Displays built from mechanical light modulators are an attractive alternative to displays based on liquid crystal technology. Mechanical light modulators are fast enough to display video content with good viewing angles and with a wide range of color and grey scale. Mechanical light modulators have been successful in projection display applications, and have recently been proposed for direct view applications. There is a need in the art for fast, bright, low-powered mechanically actuated displays. Specifically there is a need for mechanically actuated displays that can be driven at high speeds and at low voltages for improved image quality and reduced power consumption.