Display device comprising - a display having a front and a rear side, wherein information displayed on the display, in particular a text, character or image, can be viewed from at least one main viewing direction (B1, B2), in particular from a front side, and wherein the display is configured in such a way that a viewer can look through the display onto a background lying behind it, - at least one pane with switchable, in particular electrically switchable transparency and transmissivity, the pane being arranged behind the display as seen from the main viewing direction (B1, B2), here transmissivity designates that portion of a light intensity incident on one side, which arrives at the other side, while transparency, on the other hand, refers to the deflection of the light rays incident on the pane, whereby, if these are transmitted without deflection, transparency is 100%, whereas, in the case of a 100% diffuse pane, from the direction of an exiting light ray the direction of the light ray originally entering the pane cannot be inferred in any way, and - a control unit which controls the transparency and the transmissivity of the pane as well as a contrast setting and a brightness setting of the display, - wherein the display is a display panel, and - two light sensors are present, one light sensor measuring a background brightness, i.e. a light intensity coming from the half-space behind the pane, and the other light sensor measuring an ambient brightness, i.e. a light intensity coming from the half-space in front of the display panel, and - the control unit controls the transparency and transmissivity of the pane and the brightness and contrast setting of the display panel on the basis of the background and ambient brightness measured by the light sensors in such a way, that an average image brightness as a sum of a light component generated by the display panel and a light component transmitted through the pane and a contrast between the displayed information and the background lying behind the pane each corresponds to a preset or viewer-selectable brightness or contrast value. - a display having a front and a rear side, wherein information displayed on the display, in particular a text, character or image, can be viewed from at least one main viewing direction (B1, B2), in particular from a front side, and wherein the display is configured in such a way that a viewer can look through the display onto a background lying behind it, - at least one pane with switchable, in particular electrically switchable transparency and transmissivity, the pane being arranged behind the display as seen from the main viewing direction (B1, B2), here transmissivity designates that portion of a light intensity incident on one side, which arrives at the other side, while transparency, on the other hand, refers to the deflection of the light rays incident on the pane, whereby, if these are transmitted without deflection, transparency is 100%, whereas, in the case of a 100% diffuse pane, from the direction of an exiting light ray the direction of the light ray originally entering the pane cannot be inferred in any way, and - a control unit which controls the transparency and the transmissivity of the pane as well as a contrast setting and a brightness setting of the display, - wherein the display is a display panel, and - two light sensors are present, one light sensor measuring a background brightness, i.e. a light intensity coming from the half-space behind the pane, and the other light sensor measuring an ambient brightness, i.e. a light intensity coming from the half-space in front of the display panel, and - the control unit controls the transparency and transmissivity of the pane and the brightness and contrast setting of the display panel on the basis of the background and ambient brightness measured by the light sensors in such a way, that an average image brightness as a sum of a light component generated by the display panel and a light component transmitted through the pane and a contrast between the displayed information and the background lying behind the pane each corresponds to a preset or viewer-selectable brightness or contrast value.