Abstract: A photocurable polymer precursor added to a liquid crystal material polymerizes to form a mixture that significantly lowers the threshold and saturation voltages of a standard twisted nematic cell. The performance characteristics of the resulting display device resembles those of a device with a very high pretilt, thereby providing an economical method of fabricating liquid crystal cells of a type that require a high pretilt alignment. The presence of the polymer substantially reduces adverse ion-related effects such as optical droop and charge retention in the liquid crystal display device.