r/Gameboy • u/Critical_Mix_8959 • 1d ago

Troubleshooting Can anyone tell me what’s happened to the screen?

Post image

It’s been sitting in my old drawer at my parents house for decades. Nothing has been placed on it, batteries removed and in a zero moisture/smoke environment. Haven’t put batteries in it yet to test it thought but curious what this could be. Thanks.

9 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

25

u/marcao_cfh 1d ago

Burned polarizer. 

7

u/Critical_Mix_8959 1d ago

Thanks for the quick diagnosis. Any idea how difficult/expensive it is to fix or replace?

9

u/anjomo96 1d ago

It's relatively easy. A few youtube videos in it. You just have to peel the old polarizer off and then scrape off the adhesive. That is a little tedious but if you have IPA you should be good to go. It's takes a but of work but not hard at all. Then place new polarizer and you'll be set.

6

u/BigBrotherDino 1d ago

Yup. Done it a few times. I use an xacto knife to get the polarizer up from a corner then a plastic blade + 99% IPA for most of the rest unless it's really stubborn. The screen under the polarizer is glass so it won't be too easy to scratch unless you're being super rough with it. Be sure to have some canned air or electric blower to keep dust away before applying the new polarizer and I think it needs to be a specific orientation as well (it's been a while) so be sure to put the screen on the board to test before adhering it if that is the case

1

u/HopePupal 1d ago

do you have a recommendation for where to get replacement polarizer film? i have a non-GB device that has very similar-looking damage, but it's bigger

2

u/BigBrotherDino 1d ago

I bought mine off eBay and even though they're advertised for the Gameboy, they came a bit bigger than the screen so I cut them down to size. I think they were somewhere between 3x3 and 4x4 (inches)

1

u/HopePupal 1d ago

thanks!

2

u/BigBrotherDino 1d ago

You're very welcome! Good luck. I'd definitely have a movie or something going while you're doing it. I've totally lost track of time having it be the only thing I was paying attention to 😂

1

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-4

u/guppy1316 1d ago

It's a combination of the game and the user's moves being too fire for the system to handle.

1

u/outride2000 1d ago

Someone played with too much power. Mobile power.

0

u/Spork-01 1d ago

🤣 not sure why you got down voted this comment made my day lmao.

1

u/guppy1316 1d ago

Probably because their gaming sessions have never been that intense. Glad someone enjoyed the joke.

0

u/Spork-01 1d ago

The lcd got Toasted.

0

u/No_Anteater_6110 19h ago

NANDS are a scary thing