Both, tristable and thresholdless antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) displays, are promising alternatives to existing products in the high-end segment of flat panel displays. Both technologies are still being developed; their actual incidence in the display market cannot be precisely established yet. However, it may be anticipated that the increased versatility provided by the existence of two useful opposite effect will help to devise application areas for which AFLCs will compete advantageously with current flat panel displays.