gameboy advance tft lcd free sample

GBP Nintendo Game Boy Pocket Backlight Backlit LCD Screen Mod Kit This listing is for one GBP backlight mod kit with screen lens and spacers. This kit will allow you to replace your original lcd with a backlit lcd. This backlit lcd has 5 levels of brightness. This mod kit is very easy to install. You will need to solder (Shown in the pictures) You do not need to trim the shell at all. Maximum brightness is the same as a GBA SP AGS 101 lcd on level 1 brightness. You will still need a GBP motherboard to complete this mod. Please follow pictures on the listing for help with installation *THIS LISTING DOES NOT INCLUDE A FULL SYSTEM! IT IS JUST FOR THE MOD KIT!*

In this Arduino touch screen tutorial we will learn how to use TFT LCD Touch Screen with Arduino. You can watch the following video or read the written tutorial below.

As an example I am using a 3.2” TFT Touch Screen in a combination with a TFT LCD Arduino Mega Shield. We need a shield because the TFT Touch screen works at 3.3V and the Arduino Mega outputs are 5 V. For the first example I have the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, then for the second example an RGB LED with three resistors and a push button for the game example. Also I had to make a custom made pin header like this, by soldering pin headers and bend on of them so I could insert them in between the Arduino Board and the TFT Shield.

Here’s the circuit schematic. We will use the GND pin, the digital pins from 8 to 13, as well as the pin number 14. As the 5V pins are already used by the TFT Screen I will use the pin number 13 as VCC, by setting it right away high in the setup section of code.

I will use the UTFT and URTouch libraries made by Henning Karlsen. Here I would like to say thanks to him for the incredible work he has done. The libraries enable really easy use of the TFT Screens, and they work with many different TFT screens sizes, shields and controllers. You can download these libraries from his website, RinkyDinkElectronics.com and also find a lot of demo examples and detailed documentation of how to use them.

After we include the libraries we need to create UTFT and URTouch objects. The parameters of these objects depends on the model of the TFT Screen and Shield and these details can be also found in the documentation of the libraries.

So now I will explain how we can make the home screen of the program. With the setBackColor() function we need to set the background color of the text, black one in our case. Then we need to set the color to white, set the big font and using the print() function, we will print the string “Arduino TFT Tutorial” at the center of the screen and 10 pixels  down the Y – Axis of the screen. Next we will set the color to red and draw the red line below the text. After that we need to set the color back to white, and print the two other strings, “by HowToMechatronics.com” using the small font and “Select Example” using the big font.

If you want to buy a new monitor, you might wonder what kind of display technologies I should choose. In today’s market, there are two main types of computer monitors: TFT LCD monitors & IPS monitors.

The word TFT means Thin Film Transistor. It is the technology that is used in LCD displays.  We have additional resources if you would like to learn more about what is a TFT Display. This type of LCDs is also categorically referred to as an active-matrix LCD.

These LCDs can hold back some pixels while using other pixels so the LCD screen will be using a very minimum amount of energy to function (to modify the liquid crystal molecules between two electrodes). TFT LCDs have capacitors and transistors. These two elements play a key part in ensuring that the TFT display monitor functions by using a very small amount of energy while still generating vibrant, consistent images.

Industry nomenclature: TFT LCD panels or TFT screens can also be referred to as TN (Twisted Nematic) Type TFT displays or TN panels, or TN screen technology.

IPS (in-plane-switching) technology is like an improvement on the traditional TFT LCD display module in the sense that it has the same basic structure, but has more enhanced features and more widespread usability.

These LCD screens offer vibrant color, high contrast, and clear images at wide viewing angles. At a premium price. This technology is often used in high definition screens such as in gaming or entertainment.

Both TFT display and IPS display are active-matrix displays, neither can’t emit light on their own like OLED displays and have to be used with a back-light of white bright light to generate the picture. Newer panels utilize LED backlight (light-emitting diodes) to generate their light hence utilizing less power and requiring less depth by design. Neither TFT display nor IPS display can produce color, there is a layer of RGB (red, green, blue) color filter in each LCD pixels to produce the color consumers see. If you use a magnifier to inspect your monitor, you will see RGB color in each pixel. With an on/off switch and different level of brightness RGB, we can get many colors.

Winner. IPS TFT screens have around 0.3 milliseconds response time while TN TFT screens responds around 10 milliseconds which makes the latter unsuitable for gaming

Winner. the images that IPS displays create are much more pristine and original than that of the TFT screen. IPS displays do this by making the pixels function in a parallel way. Because of such placing, the pixels can reflect light in a better way, and because of that, you get a better image within the display.

Winner. While the TFT LCD has around 15% more power consumption vs IPS LCD, IPS has a lower transmittance which forces IPS displays to consume more power via backlights. TFT LCD helps battery life.

Normally, high-end products, such as Apple Mac computer monitors and Samsung mobile phones, generally use IPS panels. Some high-end TV and mobile phones even use AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes) displays. This cutting edge technology provides even better color reproduction, clear image quality, better color gamut, less power consumption when compared to LCD technology.

This kind of touch technology was first introduced by Steve Jobs in the first-generation iPhone. Of course, a TFT LCD display can always meet the basic needs at the most efficient price. An IPS display can make your monitor standing out.

Romaji: Gēmu Bōi Adobansu) (GBA) is a 32-bit Nintendo portable system initially released in Japan on March 21, 2001. A part of the sixth generation of video games, the Game Boy Advance was noted as the third and final Game Boy iteration. It was succeeded by the Nintendo DS line in November 2004, which, along with the DS Lite, is backwards compatible with GBA games. This feature was removed from the DSi, DSi XL, and all Nintendo 3DS models. However, twenty games (ten GBA games and ten NES games) were given for free to those who had purchased a 3DS before the price dropped on August 12, 2011.

In Japan, the Game Boy Advance was one of the first two Nintendo systems to have its games rated by the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), whose rating system had been put to use during the system"s lifetime. The Game Boy Advance is backwards compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, making it the only Nintendo console to be backwards compatible with more than one system.

The last game for the system was 2008, though first-party development ended in November 2006. Production of the Game Boy Advance, along with its revisions, ceased production in December 2009, and system sales shipping ended on May 15, 2010, ending the classic 21-year Game Boy line.

Battery Life: approximately 15 hours on average while playing Game Boy Advance games (also dependent on the Game Pak being played, volume setting and any external peripherals being used - e.g. a Worm Light or Screen Illumination Connection.)

Like the Game Boy Light and the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance requires two AA batteries. The Game Boy Advance is the last Nintendo handheld to require batteries and it is also the last Nintendo handheld to not have a clamshell design until the Game Boy Micro and original Nintendo 2DS.

A couple of redesigns were released including the Game Boy Advance SP (which also plays GB and GBC games) and the Game Boy Micro (which only plays GBA games due to its small design). The Game Boy Advance received somewhat some criticism, for it didn"t have a backlight, and that was one of the most requested additions from the consumers. Therefore, from the GBA SP and onwards, a backlight was an essential. The Micro did not sell well as it was overshadowed by its successor, the Nintendo DS (which was released before the Micro and also played GBA games).

Game Boy Advance launched in the following colors; Indigo, Artic, Fuchsia, Black, Glacier and Spice (Japan only). Over the years, the GBA had Limited Edition in these colors; Platinum, Jet Black, Red, Gold, and Daiei.

The actual development of the Game Boy Advance was not started until the Game Boy Color was started. It was first mentioned as a successor to the Game Boy Color in October 1999. The development cycle was relatively fast, completed within 2 years. It had the codename of Advanced Game Boy, very similar to the final name. The system was unveiled at Spaceworld 2000 on August 24, 2000.

The Game Boy Advance systems quickly became Nintendo"s best-selling system of all time within a few years, accumulating a total of 81.51 million sales worldwide, including 43.57 million SP units and 2.42 million Micro units. In 2009, the Nintendo DS surpassed this and continued on its path of domination by managing to move a total of 154.02 million units worldwide.

If you want a brighter and more vibrant display than the original screen but also want to keep the authentic pixel size, then the ITA kit for Game Boy Advance is the answer.

This kit includes all of the items needed to fit the screen into a modified housing (not included), you can cut down your own shell to make the room for the LCD.

Please note that the LCD screen and ribbon cable require care to install and are fragile in nature, they are also more susceptible to damage once installed if the console is dropped, LCD screens can crack under pressure or with a impact, our warranty does not cover accidental / user damage of any components in this kit. Replacement LCD screens are available to purchase separately.

In these videos, the SPI (GPIO) bus is referred to being the bottleneck. SPI based displays update over a serial data bus, transmitting one bit per clock cycle on the bus. A 320x240x16bpp display hence requires a SPI bus clock rate of 73.728MHz to achieve a full 60fps refresh frequency. Not many SPI LCD controllers can communicate this fast in practice, but are constrained to e.g. a 16-50MHz SPI bus clock speed, capping the maximum update rate significantly. Can we do anything about this?

The fbcp-ili9341 project started out as a display driver for the Adafruit 2.8" 320x240 TFT w/ Touch screen for Raspberry Pi display that utilizes the ILI9341 controller. On that display, fbcp-ili9341 can achieve a 60fps update rate, depending on the content that is being displayed. Check out these videos for examples of the driver in action:

This driver does not utilize the notro/fbtft framebuffer driver, so that needs to be disabled if active. That is, if your /boot/config.txt file has lines that look something like dtoverlay=pitft28r, ..., dtoverlay=waveshare32b, ... or dtoverlay=flexfb, ..., those should be removed.

-DPIRATE_AUDIO_ST7789_HAT=ON: If specified, targets a Pirate Audio 240x240, 1.3inch IPS LCD display HAT for Raspberry Pi with ST7789 display controller

-DKEDEI_V63_MPI3501=ON: If specified, targets a KeDei 3.5 inch SPI TFTLCD 480*320 16bit/18bit version 6.3 2018/4/9 display with MPI3501 display controller.

-DGPIO_TFT_DATA_CONTROL=number: Specifies/overrides which GPIO pin to use for the Data/Control (DC) line on the 4-wire SPI communication. This pin number is specified in BCM pin numbers. If you have a 3-wire SPI display that does not have a Data/Control line, set this value to -1, i.e. -DGPIO_TFT_DATA_CONTROL=-1 to tell fbcp-ili9341 to target 3-wire ("9-bit") SPI communication.

-DGPIO_TFT_RESET_PIN=number: Specifies/overrides which GPIO pin to use for the display Reset line. This pin number is specified in BCM pin numbers. If omitted, it is assumed that the display does not have a Reset pin, and is always on.

-DGPIO_TFT_BACKLIGHT=number: Specifies/overrides which GPIO pin to use for the display backlight line. This pin number is specified in BCM pin numbers. If omitted, it is assumed that the display does not have a GPIO-controlled backlight pin, and is always on. If setting this, also see the #define BACKLIGHT_CONTROL option in config.h.

Here is a full example of what to type to build and run, if you have the Adafruit 2.8" 320x240 TFT w/ Touch screen for Raspberry Pi with ILI9341 controller:

These lines hint native applications about the default display mode, and let them render to the native resolution of the TFT display. This can however prevent the use of the HDMI connector, if the HDMI connected display does not support such a small resolution. As a compromise, if both HDMI and SPI displays want to be used at the same time, some other compatible resolution such as 640x480 can be used. See Raspberry Pi HDMI documentation for the available options to do this.

The option #define RUN_WITH_REALTIME_THREAD_PRIORITY can be enabled to make the driver run at realtime process priority. This can lock up the system however, but still made available for advanced experimentation.

If USE_GPU_VSYNC is disabled, then a busy spinning GPU frame snapshotting thread is used to drive the updates. This will produce smoother animation in content that does not maintain a fixed 60Hz rate. Especially in OpenTyrian, a game that renders at a fixed 36fps and has slowly scrolling scenery, the stuttering caused by USE_GPU_VSYNC is particularly visible. Running on Pi 3B without USE_GPU_VSYNC enabled produces visually smoother looking scrolling on an Adafruit 2.8" ILI9341 PiTFT set to update at 119Hz, compared to enabling USE_GPU_VSYNC on the same setup. Without USE_GPU_VSYNC, the dedicated frame polling loop thread "finds" the 36Hz update rate of the game, and then pushes pixels to the display at this exact rate. This works nicely since SPI displays disregard vsync - the result is that frames are pushed out to the SPI display immediately as they become available, instead of pulling them at a fixed 60Hz rate like HDMI does.

If fbcp-ili9341 does not support your display controller, you will have to write support for it. fbcp-ili9341 does not have a "generic SPI TFT driver routine" that might work across multiple devices, but needs specific code for each. If you have the spec sheet available, you can ask for advice, but please do not request to add support to a display controller "blind", that is not possible.

Perhaps. This is a more recent experimental feature that may not be as stable, and there are some limitations, but 3-wire ("9-bit") SPI display support is now available. If you have a 3-wire SPI display, i.e. one that does not have a Data/Control (DC) GPIO pin to connect, configure it via CMake with directive -DGPIO_TFT_DATA_CONTROL=-1 to tell fbcp-ili9341 that it should be driving the display with 3-wire protocol.

This suggests that the power line or the backlight line might not be properly connected. Or if the backlight connects to a GPIO pin on the Pi (and not a voltage pin), then it may be that the pin is not in correct state for the backlight to turn on. Most of the LCD TFT displays I have immediately light up their backlight when they receive power. The Tontec one has a backlight GPIO pin that boots up high but must be pulled low to activate the backlight. OLED displays on the other hand seem to stay all black even after they do get power, while waiting for their initialization to be performed, so for OLEDs it may be normal for nothing to show up on the screen immediately after boot.

If the backlight connects to a GPIO pin, you may need to define -DGPIO_TFT_BACKLIGHT= in CMake command line or config.h, and edit config.h to enable #define BACKLIGHT_CONTROL.

All the ILI9341 displays work nice and super fast at ~70-80MHz. My WaveShare 3.5" 320x480 ILI9486 display runs really slow compared to its pixel resolution, ~32MHz only. See fbcp-ili9341 ported to ILI9486 WaveShare 3.5" (B) SpotPear 320x480 SPI display for a video of this display in action. Adafruit"s 320x480 3.5" HX8357D PiTFTs is ~64% faster in comparison.

I, /u/Admiral_Butter_Crust on reddit or makho on Discord or Youtube, own nearly every backlight kit on the market right now for pretty much every console. I feel like that gives me a rather unique perspective on these things. I did make a video on just the GBC portion of this but it’s pretty old and only covers obsolete kits. I also ramble quite a bit so I figure that limiting myself to just text and a few pictures here and there will let me try and succinctify myself a bit. If you’re new to the hobby and just looking for a recommendation on what you should get and find that this document is information overload, just pick your console (new there too? Look at a GBA or GBA SP as those consoles play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance titles) and just stick with the summary at the top of the section. While there are no direct links to kits in this page, there are links to my videos on these kits and often those will contain a link within the description, if the kit is still available.

Each system section has a summary with my recommended kit listed there. I also added a chart to be used a quick summary for the kits but do note that some liberties are taken for sake of brevity. You should check out the notes below the table or the full video for more information but it should be pretty easy to follow. Any field that has “recommended” in it should be interpreted as “yes” if you want the full experience with all features. For some kits this means full brightness control or hiding the edges of the LCD panel with a new lens but for core functionality, soldering is (usually) not required where noted. Measurements are approximated to the image size on the LCD (at the lens) and not the actual size of the LCD. Cuts are presumed to be for OEM style housings but there are aftermarket no-cut housings available for some models (marked with asterisk, see section in full list below for more info). Some cuts are significantly more difficult than others (marked with bold or caps or both). All LCDs have a screen door effect (or pixel grid) but some some LCDs are less prominant than others due to pixel density. Some kits emulate this prominent OEM feature by blacking out columns or rows of pixels. Adjustable brightness can be achieved for every kit, even when not natively supported though some DIY will be required. In some cases, tables are divided into groups by kit category, which, while somewhat arbitrary, is distinguished by features, compatibility, inherent problems, fitment, or availability. Only kits that fall into later/current sections are recommended.

There are several different types of LCDs used in Game Boys and these mod kits. I would like to spend a quick few minutes discussing them, if nothing else, to give you proper terms to go research. Do an internet serach of the bolded terms for more information.

Except for the Game Boy Light, all Game Boy consoles before the Game Boy Advance SP (and even technically including the earlier frontlit model) use passive reflective displays. This means that behind the screen is a reflector that is used to reflect natural light off the back of the screen through the liquid crystal pixel elements and back into your eyes for the purpose of illuminating the images on the screen. Starting with the Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo started including internal lighting in the screens. The first SP model, the AGS-001, is a frontlit reflective display because there is a light panel in front of the screen that provides light to the reflective display. The second model of Game Boy Advance SP, the AGS-101, uses a backlit transmissive display because it no longer reflects natural lighting but allows light to pass through it from the light panel behind the LCD. Except for the original model DS (NTR, not USG), all Nintendo consoles made after the AGS-001 use backlit transmissive displays. All the displays I’ve mentioned so far are extremely common throughout the vast majority of electronics out there. There are other display types like CRT (for which is the only display that has scanlines), plasma, DLP, OLED, micro LED, etc, but those are not too relevant for this discussion. I may circle back to CRT later but for now we’ll continue on about Game Boys.

Let’s circle back to the two consoles I mentioned and excluded, the original DS model and Game Boy Light. Both of these consoles use the same type of display, a transflective backlit LCD (yes, really, the DS is backlit, not frontlit). The word “transflective” is a portmanteau of “transmissive” and “reflective” and is functionally similar a “one-way” mirror. These screens are built as a reflective display but instead of a reflector, they have a layer applied that will reflect light from the front or allow transmission of light from the back, depending on which source is brighter. These screens also have a backlight so when the backlight is off, the screen works much like a passive reflective display but when the backlight is on, the screen works much like a backlit transmissive display. Hence the word transflective. Good reflectors can be expensive and at best diminish color quality and black levels so most people usually opt for sunlight readibility compensation with an absurdly bright backlight instead.

Next, I want to talk about the specific technologies used to make these displays. All of the LCDs used in Game Boy consoles are made with thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. TFT displays can be further broken down into twisted-nematic (TN) or in-plane switching (IPS) displays (but not limited to). TN type displays were used primarily due to their cost (cheap) and power efficiency. This made them ideal for use within an inexpensive portable device. IPS type screens were around at the time but the technology wasn’t quite mature at the time (arguably, neither was TN but TN was a lot more advanced at the time) and not quite suitable for Game Boys. Benefits of an IPS type display over a TN display usually include more accurate color reproduction and much wider viewing angles. IPS type screens are often used in mod kits.

Last, if you see any mention of “Q5”, “9380”, or “690” LCDs or backlight kits, that is a reference to the screen itself that is packed with the kit. The kits that use these screens are designed to repurpose salvaged LCDs ($) instead of having something new manufactured from scratch ($$$). Most kits are using new old stock LCDs rather than LCDs directly pulled from phones but for replacement purposes, cheap display assemblies may be sourced and the LCD extracted manually. If the screen isn’t mentioned, it is unknown where the LCD is salvaged from, if it’s salvaged at all. “690” LCDs (DMG, MGB, CGB) are from the Palm Centro 690 and are available with a digitizer attached. The digitizer is held on to the edges of the LCD (NOT laminated) with double sided tape and must be removed to use in a GB. “9380” LCDs (CGB, AGB, AGS) are from the BlackBerry Curve 9380 and are available as bare LCDs from most GB kit resellers or as display assemblies from phone parts resellers. The LCD must be extracted from a phone assembly if applicable to use in a GB. “Q5” LCDs (DMG, MGB, CGB) are from the BlackBerry Q5 and are available as bare LCDs from most GB kit resellers or as display assemblies from phone parts resellers. The LCD must be extracted from a phone assembly if applicable to use in a GB. Looks like some of these LCDs can be grabbed from cloud game store on aliexpress.

A new trend with some backlight kits is to have the glass lens laminated to the LCD, much like how modern smartphones and tablets are constructed. Traditionally, Game Boys are made with an air gap between the plastic lens on the outside and the surface of the LCD on the inside. This results in a highly durable and modular build. Scratch the lens? Just pop it off and replace it. Want a custom lens? Just order one and replace it. However, some of the newer kits are bonding the LCD to the lens and shipping them as one unit (for example, the Laminated Q5 Funnyplaying Game Boy Color kit). This cuts down on the space between the lens and LCD and results in a much better looking final install, greatly improved picture quality, and completely eliminates the possibilty of dust or fingerprints under the lens. This is not without downsides, however. The primary issue is that lens customization is much more expensive/difficult, especially if you want to retain the lamination since the cost of replacing a lens OR LCD now includes BOTH a custom lens and LCD. Another issue particular to Game Boys is that you either have to use a custom shell designed for the laminated display OR you have to significantly modify your existing shell to fit the laminated display assembly. Please see this article for more information on LCD lamination and some good visuals.

I have several different recommendations for “best” kit as each kit seems to have different strengths or weaknesses. Overall cheapest would be an inexpensive LED panel and hex inverter for modifying the OEM LCD (item #10). This is certainly a good option if you like the OEM style screen but is not an option if your LCD is missing or damaged (cracked, screen rot, horizontal lines, etc). You can go a long way in improving the contrast but the original screens are still pretty low quality and have severe ghosting issues or other display artifacts. Alternatively, a total replacement kit is also an option. My pick for ease of install, performance, and function is probably going to be the funnyplaying ‘Retro Pixel’ kit (#11). This kit gives doesn’t give you the most features but what it does give you it does extremely well. Trimming is required unless you use an IPS Ready replacement shell (which funnyplaying also makes). For better color palette customization or even TV Out functionality, One Chip’s OSD and TV Out kits are pretty good choices (#12 and #13 respectively).

#10. Traditional backlighting methods (console and LED kit or EL Kit) – you can backlight the original LCD by removing the reflective layer and adding a small LED (or EL) panel. Results are surprisingly decent for the cost but the effort involved to get a good result can be a bit high and, even then, you still have to deal with all of the cons of the original screen. Which means poor contrast and ghosting. There are methods to improve the contrast (biverting) and this will help significantly. The LED panels themselves can also be a bit low quality and have LED “hot spots” but there are some high quality panels available. If the hot spots really bug you and you can’t salvage a good panel, you can use an electro-luminescent (EL) panel but those are generally more costly and not as bright (also come in limited colors). Image shamelessly stolen from u/MrCrono666. I have one of these built by the afore mentioned user and it is absolutely wonderful looking. Regardless of the panel you use, you will also want to do a bivert mod where you invert the colors of the screen by rotating one of the two polarization filters and then invert the signal being sent to the screen by installing a hex inverter between the screen and CPU (hence bi-vert). This results in a sharp increase to the contrast at the cost of decreased brightness (which you work around already by installing a light panel).

#11. Funnyplaying Q5 IPS “Retro Pixel” Backlight (console and kit) – this is basically their MGB IPS kit but with an additional replacement front board for the DMG. I’m extremely pleased with it so far. Quick tap the contrast wheel and then up or down to cycle through the palette presets and long tap to toggle the pixel grid emulation modes. The contrast wheel controls the brightness up or down when not in palette select mode (quick tap to toggle modes). The screen looks absolutely amazing and the trim required to install it is actually pretty easy. I didn’t notice any egregious screen issues like dropped frames or tearing that some other kits seem to exhibit. I HIGHLY recommend using a bracket or a spacer to line it up though. The included adhesive is permanent so if you mess it up (like I did on the MGB install), you’re stuck with it unless you want to purchase a new LCD (less than $7 from funnyplaying). You can use a stock sized lens but the actual display image is slightly larger than stock and might be best with the custom lens included in the kit. Part of the install is making the LCD window bigger to work with the new lens but funnyplaying also makes IPS Ready shells that do not require a trim. Biggest downside is the battery life with an estimated 25~50% runtime after the install, depending on your brightness level. An alternative to this kit might be the OC Q5 OSD Kit (item #12) but the feature set is a little different. (see my install here)

#12. One Chip Q5 IPS “DMG Backlight OSD” (kit) – Uses the same LCD as the Funnyplaying “Retro Pixel” kit (Q5) but with an OSD similar to the “Moon Screen” kit. This kit has user programmable color palettes and you can overwrite the presets with these settings. Each of the four colors (white, light gray, dark gray, black) are fully programmable with RGB values. Testing revealed no noticeable defects or other frame rate issues. Kit also feature programmable vertical and horizontal positions as well to fine tune the kit if the LCD is not aligned perfectly with the lens. If you don’t care for the pixel grid modes, this the best kit for the DMG right now. (see my install here)

#13. One Chip IPS OSD TV Version (kit) – This kit appears to be an amalgamation of the V3 and V4 kits with all the features of the V4 + a TV out function but on mostly v3 hardware. Some vendors will refer to this kit as the ‘DMG TV Version’, ‘DMG V5’, or similar. This kit comes in two versions itself, one with TV out function, and one without and other than the TV out functionality, the kits look and work the same. Install is identical between the two except that you do not have to solder the composite video connection to the link port. The TV out functionality works by sending a full screen composite video signal over the link port and then a custom AV cable is connected via the headphone jack and link port to the TV. Unfortunately, composite video is very low quality but if you’re willing to suffer the drawbacks of composite, it’s a rather decent kit. For the first time yet, OC has added support for the correct aspect ratio and you can change between full screen and scaled via the OSD. Composite aside, the TV Out function does work pretty nicely. Unfortunately, the internal LCD itself is a rather large downgrade compared to the OSD/V4 kit. The lower resolution means no more pixel grid support, the image on screen is smaller (still stock sized, just smaller than the previous kit), and the kit no longer supports repositioning the image on the screen. This last point should be rather moot as the kit does come with a bracket for positioning things, however. If you want TV Out on your DMG, this is the kit to go with (you’re spoiled for choice there though) but if you want the best looking internal LCD, this is not it (see #11 or #12 above). (see my install here)

#1. BennVenn 3.0” LCD kit (console and kit) – this is a replacement front PCB with a new, larger LCD on it. Other than installing a speaker and cutting the shell to reduce the bezel size, the install is relatively drop-in. The new screen is bigger but it is the correct resolution. It also still has the same (or even worse in some cases) ghosting issues and the contrast can still be inadequate. It’s a decent option given the niche it fills but other than the size, it’s not considered an improvement by most. These appear to be permanently discontinued. (I don’t have one of these)

#3. HiVision 690 TFT kit (AIO) (console and kit) – I don’t have this kit in a DMG but I do have one in a MGB. There are several iterations of this kit and some do drop frames. Historically, this was also the only AIO kit that actually came with the proper wiring for DMG. This kit significantly improves on the ghosting and contrast issues of the previous methods but the viewing angles are not that great and the LCD size itself is a big down-grade. On the plus size, the install does not require any irreversible modification. You do need to desolder the original LCD from the front board and solder the new one in place. I can’t vouch for the ease of install but it doesn’t look too bad as long as you don’t mind soldering directly to a ribbon cable. Due to the smaller LCD, the bezels are huge. The Palm Centro 690 LCD that this kit uses is transflective which means that with the backlight off, the LCD is perfectly viewable in direct sunlight, just like OEM LCDs. The CGS 2.6” IPS kit (#14) replaced this one. (I technically don’t have one of these)

#4. One Chip 690 TFT kit (AIO) (console and kit) – I don’t have this kit in a DMG but I do have one in a MGB. There are several iterations of this kit and some do drop frames. Historically, this kit did not come with the wiring you needed to easily install this. You can use the ribbon cable adapter from the above kit to install this kit or you can wire it manually with the MGB ribbon cable. This kit significantly improves on the ghosting and contrast issues of the previous methods but the viewing angles are not that great and the LCD size itself is a big down-grade. On the plus size, the install does not require any irreversible modification. You do need to desolder the original LCD from the front board and solder the new one in place. I can’t vouch for the ease of install but it doesn’t look too bad as long as you don’t mind soldering directly to a ribbon cable. Due to the smaller LCD, the bezels are huge. Presumably, the custom color palettes that the new kit supports will work on this console too. The Palm Centro 690 LCD that this kit uses is transflective which means that with the backlight off, the LCD is perfectly viewable in direct sunlight, just like OEM LCDs. The “RIPS” series of kits replaced this kit (see #12 and #13) (I technically don’t have one of these)

#5. Taobao IPS Backlight (v1 - “Rainbow Screen”) (console and kit) – The kit looks amazing in the pictures and videos I’ve seen but it’s difficult to get outside of China. My understanding is that this kit has been discontinued in favor of the v2 version coming soon^^^tm (which I will be getting). The v1 version is not a full front PCB replacement as it appears you have to solder it to the front board like the AIO kits above but it does fix all of the issues of all of the previous kits. The screen size is the same as stock (so it works with OEM lenses), the brightness is great, the viewing angles are incredible, the frame rate looks good, the ghosting is way better than stock (but still not perfect as it’s an IPS LCD). Images taken from the thread made by u/TheChineseGuy2019. This kit was made obsolete by the “Moon Screen” kit (item #6).

#7. Taobao IPS Backlight (v2 - “Moon Screen”) (console and kit) – This kit is basically the Rainbow Screen kit but more refined. Installation is significantly easier than the previous iteration and aside from having to transfer your speaker over, the kit is actually 100% drop in with no modding required. You do not need to cut up your shell and the only soldering is for the speaker. Unlike the Funnyplaying kit or the One Chip kits which use 4x and 2x scaling respectively, this kit uses 3x scaling so the image is not going to be as sharp as the funnyplaying kit but it is sharp enough to have the pixel grid enabled like the funnyplaying kit. Personally, I don’t like that option but at least it is exactly that; an option. Everything on this kit is configurable, even each color of every pixel from the line grid to the DMG “color” palettes and you can save your configurations to one of eight presets. A side effect of the kit being completely drop in with no modding required is that the LCD itself is a bit smaller and is visible from the outside with a normal sized lens and the display image itself is a bit smaller. This kit has the image displayed on the LCD measuring in at 43mm wide by 38.75mm tall whereas the OC V3 IPS kit measures in at 44.5mm wide by 40.35 tall. The Funnyplaying kit will be bigger than both of these kits and I’ll add the measurements as soon as I get my hands on one. All in all, this is a fantastic kit. With how difficult these are to acquire and how expensive they are, there are much better kits for the money. If you can get one and if you don’t mind paying a bit in the process, it’s a great kit. (see my install here)

#8. One Chip IPS Backlight kit (“RIPS v2”) – This kit is identical in hardware to the v1 kit but with the LCD data lines swapped in software. The install is identical to v1 EXCEPT that you do not have to swap the LCD data lines yourself manually. The performance is pretty much identical as well except that the grays are correctly assigned in all palettes (instead of JUST the yellow/pink palette) and the contrast on the “gray” palette is even better. I really like this kit but the funnyplaying kit looks as though it may be even more promising if the v2 version keeps the custom palette options from v1. Left is v1 kit, right is v2 kit. Decent kit but obsoleted by newer iterations. (see my install here)

Like the DMG section, I have three different recommendations for “best” kit as each kit seems to have different strengths or weaknesses. Overall cheapest would be an inexpensive LED panel for modifying the OEM LCD (item #1). This is certainly a good option if you like the OEM style screen but is not an option if your LCD is missing or damaged (cracked, screen rot, vertical lines etc). You can go a long way in improving the contrast but the original screens are still pretty low quality and have severe ghosting issues or other display artifacts. Alternatively, a total replacement kit is also an option. My pick for ease of install, performance, and function is definitely the ‘One Chip’ version of the AIO TFT kit (item #3). This kit is pretty light on features but requires absolutely zero permanent modification to your MGB and is one of the cheapest in the list (of total replacement kits). It requires no shell modding and no permanent adhesive. A step up from this kit is the AIO XL kit (item #8) if you don’t mind a little bit of modification. Feature set is mostly the same but you at least get a stock sized LCD. If you’re fine with cutting up your shell, the ‘One Chip’ Q5 OSD IPS kit (item #6) is also a fantastic option. While the install is a bit more involved, the actual display image itself is bigger (slightly larger than OEM) and looks proportionally better on the MGB with the thin bezels and huge LCD. This kit has the most features and is competetively priced with the rest. Performance differences are mostly negligible but battery life is not great. With the new IPS ready aftermarket shells, these larger Q5 IPS kits may soon be a “drop in” experience as far as cutting goes. Expect less than four hours on average with one of these (even less with a flash cart too).

#1. Traditional backlighting methods (console and kit) – exactly the same as DMG except that out of the box the contrast is better. You can still bivert for marginal improvements though. Biverting a MGB does not result in as big an improvement as biverting a DMG. Some people report power related issues after a mod like this that can usually be mitigated by either: 1) using better batteries like constant voltage juggees or the like, 2) installing an auxiliary voltage regulator to power the GB itself and leaving the stock voltage regulator for the backlight (must have load on the 5v rail or will not properly power the LCD too), or 3) installing a Lithium-Ion battery mod (advanced users only!). (see my install here)

(like I did), you’re stuck with it unless you want to purchase a new LCD (less than $7 from funnyplaying). You can use a stock sized lens (and that’s what it comes with) but the actual display image is slightly larger than stock and might be best with a custom lens that has a slightly larger opening. You’d have to modify the LCD window in the shell for this as well though. Biggest downside is the battery life but that’s been an issue with the Pocket even before this kit. This kit does not help though. I’ve had issues booting an EZ Flash JR, especially with slightly used NiMh rechargeables. Constant voltage batteries like juggees are a good idea for a mod like this. Alternatively, this kit should also work the same way in a Game Boy Light and that will help tremendously with the battery life. Funnyplaying makes a shell for the Pocket designed to be used with this kit which will make the install no longer require any shell cutting. (see my install here)

There appears to be an updated version to this kit again (v1.2? v2? Unknown) that was teased with their new IPS ready custom MGB shells. Is this the same kit as the previous iteration? Yes and no. It’s the same LCD as their previous mod and likely the exact same hardware adapter too. It still uses integer scaling so the game viewable area is identical. The difference, it appears, is that they look to be applying the “white” color palette to the entire LCD display area to emulate the look of an unmasked backlit OEM screen. This was a software update to the previous kit only and all the same pros and cons still otherwise apply. This should be considered the same kit. (This was formerly line item #5 but I removed it without re-ordering the list).

#6. One Chip IPS Backlight Kit Q5 Version (kit) – This kit is similar in install compared to the funnyplaying kit above and even uses the same LCD. The tradeoff is the hit to battery life (compared to AIO kits) and the more complicated install. The other full size kit from cloud gaming (item #8) offers similar size screen image with a smaller overall LCD. This means an easier install as less trimming is required but overall the picture quality is not as good. My testing did not show any quirks or other performance issues such as screen tearing or unexpected frame dropping and showed no pixel overdrive artifacts. The install is actually somewhat forgiving as no positioning bracket is required. As long as you get the LCD in the shell straight and not askew, you can adjust where the image displays on screen to ensure that your lens cutout is lined up perfectly. Soldering is optional but for full functionality (custom palettes, image position, more brightness levels, battery display), highly recommended. The only quirk that I noticed, if you can even call it that, is that the button combo to pull up the OSD and navigating the menu itself still sends inputs to the game. Depending on your game, this could be highly annoying. Also, there are some games, such as Link’s Awakening (DX), that will trigger the OSD just from normal use. A workaround would be to disconnect the button controls (or use dip switches) so the OSD is disabled when not in use or to just wire the inputs to different buttons. The color palettes are a an excellent feature and allow you to emulate different color backlights or even just set your own custom palettes like some previous kits. You have full RGB control over the color value of each shade output by the MGB (total of four different values). Note that this doesn’t add more color information to the screen, the MGB will still only ever output four different colors (stock - white, light gray, dark gray, and black). Another reoccuring feature is going to be the pixel grid emulation. Personally, I prefer it off as it lowers the image quality and contrast but I know that is an appealing feature for a lot of people. This kit is my all time favorite for Game Boy Pocket. If pixel grid emulation is a killer feature for you, the funnyplaying implementation is a LOT better. There’s more variety and the options better looking. (see my install here)

#8. Cloud Game Store 2.6” IPS LCD Kit (formerly HiVision “AIO XL” TFT Kit) – On the surface, this kit appears to be the same kit as the previous AIO kits except with a larger screen except that the screen itself is not transflective, however. While this means visibility in direct sunlight is limited, the screen does have much better black levels. Viewing angles seem much better on this kit compared to other AIO style kits. The kit does support some basic color palette functionality and five levels of brightness, but the range of both are somewhat disapointing. There is also no pixel grid emulation (which I personally don’t mind but I feel is worth mentioning) as the LCD only supports 2x integer scaling and not the minimum 3x that is required for such a feature. I noticed no frame dropping or tearing. Despite the lack of high brightness levels and some options in similar kits, this is a really good kit. If the color palette support and brightness control were better (more options, saves values, maybe even on separate controls), it would take the place of the Funnyplaying IPS kit for my recommendation due to the much easier install and very similar image size and quality. This kit has an excellent price to performance ratio. (see my install here)

#2. HiVision 690 TFT kit (AIO) (console and kit) – Exactly the same as DMG again. There are two different versions and both should work on this console. This is the version that would drops frames. Unlike the DMG, you do not need to solder except for one wire to the power switch. New versions of this kit come with a wire preinstalled on the ribbon that you can just wrap around the battery terminal. These iterations should have the frame dropping fixed as well. Soldering is no longer required but still highly recommended. Install is otherwise drop in with no other mods required, even in OEM shells. The Palm Centro 690 LCD that this kit uses is transflective which means that with the backlight off, the LCD is perfectly viewable in direct sunlight, just like OEM LCDs. (see my install here)

#3. One Chip 690 TFT kit (AIO) (console and kit) – Exactly the same as DMG again. There are two different versions and both should work on this console. This is the version that does not drop frames. Unlike the DMG, you do not need to solder except for one wire to the power switch. New versions of this kit come with a wire preinstalled on the ribbon that you can just wrap around the battery terminal. Soldering is no longer required but still highly recommended. Install is otherwise drop in with no other mods required. Presumably, the custom color palettes that the new kit supports will work on this console too. The Palm Centro 690 LCD that this kit uses is transflective which means that with the backlight off, the LCD is perfectly viewable in direct sunlight, just like OEM LCDs. (see my install here)

My pick for overall best balanced kit is definitely the Cloud Game Store 2.45” TFT kit (item #17). This kit does require minimal soldering but the actual ease of install, feature set, power usage, and price make it extremely compelling. If you don’t mind putting in a little more work and using an aftermarket housing, the funyplaying (FP) ‘Retro Pixel 2.0’ Laminated Q5 kit (#12) is better in nearly every single way. The former kit is pretty light on features but requires absolutely zero permanent modification to your CGB and is one of the cheapest in the list (of total replacement kits). It requires no shell modding, no permanent adhesive, but does require soldering one power wire. The latter kit is arguably easier to install as it requires no brackets, technically no custom lens, and no longer requires soldering. Cutting an OEM shell is rather difficult for this mod but when combined with funnyplaying’s custom CGB housings, no trimming is required and the install is one of the easiest of all the consoles and kits. While power usage is extremely high with this kit, the performance and appearance is second to none. It comes highly recommended. The first kit is stock sized and compatible with OEM lenses but the second is much larger and has very thin bezels. Those two kits exist on total opposite ends of the spectrum but if you want something nicely balanced in the middle with more of the higher performance features with less of the performance cost, the CGS 2.6” kit (#16) is absolutely fantastic. It’s bigger than stock like the Q5 kit but much easier to install in a stock shell. It’s not as bright but the power usage is much lower. You’ll still need a custom lens but the kit should come with one anyway.

There are five different options for the pixel grid emulation and some of the options are rather compelling. I would like to see future kits include this functionality. Performance seems to be ideal for a kit like this – no frame dropping or tearing and no weird artifacts to either side of the screen or missing pixel columns and these kits do include a way to move the image on the LCD if the screen or lens are not perfectly centered during install. There are some issues though. The install is largely identical to the OC OSD Q5 backlight kit (#13) but with an increased power consumption (over the OC option) and more convoluted controls. The feature parity does seem to be pretty similar despite not having an ‘on-screen display’ to manage settings. Regarding the controls for the kit, there is a required touch sensor and optional button controls. You can toggle every feature of the kit with the touch sensor only but hooking up the button controls does not provide an easier or better experience like usual. The button controls are used in conjunction with the touch sensor. Hopefully this decision is revised in future iterations of this kit. (see my install here

You can use the funnyplaying laminated Game Boy Color shells for this kit if you do not want to have to trim your own shell but you will have to manually attach the LCD to the lens. This method risks permanantly trapping dust inside, newtonian rings, and does not grant an illuminated logo (though the kit, screen, and shell will support this, you’d need to find a lens that has the required printing). It is recommended to just use the laminated version of this kit if you intend on using the laminated shells.

There are five different options for the pixel grid emulation and some of the options are rather compelling. Performance seems to be the best yet of any GBC kit – no frame dropping or tearing and no weird artifacts to either side of the screen or missing pixel columns, much like the previous iteration of this kit. There are some issues though. The install is pretty unique to this kit due to the laminated LCD but is possibly the easiest kit to install when used alongside funnyplaying’s custom GBC housings. Again, same as the previous kit, this kit features an increased power consumption (over the OC option), more convoluted controls. Regarding the controls for the kit, the button controls are used in conjunction with the touch sensor. The touch sensor controls brightness and pixel grid emulation settings whereas the button controls (and touch sensor together) control the position of the display on the LCD (a feature previously unique to the OSD kit, #13) and to change the colors of the GBC logo on the lens. (see my install here

#13. One Chip OSD IPS Backlight Kit Q5 Version (kit) – This kit uses a LCD that has a larger image size than stock. All kits before this used large LCDs but the image was either stock sized or even smaller. The result includes much thinner bezels and a much clearer and larger image. The tradeoff is the hit to battery life (compared to AIO kits) and the more complicated install*. Speaking of the 9380 kits, while this kit does require more shell trimming for a stock or cloud game store shell, the install is actually a bit easier as no positioning bracket is required. As long as you get the LCD in the shell straight and not askew, you can adjust where the image displays on screen to ensure that your lens cutout is lined up perfectly. Soldering is optional but for full functionality (custom palettes, image position, more brightness levels, battery display*), highly recommended. The only quirk that I noticed, if you can even call it that, is that the button combo to pull up the OSD and navigating the menu itself still sends inputs to the game. Depending on your game, this could be highly annoying but an easy work around is to boot the console without a game when changing the settings. Also, there are some games, such as Link’s Awakening (DX), that will trigger the OSD just from normal use. A workaround would be to disconnect the button controls (or use dip switches) so the OSD is disabled when not in use or to even just wire up the controls to different buttons. The color palettes are a neat gimmick and it’s cool that you can set custom palettes with this kit. Unlike the MGB version of this kit, the color palettes are more like color filters though as you can set how much red, green, or blue appears in the image (0-100% in 16 or 32 steps). Much more interesting is going to be the pixel grid emulation. Personally, I prefer it off as it lowers the image quality and contrast but I know that is an appealing feature for a lot of people. They have improved this feature quite significantly (copying funnyplaying’s implementation) but the specific implementation used here does not seem as polished as funnyplayings. (see my install here)

Another iteration to this kit adds the logo illumination that funnyplaying has. It works just about as you’d expect but due to the air gap between the lens and the LCD, the alignment can be off at some angles.

#13½. One Chip Laminated Q5 IPS Kit – This is an identical version of the above kit but with a 2mm thick piece of glass laminated between the LCD and lens. Features and functions are identical to the above kit otherwise. Fitment is different as the trim is a bit more indepth. These screens do NOT work with the funnyplaying laminated housings, at least not without trimming the housing. This is due to the significant thickness of the display assembly. The kit will work with a funnyplaying laminated LCD however, but you will not get the illuminated logo. (see my install here)

#14. One Chip HDMI Out Q5 Backlight Kit – This kit is an iteration to the previous Q5 IPS kits and contains all the same features and quirks but with an additional HDMI encoder for outputting an upscaled 720p signal over HDMI. Shell trimming is very involved as there are no shells that will fit this kit and an opening for the micro HDMI port is required. The actual internal features are pretty much what we’ve come to expect at this point from Q5 OSD kits and performance is basically the same but the new gimmick this time around is the HDMI output. In usual “OC” fashion, the HDMI out is not implemented as well as it could be. The scaling is uneven and audio is captured after the volume wheel which means that while you can control the TV volume with the GB, it also means that the GB will also play sound. Due to the signal processing lag, there will always be a delay to the repeated audio too. Muting the GB with headphones is recommended. The audio capture also means that you get noisy analog signal that is highly dependent upon how good of condition your volume wheel is (and contact cleaner in the volume wheel does help). But at least the aspect ratio is correct (in one of the three modes). The screen does shut off when in HDMI mode but the efficiency of the HDMI encoder dwarfs any potential gains to be had from having the screen powered off and the console still runs over internal batteries when tethered. This kit is a compromise and I do not recommend it at all. Non-HDMI versions are cheaper and easier to install and dedicated HDMI consoles (such as the GBHD Color/Advance from Gamebox) perform much better and have more features, better scaling, and better audio handling. Not to mention, I have long term concerns over the reliability of micro HDMI used in this manner. (see my install here)

#15. Cloud Game Store 2.6” IPS Kit (formerly “AIO XL”) (kit) – On the surface, this kit appears to be the same kit as the previous AIO kits except with a larger screen. Unlike those previous AIO kits, the screen itself is an IPS type and is not transflective (not mutually exclusive). While this means visibility in direct sunlight is limited, the screen does have much better black levels. Viewing angles seem much better on this kit compared to other AIO style kits. The kit does support some basic color palette functionality and five levels of brightness, but the range of both are somewhat disapointing. There is also no pixel grid emulation (which I personally don’t mind but I feel is worth mentioning) as the LCD only supports 2x integer scaling and not the minimum 3x that is required for proper implementation of such a feature. I noticed no frame dropping or tearing. Despite the relatively low brightness and current lack of extra features, this is a really good kit. If the color palette support and brightness control were better (more options, saves values, maybe even on separate controls), it would take the place of the Funnyplaying IPS kit for my recommendation due to the much easier install and very similar image size and quality. The price and ease of install makes this kit have a terrific price to performance ratio, especially with the introduction of the new Cloud Game Store shells that allow a trim free install for this kit. (see my install here)

#16. Cloud Game Store 2.6” IPS Kit 2022 Version (kit) – This is an updated version of the previous kit but does not appear to replace it (at least not yet). These kits use the EXACT same LCD but the ribbon on the LCD has been changed (for easier install) and thus means the LCDs are not interchangeable. Performance between this kit and the previous iteration are very similar due to the similar LCDs but some new features have also been added including memory for color palette selection, pixel grid options, and brightness levels. This means that the kit now retains settings between reboots. The new pixel grid emulation (or screen door effect emulation) is pretty limited due to the lower resolution of these screens. Despite the limitations, CGS implemented three different modes and I took pictures and created this album to document them. I normally dislike the pixel grid options and this kit is no exception because you lose a significant amount of brightness and contrast both by going from 2x integer scaling to 1x with blackouts inbetween each pixel. Note that in my pictures, the brightness was not changed between modes. At the very least, you do get three options, vertical lines, horizontal lines, or both (or neither). The both option is the darkest by far but if that’s what you’re into, at least you have the option now. Another update to this kit involves the backlight controller off external power instead of the LCD bus. This results in a much more stable console (as booting on slightly depleted batteries and with a flash cart has otherwise caused issues) and allows some flexibility for additional backlight control. But this also means that soldering is required, despite the maker’s insistence that you can just wrap the wire around a battery terminal (not recommended). Last, the color palette option consists of regular (unmodified) or grayscale. There are no other options this time. My install consists of a modified version of this kit so some steps may not be totally accurate. (see my install here)

#17. Cloud Game Store 2.45” Original Size Kit (kit) – This kit is the successor to the previous ‘HiVision AIO’ kits. From the same maker and with all the kinks worked out, this kit uses a LCD that is physically smaller than the original Game Boy Color LCD but that produces a slightly larger image. This means that there is finally a kit that can be dropped in to literally any GBC shell without having to cut the shell AND without having to compromise on a smaller LCD. Performance and features are identical to the 2.6” kit in just about every way except that there is only one pixel grid option and I took pictures and created this album to document it. Unfortunately this screen is not an IPS type unlike the 2.6” version so the viewing angles are not nearly as good. That being said, it is still a high quality LCD and a significant upgrade over a stock LCD. The sheer size of the LCD allows for some pretty promising other mods, including relatively easy DIY lamination. Like the 2022 version of the 2.6” kit (above), soldering is required for proper functionality. (see my install here)

#2. AGS-101 / El Clono TFT adapter (console and kit) – all around not a great mod. Don’t get me wrong, it was effectively the first backlight kit so of course we all went nuts for it but compared to the other options, it’s not a good idea at all to build a new one with all the newer alternatives. The LCD and adapter ribbon are both very expensive (though the new PCB adapter and its clones have gotten cheaper, the LCD pricing has more than made up for this). The install process is one of the most difficult as it requires precisely milling out the shell to fit the huge LCD. Due to the increased DPI of GBA LCDs, the actual image on the GBC is smaller than stock as well. Finally, battery life plummets with this mod, especially compared to other kits. One of the few pros is that the colors and image quality itself is pretty good. I ended up building a GBC using BennVenn’s v2.3 ribbon. I believe that the actual clones of this adapter use an older version of the firmware that is buggy with certain model GBCs but I had zero issues with my legit ribbon. (I assembled mine before I started filming youtube videos)

#3. Freckleshack v1/v2 690 TFT kit (console (left) and kit) – The first in the new wave of transflective LCD kits. The LCD this kit uses is smaller than stock but this allows certain kits to fit without modification to the console. The LCD also is high resolution and allows for the same integer scaling as the above taobao kit. The v1/batch 1 kits in particular had some screen flickering issues that broke Pokemon Pinball but all the remainder of the v1/v2 kits still do have some minor LCD flickering quirks. These kits also all require trimming cart reader pins and cutting of the shell to fit the kit. Overall, this kit is fantastic for the money, but v2.5 should be a nice improvement. They’ve all since b