Author Topic: Wonderswan Screen Burn  (Read 3150 times)

megasilverx1

Wonderswan Screen Burn
« on: September 28, 2020, 11:20:04 pm »
I purchased a non-functioning original model Wonderswan for cheap a few days ago and I was able to quickly fix the original issue the handheld console had which was that it didn't power on (ended up being battery corrosion). However, a second issue I noticed the Wonderswan likely had when looking at pictures in the listing was that the screen was a bit dark looking which would mean that the polarizing film is burned and upon getting the console, it ended up being the case. So I know I have to remove the old polarizing film and stick a new one on top of the old screen, which in of itself, seems like a fairly easy job from this youtube video https://youtu.be/FF1QrDz-jGc. I do however have a few questions that this video doesn't really answer:

1. The person in the video removed two polarizing films, but only put one new polarizing film back in. Do I only need one sheet of film or should I purchase two sheets?

2. Aren't games on the original model Wonderswan supposed to be black/white like the Game Boy Pocket screen and not black/green like the original DMG Game Boy screen? Mine and the one shown in the video are black/green but other videos I see on youtube show that games are supposed to be black/white. I don't mind the black/green look but I was curious.

3. When purchasing polarizing sheets, should I go with standard or educational grade? Should I get sheets that are adhesive? I would imagine adhesive ones would be best considering the ones removed in the video were stuck to the screen and screen protector.

Not sure how many people here have a Bandai Wonderswan, but thought I'd asks these questions anyway to see other people's answers/suggestions.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2020, 11:22:32 pm by megasilverx1 »

gummo

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2020, 01:26:54 pm »
 I've never done the polarizing film before so I can't help with what type to use , but I can tell you my original WS screen has a light greenish hue to it with black pixels (not the bold green with blue pixels as in the video). I certainly haven't owned it since it was new so it's a possibility that the polarizer had been done before I got it .

   The second film the guy removes and doesn't replace in the video is not a polarizer , I believe it's just a tinted film .
« Last Edit: September 29, 2020, 01:51:49 pm by gummo »

gummo

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2020, 06:47:45 pm »
It's hard to pick up the green on film , it's a very light shade .


megasilverx1

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2020, 08:46:36 pm »
I couldn't get a great picture of the screen without an ass load of glare, but I was somewhat successful in getting a comparison picture of the Wonderswan screen to a DMG Game Boy screen. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjNF9evWsAIvhjf?format=jpg&name=large
« Last Edit: September 30, 2020, 09:15:17 pm by megasilverx1 »

gummo

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2020, 11:18:10 am »
   Wow , that is green .
 
   The problem with adhesive polarizers is that it's difficult to get them on without air bubbles and or dust underneath . The non-stickie polarizers you won't have to deal with bubbles at least .

megasilverx1

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2020, 10:02:21 pm »
   Wow , that is green .
 
   The problem with adhesive polarizers is that it's difficult to get them on without air bubbles and or dust underneath . The non-stickie polarizers you won't have to deal with bubbles at least .
Yup; It really looks like a Game Boy screen and I'm wondering how it go so green. The screen burn really darkened the picture and makes the contrast wheel not really do anything besides going from blank screen, really dark, and full black screen. The corners where the polarizing film isn't ruined actually look okay and adjust smoothly when I adjust contrast. I ended up purchasing two 4x4 sheets of polarizing film that are sticky on Tuesday and now am waiting for them to arrive in the mail. In hindsight, I should've purchased one sticky and one non-sticky, but oh well.

gummo

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2020, 02:10:00 pm »
I'm interested to see how it turns out . I've been tempted to buy one with screen burn to fix . I bought both of my WonderSwan Colors not working cheap and fixed them . You can save a lot of money doing this kind of thing and it's satisfying .

megasilverx1

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2020, 08:54:21 pm »
The polarizing film finally shipped last night, so it should be here in a few days.

megasilverx1

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2020, 09:15:32 pm »
So the polarizing film finally arrived today and I was able to get the old one replaced successfully. It did take awhile though since the old adhesive was really determined to stay on the screen even though the actual old polarizing film came off surprisingly easy. I still think I see a bit of residue on the screen even after all the cleaning (or maybe they're small air bubbles) but once the WonderSwan is on, I don't notice them. The screen is still just a green as an original Game Boy screen, but the entire screen is actually way more visible now...or as visible as a non-backlight screen can be. I'm wondering if the green color is coming from the reflective layer or maybe early models of the WonderSwan just had green/black screens?

Picture of the new looking screen: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ej7eHDrWoAARkK-?format=jpg&name=small

gummo

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2020, 04:44:06 pm »
Looks like it turned out great . Since a lot of us grew up with Gameboy green screens I think most people would say it looks fine . Now that you have a nice original WS you should try to find a WS Color , they have a very blue screen when it's turned off and then turns into a nice transparent color screen after it's powered on . They commonly have lots of bad looking spots and marks on them when they're off and in fact the first broken WS Color that I bought I thought had been underwater or something , but once I got it working all of those polarizer marks go away when it powers on .

megasilverx1

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2020, 07:57:54 pm »
Funnily enough I purchased a WonderSwan Color from the same person I got the non-functioning WonderSwan. This one was listed as functioning though, so I shouldn't have to do much cleaning whenever it arrives. Also looked through a complete list of WS and WS Color games last night and before work today; ended up with a list of 22 games that sounded fun/interesting.

megasilverx1

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2020, 11:08:41 am »
The Color came in the mail this morning. The screen looks much nicer and I like that the system has more volume options and a switch to keep the part the AA battery goes in locked in place better.

gummo

Re: Wonderswan Screen Burn
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2020, 10:14:51 am »
There's some good game options in color . It'd be nice to get a Crystal , but prices are fairly high . I'm just hoping that the shipping situation goes back to normal soon . Games from Japan are not only more expensive right now , but are taking 3 months average shipping time for me . WonderSwan games were so much cheaper early last year I'm kicking myself for not getting all the ones that I wanted then .