Game Gear LCD upgrade

NeoSneth · Jul 27, 2015

Just saw this today. I've been on the lookout for a real LCD upgrade for a game gear, and not just a lighting upgrade.

http://gglcd.bufsiz.jp/

It requires the upgrade board from ggLCD, and they have a recommended LCD that pairs with this board.

I will likely attempt this in a few weeks when some other projects are cleared off my table.

pixeljunkie · Jul 27, 2015

been curious about this one too - as i understand it though, its damn-near impossible to fit everything back into the GG?

Jibbajaba · Jul 27, 2015

I saw that the other day, as well. It looks pretty sweet, but I'm just not that in to the Game Gear. Emulation on my JXD or my computer is more than good enough for that console.

team_andromeda · Jul 27, 2015

That looks sick! But I share most of Jibbajaba's sentiments; I'm not that into it either. I mean, I own one and replaced all of the caps to enjoy that nice 90's washed out screen, but there isn't much on there that I've really been drawn to! I've been considering the GG Everdrive but I can't think of much to throw on it. Are there any games you'd recommend that are enjoyable even today?

Also, please update this if you end up trying to do this yourself, I'd love to see more!

fenikso · Jul 27, 2015

Does somebody have a ball park estimate of what the whole upgrade would cost? Game Gear is my favorite handheld and I wouldn't mind seeing mine upgraded.

NeoSneth · Jul 27, 2015

There's some room inside a GG to share a few millimeters here and there. I think it will fit just some minor adjustments.

I will definitely be trying this once they are back in stock. There will likely be some other attempts to build upon by then as well. I'm not looking to break any boards apart and resolder traces.

One of the great things about the GG is the complete lack of collectors. Games are dirt cheap, and have held up well over time. The screen was really holding the platform back and pushing people toward emulation.

MuppeT · Jul 27, 2015

Does this upgrade get rid of the shrinking of the screen that came with the old one or is it the same ?

NeoSneth · Jul 27, 2015

MuppeT said:
Does this upgrade get rid of the shrinking of the screen that came with the old one or is it the same ?

Shrinking when compared to what? An SMS on a TV?

MuppeT · Jul 27, 2015

NeoSneth said:
Shrinking when compared to what? An SMS on a TV?

the game gear itself. on the old mod once you replace the screen the new one will have better graphics ofc but the picture will shrink a bit .

HeavyMachineGoob · Jul 28, 2015

The problem is the Game Gear video output isn't like what it seems, it's like the original LCD automatically crops to the center of a normal 320x240 type of screen.

An LCD upgrade sounds nice but I don't know if it's worth doing. The Game Gear screen still works fine for me (with a cap kit of course).

leonk · Aug 3, 2015

A couple years ago a really smart German hardware designer created an LCD replacement screen for the Atari Lynx. It interacts directly with the Lynx; it uses a CPLD CPU to talk to the LYNX GPU to generate video signal for the LCD screen. Totally custom circuit board, 100% digital.

While working on the Lynx, he decided to also create a Game Gear LCD screen with the same technology.

It so happens that he sold one of his Lynx screens to a guy in Japan (by the same name as the GG LCD screen above!) Take it as rumour, I personally believe a guy in Japan reverse engineered the LYNX LCD screen and created a GG one.

Luckily, the German engineer finished the GG LCD screen and has been selling it for a while now. I was lucky enough to get a copy and install it in my GG over the weekend. Here's some pics:

Before install:

Parts removed:

Almost done install:

Result:

Regular display:

Hold all 3 buttons to turn on scanline generator!

The guy is called McWill, and he posts on the Lynx forum over at Atari Age. The LCD screen is about 100 Euro plus shipping. Seems like a lot, but it's custom made, uses CPLD CPU, all digital. Made in Germany.

NeoSneth · Aug 3, 2015

Yeah. I've seen McWill's stuff for Lynx, but I didn't know he did GameGear as well at one point.
I heard he was working on a new one, but I dont follow AtariAge that often.

fenikso · Aug 3, 2015

Well.... I know what I'm doing next tax season. Damn that looks good.

jsiucho · Aug 7, 2015

Would love that on my nomad. Anybody know if there is a replacement screen for the treamcast?

HeavyMachineGoob · Aug 7, 2015

Am I the only one who noticed the uneven pixel sizing on that replacement Game Gear screen? Deal breaker for me.

Genki · Aug 8, 2015

HeavyMachineGun said:
Am I the only one who noticed the uneven pixel sizing on that replacement Game Gear screen? Deal breaker for me.

No one makes new LCD that is pixel perfect with GG resolution. Some scaling had to be done with modern LCD to make it fit.

HeavyMachineGoob · Aug 8, 2015

Couldn't the guy at least scale to a size that's an even multiple of the Game Gear's original resolution?

leonk · Aug 16, 2015

Keep in mind that those pictures were taken about 2" away from the screen! You never play that close nor notice any issues.

Also, there's a switch on the PCB to turn off horizontal scaling. I just wanted full screen so left it on by default. Modern LCD screens are NOT an integer multiplication of original LCD screen.

Personally, even if it's not "pixel perfect", it's a hundred times better than the original GG screen. I would put it at the same category as Nintendo DS when it comes to brightness, color saturation, viewing angles and smooth scrolling. Heck, you can even install a VGA port on your GG and play full screen on your TV! (I like stock look, so didn't do that).

Full screen GG, full screen SMS, modern LCD .. one of a kind and a must for any GG / Sega fan. It is expensive .. it's biggest down fall.

DragonmasterDan · Aug 24, 2015

I've got to admit that replacement screen does look nice.

One other Game Gear related note is that the later Majesco units have a better screen than the Sega made units did.

GregN · Aug 25, 2015

Impressive. Shouldn't this be in tech talk?

DanAdamKOF · Aug 26, 2015

good shit, I always considered the GG screen just as "it is what it is", the replacement posted above looks solid and isn't stupid like using some cheapass composite LCD and a TV mod for that centered crap mentioned before. I really ought to install a TV mod in mine...

I agree with all the praise the GG has gotten in this thread, I've had mine since I was like 12 or so and bought one on a whim from Funcoland for like $20 or something real cheap, a lot of the games are shit but plenty have held up, and yes you can get most of the good stuff without fighting off tons of other collectors, prices are real cheap.

SAKAMOSTRO · Aug 29, 2015

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=32260 some links including retrofit LCD for the GG.

leonk · Aug 30, 2015

SAKAMOSTRO said:
http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=32260 some links including retrofit LCD for the GG.

The mod is not an LED backlight replacement or way to fix the crappy 90's LCD technology. It's a complete new modern LED backlit LCD panel. The impressive part is that it can talk to the GG directly digitally to get the video with no loss in quality.

Atro · Aug 31, 2015

It's weird to see flipped scanlines on a yoko setup, other than that, it seems very nice and clean.

yoshi41 · Sep 1, 2015

HeavyMachineGun said:
Couldn't the guy at least scale to a size that's an even multiple of the Game Gear's original resolution?

Got my GG back from McWill yesterday. Absolutely fantastic! :cool:

There are different modes to compensate uneven scaling. Here's the description from McWill...

3.5" LCD mode

1. scaled resolution
2. scaled resolution with retro-style (dark vertical lines)
3. doubled horizontal resolution 320 x 240, vertical scaled
4. same as 3 with retro-style
5. doubled h+v resolution (upper and lower parts are cut off)
6. same as 5 with retro-style
7. native h+v resolution with black border around the picture (no retro-style available, because of the small picture!)

If the 3.5" LCD is on, the VGA connector provides the old RGB_TV (NTSC)

VGA out

1. VGA picture is scaled to 640 x 480 @ 60 Hz; 2. same as 1 with scanlines
3. VGA picture without scaling, but 2 x or 3x native resolution
4. same as 3 with scanlines

Same in GG and SMS mode

ALL modes selectable by pressing START, FIRE1 and FIRE2 together!

My favorite is LCD mode 4. The picture is only slightly truncated on the side, but scrolling looks great.

It's not the cheapest mod, but worth every penny.

His eMail address can be found here...

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/233632-lynx-lcd-replacementvga-out-by-mcwill/page-5#entry3178804

And here some pics...

Game Gear LCD upgrade

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Marked Wolf

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Who?,

Crazed MVS Addict