Ferroelectric liquid crystal over silicon (FLCOS) technology, initially developed for coherent optical computing applications, is identified within this thesis as a highly suitable technology for miniature colour display development. This is evident as surface stabilised ferroelectric liquid crystals exhibit high switching speeds, a wide field of view and a digital switching mechanism, while very large scale integrated circuits offer high frequency, low power operation and versatile functionality. This thesis introduces the use of FLCOS combined with fast, high-intensity, primary-coloured light sources in order to achieve colour images with no colour separation. The digital nature of this technology permits high speed temporal multiplexing of illuminated binary images to produce a visual grey- or colour-level sensation. Accurate colour reproduction is achieved consistently as the silicon backplane, ferroelectric liquid crystal, illumination sources and overall electronic drive schemes are digitally controlled. Optical analysis and characterisation of available DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) based FLCOS backplanes had led to the development of a number of optimised device-dependent electronic driving schemes. One such scheme aims to reduce the visual effects of image degradation due to the photoelectric effect which was apparent in early DRAM based devices. A generic interfacing platform, real-time video processing architecture and a variety of image manipulation hardware functions for FLCOS displays are presented. These functions have been implemented on fast programmable logic thus verifying correct operation and functionality. This technology has great potential for head mounted applications, where portability and high quality imagery are required. A collaborative research project 'SLIMDIS' has produced a colour head mounted unit incorporating a 1024x768 pixellated FLCOS device - a world first. The first colour images obtained on this device use driving electronics and addressing schemes which are presented in this thesis.