Dispersions of nematic liquid crystal microdroplets in silica glasses have been obtained by sol‐gel processes, forming gel‐glass dispersed liquid crystals (GDLCs). GDLC microdroplet size may be adjusted precisely by controlling the sol‐gel reaction. This allows the preparation of scattering media with different spectral response, which can be further modified by reorienting the liquid crystal microdroplets with external electric fields. Opaque/transparent and dichroic GDLC thin films have been prepared. An extension of the general scattering theory is used for explaining their optical behavior. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.