An up-to-date review is given of Heilmeier and White—Taylor guest host displays with their many variations, i.e. positive and negative dielectric anisotropy, positive an negative dichroism, flat and perpendicular boundary orientation, single and double cells, etc. Performance characteristics such as brightness, contrast ratio, operating voltage, field of view and multiplexability are compared with those of state-of-the-art twisted nematic devices. Applications for guest-host displays are discussed and new guest-host materials are suggested to further improve the performance ot guest-host displays.