NON FINITE

ELECTRONICS

SMT 1.5mm Dual Led Backlighting Tutorial

This is a tutorial for SMT 1.5mm dual LED backlights. This tutorial assumes you already know how to open your Game
Boy, remove the screws holding in the front printed circuit board, and remove the circuit board from the case. NOTE:
Do not peel off the front adhesive polarized film from the LCD of your Gameboy - your LCD will be unreadable without
a layer of polarized film both on top and beneath the glass. If you would like to replace the adhesive polarized film,
you may purchase it at the shop. Nonfinite Electronics is not responsible for Gameboys that are damaged or broken
using this tutorial - proceed at your own risk.

Please read through the whole tutorial before starting your modification. Everything is done sequentially and in a
step-by-step order, but certain steps are reliant on others. If you don’t read through beforehand you may end up with
an unusable backlight!

Although this tutorial is designed for LED type backlight modules, many of these techniques can be applied to
different backlighting technologies, such as EL panels. If you are using a different light source, feel free to interpret this
tutorial a bit more loosely.

Parts List:
• Wire cutters - A small pair will work better than a large pair, as you’ll be snipping off component legs underneath
your LCD.
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• Hot glue gun
• Razor blade
• Tri Wing screwdriver
• Small phillips head and flat-headed screwdrivers - A jeweler’s set is a great investment for modding.
• Resistor - A 1/4 Watt 100 ohm is perfect for these backlight modules. If you are doing you own version, you will
need to calculate your own resistances.
• Backlight module (or other means of lighting if you are doing your own version)

STEP ONE: Once you have your front printed circuit board (PCB) ready, remove the two screws holding the lower
ribbon cable in place.
STEP TWO: Carefully pry up the screen by inserting a small flat-headed screwdriver into the notch between the liquid
crystal display (LCD) and plastic housing. Remove the small, white foam inserts underneath the LCD.

STEP THREE: Note - If you have a damaged LCD to try this step on before using your GB, we recommend it!

Insert a razorblade behind the top left corner of the LCD, between the glass panel and film. Using your razorblade as a
lever, peel back a corner of your films. If your corner is a greenish tint, you still have the rear polzarized film attached. If
it is a light gray, you have removed the rear polarizer as well (this is what you want).

Note: If you accidentally removed the polarizer and didn’t intend to (for those not replacing the rear polarize film
with the include piece from the kit), remove the razorblade and try again on another corner of the LCD. You have three
chances at this, as there are three exposed corners of the LCD, two of which are easier to start at, the third being on the
top right of the screen and a bit difficult, and the fourth, at the lower right, completely inaccessible.
Once you have a corner peeled to a size large enough to provide a good grip, take your thumb and forefinger and
slowly begin to peel the film off while stabilizing the LCD with your other hand. I find what works best is a twisting
motion of sorts, which will result in the edges coming off instead of the film peeling straight towards the center. Dry
fingers will help at this. DO NOT MOVE TOO FAST, you have no need to do this quickly, and you may end up damaging
your LCD. Be cautious not to let the lower right corner snap off by lifting the LCD, then pressing it down against the
plastic housing. If you are slow and deliberate, you will be fine.

The screen will be clear with a slight grey/brown hue because of the front adhesive polarized film. If you have a yel-
low tint, that means you didn’t quite get the layer of adhesive polarized film on the back of the glass, so go back and
get the razorblade between that layer and the glass. It is MUCH HARDER to pull off the film without the reflective layer
that you just removed, so try to get the razorblade between the glass the first time!

OPTIONAL STEP: You may not need to do this next step, but then again, you may get your case closed up as see pres-
sure points. Whether you do this step or not is up to you.

You now have a modified LCD consisting of a front adhesive polarized film and two sandwiched pieces of glass with
liquid crystal between them. Now you are ready to replace your rear polarized film too with a light source! Under-
neath the glass panel are numerous pointy metal bits sticking out from the PCB. These are legs, or, to put it another
way, these metal legs are left over from when the components were soldered onto the printed circuit board. If you
leave them like that, they might cause PRESSURE POINTS in the backlight once you’ve closed your unit up. The 3mm
modules are a bit more prone to this issue, as they’re thicker, but you will even see this from time to time on a 1.5mm
module if you don’t trim them down!

Take a small pair of wire cutters, (alternately, a rotary tool [AKA dremel] or a needle file will also work fine here) and
snip or carefully sand off as much of the excess as you can. Make sure they’re not protruding too much!
STEP FOUR: Remove the resistor and zener diode indicated below. Remove the indicator LED as well by melting the
solder points and pulling it out, or snipping it off. Now press in the plastic tab holding in the left side of the plastic
housing (it’s the cream-colored tab next to the contrast dial). Flip your PCB back over again.
STEP FIVE: Take a pair of wire cutters and snip off the left portion of the plastic housing along lines in photo. Note:
This photo was taken at an earlier stage of this mod, so you should have the white foam tabs and rear polarized film
already layers removed at this point.

STEP SIX: Take a look at your SMT backlight module. The newer models (V2) have a noticeable dark gray bar on the
left (see photo below) . The older V1 model has a lighter gray bar and longer black and red wires.

Depending on which model you have will determine which way you insert the module underneath the LCD. If you
have V1, the black wire will be closest to the top of the PCB. If you have V2, the red wire will be closest to top. Either
way, V1 or V2, the red wire ALWAYS goes to the resistor!

If you have a V2 backlight module, you also have a thin transparent film on the top of your backlight to protect it from
damage during shipment and storage. Peel off that film now. Take your module and slide it underneath the LCD.
Note: I have shortened the wires here because I prefer to work with them that way. You do not need to do this.

STEP SEVEN: You have two options here. If you want to turn your backlight on and off independantly of the Game
Boy, see the switch photo. If you want your module to go on and off with your Game Boy, see switchless.

Heat up the correct spot on your PCB and poke your resistor leg through.
Solder your resistor to the end of the anode (your red wire). Now, solder your cathode to the point that previously held
your power indicator LED on the back of the PCB (this is the solder point right next to the contrast dial)
Backlights (without rear polarizing film), switchless on left, switch on right

STEP EIGHT: Add a new rear polarized film (if you did not remove the rear polarized film in Step Three, skip this step).
Choose if you want your screen to be normal or inverted. A normal LCD will be tinted green, while an inverted LCD will
be a dark blue. An inverted screen has some advantages and disadvantages.

Normal LCD:
- Visible without light source turned on.
- Better visibility with some colors, mainly blue.
Inverted LCD:
- Very sleek looking.
- Inverting the rear polarized also gives a different final shade to some modules. Red will appear more
rich on an inverted screen, and have an orange hue on a normal screen. I personally find an
inverted screen easier to use with LSDJ.

To invert your LCD, simply rotate the polarized film 90 degrees before inserting it underneath the glass! It’s that
simple. Normal, rotate it 90 degrees again. Some color LEDs look better or worse with a normal or inverted LCD.
Test it out each way and decide which you like best. Now slide your polarized film between the glass and backlight
module.
Make sure it’s centered and free of dirt, hair, smudges, etc. They will be very noticeable! Tip: Do this step with the
backlight connected to the rear PCB and turned on, you will be able to see any dirt or smudges much easier.

You should be all set. Plug your front PBCs ribbon cable into the rear PCB and power it on, if you haven’t already.
Congratulations, you’ve backlit your LCD!
Extra tips and tricks

- You may want to secure the module after installing using a bit of hot glue. A bead of glue in the lower left corner
usually does the trick nicely. They do tend to move around a little.

- I highly recommend you trim down the plastic near the LED indicator position on the front case. I find what works
best is to squeeze this section with a pair of wire cutters and twist instead of cutting into it, if you do it right the whole
thing will come off nicely.

- Once your module is installed, reinsert at least one of the screws for the lower ribbon cable. The one on the left is
essential. Look at your LCD and make sure it lines up with the upper portion of the plastic housing. If it doesn’t, you
can twist the LCD a bit and secure it in place with a small amount of hot glue along the top. If you close up your case
without aligning your LCD, it may be off center and will look unprofessional.

Place your front PCB into the front case and connect to rear PCB to test the backlight before closing your GB. When you are
happy with your backlight, close your case and put on a GB screen to complete your mod!