Patent ID: 8068271

Claim:
A transmissive display assembly comprising: a substantially transparent back plane element having a plurality of electrodes distributed in two dimensions on the backplane, each said electrode allowing independent control of a discrete region of the display; a substantially transparent front plane element disposed substantially parallel and adjacent said backplane element, said front plane element including at least one electrode disposed opposite said back plane, said front plane element being spaced apart from said back plane element by an interior wall defining a plurality of cells forming a single layer of cells therebetween; a plurality of two-segment optically anisotropic elements rotatably disposed in said plurality of cells in a single layer, wherein the two-segment optically anisotropic elements comprise a core and a partial conductive coating, wherein said partial conductive coating comprises conductive particles and renders the optically anisotropic elements responsive to a magnetic field and rotatable by about 90±15 degrees upon application of the magnetic field, and wherein said partial conductive coating further provides electrical anisotropy to the optically anisotropic elements and renders the optically anisotropic elements responsive to an electric field and rotatable by about 180±15 degrees upon application of the electric field; and a fluid provided in said cells, such that said anisotropic elements can rotate between a first orientation and a second orientation within their respective cells when an electric field or a magnetic field is applied to the cells.