An optical switch that switches an optical path of signal light obtained by modulating carrier light by a control signal and a data signal includes a mirror and a half mirror, an optical modulation element that reflects or refracts the signal light reflected by the mirror and the half mirror and includes cells each having an independently set phase modulation amount, a light detector that detects, at once, intensities of beams of the signal light passing through the half mirror and reflected by the mirror and the half mirror different times, and a controller that decodes the control signal from the detected intensities and sets the independently set phase modulation amount of each of the cells such that the signal light is emitted in a direction corresponding to the control signal.

A total internal reflection-based display may be driven by an apparatus and method to move electrophoretically mobile particles into and out of an evanescent wave region to create static and video images. The apparatus may comprise one or more of a host microprocessor/controller, display controller, TIR display panel, frame buffer memory 1, frame buffer memory 2, host interface, temperature/environmental sensor, timing controller, look up table, power management integrated circuit or display panel interface.

A total internal reflection-based display may be driven by an apparatus and method to move electrophoretically mobile particles into and out of an evanescent wave region to create static and video images. The apparatus may comprise one or more of a host microprocessor/controller, display controller, TIR display panel, frame buffer memory 1, frame buffer memory 2, host interface, temperature/environmental sensor, timing controller, look up table, power management integrated circuit or display panel interface.