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Comment by seanalltogether | Hacker News Reader

I can't find much information about the screen other then the fact that it is 1 bit. Is this purely an aesthetic decision or is there some sort of interesting tech going on that requires it to be 1 bit for now?

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The panel itself is 1-bit, and is definitely a concious choice they made. I can't remember where I read it, but the screen was the most expensive component, and was likely pricier than color options. It's also super-reflective, so apparently very visible in a lot of lighting conditions, sort of like e-ink but with a great refresh rate. I beleive it's the same panel as this: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4694

Silly question - what does "Super reflective" mean in this context?

I always assumed "reflective" is "bad" when it comes to screens, and contrast in variable lighting conditions - it would reflect too much of background, other lights, etc. Best screens for variety of lighting conditions (as opposed to dark room) seem to be matte.

Any thoughts / anything I'm missing?

Sorry, reflective was the wrong choice of words, I think technically 'transflective' is more accurate. I don't think the screen will have much glare, it's more that it is visible with a small amount of light, despite not having a backlight.

No, 'reflective' was the right word.

'Transflective' means that display has both backlight and reflective layer (Pebble used such technology). Playdate has no backlight, only reflective layer so it is 'reflective', not 'transflective'.

FWIW, many fitness watches that are designed for outdoor use (e.g. most Garmin or Amazfit models) still use transflective displays. They work flawlessly in bright sunlight, a backlight works well in the dark, and the battery life benefits compared to AMOLED or similar is an added bonus.

You're thinking of backlit displays where a reflective front (between the user and the display) hurts screen visibility in bright light conditions. In this context, "super reflective" is referring to _behind_ the pixels of the display. There is no backlight, so the screen is lit up by ambient light. Increasing that reflectivity aids in contrast of the screen, since "white" pixels will be "whiter" (in this case they are actually grey but lighter grey if the screen is more reflective).

Awesome, thanks, that makes sense :). Essentially the reflective background increases the contrast between the light and dark pixel.

Just a guess but maybe it means that the "on" pixels will reflect back more ambient light, thus appearing brighter and having better contrast with the dark "off" pixels under marginal lighting conditions?

The Game Boy Advanced SP had a reflective screen and it played better in full sunlight. It was quite a remarkable display.

The Game Boy Advance SP had a reflective screen with a toggle-able front light. The Game Boy Advance, and all other Game Boys before it, had unlit screens.

Is there a difference between the tech used in the panel you linked to and RLCD panels, or are they the same tech?

It's partly aesthetics and partly making the programs simple and small. It also helps to keep contrast at a maximum with no backlight. Ars Technica got some hands-on time with it https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/07/playdate-preview-you-...

I don't know why they made the decision to eliminate any of their marketing pages/not provide an index of their blog posts up til now

here's a one sheet FAQ etc https://play.date/mediakit/

I believe it's the same as this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seyQpWf6i60&t=2s

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