Screen looks horrible, on my GBA SP. Is this normal?

[Ross PK]

I have a non backlit screen on my GBA SP.

 

I've just tried a game in it for the first time tonight, and the screen looks absolutley shit. It's really washed out and hard to see. Turning the light off just makes it worse. I felt so disappointed and I wish I hadn't bought it now, money is really tight at the moment.

 

I can also see faint black bars in the screen too.

 

I did think there must be a fault with my GBA, because if it's normal for the screens to be like this, then I cannot see how it could've sold well at all.

 

I'm sure it's fully charged too.

 

But when I had a look on the Internet, it seems like it's normal for the games to look washed out and for it to be hard to see them.

 

As far as I remember, when I played on an Atari Lynx, the screen on it looked no where near as bad as the screen on this.

 

So basically, what I'd like to ask is, is this normal? Or do I have a broken GBA SP?

 

Thanks.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Ross PK

[Uzumaki]

Look on the back of the system. If the model number is AES-001 then the screen is crap because of the front lighting method. The reflection along the light guide tended to produce purple-ish trapezoid hue on the screen. If it is the later 101 then it's the backlighted version with improved screen that is probably the best you can get short of getting OLED screen.

[theking21083]

I purchased the original GBA SP when it first came out and still have it to this day. I never had a problem being able to see the screen on it. I use it all the time to play all of my GBA, GBC, and GB games.

[NE146]

If you can see faint black bars then yeah I'd say it's busted.

 

I have a GBA SP and an SP2. And really the SP2 is just a lot brighter and clearer, but if you've never seen it, then the original SP looks just fine. You wouldn't think it looked "hard to see"

[Ross PK]

Thanks guys. I'm going to send it back to get a refund. And I'm going to plump for backlit one that hopefully is in really good condition.

[Seob]

I recently purchased a AGS-101 and once you have used it, you never want to go back to the AGS-001. If you want to spot one on ebay and it hasn't AGS-101 in it's advert, a good thing to check out is the screen when the system is off. If the screen is grey, compared to the black bezel, it's a AGS-001. If the screen is almost as black as the surrounding bezel, it's a AGS-101.

Hope this is some useful info for you.

[Atariboy]

My DS was hard to use after getting my backlit SP. I had to upgrade to a DS Lite since I loved the new screen so much that. Excellent screen and it was the first time I felt like a handheld had a proper screen that could rival a television.

 

Never played the sidelit original SP, but I assume it's even dimmer than the screens of the original DS since it's a good year and a half older and the DS used backlighting. The backlit system is worth the money.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Atariboy

[Reaperman]

I recently purchased a AGS-101 and once you have used it, you never want to go back to the AGS-001. If you want to spot one on ebay and it hasn't AGS-101 in it's advert, a good thing to check out is the screen when the system is off. If the screen is grey, compared to the black bezel, it's a AGS-001. If the screen is almost as black as the surrounding bezel, it's a AGS-101.

Hope this is some useful info for you.

That's incredibly useful really. I've been trying to poach the 'good' sp's for a while (have 2 now) and I've been trying to clean up blurry pictures of the back label and get them that way, but I won't have to fight as hard for them now that I can identify them from the front.

 

I really don't like the way the SP feels in my hand, but as ergonomically incorrect as its flat control surfaces are, they offer an awful lot of precision and feedback. Very durable controls which wear well.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Reaperman

[Rex Dart]

My DS was hard to use after getting my backlit SP. I had to upgrade to a DS Lite since I loved the new screen so much that. Excellent screen and it was the first time I felt like a handheld had a proper screen that could rival a television.

 

Never played the sidelit original SP, but I assume it's even dimmer than the screens of the original DS since it's a good year and a half older and the DS used backlighting. The backlit system is worth the money.

 

It's about the same, really. The original DS was a step back from the SP2's screen, which really irritated me when the DS launched.

[NE146]

As someone who enthusiastically snags every Nintendo handheld as they're released (yeah I'm a sucker), I'm pretty darn sure the SP2 wasn't out when the DS launched. Otherwise, I would have HAD it and would have obviously compared screens and said wtf.

 

I think it came out like a year or two later as a matter o' fact.

Edited September 12, 2011 by NE146

[Seob]

It came out in september 2005 if i'm correct.

[Atariboy]

My DS was hard to use after getting my backlit SP. I had to upgrade to a DS Lite since I loved the new screen so much that. Excellent screen and it was the first time I felt like a handheld had a proper screen that could rival a television.

 

Never played the sidelit original SP, but I assume it's even dimmer than the screens of the original DS since it's a good year and a half older and the DS used backlighting. The backlit system is worth the money.

 

It's about the same, really. The original DS was a step back from the SP2's screen, which really irritated me when the DS launched.

 

The SP2, Micro, and DS Lite all launched right around the same time and used similar screen technology (Late 2005 and early 2006). These were the first Nintendo handhelds with excellent screens that rivaled home televisions. Hasn't been much room for advancement in picture quality since (Since then, we've seen blurring reduced further, and improved power efficiency, but that's about it for improvements unless you count the 3D effect the screens of the 3DS support). The screen on a backlit SP pretty much looks as nice as the screen of any handheld on the market now.

 

The backlit screens of the DS aren't nearly as good, but the DS also was launched in late 2004. So I can hardly blame Nintendo for them being inferior to what came later. 12 months can be a long time for the advancement of technology, the DS used two screens, had to be powered by the internal battery for a decent length of time, and be affordable.

 

Makes sense they didn't look as nice as what came next.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Atariboy

[Asaki]

I really don't like the way the SP feels in my hand...

 

That's why I got a Game Boy Micro B)

[Reaperman]

I really don't like the way the SP feels in my hand...

 

That's why I got a Game Boy Micro B)

Yeah, I've got 4 of them (2 sealed), but they don't age terribly well. The rubber under the buttons wears out fairly quickly and I can't find replacement rubber. Past experience with replacement rubber is that it often feels worse than what it replaces anyway.

 

I've recently become an SPv2 convert, I think.

The short throws on the buttons and superior feedback cancels out some of the discomfort.

[Seob]

I 'hate' the micro as it comes to ergonomic design. I don't have very small nor very big hands, but i get finger cramp when playing on the micro for more then 15 minutes. It's just to tiny to hold. I keep pressing the shoulder buttons unwanted.

[Asaki]

The rubber under the buttons wears out fairly quickly and I can't find replacement rubber.

 

Weird. I got mine used (and it wasn't exactly well taken care of) and the buttons are all fine.

 

I've got the Famicom edition if that makes any difference (the US one I think, not the 20th anniversary one with the Mario logo on the back).

[Reaperman]

The rubber under the buttons wears out fairly quickly and I can't find replacement rubber.

 

Weird. I got mine used (and it wasn't exactly well taken care of) and the buttons are all fine.

That's the answer. My buttons also work 'fine' but they do not feel as they did new.

The rubber is worn out, and I don't have the heart to open up another sealed one.

 

The buttons inside an SP work differently. They have rubber, but it doesn't complete the contact itself as the micro (and a lot of other gamepads) do. SP's rubber is much thinner and only serves as padding over a metallic bubble which provides the real feedback. This means there is less to wear rubber-wise--and I suppose more to wear out metal-wise. (SP's do eventually wear out too)

 

On a lot of the gamepads that use this rubber contact system, replacement rubber pads can be bought. NES controllers, Gameboy/GBC, DS, PSP, Even the (mostly) useless rubber on a GBA SP--but I've never found replacement rubber for the gameboy micro, and micros wear out after only a year or two in my hands.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Reaperman

[Seob]

Only found a online manual, on how to take it apart. Maybe cleaning the contact point would help? If it is the L and R button that is giving trouble, you could replace those look for more info on this site: GBAtemp.

Not easy.

Isn't Nintendo selling repair kits for the gba?

Edited September 14, 2011 by Seob

[Reaperman]

Only found a online manual, on how to take it apart. Maybe cleaning the contact point would help?

My problem is with the feedback and action of the rubber itself (face controls), the buttons make contact reliably, so cleaning isn't necessary. Mine are just mushy and worn out, not broken. To my knowledge nobody sells replacement rubber, but I could probably send a console into Nintendo for service. I do not know if this service includes pads. I somehow doubt it, since GBM was abandoned pretty hard.

 

Mushy rubber is a problem that I see on most used gameboys, but replacement rubber is available for all but a few models.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Reaperman

[Video]

There's no reason for the screen to look like shit when the backlight is off, because at that point, it's the same reflective TFT screen as in all the other handhelds from the time. With it on though, it'll have a blueish tint to everything due to the incorrect color of the back er...frontlight. It does look washed out and kind of sorry looking. But then, if you compared it to systems previously available (like gamegear or lynx) then it's not really that bad at all.

 

I'd say get an SP2 with the true backlight in it, no option to turn the light off, but you do have a much better screen. That is...if you plan on living in doors or in dark places with it. If you plan to be outside a lot, or primarily in well lit areas, I'd say the 001 is a perfectly fine setup. (and yes, I have both)

[Asaki]

Heck, if you're gonna play it outside, you'd be better off with the original GBA (though I've found that I can't tolerate the d-pad as well as I did back when it came out).

[Ross PK]

Here's a video that I made, where you can see the black bars on the screen, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T32VWrZ-FNI

 

I've sent it back now, and got a refund. Unfortunalty I've still not managed to get a 101 yet.

 

There's no reason for the screen to look like shit when the backlight is off, because at that point, it's the same reflective TFT screen as in all the other handhelds from the time. With it on though, it'll have a blueish tint to everything due to the incorrect color of the back er...frontlight. It does look washed out and kind of sorry looking. But then, if you compared it to systems previously available (like gamegear or lynx) then it's not really that bad at all.

 

I'd say get an SP2 with the true backlight in it, no option to turn the light off, but you do have a much better screen. That is...if you plan on living in doors or in dark places with it. If you plan to be outside a lot, or primarily in well lit areas, I'd say the 001 is a perfectly fine setup. (and yes, I have both)

 

When I turned the front light off, the screen was so dark it looked almost completely black, it was so hard to see the game at all.

Edited September 26, 2011 by Ross PK

[Atariboy]

Yeah, that's certainly not how it's supposed to be.

 

And unless you're under the blazing sun, I don't think it's met to be played with the front lighting turned off. When I turn off the backlighting on the original DS (Or is it front lit like the original SP model?), I essentially can't see a thing indoors. I assume the option is there for outside use.

 

I don't own an original SP (Just the backlit revision of it), but I really doubt if my original DS is any indication that the screen is essentially the same as the original GBA when the lighting is turned off. I can see the screen indoors on my original GBA (Used as a controller hooked up to my GCN for the Game Boy Player), I can't see the screens of the DS with the lighting turned off from the main menu.

Edited September 27, 2011 by Atariboy

[Ross PK]

Well, at long last I've finally bought a backlit one, in black this time (as I think I do prefer it in black), Cost me around £38 inc p&p. Condition seems fairly good for the price, considering it's a backlit one, so, all I've got to do now is to just wait for it.

 

I can't really work out the charger though, it doesn't look like it can plug into a wall socket (whether it be an American wall socket or a British one), or a car cigarette lighter socket.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290614597184

[Atariboy]

It uses the same charger as the original model of the DS, if you have one of those laying around the house.

 

The prongs of the charger fold into the charger for ease of storage. If you were to flip that upside down, you'd see the prongs recessed into it. Never paid enough attention to mine to tell from that picture if it's a 3rd party charger (And I'm too lazy to get up and look at mine to compare with the picture), but I don't see any cause for alarm.

 

Little scoffed on the outside, but that's pretty much a guarantee with a Nintendo handheld. Their exteriors don't seem to hold up so well to routine use. If the screen, the d-pad, and buttons are in good shape, I'd say you got a good deal.