Power consumption of screen

Former Member
Former Member
This is a bit of a dumb question and I could possibly google it but I don't fully understand the LCD technology in this watch. With a typical LCD IPS screen, showing "black" draws a fair amount of current as the screen still remains illuminated. With an OLED, black draws the least current because there is no illumination.

With this watch, does the "light" or "dark" mode draw different amounts of current and if so, which draws the least? Obviously this screen doesn't have an always on illumination, so perhaps black draws the least current.
  • Good news!


    I have a version in test on my own watch that's displaying seconds all the time. With this being a beta SDK, apps built with it can not be uploaded to the app store quite yet, but keep an eye out for this (f5 devices and 935 only)
  • Actuall, I'm on way home from the CIQ developer Summit in Kansas. Watchface will soon have the ability to display seconds all the time, with almost no change in how long the battery will last! The beta SDK for this is in developers hands right now!


    Wow, that's a stunning news! Will this extend onto displaying other frequently updated information - e.g. elevation?
  • Wow, that's a stunning news! Will this extend onto displaying other frequently updated information - e.g. elevation?


    The beta SDK with the new features was just released on Wednesday as part of the Connect IQ Developer Summit at Garm's HQ in Kansas. And trust me, it wasn't just a "start and 9am and end at 4pm" summit, as Garmin had events both nights for us. (much fun was had by all!) I had a laptop with me, but barely got a chance to do much more with it than just check email. Over the next few days the people that were there will start looking at the new features, and how to use them in their own apps. Lots a cool stuff could already be in the works!

    Another part of this is watchfaces will be able to have a background process, where it can do things like pull info off the internet and display it on the watchface. Way cool!