"Dotty" Screen

[Mindfield]

So about two weeks ago I finally managed to acquire a Lynx I system -- very nice, excellent condition with no screen scratches and only minor paint flaking on the cart bay door. I've also accumulated 6 brand spankin' new carts for it, along with a cool large-sized Lynx carrying bag (where I keep the carts so I'm not destroying the boxes with repeated opening), ComLynx cable, AC adapter and sun visor. All in all I managed to grab it all for under US $40 with shipping.

 

There's one thing I notice, though. When I turn the Lynx on, along the bottom of the, extending up roughly one third in rows of faint "peak" patterns, there are random, somewhat dimly illuminated multicoloured pixels -- sort of the opposite of dead pixels. It's barely noticeable when playing a game unless the background is dark or black, but when the whole screen is black it's quite prominent.

 

Is this a problem, or a common flaw in Lynx screens?

[Susuwatari]

A common flaw usually have a single pixel flashing in multicolored pattern. I've seen this in some Lynx 1's but I haven't seen any in Lynx 2's.

[chris_lynx1989]

A common flaw usually have a single pixel flashing in multicolored pattern.  I've seen this in some Lynx 1's but I haven't seen any in Lynx 2's.

 

do you not mean a lynx 2 and not a lynx one?

i've never heard of a lynx 1 doing this before myself. the lone pixel probl-

em was on some of the early lynx 2 units back in 1991/2. the problem was

supposedly later fixed by atari.

have you tried cleaning the cartridge port,mindfield? are your carts clean?

also, if your cart port or cartridge is still wet after cleaning one or both of

them you'll get stange effects on the screen.

have you taken a flashlight and looked at the cart port,mindfield? you can

have a contact there that will fall below the others and cause problems on

your unit---i've usually only had this happen on my lynx 2s though. look

closely at your port for any debris that could be in the slot and covering a

contact too--i've had happen this to me before. a model one lynx is harder

to see a port problem in over a model 2. check this out and post again.

--the lynxer

[TailChao]

There's one thing I notice, though.  When I turn the Lynx on, along the bottom of the, extending up roughly one third in rows of faint "peak" patterns, there are random, somewhat dimly illuminated multicoloured pixels -- sort of the opposite of dead pixels.  It's barely noticeable when playing a game unless the background is dark or black, but when the whole screen is black it's quite prominent.

Do these "peak patterns" just appear lighter than the surrounding pixels, or are they completely different colors, if they are just lighter, the lynx is putting pressure on the screen in that area

[Mindfield]

Okay, I'll try and describe this phenomenon as accurately as I can as this is almost impossible to photograph, at least with my crappy cam.

 

They're relatively faint and visible primarily on a completely black screen. They are most noticeable when the Lynx is first turned on and before the cart has had a chance to boot up. That's not to say they disappear when the cart boots, just that they blend in when on a brighter screen. The dots themselves are faintly multicolored, rather like someone photoshopped a light, mountainous-looking gaussian noise filter on the lower 1/3rd of the screen. As to whether they're simply "lighter" pisels -- yes, I suppose they are, or perhaps of slightly differing colour than the surrounding pixels. They appear to be pretty random on a black background, but they do change colour, as opposed to staying whatever colour they appear to be on a black background. This isn't a contiguous patch of screen that's discoloured, either, but a fairly thinly disbursed array of them, as I mentioned, in roughly a mountainous-pattern. The pattern is static, too. It doesn't matter what cart is in the slot, it's always the same pattern -- dot for dot.

 

I doubt it's a dirty cart port. I did clean it out with a Q-Tip and alcohol, but it didn't change anything. The pins look pretty good, too -- none are bent, anyway.

[TailChao]

Hmmm.. from that description, I'd go with my seccond idea, that the lynx is putting pressure on the screen in that area, causing the colors to warp. To check if this is infact true you could crack open your lynx and move the screen about to see if you can get rid of it. If you dont feel up to opening the lynx for its own saftety, try pressing one corner of the screen just enough so you can see some color cange DONT APPLY TOO MUCH PRESSURE AS YOU MAY BREAK THE LCD GLASS!!! if the effect is similar to what you're seeing at the bottom of your screen, then its the lynx putting pressure, as said above. Nothing to worry about, as your screen can't die from it.

[chris_lynx1989]

what you describe almost sounds like a loading problem with the ram in

your lynx--could still be a dirty port. a q-tip and alcohol will not clean very

well in a lynx port(i've never used those on my port before). you need to

have something to get over the contacts of the port. i've even used "very

fine"(1000 grit or finer) wet sandpaper on a piece of pc board from radio

shack to clean my port sometimes. just make sure it is lynx cart width and

has enough length to it. at this grit level it is not too abrasive for your port

to withstand.

also,i wonder about your lcd screen going bad on you. i've never had a

lynx 1 unit do this though. lynx twos yes,not ones. i'm wondering about

the ribbon to your lynx screen cracking through with age. i had a lynx 2

unit do this a year or two ago to me. if a lynx one is doing this,you have

to get another screen and resolder one to the main board. the lynx twos

have a quick connector on theirs, the lynx ones do not. the problem you

are describing sounds "much" like what my lynx 2 was doing with the

ribbon cracking through with age.

open up your lynx 1 and look inside it. they are very easy to peak inside

at. you only have 4 phillips head screws remove. be careful of the red and

black wires coming of the battery box. they are not real long on a lynx 1.

there is not a real lot to look at inside a lynx 1 unit. if things look good at

the ribbon,then i'm thinking you have a ram problem or a dirty cartridge port. i would really think it is your cart port. in 14 years of having lynxes,

i've never had a bad ram chip turn up in mine. look at that cart port. look

with a flashlight for dust or q-tip cotton in there! debris or dirty contacts is

what i'd look for. sometimes you get some real dirty contacts. once you

open your lynx up, you'll know how the thing has been stored and treated

during its life. if it looks oxidized on the board,it has been around a lot of

humidty and drawn moisture and corrosion. this could also be a problem

on your board. you could have a bridge on the board causing a problem

for you. look hard at the inside of your lynx and that cart port. the port

could have some corrosion you cannot see. cart ports can be very finicky

on things at times. --the lynxer

[Mindfield]

Well, with regards to how it was treated, this Lynx unit actually is in fantastic condition. With the exception of some small chips of paint having flaked or chipped off of the area on and around the cartridge bay door, the entire unit is almost mint -- no scratches elsewhere on the body and none whatsoever on the screen. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it was always stored inside the large Lynx bag I got with it, and with the sun visor that came with it placed on the screen when not in use -- perhaps even when in use.

 

The thing about the bad RAM idea is that it would have to be exclusive to video RAM (there is no corruption of sound or gameplay, and frankly the screen corruption is merely one of some slightly discolored pixels in non-contiguous areas of the screen, not garbled graphics) and it would have to be so mild as to affect only brightness and/or colour of a pixel, not what graphics should go there. As I said, once playing, these things are hardly noticeable unless you deliberately look for them, and even then they simply look like what's supposed to be there, only a little lighter or slightly off-colour.

 

A cracked ribbon cable doesn't seem likely to me simply because that would cause shorting, and shorts are typically intermittent and the results of them relatively random. This is consistent, and very specific, the dotty pattern never changing a pixel, making it seem like a problem with the screen itself.

[chris_lynx1989]

i'd say you have an lcd problem like the early game boys units had from

the 1989 run they did for release.

the early game boy screens developed seal leaks around them that caus-

ed the pixels and screen to degrade little by little. nintendo replaced these

(and mine) units under and not under warranty(my case). my unit started

to fail right about the time the warranty expired. i called nintendo and they

told me they had had a certain run of these with problems and to just box

mine up and the fedex man would pick it right up. he did just that.

if you have an lcd problem, you have a problem, as these are hard to do

a replacement on. the lynx twos just unplug at two points and they're out.

the lynx one units are soldered to the main board--not easy to desolder.

you would be better to get you another lynx one unit.

ebay and b&c computer visions were/are a good place. b&c was selling the

lynx 1 for $39.95, this may have changed now. best electronics and also

goatari are good price sources for lynx stuff.--the lynxer

[HolmesA8]

 When I turn the Lynx on, along the bottom of the, extending up roughly one third in rows of faint "peak" patterns, there are random, somewhat dimly illuminated multicoloured pixels -- sort of the opposite of dead pixels.  It's barely noticeable when playing a game unless the background is dark or black, but when the whole screen is black it's quite prominent.

 

Is this a problem, or a common flaw in Lynx screens?

 

I've seen this on several Lynx's now, and it's just faulty pixels on the LCD screen, not much can be done about it, except swap the guts of the lynx for another without the problem. :-)