We introduce a surface relief layer with periodic undulation into a liquid crystal (LC) cell for designing a wide-viewing LC display. The 2-dimensional surface gratings were produced using a photosensitive polymer by the illumination of UV light through a photomask. A symmetrical LC molecular configuration was obtained on the surface gratings in the whole LC cell without any rubbing process. The electro-optic characteristics of LC cells were determined as a function of the applied voltage.