Virtual Boy Screen Repairs

thank you for the shout out 😛

I’m willing to do this repair in exchange for Virtual Boy games and accessories. If you have any of the following laying around:

VB controllers (working or not)
VB games (working or not)
VB game dust covers
VB eye-shades
VB stands
VB AC adapters
VB battery packs
Anything VB!
I would also gladly trade for Game Boy games and hardware.

I could do it for money, but I’m just going to spend it on this stuff anyways. So just toss this stuff in when you mail your VB or ribbons! Send me a PM and we’ll work something out. I’m located in the US.

Just wanted to publicly thank TheForce81 for fixing my VB screen. I found him and this forum searching for a screen fix.

What’s not working?
I wager between getting the lenses soldered and this:
https://console5.com/store/virtual-boy-cap-kit.html
you’ll probably be off to the races

trueskins wrote:
I have sent and mp to TheForce81 as I have begun to have problems with one my units.

Replied!

Hi I Sent not one but 3 VB to be repaired. One of them was a hard work, as I had been supossedly repaired some years ago, but by someone who didn’t know what he was doing….

So I can just highly recommend TheForce81 to everyone. Thanks!

RetroRGB wrote:
I have a VB that needs repair. The left eye seems washed out / too bright and the right eye has lines going through it. The last time I used my VB, I just had to leave it on for an hour or so and all the interference was gone…but that’s not working anymore.

I was hoping to get a permanent fix for the eyes, plus have two VirtalTap kits installed: One VGA and one RGB (I already have both kits). Is there anyone in the NYC area, or within a short shipping distance that can do this?

PM sent!

brumbie13 wrote:
Hey there. So I am pretty excited to join this community and spent a decent amount of money on a VB from Ebay that was from a good reputable games seller and they said the system had been inspected and worked well. I paid a bit of a premium for the peace of mind.

However, after getting the unit and trying it out, there are definitely some issues with the screens. I know some of these problems are typical and that the repair services in this thread can fix them, but some of the issues I haven’t seen addressed on this or other forums, so I don’t really know.

My left screen is very dim, I can hardly see it and can’t make anything out on it. The camera picks it up, but my eyes do not. The game seems to work fine out of this lens, but it is constantly blurry (due to a mirrored image?) in the pics, and I’m thinking perhaps there is an issue with the mirrors not oscillating. There are also horizontal lines across the top or bottom.

The right screen starts up fine, and the brightness is good. After about a minute it gets the telltale glitchy “The Matrix” look that I know is repairable, but after about another 30 seconds, it turns to mostly just a single bright thick line. I haven’t seen any examples of the thick line in other people’s posts.

If your mirrors weren’t oscillating, you wouldn’t have a picture – the VB works by spinning mirrors at 50Hz, while flashing LEDs at them in certain patterns. The flash-n-spin is so quick and precise that it tricks your eyes into seeing a complete image, rather than the single staggered line of flashing LEDs.

Like RetroRGB, I plan on having my unit modded with a VirtualTap, so in theory, I would only need one good screen anyways, but given the premium I paid for the console, I would kind of like the system to work so that I have the option to play the console either with an external monitor OR through the viewfinder. If the right side monitor could be repaired and the left can not, it still might be worth it to tap off that one, but with the glitch turning into a thick line, I’m not sure even that is a possibility.

I have attached a picture below that shows the issues I’m talking about. If a modder has experience and can tell me whether my issues are fixable and worth the effort, or whether I should just return the item and try my luck with another unit, I would really appreciate it.

As to why your left screen is dim – I couldn’t say for absolute certainty, but a few things come to mind: 1) Your left plastic eyepiece needs cleaning 2) For some reason, the left LED board is undervolted (it requires 5V – perhaps the trace on the cable is partially corroded) 3) the LED board has been previously replaced by a working one from a DIFFERENT VB unit, one that simply wasn’t as bright.

Now for your right screen – almost without exception, visual defects of this kind occur because the ribbon cables that attach the LED board to the motherboard on the VB are glued (GLUED!) onto the LED board instead of soldered. Nintendo cheaped out on this, which is absolutely baffling.

Aside from the gimmicky cables and the fragile mirrors, the VB is a very solid device – I would be absolutely shocked if I couldn’t get this up and running for you. I have modded my own VB with the VirtualTap, and am a very experienced solder monkey.

I, amongst others on this site, would be more than happy to take a look at your console and repair those lenses for you.

Joined the forum to inquire about just this.

I recently acquired a real score Virtual Boy wise except unsurprisingly the video output is dead. You can see here https://twitter.com/robinhoodie/status/1102717946110099457 . But yeah, I am looking to get the system fully operational. I would be fine with just having Furrtek’s VirtualTap installed and using the system that way without the 3D elements but my timing is terrible and he is no longer selling that device.

Just curious what you all think would be the best course of action?

I mean I certainly am kind of torn. As a showcase piece it would be cool to have the unit functioning as intended. I am casting around for offers to do the solder fix right now. Do users here feel like that is a good long term solution for keeping the system up and running?