How can a changing colored backlight produce color in a fast smectic liquid crystal display?

In fast smectic liquid crystal displays, such as surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) devices, color is produced through a time-sequential system rather than traditional color filters.1

Because these displays possess a very fast electro-optical response, they can be synchronized with a colored backlight that flashes red, green, and blue light in rapid succession—typically at a rate of about 100 cycles per second. By switching the liquid crystal between transmissive and nontransmissive states in coordination with these flashes, the display controls which colors reach the viewer's eye during each interval.1

For example, if the liquid crystal is set to a transmissive state during the red and green flashes but to a nontransmissive state during the blue flash, the viewer’s eye perceives an average of the red and green light, resulting in the appearance of the color yellow. This rapid alternation allows the human eye to integrate the sequential colors into a single, full-color image.1