Thats not what I was thinking of, but I forgot about that gadget.

I was talking about the Advance SP. They were foreground lit as well, but as an all-in-one assembly.

the later version was an all-backlight standard LCD. but the first Advance SPs actually used foreground lighting and it was implemented rather well. and worked well.

Not entirely sure how they did it. My guess a micro-etched peice of acrylic that shined the light directly at the LCD and it reflected back through to your eyes.