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Homebrew Gameboy Advance Lighting Project
palo0019 writes: "I'm sure Slashdotters who picked up Nintendo's new portable have found its screen to leave a little to be desired (Penny Arcade illustrates the point well). Adam Curtis has created a grassroots lighting project called PortableMonopoly.com. I know I would help out if I had any knowledge in the area, I'm tired of playing Castlevania in my bathroom." There's some interesting information about portable video display systems in there as well -- those game designers have some pretty tough compromises to make.
I bought a worm light with my GBA. I cannot position the light without getting serious glare. It lights up the top half of the screen, leaves the bottom dark and glares off the point the light is shining at.
Can be found here. Hot Soup got it funnier than PA did, I think....
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Brazil has decided you're cute.
I'm tired of playing Castlevania in my bathroom.
Isn't that part of the point of a GBA?
:)
--Ty
For the hardware hackers out there, IGN has an article how to adjust the contrast on your GBA (and Neo Geo Pocket. w00t): Game Boy Advance Too Dark?
Sorry if this is all redundant, portablemonopoly is /.'ed and I can't get to it
psxndc
The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.
Aside from the explanation why backlighting won't help, you're missing the point-- the system is unplayable as sold.
Systems are being sold with less and less to reduce cost. No more bundled game; just one controller. But Nintendo seems to be taking a page from PC game manufacturers-- no usable product in the box (WW2Online and UO:Renaissance, for example, if you bought them the week of release).
I'm sure not including the screen itself would cut down on battery consumption, but they still included that. If they're not going to include an essential part of the system, they should say so, just like with batteries: "2 AA batteries required (not included), worm light required (not included)". Instead, both people I know who bought it got it home, said, "fuck! It's unplayable!", then went back to the store to discover the good wormlights were sold out. Go figure.
I can't wait to see his face after today...
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You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
A backlight won't help in the GBA's case. The LCD screen has reflective faceting to improve the visual quality (not to be confused with the reflective plastic cover that actually makes frontlighting the unit unbearable due to glare).
Any light shone through the back will only succeed in "washing out" the colour due to the properties of the LCD. Personally I would have preferred an organic electroluminescent display (OLED) to this darkened LCD nightmare. OLEDs produce their own light and are more energy efficient than LCDs, let alone LCDs with backlighting.
"Where shall the word be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence." -T.S. Eliot
Or people can get to the meat of the story by just going to http://pocket.ign.com/news/35946.html, which has full details on where the control is and how to access it. I'd rather buy the special screwdriver and take the thing apart than puncture the sticker on the back of my Gameboy Advance, but still, it's nice to know where it is if I'm desperate. =)
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.
pocket.ign.com is reporting that there is a pot accessible from the back of the GBA that controls contrast. Check it out here.
Murphy's Law of Copiers
I love the smell of Karma in the morning
Some GBA owners have also found an adjustable pot under a sticker on the back of the system that serves as a contrast control. Seems to wash out the display and increase flickering due to interlacing, but some claim slight improvements. See the IGN board discussing it http://boards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=6921262&re plies=462
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No, it's a variable resistor that controls how much voltage goes to the screen. By reducing the amount of voltage, the pixels aren't as opaque, and the white background behind the screen shows through better which gives the appearance of being brighter. The screen is interlaced; therefore, dimmer pixels might make the refreshing of the even and odd lines more apparent.
Anyone remember why the GameBoy Advance isn't backlit?
Ah yes...battery consumption! Take a look at the Sega Game Gear(4 or 6 AA), Sega Nomad(6AA), Atari Lynx(4 AA plus a 6 D battery expansion pack), Turbo Express(6-8 AA I think and the best handheld ever). Those all had backlight displays! You also were only able to play a maximum of 4-8 hours depending on the system before the batteries were dead.
Now I don't know about any of you, but I'd rather pay $5 for a little clip on worm light for the system(which works quite well), and still have my 20 hours of gameplay on the GBA.