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The video review linked by the GP does state that the screen has better quality than the DMG (Game Boy) one, showing even a comparison image similar to the one
by flobosg 5y ago
The video review linked by the GP does state that the screen has better quality than the DMG (Game Boy) one, showing even a comparison image similar to the one you posted from Ars Technica. The Playdate screen has nevertheless visibility issues under low light conditions due to the lack of backlight, just like the early Game Boy consoles.
- astrange 5y agoeInk displays aren't supposed to need backlights; LCDs need them because they just wash out if you light them from above, but eInk doesn't have that problem. Playdate is some kind of "memory LCD" that's more like eInk, but I don't know how much like it.
- goosedragons 5y agoMemory LCD is nothing like eInk except being lower power. It's an LCD screen but each pixel has a bit of memory with its state so it doesn't need to refresh if it hasn't changed. It still has all the optical properties of LCD. This is still a reflective LCD. It's better than the 30 year old one in the Game Boy but it's still a reflective LCD.
- ngngngng 5y agoOf course, and backlit screens have issues with visibility under high light conditions due to the backlight. I live most of my life in well lit environments, and sleep most of the time when it is dark.
- caconym_ 5y agoIt's trivially obvious that an unlit screen will be unusable in the dark. However, the original Game Boy's screen was practically unusable in the light, too. Maybe the comparison just rubs me the wrong way because I actually had one and played games on it, and I remember how fucking terrible it was. Even the Pocket was a quantum leap in usability. It just isn't useful to compare the original's screen with anything resembling a modern reflective LCD, except to illustrate just how far the technology has come.