Game Gear backlight?

[scrappysphinx]

Hi all, you might have seen in another thread I recently received this game gear, games and battery pack.

Everything was basically in unused condition but needed recapping due to dim video and no sound.

I opened up the battery pack and the battery had leaked so tossed it away. I then ordered a 7.2v 1800mah NiCd battery pack (original was a 7.2v 1000mah) which arrived next day, snipped the connector off and replaced it with the one from the dead battery and hooked it all back up. Everything worked as it should and it charges without problem. I didn't take pictures of this however.

I then was going to do the led mod but thought that on my previous attempt it gave two very bright spots either side of the screen and I wasn't impressed.

I then looked into the possibility of using a GGTV and replacing the screen similarly to how the Nomad is done but found that when playing Game Gear games they would display in a small box in the middle of the screen because of the resolution.

I then found a YouTube video from RetroGameTech showing a concept of using the backlight from a DS Lite to light the screen and it looked quite nice so I set out to try it myself.

I have a few dead Ds lite's around the house so took the lcd out of its housing and cut the top layer of the screen off leaving behind the mylar sheet and the backlight. I then removed the CCFL light from the game gear and the components responsible for lighting it and proceeded to do the led mod but instead wiring up the ds backlight instead of two led's. Unfortunately it didn't work, the game still worked but the backlight wouldn't come on. I then found out that the ds backlight need more than 5v to light up so I looked into finding a higher voltage.

I didn't want to randomly test for different voltages on the board so did some googling and came up with using a LM2577 (although I was sent a XL6009) DC-DC converter.

Inputting the 5v on the input and adjusting the pot to output at at 15v allows the backlight to light up and it looks really nice (a lot better than the photos show) and there are no bright spots with the light distributed evenly across the screen.
Obviously it doesn't improve the poor quality of the screen itself but it does improve the illumination and makes it easier to see what's happening. Brightness control still functions as it should too.

I'd highly recommend this way over the LED mod








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[sir_beaker]

Great mod. Might get Bas to make this change to my one. Does it improve battery life substantially?

[scrappysphinx]

I'm yet to test it bud, from what I've read though it should produce similar results to the LED mod (possibly a little shorter due to the 15v vs 5v) but either way it should definitely last longer than it would with the ccfl light.

[Vipp]

Mike that is a fantastic mod mate, i feel the Gamegear is well worth having if you can upgade the screen.

[slk486]

Excellent mod, scappy, I just find the LCD screen in the Gamegear so awful in itself Patiently waiting for someone to come up with a direct replacement

[protek]

Brilliant mod, Scrappy! My GG really needed the caps replaced and also would benefit from your mod. Have you got any pictures of the DS lite backlight removed or are there more detailed instructions to do this mod somewhere?

[scrappysphinx]

Details are a bit scarce on using the ds backlight to be honest, all i really found was a proof of concept video from RetroGameTech and another video in French (with English subtitles) which was a little more detailed but still didn't show the stripping of the ds screen. I used a top screen from the DS light and took the metal casing off till i exposed the white plastic surround and then i used a small scalpel to slice out the top glass of the screen leaving the backlight in the case.

The reason for cutting the top glass out was because i'd previously took two other screens apart (a bottom ds lite and a top DSi) and when i removed the glass from the screen the backlight led's were taped to the glass so the third time i tried i just sliced out the glass leaving a small strip at the bottom containing the lights.

If you have a couple of dead DS screens try stripping one down and see how you go

[dougal]

Very nice mod. The reason why I hardly ever use my GameGear (aside the fact I have a lovely Nomad ) is cause of the screen but this makes it very usable.