4 ms·

I personally would like to see a resurgence and expansion of Reflective LCD screens, and this seems sort of similar. I mostly associate Reflective LCD screens w

I personally would like to see a resurgence and expansion of Reflective LCD screens, and this seems sort of similar. I mostly associate Reflective LCD screens with Gameboys. Remember how helpful it was to go outside to see the Gameboy screen? There was a reflective material on the back side of the screen, which "lit" up the screen. As an aside, there was even a cool Gameboy Advance game with a solar sensor that encouraged the player to go outside to charge up the protagonist's "solar gun": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boktai:_The_Sun_Is_in_Your_Hand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boktai:_The_Sun_Is_in_Your_Han.... Even the GBA SP, which had a light you could turn on and off, lit the screen up from the front. I'm definitely not an expert in the area. My impression is that after the Gameboy, there wasn't much demand for these types of screen. I also suspect something about them doesn't scale to larger sizes as cost effectively as other screens, and there's been little interest from corporations in improving the technology :(

layer8 3y ago
Reflective LCD monitors exist: https://www.sunvisiondisplay.com/ https://www.sunvisiondisplay.com/ However, resolution is relatively low (FHD at 32”), contrast is quite low (25:1), as is color gamut (15% of NTSC). Still, some may prefer them over emissive displays.
- utopcell 3y ago
  Not to mention, quite expensive for the specs.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
> I personally would like to see a resurgence and expansion of Reflective LCD screens, and this seems sort of similar. However, this monitor is not at all a reflective LCD screen. It's just a normal emissive LCD, but which for some reason uses a Rube Goldberg machine as the backlight.
jonny_eh 3y ago
https://play.date https://play.date I have one, it's kinda fun, but it's annoying to "find a light" to play near.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y ago
They're still used in fitness watches: IIRC most of Garmin's current line has transflective displays. They fill a somewhat unusual niche: if you're willing to sacrifice display resolution, most of your color space, and pay more money, you can gain incredible visibility in direct sunlight and great battery life (by not having to use the backlight as much). It makes perfect sense for a watch or a Gameboy, but it's a tough sell for a laptop or tablet where most of the use is indoors. That said, the moment someone tries to crowdfund a laptop with a reflective display, I'll be the first backer.

layer8 3y ago

Reflective LCD monitors exist: https://www.sunvisiondisplay.com/ https://www.sunvisiondisplay.com/ However, resolution is relatively low (FHD at 32”), contrast is quite low (25:1), as is color gamut (15% of NTSC). Still, some may prefer them over emissive displays.

utopcell 3y ago
Not to mention, quite expensive for the specs.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

> I personally would like to see a resurgence and expansion of Reflective LCD screens, and this seems sort of similar. However, this monitor is not at all a reflective LCD screen. It's just a normal emissive LCD, but which for some reason uses a Rube Goldberg machine as the backlight.

jonny_eh 3y ago

https://play.date https://play.date I have one, it's kinda fun, but it's annoying to "find a light" to play near.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y ago

They're still used in fitness watches: IIRC most of Garmin's current line has transflective displays. They fill a somewhat unusual niche: if you're willing to sacrifice display resolution, most of your color space, and pay more money, you can gain incredible visibility in direct sunlight and great battery life (by not having to use the backlight as much). It makes perfect sense for a watch or a Gameboy, but it's a tough sell for a laptop or tablet where most of the use is indoors. That said, the moment someone tries to crowdfund a laptop with a reflective display, I'll be the first backer.