A near-eye display comprising: a transmissive waveguide (66, 72) including an input coupler and an output coupler, a self-emitting microdisplay system (64, 73) including a microdisplay (45, 53) that emits light in the direction of the input coupler for generating a virtual image that is visible together with a real-world scene through the waveguide within an eyebox in front of the output coupler, wherein the microdisplay comprises an array of pixels, wherein each pixel is a self-emitting light source that emits light as a function of power applied to each self-emitting light source, a two-dimensional light sensor for detecting light levels within different portions of the real world scene, and the self-emitting microdisplay system (64, 73) including drive electronics configured to control the light output from individual pixels of the self-emitting microdisplay (45, 53) such that pixels overlaying areas within the real world scene that are relatively dim are driven at lower power levels than pixels overlaying areas within the real world scene that are relatively bright to preserve desired local contrast values between the virtual image and the real-world scene, wherein the near-eye display further comprises an electro-optical modulator configured to regulate the passage of light from the real-world scene through the transmissive waveguide, the electro-optical modular including control electronics that are configured to differentially attenuate local passages of light from the instant real-world scene to preserve desired local contrast values between the virtual image and the real-world scene. a transmissive waveguide (66, 72) including an input coupler and an output coupler, a self-emitting microdisplay system (64, 73) including a microdisplay (45, 53) that emits light in the direction of the input coupler for generating a virtual image that is visible together with a real-world scene through the waveguide within an eyebox in front of the output coupler, wherein the microdisplay comprises an array of pixels, wherein each pixel is a self-emitting light source that emits light as a function of power applied to each self-emitting light source, a two-dimensional light sensor for detecting light levels within different portions of the real world scene, and the self-emitting microdisplay system (64, 73) including drive electronics configured to control the light output from individual pixels of the self-emitting microdisplay (45, 53) such that pixels overlaying areas within the real world scene that are relatively dim are driven at lower power levels than pixels overlaying areas within the real world scene that are relatively bright to preserve desired local contrast values between the virtual image and the real-world scene, wherein the near-eye display further comprises an electro-optical modulator configured to regulate the passage of light from the real-world scene through the transmissive waveguide, the electro-optical modular including control electronics that are configured to differentially attenuate local passages of light from the instant real-world scene to preserve desired local contrast values between the virtual image and the real-world scene.