Reflective LCDs would have been equally blurry, in full color, and still tolerated optional tennis-ball-green frontlights for playing under the covers.
The real surprise came a decade later when everybody except Nintendo realized active TFTs made color a decent option.
Color wasn’t to blame. It was the cold-cathode backlight.
Tbf, given the time and available tech, any other options would’ve been worse, considering there were any.
Reflective LCDs would have been equally blurry, in full color, and still tolerated optional tennis-ball-green frontlights for playing under the covers.
The real surprise came a decade later when everybody except Nintendo realized active TFTs made color a decent option.