A near-eye display system includes a see-through display, an image source, a background light sensor, a selective background occluder including a first liquid crystal panel and a second liquid crystal panel positioned between a pair of polarizers, and a computing device including instructions executable by a logic subsystem to determine a shape and a position of an occlusion area based upon a virtual object to be displayed, obtain a first and a second birefringence pattern for the first and the second liquid crystal panels, produce the occlusion area by applying the birefringence patterns to the liquid crystal panels, and display the virtual object in a location visually overlapping with the occlusion area.