Atari Lynx LCD Screen Dark Vertical bar Problem fix

Discussion in 'All other topics' started by retroborg, Oct 21, 2023.

  1. retroborg

    retroborg Regular member

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    Good day,

    I recently got an Atari Lynx handheld. It works fine, sound, brightness and buttons are all functional & responsive and the screen view angle is fine.

    But there is this irritating darker vertical bar / strip in the center of the screen in all brightness levels that I tried, as pictured in the screen-shots below.

    Is this a case of faulty capacitors that need to be changed like we do in the common SEGA Game Gear LCD screen problems, or is it some other different issue and how exactly do I fix this?!

    Any help will be highly appreciated.
    Thanks in advance.


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
  2. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    can it be connected to a tv/monitor to see if it displays that problem on it?
     
  3. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    Looks to me like an uneven backlight issue.
     
  4. ps355528

    ps355528 Active member

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    The only expert I know on these things is GadgetUK on Youtube.. Never even seen one in the flesh actually so I can't even begin to guess what the problem might be.. Why does my brain say to me the backlights are tiny cfl tubes??
     
  5. scorpNZ

    scorpNZ Active member

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    @ps355528 Picture in link looks like they are cfl's'
    Assuming it's your model this is what it looks like beneath the screens. There appears to be a mirror. I can't help but wonder if it's an lcd issue rather than LED.As far as i'm aware LED'S are not connected in parallel. They certainly aren't in TV's it's why a tv will go black when 1 LED burns/shorts out. Bridging the LED fixes the issue without out a prob (saw it on a youtube vid LED repair))

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Atari-Lynx-Motherboard-Top-Angle-Exposed.jpg
     
  6. ps355528

    ps355528 Active member

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    It would make sense that they are.. the only competitor was the Game Gear and I can vouch that they use a single cfl tube.

    Like I said I have never actually seen one and have really zero interest in them..

    As for TV backlights.. I actually replace burned out LED's.. colour balance be damned.. my gaming monitor looks horrid when it's showing a single colour screen.. but it was free..
     

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