal pdlc display cell 14 the cell 14 includes a pdlc film 16 which may be produced by the process described in the above referenced patents u s pat nos 4 688 900 and 4 728 547 or any other suitable process the cell 14 further has electrode layers 18 and 20 formed of for example indium tin oxide ito on the opposite surfaces of the film 16 the cell 14 is schematically illustrated as having an off segment 22 and on segments 24 and 26 no electric field is applied across the cell 14 in the off segment 22 and an electric field from a voltage source 28 is applied across the cell 14 by means of the electrode layers 18 and 20 in the on segments 24 and 26 the display panel 12 further includes front and back transparent face plates 30 and 32 respectively which sandwich the liquid crystal cell 14 therebetween the face plates 30 and 32 may be formed of glass plastic plexiglass or any other suitable material with the thicknesses thereof selected to produce optimal results the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig1 is designed to operate in a transmission or direct view mode and includes a light absorbing material 33 provided behind the back face plate 32 the material 33 may be black paint applied to the surface of the face plate 32 or a separate black sheet or plate which is maintained in contact with the plate 32 or spaced at a slight distance behind the plate 32 optical lamps 34 and 36 are provided to.