Methods and systems for displaying videos with high contrast using fast transient response of liquid crystal materials are disclosed. The system comprises a liquid crystal material treated with a chiral dopant, which is aligned between two substrates with conductive layer on each substrate. The system can be operated in an active or passive matrix mode display. The active matrix display can be a thin film transistor (TFT) or MOS transistor, whereas no transistors are used for the passive matrix mode display. A full color display, with high contrast, can be achieved by illuminating the transient liquid crystal material with a pulsed backlight.