The perfect Game Boy display: BlackBerry IPS LCD for your Color console
An IPS LCD Mod Kit will make your Game Boy better than ever. Crisp contrasts, rich colours and 350 cd/m² brightness make retro dreams come true. Keep reading to find out how the Game Boy modification is done.
The BlackBerry smartphone’s IPS display promises rich colours, a good black level and, above all, sufficient brightness. In short, everything a Game Boy Color should have. So let’s get to work and create the best Game Boy ever with relatively little effort.
If you’re raring to go, just scroll down to the first subtitle that says modification phase 1.
Good mods, bad mods
Back in January, I found out the hard way that things don’t necessarily turn out well. At the time, I wanted to modify my Game Boy Color’s display with a cheap front light. Luck wasn’t on my side, plus the job I did was a bit sloppy. This unfortunate combination led to a few air bubbles on the display.
Unfortunately, nothing else about that modification was great either. The lighting turned out to be very dim and the colours on the old display lacked saturation. This bugged me for so long that I decided to leave the sloppiness behind me.
It was time for that perfect display mod. At least technologically speaking. In terms of implementation, it was up to me, not to do half measures.
IPS LCD mod: say what?
For years, retro enthusiasts have been modding their Game Boys. They want the clearest and brightest display possible. Since May 2019, the perfect display does seem to exist. Mod kit producer FunnyPlaying found out that the BlackBerry Curve 9380 is equipped with an outstanding display. What’s more, its size is almost identical to that of a Game Boy Advance display.
With this insight, FunnyPlaying developed a matching FPC adapter cable and, together with the display, sold it as part of a mod kit for the Game Boy Advance. By the way, FPC stands for Flexible Printed Circuit. The circuit contains chips that reprocess the image for the display in a similar way a graphics driver does.
At first glance, the result of the first Game Boy Advance with its adapter cable and IPS LCD was amazing. However, the display had a screen tearing problem. As a result, the FPC adapter cable was reworked. And sure enough, version 2 put and end to all problems.
A few months ago, FunnyPlaying added an adapter cable to its range. The cable works for the old-old Game Boy and for Game Boy Color. However, for those models, the BlackBerry display is installed in portrait format. Unlike other LCDs, the original display area is not cut in this kit.
The display is an LG LH320h04-SD01 – a 3,2-inch IPS LCD with 480 x 360 pixels and 350 cd/m² brightness. It offers 16.7 million colours, a static contrast of 800:1, a frequency of 60 Hz and a good viewing angle (80/80/80/80).
Modification phase 1: board needed
The basis for my new Game Boy Color was provided by the board taken from this old and defective device.
Start and select button? Negative. The console was also missing two contacts in the battery compartment. What’s more, the cover for the battery compartment had also gone astray. So I used a new case. But first, I put a tri-wing and Phillips screwdriver to action and removed nine screws as well as the display cable. Next up, I got working on the board.
Typically, the speaker is the dirtiest part. I attacked the brown crust with rubbing alcohol. After that, I set the board aside.
Modification phase 2: making space in the case
After seeing all the dirt inside the old Game Boy, I decided to reuse nothing but its board. Replacement parts needed! Namely, a new case, buttons and conductive silicone pads.
Because the BlackBerry display is installed in portrait format, some edges above and below the original display position proved to be a problem. But that’s not all. Parts of the control pad and the edge above it had to go, too.
The time had come to get to work.
Plastic bits were flying everywhere. For once, I was glad to be wearing glasses. If you don’t, consider putting on a pair of protective goggles.
That was enough sanding for that day.
Modification phase 3: putting in IPS LCD
I’m pretty sure this is the best IPS LCD for the Game Boy.
It's thin and must be handled with great care, otherwise it could break. The display is available online for about seven or eight Swiss francs. What’s expensive is the FPC adapter cable. As it’s not only in charge of transmitting a signal but also of reprocessing and positioning the image, there are a lot of chips on it. I ordered my cable from an Asian store – I paid 36 Swiss Francs including shipping costs for the cable and the IPS LCD.
The mod kit includes double-sided adhesive tape. At that point in time, I wasn’t sure I should be using it. I’d read online that LCDs have been known to break in the process of removing them if they were incorrectly positioned. A glue gun might have been a good alternative. Unfortunately, mine had just run out of glue. So I stuck it in according to the mod kit manufacturer’s advice.
While positioning the LCD, I was using the right edge as guidance. The display needed to be placed at approximately one millimetre away from it to be in the correct position. The top edge should be glued in as high up as possible to leave enough space for the infrared interface cover. You can see it in the picture above. It’s the black thing above the display.
By the way, I only just found out that the display should be glued as high up as possible. The manual for this mod kit is lousy. It says that it should be glued in with a two-millimetre distance to the upper edge. And that’s what I did. Not a great move, as it means the display isn’t perfectly centred. I would get annoyed at that in the end. But I didn’t know that at the time.
To protect the freshly glued in LCD from dirt, I fitted a new display cover.
The time had come for the FPC adapter cable. In the picture above, you can see the connection point where the display cable goes circled in red. In the picture, it’s already been switched on. Connecting it is kind of like using a push button. The only difference being that you need to be gentler and apply less force than with a button.
The Game Boy was ready to be reassembled. I put in the buttons and silicone pads.
The board on top.
Source: FunnyPlaying
Next up, the small black cable needed to be positioned correctly. It’s the one in the above picture you see going behind the orange-yellow display cable. There’s a small contact sensor at the end of it that lets you adjust the display brightness.
The sensor was placed directly on the black infrared cover. As the cover generally has a tiny bit of play in most cases, it’s enough to trigger the underlying sensor by tapping on it. At least in theory. In practice, this is not always the case, as I can see from reading article ratings. The Game Boy starts at the second-strongest brightness level by default.
The final step was to connect the display cable to the board. As pictured above, it’s plugged into the white port as far as it will go. After that, I secured it by pushing down the small black levers to the left and right of the cable.
Three screws fasten the board. The case was now ready to be closed.
Game Boy Color with IPS LCD
The result is not bad at all. Although I could have positioned the display two millimetres higher up, it didn’t detract from the gaming fun.
The picture is not only rich in colour but unusually sharp for a Game Boy.
The sensor is also doing as it should. I’m happy.
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Martin Jud
Senior Editor
martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.chI find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
