Backlight and Bivert Your Original Game Boy DMG! 

I'm told that newer versions of the Hand Held Legend backlight kit have been revised so that the resistor is built into the backlight itself. If you pick up one of these kits, it won't include a separate resistor, so the step in the video that shows installing one can be skipped.

I watched your RU-vid channel about backlight and bivret your DMG. Like 20 times to get the confidence to do it myself. And I did its amazing. My very first soldering job was a success. Thank you for making it look so easy.

Collin, I just wanted to say, YOUR CHANNEL FRICKING ROCKS! You showed me how to backlight some consoles, and all your other stuff. I found you a couple weeks ago and I already love it, keep on making more videos!

just finished mine. I can see so much more detail. I did the backlight and front screen mods. Very happy. this tutorial was extremely helpful.

I've been working on modding my old Gameboy Color (had it for about 20 years, wow), adding a backlit screen and a rechargeable battery pack to it (among other things). When I showed it to my mom, she remembered that she still had her own Gameboy put away in a random dresser drawer (funny enough, it's the same as the one in the video!), and asked me if I could mod it as well. Your video will definitely be helpful once I start working on it, so thank you for making it!

I performed this mod to my Play it Loud Clear Gameboy DMG tonight, worked flawlessly. Thank you for taking the time to make easy to follow tutorials like this!

I just ordered a kit to mod my clear DMG Play It Loud Gameboy. I wouldn't have the confidence taking apart my systems and modding them if it weren't for this channel. Collin, you rock!

Hey Colin thanks so much for this video. I've been a touring musician for over a decade and have been working on guitars (mainly pickups and electronic changes) so I have a fair bit of soldering experience, but haven't done much on logic boards aside from guitar pedal mods. Your instructions were awesome and clear. I had a great time doing the mods and I'm excited to see more videos from your channel!

Thank you Collin! I just got done doing a backlight and bivert mod on my DMG. It turned out great. Couldn't have done it without this awesome, simple, and detailed video. You rock!

Gameboy = No light Pocket = No light Pocket Light = Finally we have light Colour = NO LIGHT?!?! WTF NINTENDO!

Thanks for making this video. I received my parts from handheld legend today and had the bivert mod installed by the time the video was over. I backlit my DMG a year or two ago, but soldering the bivert chip was too hard for me.....not anymore thanks to that little PCB assembly :)

Just coming back to say thanks Colin, I'd be nowhere without your videos, awesome work mate.

Thank you! Just finished the backlight and bivert mod. This tutorial video was a big help. Enjoying your channel a lot. Good job there!

I just wanted to thank you profusely for making this vid and keeping it up. I just modded my original DMG and your tutorial helped immensely! I watched all the other backlight vids and read through a bunch of website tutorials, but yours is the best. I did the backlight and bivert, full recap kit, actual glass screen cover with dark gray bezel, changed out the red power LED for a blue one, and switched the red/maroon buttons for dark grey. Per Retro Modding dot com, I also added a 5V regulator for the backlight so that it doesn't overload the CPU regulator. The only soldering I'd done before this was reconnecting wires that had come loose in a few things. My Gameboy is so cool now! Thanks again!

Colin, I started watching your videos and your channel is one of my favorites now. Performed my mod and looks amazing! Thank you!

It's a crime that your videos don't have more views, considering their amazing quality. Thank you for your hard work!

This video gave me the push I needed to actually backlight my DMG. It was a ton of fun doing it, actually! Thanks so much!

It's me again. I found your channel a few weeks ago, and I'm addicted to those modding videos. Seems like your videos got me into modding my handheld devices. I had no idea how fun it is to take the soldering iron and make those handhelds better. I just ordered some more Hand Held Legend Kits to apply them with the help of your videos. Again, thank you for making these videos. Best wishes from Germany

I just finished up. Thanks for the walkthrough. I did run into an issue, though. The pad for the ground wire came off the chip, but luckily I was able to get around it.

Thanks for the video! A word of warning though when it comes to peeling off the layers. If your screen looks green, there's still another layer. I thought I had both layers but I didn't and it cost me a front section board! Someone gave me a useful tip as well for peeling off the layers. Use a pair of pliers and roll the layers. It's tricky but it worked really well. I couldn't do it all in one "roll" but it really helped me.

Bro, I didn't even know desoldering braid was a thing. Thanks for this video. Not only could I not have done it without you, but you leveled up my weak solder game in general.

I like the look of the guy when he speaks: it has something urgent. Might as well be from Star Trek... just with other text :D Greetings from Germany

The back-light is SO nice. Not even my GBA SP is the back lit model, and I do have a front lit GBC (with loca) but it really is a shame that the older DMGs can be back lit, but not the "newer" GBCs! :/

Thanks Collin! This really helped a lot I managed to back light and bi-vert my Game Boy with little to no problems, it looks amazing!

Thank you for the tutorial, I’ll be watching this later as I try to mod my first DMG 😁

It's been fun, watching these videos. I learned a lot about the works of modding your handhelds. As is I modded my GBC and GBA with their Frontlight LOCA procedure and an AGS 101 Backlight. Unfortunately when I was working on this one, I gooched up two DMG models when attempting to install the Bivert chip. I made an order for another DMG model but I'm only going to stick with just the backlight on that one.

I've done two of these mods and the quality is absolutely flawless. Looking to do a third one soon

Just used this guide to install a beautiful orange backlight from HHL into my DMG. Thanks loads for making this tutorial (not to mention making it so easy to follow), and setting me down the path to an awesome new hobby!

Came back to re-visit this video. This is how i learned...about 150 mods later thanks to this vid!

+1 to trimming the plastic on the screen bracket. I didn't at first, and it was causing too much pressure on the ribbon cable, resulting in a purplish discoloration in the upper right corner of my screen. Also had to back out those two top screws at the top of the bracket just a little.

Followed your tutorial step by step, struggled with getting some of the adhesive off the backside of the lcd, otherwise this video was perfect for someone like myself, who has very average soldering skills. That desoldering ribbon was a must! Anyway, thank you.

Thanks for the details buddy. Its amazing how crisp the screen is now with the bivert/back light... amazing .

Thanks for this video. The blue LED looks pretty cool with your black GB. I saw on the website, they have a nice yellow green LED that really captures the original GB style, I think I’ll try that one.

This was my go to video and thanks for your detail and explanation on everything. I was able to do all these mods myself and now my Gameboy is ready to be passed on to my children as a kind of 90s heirloom.

Thanks for the tutorial, it helped me a lot! The problem is with the backlight module installed the display is higher compared w/o backlight module. It's quite some pressure on the metal plate with the screen on it if put all the screws in...but it works fine!

Love my Blue DMG! I was scrubbing at the glue for an hour and a half before I gave up and looked online to see how other people did it in 2-3 minutes. Turns out I forgot to remove the Polarization film! I would also recommend using the resistor, my first screen was pink, it worked for a couple hours, then it wouldn't turn on.

Hey, wanted to say thanks for making these tutorials. Just finished successfully installing a backlight in a DMG for the first time using this.

Thank you so much for making this video. Actually all your videos. You gave me the confidence to get into moding and fixing game devices. I got the stuff from hand held legend. Now I just need to find the time. Cheers.

I have almost no experience in this sort of thing but the mod looked really awesome. Watched your video a few times, bought the parts from handheld legend and then went for it myself. The only issue I ran into was that the pins from the ribbon cable could not reach the pins on the bivert chip for me, so I used some 28 guard wire to bridge the gap. I used the V1 chip (which they have since come out with the V2 that has been extended by 2mm which I think would have fixed that problem for me) but I got it running none the less. Thanks for the video!

you make peeling off the sliver backing look easy ...... Great video. Bought tools and back light just from watching this video.

Hi,i have a problem with backlight mod. I powered on and i see inverted color (white is black and viceversa) . Did i do something wrong?

Awesome video! Now I have this mod, thaks to your instructions (just a note, the pixels aren't blue, blue is the color the polarizer filters in that 90º angle)

I did not receive a replacement metal strip in my package from HHL. They said to re-use one of the existing strips I peeled off (which I had already thrown away). When I took the second strip off after curing the loca, the LED strip came off with it. I had to use Gorilla glue and tooth picks to re-attach the LED strip. When I trimmed the plastic molding per the video, I accidentally scratched the front plastic screen requiring a new screen... Without the replacement strip, the LEDs shine a bit too brightly toward the user further washing out the screen. Overall, the procedure worked but I wouldn't do it a second time.

Thanks for sharing , I just purchased an old Game boy and cant wait to modify it.

Luck was not on my side with it. The final layer (I think it was the reflector) did not come up with the other layers, and sadly while I was peeling it up the knife slipped straight through the ribbon cable :/ *Sigh* Could do the NESRGB mod no problem but can't do the backlight on the gameboy lol

Short and to the point. I've seen a lot of videos but will refer to this one on my next project

Thank you for the tutorial, mate. It's the best one I could find on youtube and it has helped me backlight and bivert my first DMG!

I have only watched 2 minutes into this video and I can say it is the best tutorial for the back light mod. Thank you!!

i would love to do this for a project at school, love your channel!!!

Wow! That bivert module is super easy to install compared even to other easy modules I've used. I'm on the lookout for a DMG with a fully working display so I can do this. Unfortunately due to health problems my girlfriend has to do the soldering as my hands shake and red hot soldering iron + shaky hands = "what smells like barbecued pork? Oh, it's my fingertips." :/ Great video Collin, thanks. You always keep these things concise & straightforward. :)

Just found your channel and love the content, really well produced and informative. Especially this mod! I just ordered a bunch of bivert chips to put into my already modded systems. I used to use ASM Retro backlights, but they have shut down. I will try some of the Handheld Legend ones in the future as they look the same.

Thanks for explaining what the bivert module does!

I was installing the bivert mod and I thought I shorted somthing because the screen was all black (sound and every worked though). so after a few minutes of panicking I figured out that the 3 circular solder contacts were not making good connection and after doing those over it works now!

Done cheers man, only addition i made was a 100 ohm resistor to the screen wire for backlight only mod

Amazing, man. Your channel is awesome. I am a collector and modder and I can't thank you enough for your videos.

Great video! Detailed instructions with super video quality. It really shows how good this mod is.

the fact that you peeled that thing off in one piece blows my mind. It took almost an hour for me to get all mine off

I remember peeling off the film and leaving loads of dried adhesive on the glass. It took me literally 10 hours to rub it away with isopropyl and a swab.

I would cut the red, blue, and black wires to length, then solder them in place. Makes it look a lot cleaner and there's less junk inside to get in the way.

Hi, I have reached the end of the tutorial, and when I reverse the polarization blade 90 degrees, does not reverse the contrast only attenuates it. What I can do? Thank you

Just did a mod with the bivert chip and handheld legend backlight. I think the handheld legend backlights are slightly better on their own than the previous asm retro ones I was using. Also wow what a world of difference with the bivert chip! I am going to have to go back and retrofit my other 6 systems that already have backlights with these chips

Currently bidding on 5 of those that could use some cleaning, new screen covers (1 is missing off of it), new cases or retr0briting, inspections, and a quick test to see if they still work. I'll be doing the backlight mod for them (different colors for the case colors) with the biverting board as well. This will be a fun project to do with the units. The GameBoy Advanced will be slightly harder to do a backlight mod as I need to find a backlit GBA SP, and check to see which ribbon cable adapter is the right one for the GameBoy Advanced. I did the frontlight mod on my GameBoy Color and it's better than playing it in the dark, however, my plan is to get a backlit screen from mid-west electronics, if they weren't sold out for the July batch.

Thanks for the great video Collin, I just biverted my Game Boy and it works like a charm!

i remove the polarize film very carefully but after that the screen had orizindial lines!!! why did this happen?

You know with the bivert mod, the only thing holding it back is the fact where working with a passive matrix LCD from the late 80s. It just has some seroius motion blur. However the bivert mod really softens the blow with a much much higher amount of contrast and making the pixels look alot sharper. Still, God help little jimmy trying to play super mario land 2 on a road trip in 1993

This was a great tutorial that made this whole process really easy! I look forward to future videos!

I ordered the backlight earlier, but never ordered the bivert module since it would put my purchase over the limit for duties tax here... I'll probably get it at some point in the future.

I'm stuggling to bridge the pins with the bivert module. I accomplished this on my first mod after quite a bit of effort, but it's not going so well on my second. I find that the the module sits much higher than it does in your video and I can't close the gab without creating a mess that doesn't seem to get the job done. Any advice?

That Black on Black looks really awesome!

So I followed all the steps and installed everything including the bivert. At the end I'm supposed to rotate the polarizing screen that's included with the backlight to invert the image back to normal but it didn't work. It goes from inverted to dark. Irealized that the original polarizing layer is still there, was I supposed to take it off with the reflective layer? Why would I need two polarizing screens?

Could someone please tell me how to do this while keeping the original green color of the screen?? Isn't there a different film that you use or something?

I took a damaged screen I had from an auction I won and decided to play around. I removed the front polarization film and turns out that when you turn it 90 degrees it has that bluish tint to it just like the results of the bivert mod. So the bluish hue you see after the bivert mod is the color of the polarization film on the front part of the lcd screen.

This is a very well made tutorial. I managed to mod my Gameboy DMG without much trouble. However, I struggled to get the polarizing and reflective layers off the back of the LCD. Once I got it all done and put back together. I realized that a couple horizontal lines were dead. Upon reopening it and inspecting the ribbon cable for the LCD rows, I noticed I nicked a couple of the lines. :/ So the options I have left: attempt a VERY difficult repair, transplant an LCD from a dead Gameboy DMG, or transplant an LCD from a Gameboy Pocket.

Pretty slick! & all for less than 20 bucks in mods.

Hi, I recently worked on a gameboy that was wet enough for its reflector to turn into flakes. Also the plastic that helps the ribbon canle go in anglued and corroded. I was able to remove the corrosion and glue all the pins. I was able to return the gameboy to life. I peeled what needed to be peeled and installed everything as shown. Now, when i turn it on, the screen doesn't show anything until i add a third filter(back, front and a third on it) and even then its very very faint on max contrast with wierd colorrs on sides. Does anyone know whats wrong? Thank you.

Hello I have a problem with the sticker back of the polarizer...I separate the first and the second is still on the screen(I think it's the reflector nickel colour sticker)...what can I do?are you selling ready prep led screens to put on?

hey thanks for the video. I just bought an orange backlight and a biverter mod from handheld legend

You should've mentioned that there's a polarization film on the front of the LCD as well and that you should not touch it. I wound up peeling it off by accident and only found out that it's required afterwards.

i finally did it. installing the bivert mod using just the chip was an unholy nightmare. but i did it. i also went ahead & installed the internal pro sound mod. now the visuals & sound are amazing

The game boy actually has four layers of orange, but it only displays as green! That's pretty cool,

I somehow screwed up lcd ribbon. I had it working with just the backlight. did the bivert no problem, but when moving the polarizer, the lcd pixels messed up and never recovered. Turns out I ripped off a trace lifting up the glass the first time removing the original film. It somehow worked for the backlight, but I permanently damaged it lift off the glass again. Bummer. Another gameboy on eBay I guess..

Just finished mine. Thanks for the clear walkthrough.

So installed my first mod on my gameboy, here are a few tips, and things i learned from doing it. When peeling the film from the screen, make sure you all the layers, when i peeled mine, i got a transparent layer and the metallic layer together, little did i know i missed one layer which was filled with glue, i thought this cleanable with alcohol and no, you cannot get it out with alcohol because it is another layer you have to remove. After i peeled it out, there was some sticky residue left but with a bit of goo gone and alcohol i was able to remove it. If you havent removed the correct layers, if you look at your screen from the front it should be yellow, that means you still have one layer to go. If you don't feel like cutting the piece of plastic where the screen goes, you can avoid that by using thinner cables, i did that and was able to pass the cables under the plastic frame that holds the screen without cutting it. The polarizer screen asks you to remove a film form the front and back, mine came with 2 on each side instead of one. I didn't know what to do, but i removed all of them, sometimes they come with three or four. After removing all the layers, you have to put it in the correct side, you will know if it isn't correct because you will see bubbles under your screen. if you see bubble or bits of lint, that side is electro statically charged. You have to flip it up to the other side. When putting things back together the board that holds the screen contains like 10 screws, i advise not to the tighten too much the screws that are around the screen, i did that and put to much pressure, after putting everything back together, there was an area where looked brighter and a different color on my screen (top right corner to be exact) i loosened that screw and it looked normal. Good luck everyone. Send me a message if you need help, i am not expert but i did learn some things when installing mine.i.imgur.com/T3LjXzu.jpg

Great video! Unfortunately, I managed to ruin my screen. Must have put too much pressure on it as the whole bottom right corner is black. 😩

Great video! I look forward to trying this mod out myself.

thank you i successfully modded my gb, your channel is great!!!

Thank you for the video, the step by step installation was super clear and easy thanks to you. But... something is wrong on my end, and I really don't understand what. I followed everything you said and I'm sure I didn't do any mistakes (peeling the original polarizer was also really easy). Here's the problem : for some strange reason, the only way I can see what's going on on the screen is by looking at it at a weird angle. Let me explain : if the gameboy is on the table, I need to put my ear on the table, then look at the screen, then I see A LITTLE of what is going on. Man... I don't know what to do now. All connections are clean.. tried the polarizer both ways. I did peel off the tiny plastic film that was on the LED panel, but I'm pretty sure I had to do that as this was just a protective plastic film (same as the ones on the polarizer). Any hint ? :( Oh by the way the problem was already there before I installed the bivert chip.. so it is not caused by the chip...

Colin, bro. What a sick video, I mean really good stuff. I just released my bivert/backlight video the day after you! Was hoping to get a good soldering video of the bivert chip to the board but I can't compete with a champ like you :D man, that's so good. I'm going to use your tips and focus on improving my biverts to the custom Gameboys I make. If you shoot me a message I'd like to discuss some things with you, thanks again for such an awesome video! PS I would private message you but you don't have that option in your channel, and I don't have a twitter! xD

Hi! can someone maybe help me? I've install the backlight and bivert chip. But when I turn the polarizing film nothing changed. All bought by handheld shop. Thanks

My polarizing film doesn't work. When I hold it in front of an monitor, it gets clearish everytime I rotate it 90 degrees. If I rotate it about 45 degrees it gets a little darker looking. I installed the bivert module, which reversed all of the pixels as it should, but putting the polarizing film behind the LCD every possible direction has no effect. It doesn't reverse the pixels back. What gives? I had a spare gameboy without the bivert, so I'm using it instead. I put the polaring film in even though it doesn't polarize anything. I just like how it makes the backlight slightly dimmer so it isn't as harsh.

Thank you so much! After months of carefully studying this video and other videos I finally did it!

I removed the reflective film from a DMG-01 last night.....very difficult. You might mention that there are 3 layers. Wasn't sure from video, you say "all the layers". Is it possible to unsolder one side of the ribbon cable then reattach? I have soldered stuff like this before. That would make it easier to remove the film. Not sure if it is worth the risk of desoldering and resoldering.

Hi, I followed your instruction installing the backlight LCD, but I have a problem. When I turn on the console, the screen lights on but I can't see anything. I hear the game sounds but the screen remains all black. Can you help me solving this problem? Thank you very much.

This is one of the best diy electronics videos I've seen, period. I wish you had some Atari 2600 mod videos! Thanks!

Shower thought: do reflective RGB screens work the same way? I.E. could I remove the foil from a NGPC and install a backlight?

Nice video. I have a few Game Boys laying around I need to give something like this a try.

I highly suggest against using a glass screen. There not laminated. My daughter knocked my DMG off of a low table yesterday and the screen shattered. Glass was everywhere, scratched the outer polarizer, and cause some LCD cancer. I decided to backlight and Bivert it for practice. I will never use a glass GB screen protector again. Just stock up on the plastic ones.

Tnx for this great Video :) my GameBoy is happy when the Kit will be installed soon

Hi! I did all what you say; the backlight works, the bivert, no and first of all I see nothing on the screen, except the light. I ear the sound, but no game on the screen. What I have to do? Thanks.

feels odd turning to youtube comments for a forum type request. but not sure where else to go. I've done this mod, backlight fires up just fine. audio rolls like it nothing has changed. contrast wheel sweeps screen decently. but no picture...literally no signs of life from what game is in the slot. do you guys have any idea what could be wrong?