Yes, it's using your method. My physical display does blink, but I believe it's a fake blink.
For example, when I turn on debug, I see this for the Time.
2024-06-03 19:05:59.499 DEBUG (Thread-2) [custom_components.aqualogic_p4p8.core] 87824.145: Display update: ['Monday', '7', '04P', '\x00']...