A monolithic display/projector is disclosed comprising a single die having an array of mechanically isolated LED pillars. Each pillar has a height greater than its width, and a pitch between pillars is less than the heights of the pillars. The die comprises an LED display portion bonded to a silicon substrate addressing portion, with one metal contact per pixel. The resolution of the display is preferably about the same as the resolution of the human retina when projected onto the human retina so that the image projected onto the retina may be indistinguishable from the real world. The display may be encapsulated into a contact lens with a focusing optic embedded into the contact lens. To electrically contact the N-type semiconductor layer, the pillars are surrounded by a reflective cathode metal mesh so that the cathode current is coupled through the vertical sides of the N-type layer. The metal mesh mechanically connects the isolated LED pillars and optically isolates each LED pillar. The active layers may emit blue light, and wavelength conversion layers may be used to generate red and green light.