sega game gear replacement lcd screen manufacturer

It’s my personal opinion that the Game Gear’s screen has not aged well. Unlike the Game Boy systems, there was only one revision of the Game Gear made by Majesco, which didn’t offer much improvement. Some people have modded the GG’s backlight with a newer one which saved battery life, but it didn’t improve the overall picture enough to make a drastic difference. Other people had even installed newer LCD screens into their Game Gear’s, but you’d either be forced to play them in half-screen, or stretched. Luckily, McWill, creator of the excellent Atari Lynx mods has also created a kit for the Game Gear, marking the first time someone’s truly been able to improve the Game Gear’s portable experience.  His LCD kit offers scaling effects and scanlines without creating any lag, all while having the pixels stay in their right positions. This is because the pixels are captured digitally into ram, instead of being an analog conversion.

Let’s first take a look at how McWill’s screen compares to the original and Majesco Game Gear screens. Keep in mind that while people claim the Majesco screen’s are generally slightly better quality, the condition of the Game Gear makes the biggest difference. While my Majesco GG is in excellent condition, it’s unmodified and my original Game Gear has had a full capacitor replacement. I can still see slightly more detail in the Majesco screen, however if both had brand new capacitors, it would be a bit more noticeable. More importantly though, even a perfect condition Majesco screen pales in comparison to the replacement LCD (click for full-sized):

The LCD screen mod has seven different modes that can be scrolled through by holding buttons 1, 2 and Start at the same time.  Here’s a description of each:

2 – Scaled Resolution with Scanlines:  This mode ads vertical scanlines, emulating the look of the original screen.  It’s very hard to capture in pictures, but in person I really enjoyed the effect it created.

3 – Doubled Horizontal Resolution, Scaled Vertical resolution:  This mode doubles the GG’s 160 horizontal pixels to 320, so when stretched to the 320 pixels of the LCD screen, the horizontal resolution eds up scaled perfectly, while the vertical resolution is stretched.

5 –  Doubled GG Resolution (upper and lower parts are cut off):  The Game Gear’s resolution is doubled to 320×288, but only 240 of the 288 vertical pixels are displayed.  This allows for no stretching, but with the top and bottom of the image cut off.  In some games this doesn’t really make any difference at all.

Here are screenshots of each mode, listed in the order described above.  It’s very hard taking pictures of LCD screens, but I did my best.  Keep in mind that it actually looks much better in person:

Master System on Game Gear:Unlike when using the original screen, SMS games on a Game Gear with a screen replacement look great!  Also, McWill added the same scaling options as for Game Gear games:  They can either be played in their original resolution of 256×192 to preserve the aspect ratio, or that resolution can be stretched to 320×192 to fill the screen horizontally.  Both modes also offer vertical scanlines, which I think is a great effect:  It still feels like you’re playing an SMS game on a Game Gear…but you can actually see what’s on the screen!  Click below for a full-sized pic:

In a perfect world, we’d be able to find modern LCD’s that match the exact size, resolution, refresh rate and aspect ratio of the original handhelds. Since that’s impossible to find, McWill has done the next best thing by digitally scaling the original Game Gear video signal onto a newer, high-quality screen. While it doesn’t exactly match the look of the original Game Gear, I find the second mode “Scaled Resolution with Scanlines” to be great for most games.  Some games such as Fantasy Star have weird vertical effects in that mode, so for those games I just switched to doubled mode and it looked fine.

As a kid, I owned a Game Gear and while I really loved it, I was always annoyed and distracted by the terrible look of the screen;  Even back then I felt it took away from the gameplay.  I can honestly say that playing Mega Man on my Game Gear with McWill’s LCD screen absolutely blew me away and it was like experiencing the Game Gear again for the first time.  Unfortunately, the kit is extremely expensive, but truly worth it for any serious Game Gear fan.

McWill’s website is currently being finished, but if you’re interested in this mod, you can reach him on the Atari Age forum, or email him directly:  order-lynx-lcd@online.de

I suggest checking out the Game Gear TV-Out page for details on McWill’s VGA / RGB out mod, otherwise please head back to the main Game Gear page for more information.

To avoid having to solder a lot of wires, we developed the Easy Soldering Guide, a piece of printed circuit board that solders directly to the connector on the original Game Gear display. This connector connects to the main printed circuit board via a ribbon cable.

The installation of the Magic Screen requires (in addition to the original screen and its backlight system of course) the removal of only 3 components.

If you choose to do the complete installation (5 wires to solder so), you can choose between the 7 display modes proposed in order to have the choice according to the game you are playing.

Thus the Magic Screen consumes between 1.6W and 2W depending on the backlight setting chosen and we have chosen to equip the kit with a switch-mode power supply for maximum reliability. We did not want to risk the linear power supply which sometimes causes a short circuit in the kit or in the console.

Note: beyond 3.5W the power supply card has difficulty providing the necessary power to operate the Game Gear. It starts to heat up and wear out prematurely, even more true if you use a flash card like EverDrive which consumes more power than a standard game.

This is especially true when it comes to a video game console that is more than 30 years old and has components that operate at voltages close to 50V. The Sega Game Gear is a fragile console that can be unpredictable.

The 1st level of instructions offered are very different.  When installing this for the first time I would suggest the official install, the wires are easier to install on the ribbon pins, without fear of damaging parts on the board.  As BennVenn says on the site, if you can change capacitors, you can install this screen.

This kit improves the colour, clarity and contrast of your Sega Game Gear. It also includes a VGA output kit for connection to an external TV, monitor or projector.

VideoGamePerfection.com chooses BennVenn screens.VideoGamePerfection.com is pleased to announce a new partnership with BennVenn Electronics. BennVenn’s Game Gear screens represent the best possible quality upgrade for your classic Sega hardware, with better brightness, viewing angles and no tearing or blurring.

Breathe new life into your classic Sega Game Gear hand held with this cutting edge IPS LCD replacement. Replacing the dated original LCD with this new, vibrant model will make playing Game Gear games a lot more fun, thanks to increased brightness, contrast, picture sharpness and improved battery life.

These replacement LCDs are the best on the market and have been specifically engineered for the Game Gear. While not retaining the native resolution of the original Game Gear screen, they offer several versatile scaling modes and a number of exciting features:-

Please make sure your Game Gear is in good working order before installing this mod. If the existing LCD is faint or can only be seen at an angle, you must replace the systems capacitors, otherwise performance from the replacement LCD will not be satisfactory. There are various guides on-line on how to do this or we can perform the repair for you here.

Due to the nature a Game Gear screen attaches, a ribbon directly soldered to the mainboard, replacing it requires a soldering iron and some fairly advanced technique.

NOTE: You really need new capacitors in the console for this mod to work, so you can select that service from the dropdown menu. If your console has already had a recap, then just order the LCD supply & install.

Tv tuner compatibility and scaling issue. Mcwill screen is great but there"s no bilinear filtered full scaling option or video inputs; doesn"t seem like screen can be toggled on/off independently with console off.

AFAIK the uc-320 uses 68 pin adhesive ribbon cable. 68 pin plug somehow allows screen to interface with vdp to be manipulated in unique ways. Think that"s how both sms and gg titles can fill entire screen space without scaling issues.

TL;DR:It seems that the majority of Game Gears that have troubles operating is suffering from leaking electrolytic capacitors, so it makes sense starting with recaping. It is very important to clean the PCB thoroughlyof the electrolyte fluid from old capacitors. As GameGear motherboard will operate even with no caps at all, although not recommended.

I bought a Sega Game Gear(VA1 — Twin ASIC (837–7398–01, 837–7719–01, and 837–7996)) at a local flee market. Since it is a European version (different regions have different power plug polarity, so be careful what power supply you use), I used my Spectrum ZX power supply to test it.

So if your Game Gear is experiencing similar symptoms, try measuring the output of the powerboard (first 5V and than 34V lines after power up cycle). It is important that you attach the multimeter before powering on, otherwise you might miss the initial surge. If 34V is stable and the 5V is not, try resoldering the components that are shared between them.

A picture off Facebook from a professional repair man, please note he uses a lot of SMD ceramic/tantalum capacitors (tantalum has the lowest ESR) the size of the caps is 1210/1206. If you find them in the right values, this is a much better option than using electrolytes, because the physical space in the console is very limited and the ceramic/tantalum caps are much more reliable. This board also has the LCD screen mod.

If you’re still not getting the correct voltages a user on Facebook group suggested the Game Gear Power Board IC Repair Kit, which contains the electrolytic capacitors, MB3775 (size SOP 16) IC and 3 power transistors (A, B and C).

Turning off is a protection mode for Game Gear and something is grounding out (you have a short to the ground (measure resistance between 5v and ground with power switched off)). Can be as simple as a misplaced polarity on a cap, a fleck of solder, bad power board, electrolytic fluid from an old cap, or battery acid under a chip that you can"t even see. The base point for troubleshooting would be a nicely and thoroughly cleaned mainboard.

If the fault on your game gear is the CFL tube lights, no power light, black screen then power off. A few times switching on and off and it starts working, than it was suggested to swap tiny transistor next to the 0.47 50v caps, swapping(Q3, Q4 transistors fixed the issue in one case).

One easy thing to check is leave the Game Gear on, for some time. If your screen is still flickering pay attention to transistors (Q9 and Q10). Sometimes electrolytic fluid from leaked capacitors catches underneath one of the transistors or resistors and that can be causing a slight short.

The last resolve would be an LCD screen mod McWill or a Chinese clone. (all of the images are from FB group and are here for educational purposes only)

If the lines roll and are not static, than there is usually still hope that recapping will fix the screen issue. With static lines it usually means that there is physical damage to the screen or the driver chip died or is on its way out.

Matt Marshall from the Facebook group suggested that sometimes these lines can be removed by (very!) gently warming up the LCD chip & ribbon cable and basically attempt to re-flow the ribbon cable, this should be used as a last result as you may damage the screen. If the lines roll and are not static, than there is usually still hope that recapping will fix the screen issue.

Alex Schot from FB group: “The middle IC LCD driver chip is losing connection or failing. Sometimes applying heat to the IC (hover your soldering iron above it for example) and then pressing down will fix the issue.” You could also try with a hairdryer.

This screen was saved by changing electrolytic capacitors. If the lines roll and are not static, than there is usually still hope that recapping will fix the screen issue.

Some have tried to fix this issue by heating the right edge of the GG LCD but have also had it come back not to long after. This issue seem like a typical case off ribbon cable detaching from the screen matrix. As a last resort I would try to heat the connections and try to re-flow them.

Vertical lines aren’t unfixable so much as its only a temporary fix, they are caused the same way they are on Game boy screens, just heating the ribbon cable with hot air and pressing it down usually removes them however every time the system gets hot you fix melting the connection and it probably dying again.

A newly designed drop in replacement power board for the GG, that is currently in beta testing. Instead of the barrel plug it has USB-C, so you can power it from a traditional USB power supply, power bank or computer for example.

Hand Held Legend (HHL) is the leading provider of retro gaming upgrades and replacement parts in the United States. Our business is focused on supplying gamers, hobbyists, and modders alike with the highest quality products and services. We are professional nerds that love modernizing and restoring consoles from our childhood. We build consoles our 12-year-old selves would envy.

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