5 ms·

You need light to see it yes, but that screen is nowhere near OG gameboy issues

anyfoo 5y ago
Yeah. Not sure if the parent commenter had an original Gameboy as a kid, because if they did they wouldn't throw that comparison around so inflationarily...
- post_break 5y ago
  I had an original gameboy. So it's not exactly the same type of torture, but in 2022 not having backlighting is kind of a joke.
  - wlesieutre 5y ago
    It's a weird niche device with weird niche games, I'm not planning to buy one but I'm happy to see people doing something interesting instead of all chasing the same mass market. There's a certain retro appeal to the "shades of gray like a gameboy" screen without the part where it's impossible to see in 90% of lighting conditions.
    - frosted-flakes 5y ago
      It's not even shades of grey, it's black and white only (on or off). This means it's very high contrast and the white pixels are very reflective.
  - anyfoo 5y ago
    They tout the system as having "a very special black and white screen – not backlit, but super reflective – that looks way more amazing than you're probably imagining". If it is the kind of display I am imagining (which I think is different from the one they claim I probably am), then that display will probably look much better than an equivalent backlit displays. It's just not usable in low lighting conditions, which is a tradeoff I can imagine them accepting, and customers as well. Though unlike an original Gameboy, and more like a common book, a crappy bedside lamp will likely suffice.
rileyphone 5y ago
The screen isn’t a normal LCD but a Sharp Memory device - https://www.adafruit.com/product/4694 https://www.adafruit.com/product/4694
- AlanYx 5y ago
  Is that the same technology as RLCD, or is it a different type of display?
  - goosedragons 5y ago
    Pretty much. Memory LCD adds a bit of memory to each pixel so it doesn't need to refresh if it hasn't changed. Otherwise the same.
    - AlanYx 5y ago
      Thanks! I found a whitepaper describing the tech: https://www.sharpmemorylcd.com/resources/Polarizer-free_Reflective_LCD_White_Paper.pdf https://www.sharpmemorylcd.com/resources/Polarizer-free_Refl... In terms of display properties it's in a pretty sweet spot between eink (electrophoretic displays) and conventional RLCD. Slightly lower contrast than conventional RLCD but much better reflectance (roughly on par with eink).

Yeah. Not sure if the parent commenter had an original Gameboy as a kid, because if they did they wouldn't throw that comparison around so inflationarily...

post_break 5y ago
I had an original gameboy. So it's not exactly the same type of torture, but in 2022 not having backlighting is kind of a joke.
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  It's a weird niche device with weird niche games, I'm not planning to buy one but I'm happy to see people doing something interesting instead of all chasing the same mass market. There's a certain retro appeal to the "shades of gray like a gameboy" screen without the part where it's impossible to see in 90% of lighting conditions.
  - frosted-flakes 5y ago
    It's not even shades of grey, it's black and white only (on or off). This means it's very high contrast and the white pixels are very reflective.
- anyfoo 5y ago
  They tout the system as having "a very special black and white screen – not backlit, but super reflective – that looks way more amazing than you're probably imagining". If it is the kind of display I am imagining (which I think is different from the one they claim I probably am), then that display will probably look much better than an equivalent backlit displays. It's just not usable in low lighting conditions, which is a tradeoff I can imagine them accepting, and customers as well. Though unlike an original Gameboy, and more like a common book, a crappy bedside lamp will likely suffice.

rileyphone 5y ago

The screen isn’t a normal LCD but a Sharp Memory device - https://www.adafruit.com/product/4694 https://www.adafruit.com/product/4694

AlanYx 5y ago
Is that the same technology as RLCD, or is it a different type of display?
- goosedragons 5y ago
  Pretty much. Memory LCD adds a bit of memory to each pixel so it doesn't need to refresh if it hasn't changed. Otherwise the same.
  - AlanYx 5y ago
    Thanks! I found a whitepaper describing the tech: https://www.sharpmemorylcd.com/resources/Polarizer-free_Reflective_LCD_White_Paper.pdf https://www.sharpmemorylcd.com/resources/Polarizer-free_Refl... In terms of display properties it's in a pretty sweet spot between eink (electrophoretic displays) and conventional RLCD. Slightly lower contrast than conventional RLCD but much better reflectance (roughly on par with eink).