Hello Jeff,
The plate covers the LED strip, but not the LED light. Because the LED strip is vertical to the block, the plate nearly won't affect the LED light. It has better look than 2080 block because you will not see the LED particles but just the nice RGB light.
We have updated the new photos of the block which is included the back plate as following link.
Any question, feel free to contact us.
https://shop.bitspower.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=7881&search=3080