possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

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supermario4
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possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by supermario4 »

is it possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen if so does anyone know where i can find someone who does this?
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rainwarrior
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by rainwarrior »

I modded mine with this kit years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterburn ... ation_kit)

(No idea if it's still available, or who would install it for you.)

The SP's backlight was better than this mod, though. I'd just go with an SP unless you just really like the original GBA shape?
calima
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by calima »

MegaCat nee 8-bit evolution used to do those, but their supplier stopped. Maybe you can ask them what kit they used.
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dougeff
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by dougeff »

I typed 'gba mod backlight' into YouTube, and there are like 100 videos of people doing this.

(Edit - Why is my font size smaller than everyone else?)

(Edit 2, refreshed, and it's back to normal)
nesdoug.com -- blog/tutorial on programming for the NES
supermario4
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by supermario4 »

the reason i asked is i want to have either this screen or a maybe even a newer led display because of refresh rate on the sp 2 i don't like the ghosting and i don't like the blueness the backlight gives off.
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Myask
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by Myask »

rainwarrior wrote:The SP's backlight was better than this mod, though. I'd just go with an SP unless you just really like the original GBA shape?
GBA-SP put its headphone support into the same port as its power cable, which meant only proprietary headphones (and only while not charging). That puts the comparison from "obviously superior" to "meaningful drawback".

The (fat) DS has both advantages, as well as the GBA-ish shape, but has a shoulder button problem, and is big.
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Dwedit
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by Dwedit »

You only really need the original GBA for Wario Ware Twisted, due to geometry.
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Myask
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by Myask »

Doesn't stop people from using the GBA player (for Gamecube) to play it (as a novelty) though. :lol:
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rainwarrior
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by rainwarrior »

Myask wrote:
rainwarrior wrote:The SP's backlight was better than this mod, though. I'd just go with an SP unless you just really like the original GBA shape?
GBA-SP put its headphone support into the same port as its power cable, which meant only proprietary headphones (and only while not charging). That puts the comparison from "obviously superior" to "meaningful drawback".
I didn't find it that meaningful of a drawback, but I had a little adapter for my SP that let me plug in regular headphones and it could still be used while charging. It had an extra through-port on it that some SP headphone adapters don't seem to have? This added a little bit of stuff dangling out the back, but that wasn't really a problem to me.

The SP was lighter and smaller (with the same sized screen), had a rechargeable battery, and its built-in backlight was a lot better than the afterburner mod for my GBA. The headphone jack problem had an inexpensive solution.

Since we're already talking about having to install a mod, you could even mod a headphone jack into the SP. ;)

Anyhow, if the preference is for the GBA that's fine, but I do suggest that if OP thought the SP's backlight wasn't quite right, they're probably not going to think a modded GBA's backlight is better. At least, the one I installed was not great-- it was merely a better option than no backlight at all. (There may have been better backlight kits since the afterburner, though.)


Were there actually proprietary headphones too? I thought the official headphone solution was just an adapter dongle?
supermario4
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by supermario4 »

that wasn't the only thing i have an issue with and issue i have with backlight is the blueishness but the main issue i have with the sp 2 is the ghosting.
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Drew Sebastino
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by Drew Sebastino »

Image

Screw you Apple! :lol:
rainwarrior wrote:Were there actually proprietary headphones too?
Yes: (I own a pair, although this is just a random image from online)

Image

The weird thing is, I really have no clue how I got them. it says "Nintendo Power" on them, which I assume means you could only get them through Nintendo Power, but I would have been like 4-5 years old at this time (and I doubt my parents would have signed up for this had I not asked them). The sound quality is fine, (although since I'm only listening to a Gameboy Advance, how the heck would I know...) but actually putting them on is a bit of a bitch. The space between the black part and the headphone itself is tight enough that it will never fall off though.

There were also similarly designed headphones for the DS that I own (although mine has a blue center instead of red) but it's the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

Image

It stays on the same way, but the bar thing is on a hinge this time. It locks into position and stays on fine, but unfortunately, my fat ass fell on it once while they were open and the locking mechanism must have broke. :?
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by lidnariq »

Espozo wrote:[image of a GBASP captioned "HAD NO HEADPHONE JACK BEFORE IT WASN'T COOL"]
Screw you Apple! :lol:
I have to admit, the idea of retrofitting in a USB C or Lightning connector into my GBA SP in lieu of the proprietary connector is shockingly tempting.
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Myask
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by Myask »

rainwarrior wrote: I didn't find it that meaningful of a drawback, but I had a little adapter for my SP that let me plug in regular headphones and it could still be used while charging. It had an extra through-port on it that some SP headphone adapters don't seem to have? This added a little bit of stuff dangling out the back, but that wasn't really a problem to me.
It's an Easily Lost Bit that makes it not nce for pockets; it's a lever in a port; it's an extra connection point of failure. (Yeah, I had the 3rd-party with the throughput, came with a pair of headphones.)
rainwarrior wrote: Were there actually proprietary headphones too? I thought the official headphone solution was just an adapter dongle?
Looks like you're ri-
espozo wrote: (GBA-SP headphones)
…guess I didn't remember wrong. I thought initially they only offered proprietary 'phones with the strange port, which seemed to me to be Mega CashGrab Monopoly tactics…and invited the third-party splitters.

Also, being on the back meant you couldn't use it with the GC cord, though I never had one of the adversarial asymmetric gameplay games (Pac-Man something-or-other) that would have most needed it.

Semi-relatedly, the original graybrick DMG's earbuds are by decades the longest-surviving pair of headphones I've owned. (still surviving)
Last edited by Myask on Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rainwarrior
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by rainwarrior »

supermario4 wrote:that wasn't the only thing i have an issue with and issue i have with backlight is the blueishness but the main issue i have with the sp 2 is the ghosting.
Ah, well I remember this a little bit but I never remember having a problem with it. Maybe it was because I had spent so many years with the original GameBoy that the (relatively) mild ghosting of the SP didn't seem a big deal to me. I can't recall how much ghosting the original GBA had by comparison, mostly I just remember thinking that the picture was brighter and easier to see on the SP.
Espozo wrote:(picture of proprietary headphones)
Ha ha, interesting. Thanks!
Myask wrote:It's an Easily Lost Bit that makes it not nce for pockets; it's a lever in a port; it's an extra connection point of failure.
It's far from ideal, but I might point out that the headphones themselves are already a lever in a port. If it had a headphone jack, would you stick it in a tight pocket with the headphones plugged in too?

Yes it's another potential point of failure, though it never failed me, and as a connector it felt a lot more rugged than a headphone plug. I've snapped off several headphone plugs in various devices over the years, but I never had any fear of that with the SP headphone dongle. (I might even think of the headphone jack dongle as a point of relief that prevented the headphone plugs from suffering leverage, actually.)

With or without the dongle, the SP fit far more nicely into pockets than the regular GBA just from the reduced size by itself. I mean, I'd definitely prefer a fantasy SP with a headphone jack to the actual SP with a dongle, but versus the regular GBA's size? There was no contest for me.
Myask wrote:Semi-relatedly, the original graybrick DMG's earbuds are by decades the longest-surviving pair of headphones I've owned.
I used those a very long time, though I can't say I miss them compared to todays common silicon-tipped earbuds.
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Re: possible to add backlighting to the original gba screen?

Post by tepples »

Dwedit wrote:You only really need the original GBA for Wario Ware Twisted, due to geometry.
The front of the Twisted! box shows a Game Boy Advance SP system. I was under the impression that it could be operated in either orientation. And if it works on an SP, it should work on a Game Boy micro, a Nintendo DS, or a Nintendo DS Lite.

Kirby Tilt 'n Tumble, on the other hand, does need a Game Boy Color or an original Game Boy Advance.
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