Originally Posted by
Lehava
I think you are right but at least on the tail it looks like they went too far on the difference between the shades and lost the shadowed look and truly it looks like another color. They overdid the difference
That could be possible.
My guess is that the distinct shade difference is to evoke the sun shining on the “widget”, creating the shadow effect. Note how the lighter portion of the “widget” is “facing” the sun as though it were exposed to it.
Of course, for most of a flight, the “widget” will be “exposed to the sun”. This effect may not work as well on a cloudy or rainy day while the aircraft is at the gate...