News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The Playdate store is now open by NikolaNovak on Thursday July 29, 2021 @04:12PM (#28000885)
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?

Re:The Playdate store is now open by bwbmr on Thursday July 29, 2021 @04:19PM (#28000976)
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).
Re:The Playdate store is now open by NikolaNovak on Thursday July 29, 2021 @10:11PM (#28003689)
Awesome, thanks, that makes sense :). Essentially the reflective background increases the contrast between the light and dark pixel.
Re:The Playdate store is now open by creinhardt on Thursday July 29, 2021 @04:18PM (#28000959)
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.
Re:The Playdate store is now open by terramex on Thursday July 29, 2021 @04:24PM (#28001032)
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'.

Re:The Playdate store is now open by vinay427 on Thursday July 29, 2021 @05:26PM (#28001707)
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.
Re:The Playdate store is now open by seidoger on Thursday July 29, 2021 @05:36PM (#28001787)
The Game Boy Advanced SP had a reflective screen and it played better in full sunlight. It was quite a remarkable display.
Re:The Playdate store is now open by frosted-flakes on Thursday July 29, 2021 @10:15PM (#28003714)
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.
Re:The Playdate store is now open by jffry on Thursday July 29, 2021 @04:21PM (#28000995)
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?