Game Gear McWill LCD Mod - Adjustable Brightness?

[Flex]

Hi Guys,

 

New here but long time stalker! I have recently been recapping and modding a couple of game gears with the genuine McWill LCD kit from retrosix.co.uk. Really happy with the results but one thing I cant work out is if it is possible somehow to control the backlight brightness level using the original wheel or some other method? 

 

I have seen it in action on a YouTube video I stumbled across using the original wheel and I would really like to implement it if possible because I find the default brightness to be a bit hard on the eyes (especially if laying in bed at night) and because it is on max brightness all the time I find it still runs the batteries down fairly fast.

 

From what I can tell it would appear that maybe some clone units now have the ability to have adjustable brightness but not the genuine real McCoy McWill ? Does this sound correct?

 

Does anyone know of a a clever way to add this in potentially?

 

Pics of my install below.

 

I currently have 5v connected to pin 1 of the brightness pot and ground to pin 3 as per the instructions on console5 but do not have the backlight or cysnc points connected as per the instructions as I am not using the VGA output. I assume the 5v and Ground to the pot are still necessary though? Currently the brightness wheel doesn't have any effect at all.

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Flex

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 hour ago, Flex said:

Hi Guys,

 

New here but long time stalker! I have recently been recapping and modding a couple of game gears with the genuine McWill LCD kit from retrosix.co.uk. Really happy with the results but one thing I cant work out is if it is possible somehow to control the backlight brightness level using the original wheel or some other method? 

 

I have seen it in action on a YouTube video I stumbled across using the original wheel and I would really like to implement it if possible because I find the default brightness to be a bit hard on the eyes (especially if laying in bed at night) and because it is on max brightness all the time I find it still runs the batteries down fairly fast.

 

From what I can tell it would appear that maybe some clone units now have the ability to have adjustable brightness but not the genuine real McCoy McWill ? Does this sound correct?

 

Does anyone know of a a clever way to add this in potentially?

 

Pics of my install below.

I've heard of this as well but have not seen how it was implemented. But like you stated, I have also heard that the clones of this kit actually do provide their setup to allow for adjustable brightness. I would like to know the specifics, because like you stated, the max brightness of the screen is a bit much on extended play and it is one of the reasons I find myself usually using my Lynx II with a BennVenn screen in it vs my McWill configured Lynx II is because I can adjust the brightness.

 

As a result, when using my McWill GG or Lynx II I always have the pseudo scan lines turned on as that helps with the brightness a bit.

 

[Flex]

15 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I've heard of this as well but have not seen how it was implemented. But like you stated, I have also heard that the clones of this kit actually do provide their setup to allow for adjustable brightness. I would like to know the specifics, because like you stated, the max brightness of the screen is a bit much on extended play and it is one of the reasons I find myself usually using my Lynx II with a BennVenn screen in it vs my McWill configured Lynx II is because I can adjust the brightness.

 

As a result, when using my McWill GG or Lynx II I always have the pseudo scan lines turned on as that helps with the brightness a bit.

 

Yeah scanlines help a little and I like the look as well but I would be surprised if there is not a way to control the brightness of the backlight somehow. Hopefully someone might have an idea.

 

Maybe @McWill himself could offer some advice? Hopefully I am not being too cheeky tagging him here.

 

Also out of interest is there a BennVenn screen for the Game Gear available?

 

 

Edited November 3, 2020 by Flex

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 hour ago, Flex said:

Yeah scanlines help a little and I like the look as well but I would be surprised if there is not a way to control the brightness of the backlight somehow. Hopefully someone might have an idea.

 

Maybe @McWill himself could offer some advice? Hopefully I am not being too cheeky tagging him here.

 

Also out of interest is there a BennVenn screen for the Game Gear available?

 

 

I've not seen a BennVenn screen for the GG. Likely because the clones are already at a similar or better price point to what could be offered is my guess? I know that McWill only dropped the price of his GG kits because of the increased competition from the new clone kits. Or at least, that is what I was advised by Console5 when I noticed they had dropped the price of the McWill kits.

 

[Makara]

The clone screens have specific solder points for the brightness control, I don't believe the genuine Mcwill screens have these.

 

FYI there is a new screen out made by some French modders which has a brightness control and is very energy efficient. The 'easy soldering guide' is pretty poor, but if you have installed a Mcwill it's basically the same. It also has 3d printed brackets which are quite nice. Oh, and it's cheaper.

 

https://retrokai.store/en/accueil/33-magic-screen-lcd-replacement-for-game-gear.html

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Makara

[Flex]

On 11/26/2020 at 11:04 PM, Makara said:

The clone screens have specific solder points for the brightness control, I don't believe the genuine Mcwill screens have these.

 

FYI there is a new screen out made by some French modders which has a brightness control and is very energy efficient. The 'easy soldering guide' is pretty poor, but if you have installed a Mcwill it's basically the same. It also has 3d printed brackets which are quite nice. Oh, and it's cheaper.

 

https://retrokai.store/en/accueil/33-magic-screen-lcd-replacement-for-game-gear.html

 

Thanks for that, looks fairly decent! Admittedly the curiosity got the better of me and I have purchased a cheap clone from AliExpress with brightness control and a beat up old Game Gear to fix up as a little project just to test it out see if it's any good as well.

[nyandeyanen]

Console5 has new McWill GG kits up, a version 3 board with brightness control. I came here looking for any information about it since I'm about to McWill some more Game Gears, perhaps this information will be useful to someone.