I'm told that newer versions of the Hand Held Legend backlight kit have been revised so that the resistor is built into the backlight itself. If you pick up one of these kits, it won't include a separate resistor, so the step in the video that shows installing one can be skipped.
Hey Colin. I've been watching a lot of your Gb,Gbc,Gba lighting mod videos. The Gba one helped me out a lot particularly. One random question though... What kind of soldering gun do you use? I really need a better one and the blue and yellow one you have looks like it works really well.
Juan Diaz you will need to use the new one the old one will basically be ruined doing this and you need a polarizer on the bottom the get any kind of display
Also the instructions for installation have been updated: wiring it up as shown in the video makes the backlight flicker, which is barely notable in some games (like F1 Race), but can be extremely uncomfortable to look at in other games (e.g. Hugo). Plus, I had the backlight start to go dim after just 40 minutes using fully charged-up rechargeables. The updated way to connect the backlight module -as shown on the product page- is to solder the POSITIVE lead to pin 6 (above pin 4 which you soldered the negative to) and the NEGATIVE lead to pin3 (below pin 1 which you soldered the positive to). Note that if you still have the old version of the backlight module, according to commenter "Moon", you MUST use the resistor, as it provides constant 5V, as opposed to varying 2.5-2.7V from pin 1. This removed the flickering and the rechargeables lasted me easily three times as long, but when they do get weaker, now the contrast gets increasingly lighter until you can't see the pixels at all (but that's just before the gameboy turns off), while the backlight brightness stays constantly bright. So, you win some & lose some using this wiring, but overall it's much better, imo. It would be cool, if you could put an annotation in the video or update your comment with this information. Other than that I want to thank a lot for this guide! It's been very helpful to me doing this mod and showing me that it even exists in the first place, and gaming on my old Gameboy Pocket is SOOO much more fun now than it's ever been! (And I've had this thing since I was like six years old).
5:10 this is incorrect. Soldering to this point will make the backlight flicker with the sound. The correct pin to solder the positive lead to is right next to where the ground was soldered, at pin *6*. Pause at 4:45 for reference. Use the resistor when using this pin though, as it's 5v and will kill the backlight without it. Edited to change the pin number from 5 to 6. Pin 6 gives constant 5v; the pin used in the video will give anywhere from 2.5-2.7v.
Yeah there are a few spots to get good constant voltage, but the audio driver ain't it lol. I hope Colin updates this video, because it's a good tutorial. Just needs a little annotation to point to the right pin and explain that the resistor is needed after all.
moo. I have the one with a built-in resistor. I soldered the positive to the 5 point and the backlight didn't turn on at all. Where should I solder it?
Wow, I feel dumb, lol. Sorry, I was pretty tired when I wrote that comment. You should actually solder the positive lead to pin 6, not 5. 6 gives 5v; I'm not sure what pin 5 does. I'll edit the top post as well.
Just completed this mod with the help of your fantastic video. Keep up the great work! To those of you who want to try this mod, BE WARNED: the step Colin mentions where he places electrical tape on the opposite side of the backlight mod contacts is more important than is conveyed here. Depending on how the GBP is reassembled, the contacts mentioned may touch the cartridge slot contacts on the bottom of the PCB. If this is happening, the system will act as though your cartridge/cartridge slot is dirty and display a glitched Nintendo logo and not load any games. I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to figure out why my Pocket wouldn't load properly and only worked normally again after covering them like Colin demonstrated. Don't be like me. Cover those contacts before you bundle up your Game Boy Pocket!
Just did this mod, and the polarizer film, when you hold it up to an LED screen should be oriented the clear way. I.E. turn it until you can see through, and that is the right side up. The way he describes that part is a little confusing. But sweet video! My mod went successfully!
Just followed this video and successfully modded my first Gameboy. Far from easy and i have no soldering experience at all. Thanks for the help and great video.
Your tutorial was so helpful! I tackled this myself with barely any experience with soldering. I got it done and I'm so happy with mine! Thank you again!
Just finished doing this mod, a couple tips; use a piece of scotch tape around the bottom of the ribbon cable to hold it together, if you've got a lot of adhesive residue on the screen try using a magic eraser cut into small pieces.
i love ya man! finished mine yesterday and it looks awesome! went with a blue screen, pastel purple buttons and i custom painted a shell that goes from pink to blue :D
Thank you so much for this guide! It makes playing games on the gameboy so much more enjoyable and it wasn't that hard to do. However, I had some difficulties on the way, I'd like to share: 1.) When I first turned on the Gameboy after installing the backlight, the screen displayed everything just fine, but it didn't light up at all. I thought the rechargeables to be known good, so I checked on the solder joints and the connection to the screen and stuff dis- and reassembling the gameboy several times. At some point then I connected the gameboy to the wall adapter et voila: the screen lit up (still showing vertical bright lines). Using fresh batteries, it also lit up, though not as bright. freshly charged rechargeables worked as well. So NOTE that wiring it up as shown in the video will make the backlight go dimmer as the batteries/rechargebles go low on power. there's n updated/better way to wire it up, more on that in 5.). Test the backlight ONLY using wall adapter or fresh cells! 2.) Using an updated version of the kit, I had difficulties figuring out the correct orientation of the polarizer, as it looked the darkest/brightest holding it diagonally in front of a screen, and holding in a way it can fit into the screen assembly it just looked medium bright any way I rotated it. but that's not a big issue, though. first attempt, I had the screen inverted, but opening the assembly and turning the filter 90° solved that. no big deal, just something to note. 3.) after all the dis- and reassembling of the gameboy, I got some vertical lines of "white" running across the screen. The ribbon cable is very fragile, so avoid unnecessarily touching the screen assembly, even for troubleshooting purposes. I managed to fix that the next day by resettling the screen ribbon and taping it to the back of the screen assembly until everything made proper contact and the lines were gone. So, if you have vertical lines of what looks like "dead pixels" on your screen, don't worry, It can easily be fixed. 4.) Opening the screen assembly repeatedly to troubleshoot also made some dust go in between the screen layers, which does show in the screen. It's not terribly bad, However I would like to remove the dust particles but do not dare to open the screen assembly again and risk getting vertical lines again. So, again: DO NOT disassemble the screen any more than you absolutely have to! Oh, and keep a can of compressed air ready to remove any dust particles from the screen layers, just in case. 5.) wiring it upthe backlight as shown in the video makes the backlight flicker, which is barely notable in some games (like F1 Race), but can make it extremely uncomfortable to look at in other games (e.g. Hugo). Plus, I had the backlight start to go dim after just 40 minutes using fully charged-up rechargeables. The updated way to connect the backlight module, as shown on the product page, is to solder the POSITIVE lead to pin 6 (above pin 4 which the negative was soldered to in the video) and the NEGATIVE lead to pin3 (below pin 1 which the positive was soldered to in the video). Note that if you still have the old version of the backlight module, according to commenter "Moon", you MUST use the resistor, as it provides constant 5V, as opposed to varying 2.5-2.7V from pin 1. This removed the flickering and the rechargeables lasted me easily three times as long, but when they do get weaker, now the contrast gets increasingly lighter until you can't see the pixels at all (but that's just before the gameboy turns off), while the backlight brightness stays constantly bright. So, you win some & lose some using this wiring, but overall it's much better, imo. product page: handheldlegend.com/products/game-boy-backlight-dmg-and-pocket?variant=16870377731 check the last image for reference! In conclusion, it's a fairly simple mod and completely worth it!. Despite the difficulties described above, it only took me 3 hours total and with the lessons learned I could do it in less than 45 mins, if I was to do it again.
Colin, great vid! I usually slap things back in and do a test run before screwing everything in place. Just eliminates the hassle of tearing it all down again after you found you put the damn polarizer film in wrong way.
Great tutorial! Being that it's summer and I'm in AZ, I found that leaving the original screen in my car for a couple of hours makes removing the reflector/polarizer a snap! This tip will only work for people in the same geographic situation as me, however. ;-)
Since Gameboy pocket uses AAA batteries, it would be great to have the ability to turn the light on or off. I would put a micro push button right the bottom of the power switch. This way, you could slide to turn the gameboy on or off and press the power switch (with the GB turned on) to turn on the light. Using a microcontroller you can even add brightness levels.
this would be great, except for the fact that you removed the reflective layer, so the screen would be almost impossible to see without the backlight, however a dimmer like for the contrast and volume would be great.
I'm working on this mod, I'm finding difficulty to control the brightness using PWM due interference on the screen. I'll try some linear controller. Once I finish I'll let you know. Thanks mate
So I just did this. The ribbon cable thing is no joke. I slice the long grey cable straight in half from one side down. I attempted to repair it using a soldering iron, heating it up, and just barely running along the edges that were cut apart. Worked. My screen has a bunch of horizontal black lines near the bottom portion of the screen, but I've learned for next time I do this mod. Someone below this comment said to wire the positive end of the backlight power to number 6, right next to 4, instead of where he does on the video. Do this.
I need to install my kit into my game boy pocket. This is very useful and concise. Thank you for the video. I will need to play with the contrast screen. The theory of it seems strange.
success! took longer than expected since most of the reflector adhesive stuck to the glass, and IPA, Meths, Ethanol, Gasoline etc didn't touch it. An aerospace degreaser finally did the trick! Buy hey, it works. Bivert chip to follow. Cheers :)
Attempted to install the backlight kit, removed the reflector and polariser extremely carefully, peeling it back in one corner, peeling it slowly and gently, and keeping it as flat as possible so as to not pull up on the ribbon cables. Reassembled the Pocket and the display was damaged, with one horizontal and one vertical line. It seems all it took to destroy the display was movement in the cable, even without pressure or tension. I suspect it depends on the structural integrity of the joints in the cable even before the modification is performed, some displays will be better than others. For me, it makes it very difficult to justify performing the mod because there's no guarantee the display will work once the mod is completed. Shame, because the results are pretty damn good when it does.
Definitely worth it if you don't nail the ribbon cable. This is literally a console destroying project if messed up as replacement LCDs don't exist yet. Just nicked my ribbon trying to do this as the adhesive would not lift on any corner for me and I had a bad fight with it. Be careful and be delicate on this step, it's as fragile as it sounds.
I would like to add the backlight on my gameboy pocket but I hesitate for a reason: the battery autonomy. This device uses 2 AAA... So, the game boy pocket has only an autonomy of 10 hours approximately. What is the autonomy with the backlight mod?
This was clearly too hard for me, or I was really unlucky. My first two attemts doing this mod, I ended up with vertical lines on the screen. Most likely i put too much pressure on the ribbon cable while removing the polarizing film. I also heard this can't be fixed like it can on the original DMG. I got it on my third try though. At least they were all cheap pretty beat up gameboy pockets from japan...
Yeah, same thing happened to me. My third attempt I wrapped where the ribbon cable meets together with kapton tape before I removed the back polarizer. I only ended up with one line in the screen, so I just taped the end of that ribbon cable down to the inside of the case, and the pressure made it go away. These mods aren't "hard" in and of themselves, but the screens on these gameboys are REALLY fragile, so research and do everything you can to not damage the ribbon cable...
@@blakeromo yeah, if you got vertical lines on the screen, it means that the ribbon cable has a bad connection on some of the leads. just tape the ribbon cable to the back of the screen and see, if anything has changed. If it still shows lines re-allign the cable in a different way and try again until the lines are gone. When I did this mod, at first I had a perfectly working screen, but it didn't light up (because the rechargeables didn't provide enough voltage) and I thought the backlight cables had a bad connection. I disassembled and resettled stuff until at some point the lines appeared and I found out that the screen lit up using fresh batteries or the wall adaptor. It took some trial and error then, resettling the ribbon cable in different ways again and again until at some point the lines were gone, but I was successful in the end. So, the ribbon cables are very sensitive, but they can be fixed easily. that's good news: If you got vertical lines on the screen does by no means mean it's broken. Far from it!
my screen is fine, it's very dim now, but the pixels are inverted and the backlight isn't coming on. i didn't install the bivert module and the pixels werent inverted the first time i turned the gameboy on after doing the mod.
thanks. but it was actually the led not working. there was no light coming from it. got another one and its working now. may have just overheated the pads
I wrecked two screens trying this mod. I got horizontal and vertical lines when I took off the reflective strip. Any other tips or tricks to get this to come off easier and not have these lines?
I've been fighting this damn glue residue on the back of my screen for like half an hour. Isopropyl alcohol doesn't work nearly as well as Colin claims. I'm trying to soak it in windex, that seems to work a little better. Will update in a moment.
Just botched this mod. It's no exaggeration that the ribbon cable is fragile - some of the worst design I've ever seen. The leads for the vertical array are comprised of two ribbon cables sandwiched - and then very very loosely soldered - together. If even a fraction of that cable-sandwich pops apart, you broke it. I was extremely careful with removing the film and yet somehow still managed to jostle that cable the right way to trash it. I threw out the LCD and reassembled just for fun - so now the screen of my Pocket is just a view of the PCB - actually looks kinda cool and I might make a display out of it! Not so bad after all. Thanks for the tutorial, keep it up!
another thing guys... do not put the positive wire at the location this video is telling you, put the positive wire on the point that says number 1 with a resistor same location where you put negative on number 4... this will get rid of the flickering when playing games... so positive on number 1 with resistor and negative on number 4 if you don't add a resistor the screen will be super bright and drain your battery faster which will cause the contrast to flicker dark and dim... I found this out because I removed the batteries and use a plug for the Gameboy pocket and the issue was fixed... after adding the resistor the brightness went down and contrast flicker went away and saves more battery power.
Ey guys I need some help here. I bought a V3 backlight with a built in resistor. Issue is should I even use an additional resistor? And if not, which point shall I solder the positive wire to?
+zmullaney It's Colin, and yes, I'm working on it...it's going to take a while because I'd rather show a proper mod than a rough hack. Thanks for watching!
just ordered the parts for my GBC. I got the front light wit loca 7 and I had no ideal that my GBP had a backlight mod I'm so happy that these mods are cheap cuz im going to mod my GBP and I'm thinking about biverting it as well I ordered it but I don't really have a good soldering gun I just got an old cheap on that I can't control the heat with I think I mite wait till I can get a better iron before tackling that mod idk yet I really don't wanna mess it up it's the first GBP I got I won it from the under the cap game from surge a long time ago
Hi there, I installed the kit as directed by the video (except with perhaps slightly inferior soldering because of my lack of skill) and the Gameboy Pocket was working pretty much perfectly for awhile. A bit later, I noticed that the backlight started flickering, which was annoying but not that big of an issue. Later, I had an entire horizontal line of dead pixels, this was approximately a month after I installed the mod. It's my hope that shoddy soldering might be causing this issues so that it can be fixed, but I'm afraid that it might be just that the age is showing since I figure if I damaged the ribbon cable, it would have been immediately noticeable. Has anyone else had issues like mine? Any related input is appreciated.
all backlight from handled legend have luminate dot visible :-( is there no way to create it with a super long led ? this is not visible on front light kit
Great video!!! I have seen videos that show vertical dead pixel repairs on the gameboy original; are the same repairs possible on the Game Boy pocket? Hopefully I can repair the pixels and backlight my old Game Boy pocket. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.
I have a quick question: Do you know by any chance where i can get a full replacement screen? My GameBoy Pocket (Model MGB-JPN) has a messed up part of the screen. It just really bothers me and sometimes gets in the way. There are no dead pixels though. It's overtop of the pixels. If there is also a fix for this that would be nice. Thanks in advance ;)
+TheGrayWolf81 Is the problem on the glass of the LCD panel itself, or the outer plastic screen cover? I haven't found replacement LCD panels anywhere, but replacement screen covers are pretty common.
No, unfortunately it is not the screen lens (the plastic cover), but part of the some blueish black random spots in on part of the lcd. But like I said, it has nothing to do with the pixels, there are no dead pixels what so ever. I'm just really anxious to fix it somehow because it's a Japanese model GameBoy. Thanks though ;)
AndehX That's the problem though, I can't find a single damn GB because anything that's faulty, is because of the screen... I'll keep on checking though and hopefully I'll be lucky enough to find one :)
+AndehX The original game boy screen is not nearly as good as the gbp screen, for example, the dmg has a green ugly screen, whereas the pocket has a higher contrast, true black-white screen. It is possible to install a bivert module, it isn't really necessary.
looks like this backlight mod also works with the good old' DMG, which is great news for us audio snobs 😀... Of course if I was a real audio snob, I'd have already Pro-Sound modded my DMG...maybe you could do a video on that?
I've got a question for you, Colin. I put in the backlight in the gameboy pocket, and your video was extremely easy to follow and understand. I have a newer version of it, but it's still essentially the same thing. When I tested it out, the backlight came on no problem, but there were two errors. One, there was a bubble in the screen (which I can live with). Secondly and more importantly, the lettering on the screen is distorted. It won't play games, just shows the distorted Nintendo logo. Any thoughts to what the problem is?
Yeah, dude. Check all your solder points and make sure there's electical tape. Mide had fallen down and it started to short out somewhere on the game slot I think.
+Gramtics Gaming You also need some basic soldering skills, careful hands, and patience, which most people don't have. I know guys that can't even put back together a NES pad after opening it.The inexperienced would then have to pay someone else to do the job which would most likely cost more than my GB Light. Not everyone has the knowledge for modding and upgrading their consoles/portables.
Terror Chicken I never said a 12 year old couldn't do it. I simply meant that most people are technologically incapacitated. I myself learned to solder and modify things at a young age as well. That doesn't mean every adult or child is or will be good at it.
I tried doing this about a year back and I kept getting a black dot near the center of the screen and bubbles appeared on the screen from the polarization filter. I was pretty irritated. It might have to do with it being the first model backlights which were really thick, I'll need to get the newer thinner models and see if that'll fix it.
This is a great video. I have just ordered my kit. I have been reading up about backlighting Gameboys over the past couple of days. DMG users seem to recommend biverting - is this necessary on the pocket?
+Dan Scarfe While it's technically possible to do the bivert mod on the Pocket, it's not really necessary in my opinion. The Pocket has a much better LCD than the DMG, including better contrast. If you want the absolute darkest pixels you can get, then you'll need to bivert, but my recommendation would be to do the backlight mod first, then decide for yourself. Good luck!
+This Does Not Compute Thanks for the quick reply! I have subscribed to your channel as this video is very informative. My kit arrived today (from the US to the UK in 3 working days!). I am going to install it tomorrow - wish me luck!
Is there a way to have the blacks stay black and not be gray without using a bivert module i want bark blacks not grays without the contrast maxed out on my mgb and to be able to keep my system on for hours without my tablet charger plugged into the dc connector so i can do walkthroughs on youtube with my phone camera.
I tried this woth 2 screens I took 2 hours to peel off the polarizer and the reflector and they came of prtty messy not clean like yours. A lot of adhesive was left on the lcd and by cleaning it They ended up breaking how do you get such a clean peel?
Hey I have a question. I got my backlight working but a portion of the screen doesn’t work it’s about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch horizontal section of screen with no picture. Not sure if I can fix it or if I need a new screen.
I’d probably go Pocket. Its screen is better, uses fewer batteries and the backlight is easier to install. The DMG would be better if there are additional mods that you’d want to do.
Im not clear on something.... which direction should the polarizer be? put it vertical as dark? or vertical as light? Also, I would like to bivert my pocket as well. Would this be a worthwhile mod for the pocket? I know you had done an install vid for the original GB, any chance you could do one for the pocket?? Your videos are awesome and help a lot! Thanks!
Is there any other way to get the adhesive off the back of the screen? Cotton swabs and alcohol don't really work. Like I don't know how you got all the adhesive to come off when pulling off the sticker because all of mine is still on and it won't come off
Hi Colin, I pulled off the reflective layer on it's own (not on purpose). Can i leave the original polarization layer on or do I HAVE to replace it with the new one? Thanks
I'd remove the existing polarizer, as it probably still has its adhesive layer on it. Swapping it with the replacement also gives you options for if you decide to install a bivert chip later on.
When I did the HHL Frontlight mod to my GBC I had this same issue. The screen would randomly flicker (ever so slightly) and it was very obvious whenever I pressed the A and B buttons playing a game. I resolved it by using the KB positive wire location and placing a 47ohm resistor in line with the positive wire. I attributed the flickering to voltage spikes and the 47ohm resistor helps to limit the amount of voltage going to the frontlight. I intend to do the same thing with my GBP backlight and I will let you know how it turns out. You could also play around with other levels of resistance if you can find 20ohm resistors at your local RadioShack. Either way, give it a try and let me know if it corrects the flicker!
I'm a little confused about the purpose of the polarizing film. You say that without it, nothing will be visible on the screen, and rotating it 90 degrees inverts the white/black pixels. When I got my backlight for my dmg, I also installed the bivert. My pixels are all biverted now, but the film doesn't invert them back to normal regardless of how I rotate it. So I used a spare board without the bivert installed, and I just use the polarizer to tint the screen darker a little - but it does nothing else. I suspect I damaged the film when I cleaned smudges off of it with alcohol - I ordered another film and will be more careful with it. However, I can remove the film completely from behind the screen, and I still see pixels on the screen fine with only the backlight there. So the film seems unnecessary unless you're using a bivert module and need to invert the pixels. So what gives? It appears these screens didn't come from the factory with any sort of polarization and backing is simply reflective material, and the only need for polarizing film is when using bivert modules.
Nice one! So do you recommend the resistor or not? I want to do this mod with the original gameboy but am not sure about the resistor. Whats the difference, Mr. Colin?
+Benny Palma Really, the difference for me ended up being the brightness of the screen. It's dimmer with the resistor and brighter without. If you plan to play mostly in the evening, the resistor may be a good idea. If you're not sure, try it with the resistor first as it's pretty easy to remove if you want the screen to be brighter. (If you want the best of both worlds, it's possible to install a small potentiometer that would let you vary the brightness.) Good luck!
I broke 2 GameBoy pockets doing this.. That ribbon cable underneath the screen ripped both times. I'm hoping to buy another Pocket sometime soon to try again, except I'll tape the ribbon cable down so it doesn't split.
I've ruined two game boys trying to do this. I must screw up the bottom connectors of the ribbon cable when I peel the adhesive backing off of the screen, and when I put it all together there's always a big white line in the middle of the screen. so I open it up again and try to tinker with it, was told to put a piece of electrical tape to hold the ribbon bottom back together, but I just end up ruining it. so bummed yet again.
Hello I had a Friend backlight my Gameboy Pocket but the issue we have run into Is that the case won't fully close up and when you try to fully close it a bit of black shows up on the screen any advice on what to do to prevent this?
Hey man i recently installed this kit on my gbp, i followed the instructions but what i notice that every time i click a button or let it sit it would flicker. is the flickering normal?
+MrLuiscampa hey man I was playing with a non lit one, and I noticed that the screen does flicker here and there. it might have to do with old tech. but I can't confirm this since I only did one mod with the gbp. but good luck on finding the answer
Keefer Stoldt the difference is that the gbc has a polarizer stuck between the 2nd and 3rd screen while the pocket is behind the screen Removing the polarizer from a pocket is easy compare to the gbc which is not possible unless your extremely lucky
+Mr. Warmo My suggestion to you would be to practice soldering first. Go find a junk circuit board and practice desoldering components, then soldering them back in place. Once you're confident doing that, then move on to modding your Game Boy. Good luck!
How does the Backlit Gameboy Pocket compare to the Gameboy Light? If you have a GB Light could you do a video comparing the 2 side by side. I'm kind of torn as to which one I want.
+Sandbox Quint I don't have a Light (at least, not yet), but my understanding is they EL (electroluminescent) backlights, so the display has a green cast to it. The LED-based backlight kits come in many different color options.Having a Light would be fun for the novelty factor, but I think a backlit one would give the better gaming experience.
Does the contrast wheel make any difference once you install this mod, or does this disable it? Awesome video as usual! Really digging the crazy high production quality.
How thorough do you need to be about getting the residual adhesive off? I have been working at this a while with 91% isopropyl and not getting very far.
I have a silver game boy pocket and around the screen where yours is black mine is like a mirror. I haven't seen any more like it. is it anything special or not.
First models released in 1996 and they didn't have a LED on the left side of the bezel either. I just bought a brand new condition one in the original acrylic box. People demanded the LED return and nintendo listened and brought it back shortly after release and with a black bezel instead of the mirrored one.
Hey I did the mod and everything and I think I screwed up. When I peeled off the the reflective and polarizer layers I took the blue part off as well Im not sure if you were supposed to do that. Anyways I decided to just go with it and the mod seems to be working but Im still having one big problem and thats that my screen is a little crooked and if I move to fast my screen gets a little blurry. can anyone help me with the crooked part I tried straightening the polarizer but that doesn't seem to work.
I'm still kinda confused. I mean I remove the silver thing but why not the next polarizer film? I mean the kit that I bought has also a polarizer film? Why using 2 of them then?
I followed your tutorial and it worked like a charm. Only thing now is that the screen is inverted. can you tell me how to fix that. I did not use a bivert module.
+Abdul Aali Kamal Din There is a difference, but it's really only in how they're installed. If you install an HHL frontlight using instructions for the KB model, you need to add a 100 ohm resistor between the power wire and the solder point on the circuit board. Otherwise, the installation is the same. I haven't installed an HHL unit, but I would imagine they're about on par when it comes to quality -- either is a good choice, though I would recommend also doing the LOCA mod for the best results. Thanks for watching!
Hey, nice video, so i tried this for my original GameBoy too. But after i rebuilt it, the display only shows black... So the Display isnt Broken, but why is it only show black??? Can you pleas help me, thank you
Last night I tried this mod, and ended up not only breaking the ribbon cable but demolishing the ribbon cable (one of the cables just plain broke off at the solder joints). Any tips on how to get the reflector off easier? Perhaps using a solvent of some sort?
the thing itself, the whole console, its worth it because you dont have to pay for mutiple gameboys ( i had to buy 6 and it broke on me when i had it )
![Repairing a DEAD Game Boy Pocket [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qNhmapPlarw/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm told that newer versions of the Hand Held Legend backlight kit have been revised so that the resistor is built into the backlight itself. If you pick up one of these kits, it won't include a separate resistor, so the step in the video that shows installing one can be skipped.
This Does Not Compute can I add the backlight itself without the new polarizer? Or it’s has to be the whole kit?
Hey Colin. I've been watching a lot of your Gb,Gbc,Gba lighting mod videos. The Gba one helped me out a lot particularly. One random question though... What kind of soldering gun do you use? I really need a better one and the blue and yellow one you have looks like it works really well.
Juan Diaz you will need to use the new one the old one will basically be ruined doing this and you need a polarizer on the bottom the get any kind of display
this video is extremely helpful! I love all of Hand Held Legends products they are awesome quality for the price!
Also the instructions for installation have been updated:
wiring it up as shown in the video makes the backlight flicker, which is barely notable in some games (like F1 Race), but can be extremely uncomfortable to look at in other games (e.g. Hugo). Plus, I had the backlight start to go dim after just 40 minutes using fully charged-up rechargeables.
The updated way to connect the backlight module -as shown on the product page- is to solder the POSITIVE lead to pin 6 (above pin 4 which you soldered the negative to) and the NEGATIVE lead to pin3 (below pin 1 which you soldered the positive to). Note that if you still have the old version of the backlight module, according to commenter "Moon", you MUST use the resistor, as it provides constant 5V, as opposed to varying 2.5-2.7V from pin 1.
This removed the flickering and the rechargeables lasted me easily three times as long, but when they do get weaker, now the contrast gets increasingly lighter until you can't see the pixels at all (but that's just before the gameboy turns off), while the backlight brightness stays constantly bright. So, you win some & lose some using this wiring, but overall it's much better, imo.
It would be cool, if you could put an annotation in the video or update your comment with this information. Other than that I want to thank a lot for this guide! It's been very helpful to me doing this mod and showing me that it even exists in the first place, and gaming on my old Gameboy Pocket is SOOO much more fun now than it's ever been! (And I've had this thing since I was like six years old).
5:10 this is incorrect. Soldering to this point will make the backlight flicker with the sound. The correct pin to solder the positive lead to is right next to where the ground was soldered, at pin *6*. Pause at 4:45 for reference. Use the resistor when using this pin though, as it's 5v and will kill the backlight without it.
Edited to change the pin number from 5 to 6. Pin 6 gives constant 5v; the pin used in the video will give anywhere from 2.5-2.7v.
ah that point puts out 5v too? thats handy. I was use a capacitor at the top left of the board to get 5v.
Yeah there are a few spots to get good constant voltage, but the audio driver ain't it lol. I hope Colin updates this video, because it's a good tutorial. Just needs a little annotation to point to the right pin and explain that the resistor is needed after all.
moo. I have the one with a built-in resistor. I soldered the positive to the 5 point and the backlight didn't turn on at all. Where should I solder it?
Wow, I feel dumb, lol. Sorry, I was pretty tired when I wrote that comment. You should actually solder the positive lead to pin 6, not 5. 6 gives 5v; I'm not sure what pin 5 does.
I'll edit the top post as well.
Thank you, made all the difference
Just completed this mod with the help of your fantastic video. Keep up the great work!
To those of you who want to try this mod, BE WARNED: the step Colin mentions where he places electrical tape on the opposite side of the backlight mod contacts is more important than is conveyed here. Depending on how the GBP is reassembled, the contacts mentioned may touch the cartridge slot contacts on the bottom of the PCB. If this is happening, the system will act as though your cartridge/cartridge slot is dirty and display a glitched Nintendo logo and not load any games. I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to figure out why my Pocket wouldn't load properly and only worked normally again after covering them like Colin demonstrated.
Don't be like me. Cover those contacts before you bundle up your Game Boy Pocket!
You're like the Bill Nye of console mods.
Love it.
Just did this mod, and the polarizer film, when you hold it up to an LED screen should be oriented the clear way. I.E. turn it until you can see through, and that is the right side up. The way he describes that part is a little confusing. But sweet video! My mod went successfully!
Just followed this video and successfully modded my first Gameboy. Far from easy and i have no soldering experience at all. Thanks for the help and great video.
10/10 recommend, just followed step-by-step and worked perfectly! Clear narration and directions. *big ups this does not compute*
Just finished this mod as well! Need to clean up the glass a bit more but other than that it came out perfect! Thank you!
Your tutorial was so helpful! I tackled this myself with barely any experience with soldering. I got it done and I'm so happy with mine! Thank you again!
Just finished doing this mod, a couple tips; use a piece of scotch tape around the bottom of the ribbon cable to hold it together, if you've got a lot of adhesive residue on the screen try using a magic eraser cut into small pieces.
i love ya man! finished mine yesterday and it looks awesome! went with a blue screen, pastel purple buttons and i custom painted a shell that goes from pink to blue :D
Thank you so much for this guide! It makes playing games on the gameboy so much more enjoyable and it wasn't that hard to do.
However, I had some difficulties on the way, I'd like to share:
1.) When I first turned on the Gameboy after installing the backlight, the screen displayed everything just fine, but it didn't light up at all. I thought the rechargeables to be known good, so I checked on the solder joints and the connection to the screen and stuff dis- and reassembling the gameboy several times. At some point then I connected the gameboy to the wall adapter et voila: the screen lit up (still showing vertical bright lines). Using fresh batteries, it also lit up, though not as bright. freshly charged rechargeables worked as well.
So NOTE that wiring it up as shown in the video will make the backlight go dimmer as the batteries/rechargebles go low on power. there's n updated/better way to wire it up, more on that in 5.).
Test the backlight ONLY using wall adapter or fresh cells!
2.) Using an updated version of the kit, I had difficulties figuring out the correct orientation of the polarizer, as it looked the darkest/brightest holding it diagonally in front of a screen, and holding in a way it can fit into the screen assembly it just looked medium bright any way I rotated it. but that's not a big issue, though. first attempt, I had the screen inverted, but opening the assembly and turning the filter 90° solved that. no big deal, just something to note.
3.) after all the dis- and reassembling of the gameboy, I got some vertical lines of "white" running across the screen. The ribbon cable is very fragile, so avoid unnecessarily touching the screen assembly, even for troubleshooting purposes. I managed to fix that the next day by resettling the screen ribbon and taping it to the back of the screen assembly until everything made proper contact and the lines were gone. So, if you have vertical lines of what looks like "dead pixels" on your screen, don't worry, It can easily be fixed.
4.) Opening the screen assembly repeatedly to troubleshoot also made some dust go in between the screen layers, which does show in the screen. It's not terribly bad, However I would like to remove the dust particles but do not dare to open the screen assembly again and risk getting vertical lines again. So, again: DO NOT disassemble the screen any more than you absolutely have to! Oh, and keep a can of compressed air ready to remove any dust particles from the screen layers, just in case.
5.) wiring it upthe backlight as shown in the video makes the backlight flicker, which is barely notable in some games (like F1 Race), but can make it extremely uncomfortable to look at in other games (e.g. Hugo). Plus, I had the backlight start to go dim after just 40 minutes using fully charged-up rechargeables.
The updated way to connect the backlight module, as shown on the product page, is to solder the POSITIVE lead to pin 6 (above pin 4 which the negative was soldered to in the video) and the NEGATIVE lead to pin3 (below pin 1 which the positive was soldered to in the video). Note that if you still have the old version of the backlight module, according to commenter "Moon", you MUST use the resistor, as it provides constant 5V, as opposed to varying 2.5-2.7V from pin 1.
This removed the flickering and the rechargeables lasted me easily three times as long, but when they do get weaker, now the contrast gets increasingly lighter until you can't see the pixels at all (but that's just before the gameboy turns off), while the backlight brightness stays constantly bright. So, you win some & lose some using this wiring, but overall it's much better, imo.
product page: handheldlegend.com/products/game-boy-backlight-dmg-and-pocket?variant=16870377731
check the last image for reference!
In conclusion, it's a fairly simple mod and completely worth it!. Despite the difficulties described above, it only took me 3 hours total and with the lessons learned I could do it in less than 45 mins, if I was to do it again.
awesome video brother. I was able to complete my very first mod successfully and am extremely happy with the results
Colin, great vid! I usually slap things back in and do a test run before screwing everything in place. Just eliminates the hassle of tearing it all down again after you found you put the damn polarizer film in wrong way.
Great tutorial! Being that it's summer and I'm in AZ, I found that leaving the original screen in my car for a couple of hours makes removing the reflector/polarizer a snap! This tip will only work for people in the same geographic situation as me, however. ;-)
Thanks for posting this I followed along with this and got my gameboy pocket working with a backlight!
Thanks Colin! Did mine today. Took a bit of trial and error, but it's working great now!
Since Gameboy pocket uses AAA batteries, it would be great to have the ability to turn the light on or off. I would put a micro push button right the bottom of the power switch. This way, you could slide to turn the gameboy on or off and press the power switch (with the GB turned on) to turn on the light. Using a microcontroller you can even add brightness levels.
this would be great, except for the fact that you removed the reflective layer, so the screen would be almost impossible to see without the backlight, however a dimmer like for the contrast and volume would be great.
I'm working on this mod, I'm finding difficulty to control the brightness using PWM due interference on the screen. I'll try some linear controller. Once I finish I'll let you know. Thanks mate
You're welcome
So I just did this. The ribbon cable thing is no joke. I slice the long grey cable straight in half from one side down. I attempted to repair it using a soldering iron, heating it up, and just barely running along the edges that were cut apart. Worked. My screen has a bunch of horizontal black lines near the bottom portion of the screen, but I've learned for next time I do this mod. Someone below this comment said to wire the positive end of the backlight power to number 6, right next to 4, instead of where he does on the video. Do this.
I need to install my kit into my game boy pocket. This is very useful and concise. Thank you for the video. I will need to play with the contrast screen. The theory of it seems strange.
success! took longer than expected since most of the reflector adhesive stuck to the glass, and IPA, Meths, Ethanol, Gasoline etc didn't touch it. An aerospace degreaser finally did the trick! Buy hey, it works. Bivert chip to follow. Cheers :)
Awesome, glad to hear it all worked out!
Attempted to install the backlight kit, removed the reflector and polariser extremely carefully, peeling it back in one corner, peeling it slowly and gently, and keeping it as flat as possible so as to not pull up on the ribbon cables. Reassembled the Pocket and the display was damaged, with one horizontal and one vertical line. It seems all it took to destroy the display was movement in the cable, even without pressure or tension. I suspect it depends on the structural integrity of the joints in the cable even before the modification is performed, some displays will be better than others. For me, it makes it very difficult to justify performing the mod because there's no guarantee the display will work once the mod is completed. Shame, because the results are pretty damn good when it does.
Another great video! Im trying this mod out as well and your video is much more clear than anyone else's :)
Definitely worth it if you don't nail the ribbon cable. This is literally a console destroying project if messed up as replacement LCDs don't exist yet. Just nicked my ribbon trying to do this as the adhesive would not lift on any corner for me and I had a bad fight with it. Be careful and be delicate on this step, it's as fragile as it sounds.
I would like to add the backlight on my gameboy pocket but I hesitate for a reason: the battery autonomy.
This device uses 2 AAA... So, the game boy pocket has only an autonomy of 10 hours approximately. What is the autonomy with the backlight mod?
thank you! just ordered one!
This was clearly too hard for me, or I was really unlucky. My first two attemts doing this mod, I ended up with vertical lines on the screen. Most likely i put too much pressure on the ribbon cable while removing the polarizing film. I also heard this can't be fixed like it can on the original DMG. I got it on my third try though. At least they were all cheap pretty beat up gameboy pockets from japan...
Yeah, same thing happened to me. My third attempt I wrapped where the ribbon cable meets together with kapton tape before I removed the back polarizer. I only ended up with one line in the screen, so I just taped the end of that ribbon cable down to the inside of the case, and the pressure made it go away. These mods aren't "hard" in and of themselves, but the screens on these gameboys are REALLY fragile, so research and do everything you can to not damage the ribbon cable...
@@blakeromo yeah, if you got vertical lines on the screen, it means that the ribbon cable has a bad connection on some of the leads. just tape the ribbon cable to the back of the screen and see, if anything has changed. If it still shows lines re-allign the cable in a different way and try again until the lines are gone. When I did this mod, at first I had a perfectly working screen, but it didn't light up (because the rechargeables didn't provide enough voltage) and I thought the backlight cables had a bad connection. I disassembled and resettled stuff until at some point the lines appeared and I found out that the screen lit up using fresh batteries or the wall adaptor. It took some trial and error then, resettling the ribbon cable in different ways again and again until at some point the lines were gone, but I was successful in the end.
So, the ribbon cables are very sensitive, but they can be fixed easily. that's good news: If you got vertical lines on the screen does by no means mean it's broken. Far from it!
Definitely going to do this soon. I thought it was much harder to do it than this!
Great tutorial! Worked like a charm on the first try. Finally I can play Tetris in the dark :D
Managed to do it first try, thank you so much!
my screen is fine, it's very dim now, but the pixels are inverted and the backlight isn't coming on. i didn't install the bivert module and the pixels werent inverted the first time i turned the gameboy on after doing the mod.
You need to turn the polarizer 90 degrees. If you put it the wrong way, you get a negative image.
thanks. but it was actually the led not working. there was no light coming from it. got another one and its working now. may have just overheated the pads
Ok, glad to hear you have a working one.
I'm doin this tomorrow and can't wait
I wrecked two screens trying this mod. I got horizontal and vertical lines when I took off the reflective strip. Any other tips or tricks to get this to come off easier and not have these lines?
The lines are a result of damaging either the screen or the ribbon cable. All you can do is be more careful next time.
I've been fighting this damn glue residue on the back of my screen for like half an hour. Isopropyl alcohol doesn't work nearly as well as Colin claims. I'm trying to soak it in windex, that seems to work a little better. Will update in a moment.
Just botched this mod. It's no exaggeration that the ribbon cable is fragile - some of the worst design I've ever seen. The leads for the vertical array are comprised of two ribbon cables sandwiched - and then very very loosely soldered - together. If even a fraction of that cable-sandwich pops apart, you broke it. I was extremely careful with removing the film and yet somehow still managed to jostle that cable the right way to trash it.
I threw out the LCD and reassembled just for fun - so now the screen of my Pocket is just a view of the PCB - actually looks kinda cool and I might make a display out of it! Not so bad after all.
Thanks for the tutorial, keep it up!
You make this look very easy. keep up the good work.
another thing guys... do not put the positive wire at the location this video is telling you, put the positive wire on the point that says number 1 with a resistor same location where you put negative on number 4... this will get rid of the flickering when playing games...
so positive on number 1 with resistor and negative on number 4
if you don't add a resistor the screen will be super bright and drain your battery faster which will cause the contrast to flicker dark and dim... I found this out because I removed the batteries and use a plug for the Gameboy pocket and the issue was fixed... after adding the resistor the brightness went down and contrast flicker went away and saves more battery power.
So informative and helpful!!! Thanks, will refer to this later.
Ey guys I need some help here. I bought a V3 backlight with a built in resistor. Issue is should I even use an additional resistor? And if not, which point shall I solder the positive wire to?
YOUR THE MAN COLIN! (Collyn?) Love your work.
Please do a GBA front light install video, PLEASE!
Keep up the awesome work!
+zmullaney It's Colin, and yes, I'm working on it...it's going to take a while because I'd rather show a proper mod than a rough hack. Thanks for watching!
just ordered the parts for my GBC. I got the front light wit loca 7 and I had no ideal that my GBP had a backlight mod I'm so happy that these mods are cheap cuz im going to mod my GBP and I'm thinking about biverting it as well I ordered it but I don't really have a good soldering gun I just got an old cheap on that I can't control the heat with I think I mite wait till I can get a better iron before tackling that mod idk yet I really don't wanna mess it up it's the first GBP I got I won it from the under the cap game from surge a long time ago
Hey so i'm confused on the polarized part, like the turning it 90 degrees thing. when you turn it to see it turn white is that the way you put it in?
Hi there,
I installed the kit as directed by the video (except with perhaps slightly inferior soldering because of my lack of skill) and the Gameboy Pocket was working pretty much perfectly for awhile. A bit later, I noticed that the backlight started flickering, which was annoying but not that big of an issue. Later, I had an entire horizontal line of dead pixels, this was approximately a month after I installed the mod.
It's my hope that shoddy soldering might be causing this issues so that it can be fixed, but I'm afraid that it might be just that the age is showing since I figure if I damaged the ribbon cable, it would have been immediately noticeable. Has anyone else had issues like mine? Any related input is appreciated.
That amber backlight looks beautiful god damn
In the V.3 backlight kit, the resistor is integrated :) !
i installed everything just like in the video (i got the blue one) and the screen is extremely dim is it supposed to be like that?
THat rotation thing about polarizer is so confusing!!! Can someone clarify which way it is to be rotated?
PersianImm0rtal ikr
Can't get mine to power back on . Any ideas to what I might have done wrong? I bought high end batteries. Not sure what I did.
dre morgan same here
all backlight from handled legend have luminate dot visible :-( is there no way to create it with a super long led ? this is not visible on front light kit
Hi, Wanted to know if the contrast regulator works after installing the backlight
Great video!!! I have seen videos that show vertical dead pixel repairs on the gameboy original; are the same repairs possible on the Game Boy pocket? Hopefully I can repair the pixels and backlight my old Game Boy pocket. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.
OMG I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!! Thank the gods for this video! Thank you for your hard work. I just calmed down. :D
Hi!
Would you recommend using a hair dryer or heat gun for peeling off layers glued to screen?
Will it damage ribbon cables?
Thanks!
I have a quick question: Do you know by any chance where i can get a full replacement screen? My GameBoy Pocket (Model MGB-JPN) has a messed up part of the screen. It just really bothers me and sometimes gets in the way. There are no dead pixels though. It's overtop of the pixels. If there is also a fix for this that would be nice. Thanks in advance ;)
+TheGrayWolf81 Is the problem on the glass of the LCD panel itself, or the outer plastic screen cover? I haven't found replacement LCD panels anywhere, but replacement screen covers are pretty common.
No, unfortunately it is not the screen lens (the plastic cover), but part of the some blueish black random spots in on part of the lcd. But like I said, it has nothing to do with the pixels, there are no dead pixels what so ever. I'm just really anxious to fix it somehow because it's a Japanese model GameBoy. Thanks though ;)
+TheGrayWolf81 you'd be better off grabbing a cheap faulty gameboy pocket (that has a working screen) off of ebay and swapping the screen out.
AndehX That's the problem though, I can't find a single damn GB because anything that's faulty, is because of the screen... I'll keep on checking though and hopefully I'll be lucky enough to find one :)
+TheGrayWolf81 If you haven't found a replacement screen head over to
r/gameboy sometimes people have extra parts left over from various mods.
What about a bivert module? The GameBoy Pocket screen works the same way as the DMG right? Wouldn't a bivert be possible?
+AndehX The original game boy screen is not nearly as good as the gbp screen, for example, the dmg has a green ugly screen, whereas the pocket has a higher contrast, true black-white screen. It is possible to install a bivert module, it isn't really necessary.
looks like this backlight mod also works with the good old' DMG, which is great news for us audio snobs 😀...
Of course if I was a real audio snob, I'd have already Pro-Sound modded my DMG...maybe you could do a video on that?
Awesome video, best teaching ever, thank you very much!
I've got a question for you, Colin. I put in the backlight in the gameboy pocket, and your video was extremely easy to follow and understand. I have a newer version of it, but it's still essentially the same thing. When I tested it out, the backlight came on no problem, but there were two errors. One, there was a bubble in the screen (which I can live with). Secondly and more importantly, the lettering on the screen is distorted. It won't play games, just shows the distorted Nintendo logo. Any thoughts to what the problem is?
Colton Trappe I'm having exactly the same problem!! Did you solved it already?
Yeah, dude. Check all your solder points and make sure there's electical tape. Mide had fallen down and it started to short out somewhere on the game slot I think.
Colton Trappe I will give it a try later this night. thanks mate
Why not get a Gameboy Light? Got mine on eBay for like $40
+Gramtics Gaming You also need some basic soldering skills, careful hands, and patience, which most people don't have. I know guys that can't even put back together a NES pad after opening it.The inexperienced would then have to pay someone else to do the job which would most likely cost more than my GB Light. Not everyone has the knowledge for modding and upgrading their consoles/portables.
+SNaKeYe355 I know a 12 year old who did it all by himself.
***** I did buy it a couple years ago. I'd expect it to go up in price by now.
Terror Chicken I never said a 12 year old couldn't do it. I simply meant that most people are technologically incapacitated. I myself learned to solder and modify things at a young age as well. That doesn't mean every adult or child is or will be good at it.
SNaKeYe355 I undertstand your point now sorry.
I tried doing this about a year back and I kept getting a black dot near the center of the screen and bubbles appeared on the screen from the polarization filter. I was pretty irritated. It might have to do with it being the first model backlights which were really thick, I'll need to get the newer thinner models and see if that'll fix it.
This is a great video. I have just ordered my kit. I have been reading up about backlighting Gameboys over the past couple of days. DMG users seem to recommend biverting - is this necessary on the pocket?
+Dan Scarfe While it's technically possible to do the bivert mod on the Pocket, it's not really necessary in my opinion. The Pocket has a much better LCD than the DMG, including better contrast. If you want the absolute darkest pixels you can get, then you'll need to bivert, but my recommendation would be to do the backlight mod first, then decide for yourself. Good luck!
+This Does Not Compute Thanks for the quick reply! I have subscribed to your channel as this video is very informative. My kit arrived today (from the US to the UK in 3 working days!). I am going to install it tomorrow - wish me luck!
Did you get it installed and happy with it without bivert?
Hi it seems to be that the original link is broken. Could you please update it? Or suggest a new backlight kit?
Is there a way to have the blacks stay black and not be gray without using a bivert module i want bark blacks not grays without the contrast maxed out on my mgb and to be able to keep my system on for hours without my tablet charger plugged into the dc connector so i can do walkthroughs on youtube with my phone camera.
I tried this woth 2 screens I took 2 hours to peel off the polarizer and the reflector and they came of prtty messy not clean like yours. A lot of adhesive was left on the lcd and by cleaning it They ended up breaking how do you get such a clean peel?
Maybe it was a stunt screen. Previously damaged and cleaned. That is why his removed so cleanly. Hehe. Maybe?
The film will not sticks to the glass of the screen causing weird illuminate points?
Just followed your instructions and successfully backlit my first Game Boy. Thanks!
Hey I have a question. I got my backlight working but a portion of the screen doesn’t work it’s about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch horizontal section of screen with no picture. Not sure if I can fix it or if I need a new screen.
If you were to only backlight mod one, an OG DMG or a Pocket which one would you do?
I’d probably go Pocket. Its screen is better, uses fewer batteries and the backlight is easier to install. The DMG would be better if there are additional mods that you’d want to do.
My pocket does not have a battery power LED, do you know where I could solder one to? couldn't find any info online thought I'd ask the best, thanks!
The polarized section. If I’m facing the gameboy from the front (like playing), should it be dark in front of an LCD or light? Wasn’t clear on that
Im not clear on something.... which direction should the polarizer be? put it vertical as dark? or vertical as light?
Also, I would like to bivert my pocket as well. Would this be a worthwhile mod for the pocket? I know you had done an install vid for the original GB, any chance you could do one for the pocket??
Your videos are awesome and help a lot!
Thanks!
+justin sims I was wondering the same thing about the polarizer
Is there any other way to get the adhesive off the back of the screen? Cotton swabs and alcohol don't really work. Like I don't know how you got all the adhesive to come off when pulling off the sticker because all of mine is still on and it won't come off
Hi Colin, I pulled off the reflective layer on it's own (not on purpose). Can i leave the original polarization layer on or do I HAVE to replace it with the new one? Thanks
I'd remove the existing polarizer, as it probably still has its adhesive layer on it. Swapping it with the replacement also gives you options for if you decide to install a bivert chip later on.
I installed following this video but everytime i press the A and B buttons it flickers. Any idea why this occurs?
When I did the HHL Frontlight mod to my GBC I had this same issue. The screen would randomly flicker (ever so slightly) and it was very obvious whenever I pressed the A and B buttons playing a game. I resolved it by using the KB positive wire location and placing a 47ohm resistor in line with the positive wire. I attributed the flickering to voltage spikes and the 47ohm resistor helps to limit the amount of voltage going to the frontlight. I intend to do the same thing with my GBP backlight and I will let you know how it turns out. You could also play around with other levels of resistance if you can find 20ohm resistors at your local RadioShack. Either way, give it a try and let me know if it corrects the flicker!
I'm a little confused about the purpose of the polarizing film. You say that without it, nothing will be visible on the screen, and rotating it 90 degrees inverts the white/black pixels. When I got my backlight for my dmg, I also installed the bivert. My pixels are all biverted now, but the film doesn't invert them back to normal regardless of how I rotate it. So I used a spare board without the bivert installed, and I just use the polarizer to tint the screen darker a little - but it does nothing else. I suspect I damaged the film when I cleaned smudges off of it with alcohol - I ordered another film and will be more careful with it. However, I can remove the film completely from behind the screen, and I still see pixels on the screen fine with only the backlight there. So the film seems unnecessary unless you're using a bivert module and need to invert the pixels. So what gives? It appears these screens didn't come from the factory with any sort of polarization and backing is simply reflective material, and the only need for polarizing film is when using bivert modules.
It sounds like you may have left the original polarizer on the screen when you removed the reflective layer -- a pretty common occurrence.
Nice one! So do you recommend the resistor or not? I want to do this mod with the original gameboy but am not sure about the resistor. Whats the difference, Mr. Colin?
+Benny Palma Really, the difference for me ended up being the brightness of the screen. It's dimmer with the resistor and brighter without. If you plan to play mostly in the evening, the resistor may be a good idea. If you're not sure, try it with the resistor first as it's pretty easy to remove if you want the screen to be brighter. (If you want the best of both worlds, it's possible to install a small potentiometer that would let you vary the brightness.) Good luck!
i tried wiring the positive without resistor and still wont power on... backlight only powers on if negative is on number 5 but Gameboy wont bootup
Hello i have make dmg mod good. But have problem whit gb pocket. When put ligth screen dont ligth higth. Where solde?
I broke 2 GameBoy pockets doing this.. That ribbon cable underneath the screen ripped both times. I'm hoping to buy another Pocket sometime soon to try again, except I'll tape the ribbon cable down so it doesn't split.
I've ruined two game boys trying to do this. I must screw up the bottom connectors of the ribbon cable when I peel the adhesive backing off of the screen, and when I put it all together there's always a big white line in the middle of the screen. so I open it up again and try to tinker with it, was told to put a piece of electrical tape to hold the ribbon bottom back together, but I just end up ruining it. so bummed yet again.
Hello I had a Friend backlight my Gameboy Pocket but the issue we have run into Is that the case won't fully close up and when you try to fully close it a bit of black shows up on the screen any advice on what to do to prevent this?
Hey man i recently installed this kit on my gbp, i followed the instructions but what i notice that every time i click a button or let it sit it would flicker. is the flickering normal?
same here, I still haven't figured out how to fix it
+MrLuiscampa hey man I was playing with a non lit one, and I noticed that the screen does flicker here and there. it might have to do with old tech. but I can't confirm this since I only did one mod with the gbp. but good luck on finding the answer
+Charliecloudfactory Same here :(
turns out it was the batteries I was using, I put some fresh batteries in mine and now it works fine
Anyway to repair the ribbon cable? I sliced a portion of it and now that part of the screen doesn’t show anything.
wouldn't one of these panels be better for the gbc back light mod than using the front light panel?
Keefer Stoldt the difference is that the gbc has a polarizer stuck between the 2nd and 3rd screen while the pocket is behind the screen
Removing the polarizer from a pocket is easy compare to the gbc which is not possible unless your extremely lucky
Do you recommend doing this if u have NO soldering experience at all? I really want a modded gameboy but I dont trust myself at all to do it :(
+Mr. Warmo My suggestion to you would be to practice soldering first. Go find a junk circuit board and practice desoldering components, then soldering them back in place. Once you're confident doing that, then move on to modding your Game Boy. Good luck!
How does the Backlit Gameboy Pocket compare to the Gameboy Light? If you have a GB Light could you do a video comparing the 2 side by side. I'm kind of torn as to which one I want.
+Sandbox Quint I don't have a Light (at least, not yet), but my understanding is they EL (electroluminescent) backlights, so the display has a green cast to it. The LED-based backlight kits come in many different color options.Having a Light would be fun for the novelty factor, but I think a backlit one would give the better gaming experience.
+This Does Not Compute Sounds good thanks again!
Hey Colin, thanks for the amazing tutorial :D I just did this mod, and it helped a lot.
I found that the place where you soldered the wires made the screen too dim. I used another place and the screen got brighter
Do you remember which points you soldered the wires to?
Apple Juice ?
Danny Perski Soldier the red wire to point numbered 6, above your blue wire.
Does the contrast wheel make any difference once you install this mod, or does this disable it? Awesome video as usual! Really digging the crazy high production quality.
+Andrew Paulakis Yes, the contrast dial still works as it usually does, so you can adjust the screen to your liking. Thanks for the kind words!
How thorough do you need to be about getting the residual adhesive off? I have been working at this a while with 91% isopropyl and not getting very far.
I have a silver game boy pocket and around the screen where yours is black mine is like a mirror. I haven't seen any more like it. is it anything special or not.
First models released in 1996 and they didn't have a LED on the left side of the bezel either. I just bought a brand new condition one in the original acrylic box. People demanded the LED return and nintendo listened and brought it back shortly after release and with a black bezel instead of the mirrored one.
Hey I did the mod and everything and I think I screwed up. When I peeled off the the reflective and polarizer layers I took the blue part off as well Im not sure if you were supposed to do that. Anyways I decided to just go with it and the mod seems to be working but Im still having one big problem and thats that my screen is a little crooked and if I move to fast my screen gets a little blurry. can anyone help me with the crooked part I tried straightening the polarizer but that doesn't seem to work.
thanks I modified my original pocket , only issue is a flickering screen is that normal ?
No, call your local police department immediately
I'm still kinda confused. I mean I remove the silver thing but why not the next polarizer film? I mean the kit that I bought has also a polarizer film? Why using 2 of them then?
I followed your tutorial and it worked like a charm. Only thing now is that the screen is inverted. can you tell me how to fix that. I did not use a bivert module.
If my polarizer stayed on the screen do I still have to take it off and replace it?
Ordered a very similar package to this to install on my Gameboy pocket that has screen burn. Would this whole process get rid of the screen burn?
No, you would need to replace the front polarizer to do this. I've just fixed one today with this problem.
Great Video as usual :)
Is there a difference between the "Handheld Legend" and the "Kitsch-bent" Frontlight kits for the GBC and which is better?
+Abdul Aali Kamal Din There is a difference, but it's really only in how they're installed. If you install an HHL frontlight using instructions for the KB model, you need to add a 100 ohm resistor between the power wire and the solder point on the circuit board. Otherwise, the installation is the same. I haven't installed an HHL unit, but I would imagine they're about on par when it comes to quality -- either is a good choice, though I would recommend also doing the LOCA mod for the best results. Thanks for watching!
Hey, nice video, so i tried this for my original GameBoy too. But after i rebuilt it, the display only shows black... So the Display isnt Broken, but why is it only show black??? Can you pleas help me, thank you
+GameInvaders Sounds like you have the polarization film oriented incorrectly -- try turning it 90 degrees. Good luck!
Last night I tried this mod, and ended up not only breaking the ribbon cable but demolishing the ribbon cable (one of the cables just plain broke off at the solder joints). Any tips on how to get the reflector off easier? Perhaps using a solvent of some sort?
buy one , they like 50 usd or 45 euros
the thing itself, the whole console, its worth it because you dont have to pay for mutiple gameboys ( i had to buy 6 and it broke on me when i had it )