What's wrong with this Game Gear (messed up screen)

I picked up a Game Gear from Hard-Off's junk section last year, the screen was really dark and the audio was really quiet. There were also some dark lines going across the screen. Typical of a GG with bad capacitors, right? Well, I've finally got around to changing said capacitors, and there's been some improvement. I've got audio now and the screen is nice and bright. However, those lines didn't go away. Any idea why? Here's the issue:



Here's what it looks like with the contrast turned all the way up, is it normal for the image to be completely white?



And here's what the screen looks like with the system turned off:


Any ideas?

 

Broken panel? Loose connection to board? It looks like a generic issue, doesn't the gameboy have the same effect if the connection is weak to the board?

 

I would reflow any connections to the screen, and test all your connections. worst case scenario an as is one for a replacement screen and parts wouldnt hurt. Here in Charlotte we have a GRID which is goodwill owned and i buy up broken consoles ALL DAY from there with simple issues like bad laser, bad capacitor, bad disc drive etc. usually when i buy up several i can repair a few and keep the rest for salvaging.

 

The screen is made of glass, surely any damage to the screen would crack the glass as well? It does look like the screen issue the GB has, so I tried poking at the part where the screen cable is soldered to the mainboard to see if it would flicker or something, but nothing. The lines also aren't 100% missing like the GB, they're still showing up but their brightness is messed up.

That's an idea, I'll try re-flowing the solder on the screen able. At least the joins are soldered, unlike the GB. I'm not sure you can even get replacement screens for the GG..?

 

I personally do not know of a retailer as i usually salvage and part out. I restore before i buy from somewhere. If you have the know how and the setup a reflow costs nothing next to say a replacement screen. Alot of EBAY sellers will let go of bulk old consoles like that. GG are worth nothing broken but if you get them running and backlit with good capacitors they will sell for a few bucks, and if you have a good lithium rechargable mod they can go for a pretty penny. It was a very good system but came a little too soon before its time.

 

You can now thanks to McWill on AtariAge. His screen uses the digital video signals the system produces to give the best picture possible. It also has some optional scanlines and an optional VGA output.

 

Thats pretty cool, I will have to go check that out. I wonder if the setup would allow a mini HDMI output port instead of VGA

 

For HDMI, you will need OzOnE's Universal HDMI mod board. His board won't be released until December or January though.

 

Do you know if he is opensourcing his design?

 

I think he might be. I'm not too sure. He won't be back on for a couple weeks so you'll have to ask him then.

 

Cool deal thank you. There is a small demand for some GG mods in my area, I am working on my own personal rechargeable mod but would like to include backlit and hdmi output within that mod. Still in pretty early phases but ill make a thread as i gain some headway on it.

 

Awesome! I'll keep an eye out for the thread.

 

I've re-flowed the solder on the mainboard side of the screen cable. All this has done is made the solder joins shiner, the lines haven't changed.

Cool! But from what I can tell, it uses a screen with a different resolution, so the screen is a little blurrier? Seems like there's a guy in Japan who's come up with a solution too, though maybe it's basically the same thing?
http://gglcd.bufsiz.jp/

I dunno, it might be better to try and get an original screen working since they are the correct resolution.

 

Odd, I thought it was the same resolution. The screen looks just like the original if you have scanlines enabled. beats a TV mod and using a crappy composite screen.

The Japanese one is actually a clone of McWill's screen. The guy bought a screen from McWill and reversed engineered it.

 

Fireaza I would just outsource another broken GG for another screen. I have purchased many with bad caps that just needed that and the screens were great. you can buy busted ones for the price of a individual screen im sure. Just be patient and search around.

 

Really? Is the screen the same? This might be the cheaper option for me if I decided to go that route.

 

Not sure mate, I was just throwing some things that came to mind and what I'd probably think of looking at it. I'm no expert though.

Weird the problem is visible with the screen off too. Seems the panel is actually broken, but in a weird way. I'm sure someone here will be able to tell you.

 

I experience what appear to be artefacts due to non-integer scaling with that screen. Very obvious in axe battler (vertical scrolling in Castle) and sonic 1 (second stage underground).

 

There is your answer righ there.. LCD is dead

 

Damn. Wonder why? There doesn't seem to be any physical damage.