I have spent many hours researching and discussing an issue I *think* I am experiencing with my Virtual Boy. I would like to attempt to describe what I see in detail and ask the community for opinions. Here goes…

My VB’s graphics appear to be warped or concave. Although it’s very slight, I swear I can see it clearly. The graphics appear to curve towards my eyes on the right and left screen edge. If you were to hold a business card up and were to push the center away from you while the sides are curved towards your face; that is what I think I am seeing. The center of the graphics, as in the middle of the screen, appears flat on the black background.

I can easily notice this phenomenon when playing Mario’s Tennis. When on the character selection screen the left and right edges of the character binding box seem to be closer to me than the center. Again, like the business card example, it appears to be concave in the same way where the center character is completely flat against the background. The option words also appear to be close to my eyes at the outside edges, the words then seem to flatten out as they get to the inside edge, however they never seem completely flat. I do want to add that when I am playing the bottom line of the court seems less curved than the graphics on the selection screen. Also when I move my head around the graphics seem to flatten out.

I also own Red Alarm, and the right and left HUD display graphics seem to have the same effect. The edges are close to my eyes while they wrap back diagonally inline with the “curve” effect which flattens out in the center.

Based on what I am experiencing I have come to the conclusion that the problem might be my eye, my glasses, the red plastic lenses, or something sinister due to the age of the Virtual boy.

I’m not sure it is my eyes because a few other people have told me that they can see a VERY SLIGHT concave effect. Two of these people do not wear glasses, so I’m pretty sure it is not my glasses. I’ve noticed that when I move my head around (left, right, up, down) the graphics seem to flatten out. If I move my head all the way to the left of the left lenses edge, the edges clear up and the graphics get much flatter. However, I swear, I can still see the concave graphic. If it is the Virtual Boy itself then I would like to get to the bottom of the problem.

I have adjusted the IPD and it does not diminish the effect. When the IPD is at an extreme the graphics seem “closer” together and the concave effect can still be seen. Just FYI I leave the IPD in the middle, as this is where I see the 4 VB symbols. I ran the alignment test and the mirrors appear to be aligned perfectly.

The reason for compiling my thoughts here and for asking if anyone else has experienced anything similar is because RunnerPack has agreed to assist me in the permanent soldering of my video ribbon cables. Before I fully commit do this update I want to determine if the problem is mine alone. I do not want to fix the cables if I am not going to keep the Virtual Boy, if it is determined that the problem is hardware related.
I am asking for the help of this wonderful community. Please let me know your stories, your experiences, and share your knowledge. I am sorry for this long post and all of the information contained within, I actually hope it is enough to get my point across. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know.

Thank you!

Do you have a fix now for that, or did the problem go away with the fixing of the cables?

The problem is the plastic part of the visor, take the visor completely off and get in a dark environment. There you will see that the problem is gone.
The plastic part seems to be a bit too deep to where the opening of the eye piece of the VB is at. This warps the image that is send through the eye piece.

wolfman wrote:
Do you have a fix now for that, or did the problem go away with the fixing of the cables?

i never did take the time to build a tool to take apart my VB. i’ve had a great offer from TheForce81 as well, and i know in my heart that i should take him up on it but i just haven’t found the time to grind down a bit.

i also kind of want to buy a brand new VB for the repair. the one i have does have some minor scratches on the red plastic lenses that cause a few black lines to appear in front of my eyes. i know its the plastic because the lines move as my eye moves, and i wear corrective lenses so i’m use to spotting that type of stuff.

there was one discussion here about trying to manufacturer some custom lenses, perhaps out of glass. i always hoped that they would actually be developed. right now i am considering trying to track down a perfect set of red lenses and then to bug TheForce81 for some of his free time =)

thanks for making a post here, seeing this old thread posted in makes me want to get off my butt and figure out what to do. the great thing about the permanent fix is that if the vb dies i can always buy a new one and swap in my perfectly repaired cables =)

Can you post a picture of this failure? Would be interesting to see, if possible…