Six novel red perylene dyes were synthesized by modifying the bay-and terminal-positions of perylene main body to improve the optical performances of liquid crystal display (LCD) color filters. The absorption properties, solubility in industrial solvents and thermal stabilities of the dyes were examined to evaluate the dyes for dye-based LCD color filter. Mill bases and spin-coated color filters were formulated and fabricated using the synthesized dyes. Transmittance, dye aggregation and thermal stabilities of the prepared color filters were investigated using a color spectrophotometer. Geometric structures of the synthesized dyes were optimized by using Gaussian program. Five of the synthesized dyes showed acceptable optical properties as colorants for LCD color filters. Also, the synthesized dyes and prepared color filters exhibited suitable thermal stability for the application. Furthermore, the prepared color filters exhibited superior transmittances than pigment-based color filters at 650 nm. Their physical properties were closely related with chemical structures investigated by geometry optimization.