The backlight is LED-based, and 10mA is enough to make LEDs look really bright.
2.0 will come out soon as assembled (we’ve already distributed a development version to recent users who ordered 1.4s). However, DIY 2.0 will not be available soon, because it has to go with the new injection molded enclosure and we are still waiting for them to come. The current enclosure is too small for DIY 2.0 (which will adopt ATmega644 that is significantly bigger than ATmega328).