An electrooptic color display for displaying selectable indicia includes a ferroelectric ceramic element, such as a PLZT material, first and second polarizers on each side of the element, and a mechanism for selectively inducing a transverse electric field at selectable areas on the element, said areas corresponding to the indicia. The electric field can be produced by applying a voltage to transparent interleaved electrodes on one or both surfaces of the ceramic element. These areas produce spectrally selective phase retardation which causes the color of the indicia to be different from that of the background color. Preferably a separate retardation element which may be fixed, variable, or a combination of both, is disposed between the polarizers to provide a fixed color bias that determines the background color. This invention contemplates transmissive, reflective, and transflective color displays.
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