Abstract
A liquid crystal device including a single or a plurality of pixel elements is provided. Each pixel element includes: a first substrate; the second substrate is parallel to the first substrate; a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a first plurality of electrodes formed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer; and a second plurality of electrodes formed between the second substrate and the liquid crystal layer. The first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes are configured to generate electric fields in three orthogonal directions, and the electric fields in two of the three orthogonal directions are in-plane electric fields and another one of the three orthogonal directions is an out-of-plane electric field.