An electro-optical display device particularly a liquid crystal display device having a pair of carrier plates spaced apart to form a cavity with each of the carrier plates on a surface facing the cavity being provided with an electrically conductive layer covered by a dielectric layer with the device having the medium, which may be the liquid crystal layer and is switchable between two optically different states, disposed in the cavity, characterized by the conductive layer having a thickness d.sub.1 and an index of refraction n.sub.1 and each of the dielectric layers having a thickness d.sub.2 and a refractive index n.sub.2 with the thickness having a range of 0.5 d.sub.1 .ltoreq.d.sub.1 .ltoreq.1.5 d.sub.1 and 0.5 d.sub.2 .ltoreq.d.sub.2 .ltoreq.1.5 d.sub.2, wherein ##EQU1## with .lambda. being the mean free wavelength of the operating light, ##EQU2## with n.sub.o being the index of refraction of the carrier plate and n.sub.3 being the index of refraction of the liquid crystal layer in the idle state.