Bangle.js 2 uneven backlight

Just got my Bangle.js 2 and very excited! The display looks fantastic in daylight, but in dim light with the backlight on there's a dark cast over the bottom third of the screen - is that normal or might there be a fault?

Do you think you could post up a picture?

On every one I've seen there are two very slightly brighter bits at the bottom where the LEDs are that illuminate the screen so it's not 100% even lighting, but I haven't seen anything quite like you mention.

I know of at least 1 other person who reports the same issue - I'll try and get a photo of it later.

I am that other person.
It is hard to photograph, for me it appears like a feint dark smear which spans from the bottom right of the screen to the middle left. It looks like a wave going from right to left.

As Les says, it's hard to photograph. It's more pronounced than this photo I'm attaching suggests. A 'dark smear' is a good description, noticeable only when the backlight is on, especially in light mode.

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I know photographing this sort of thing can be tricky, but from what I can see there I'd say it's expected. I've put a quick sketch below of the kind of backlight pattern I'd expect on the screen.

As I understand it, the issue is that the back of the LCD has to be mostly reflective so it can be seen in daylight - it means the backlight is shoehorned between a reflective back and the LCD panel and it's hard for them to get an even distribution of light.

It's not because it's a cheap display either - it's made in Japan and I believe the display assembly is the most expensive bit of the watch by some margin.

Interestingly a lot of watches using this kind of display tend to ship with a watch face that's a black background with white text, and I wonder whether it's an attempt to hide any backlight unevenness.

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Thanks Gordon - good to know. I have to say the display itself looks amazing in direct light / daylight, and I was wondering the same about why people use white-on-black text. I prefer 'dark mode' anyway so this is not a big issue for me.