The controllable pre-tilt angle of liquid crystals was investigated using a blend of horizontal and vertical polyimide prepared using a rubbing method. Various pretilt angles ranging from 0 degrees to 90 degrees were achieved as a function of the vertical polyimide content. We observed uniform liquid crystal alignment on the rubbing-treated blended polyimide layer. A no-bias-bend (NBB) pi cell with an intermediate pretilt angle of 47.8 degrees was manufactured. This cell had no initial bias voltage and a low threshold voltage, which indicates that it has low power consumption. In addition, the response time of the NBB pi cell was rapid.