Liquid crystal devices are provided with a DC current blocking layer which improves the lifetime of the liquid crystal device and also permits the use of two-level drivers, thus reducing the complexity of the driving scheme necessary to address the liquid crystal devices. Preferably, the blocking layer is the alignment layer which is made from poly-para-xylylene having a thickness sufficient to act as a DC blocking layer. Additionally, specific driving schemes for driving liquid crystal devices are provided. When the liquid crystal device includes a material which relaxes when no voltage is applied thereto (e.g., a nematic material), the information signal is entirely removed from alternating time frames during which the liquid crystal device is addressed. When the liquid crystal device includes a ferroelectric material, an arbitrarily large voltage potential is applied to the electrodes located on one side of the ferroelectric material for a first portion of a dwell time so that the pixels of the liquid crystal device are easily cleared of any previous information.