Display element having groups of individually turned-on steps

A display device comprising:

• a plurality of first addressable lines;
• a plurality of second addressable lines;
• a plurality of display elements corresponding to a plurality of pixels of the display device, each display element connected to one of the first addressable lines and a sub-plurality of the second addressable lines, such that no two of the display elements are connected to a same one of the first addressable lines and a same sub-plurality of the second addressable lines,
• wherein each display element has a plurality of individually turned-on steps organized into a number of groups corresponding to a number of the sub-plurality of the second addressable lines to which the display element is connected,
• wherein each display element comprises:
• a first electrode having a flat surface connected to the first addressable line of the display;
• a plurality of second electrodes, each second electrode connected to a corresponding second addressable line of the display, each second electrode having a flat surface;
• a liquid crystal layer situated between the first and the second electrodes, and having a plurality of individually turned-on steps organized into the number of groups;
• a conductor disposed between the second electrodes and the liquid crystal layer, the conductor having a flat surface in physical contact with the flat surface of the plurality of second electrodes;
• wherein the individually turned-on steps are defined by varying the heights of the liquid crystal layer and the conductor along the width of the display element between the first electrode and the plurality of second electrodes to form a plurality of discrete conductive steps in physical contact with the liquid crystal layer,
• wherein for each group of the individually turned-on steps of each display element, each individually turned-on step of the group has a turn-on voltage threshold at which the step is turned on upon a voltage applied between the first addressable line and the second addressable line to which the group corresponds equal to or greater than the turn-on voltage threshold,
• wherein each group of the individually turned-on steps corresponds to a different color of the pixel, as one of red, green, and blue,
• wherein for each display element, the groups of individually turned-on steps are physically contiguous to one another.