A reflective subpixel array may be formed in which an absorption layer is formed on a back substrate, which may obviate the need for a black mask on a front substrate upon which the reflective subpixel array is formed. In some implementations, the black mask layer may be formed only in post areas on the front substrate. The absorption layer may absorb light that enters between subpixel rows and/or columns. The absorption layer may include at least one highly conductive layer that can form part of the signal routing for the display. Conductive spacers may be formed to connect the conductive absorption layer to a conductive layer of the subpixel array.