We have developed a highly integrated liquid-crystal-on-silicon microdisplay for virtual reality applications. The silicon panel of 704 576 pixels was designed and fabricated by a custom 0.35 µm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology with emphasis on surface planarization. Topographic variation of less than 100 within the pixels was achieved. The pixel pitch was 9.6 µm, fill factor was 88% and display area was 0.36" in diagonal. Eight-bit digital data drivers and gamma-correction circuitry were integrated onto the silicon panel for true gray scale and full color representation. The display panel was assembled with a mixed twisted nematic and birefringence liquid crystal cell for high contract at CMOS compatible voltage. Chromatic characterization of the display using 3-color-in-1 light emitting diode (LED) as light source was performed. Contrast ratios on the pixel array were 95, 72 and 56, respectively, for red, green and blue colors at 3 V root-mean-squared voltage. In addition, a three-dimensional (3D) video stream in interlaced format was generated by a 3D modeling code for test and demonstration. Control logic was implemented to extract the left and right video frames and perform system timing synchronization. The silicon microdisplay was driven in frame inversion and by color sequence. With two sets of silicon microdisplays and eyepieces for each eye, we have demonstrated a 3D stereoscopic display based on the silicon microdisplay technology.