2.6-inch IPS screen: a Game Boy Color you can finally read

The Game Boy Color's original screen is not backlit: as soon as the light drops, the image fades. This 2.6-inch IPS panel replaces it with a high-brightness backlit display, with a pixel grid mode that recreates the grain of a period screen. This is a modding part: it is fitted inside the console, in place of the original LCD.

What it does

• Backlit IPS panel: stable colours and wide viewing angles, where the original reflective panel washes out as soon as you tilt the console or the light is poor.
• Larger display area: 2.6-inch diagonal, versus 2.3 inches on the original screen — the image fills the shell's window better.
• Pixel grid mode: an optional rendering that redraws the lines between pixels, to recover the original look rather than a smoothed image.

What it doesn't do

• Cannot be installed without opening the console: you need to remove the motherboard and the original screen, then reconnect the ribbon cable.
• Does not fit into an intact original shell: the 2.6-inch panel is larger than the console's, so the screen window must be trimmed — or the shell replaced with an IPS-ready model.
• Does not improve the resolution of games: the Game Boy Color displays 160 × 144 pixels; the screen makes them more readable, not sharper.
• Does not extend battery life: a backlit screen uses more power than the original reflective panel.
• Not suitable for any other machine: not the Game Boy DMG, the Game Boy Pocket or the Game Boy Advance.

Compatibility

Game Boy Color (model CGB) only. Not compatible with the original Game Boy (DMG), Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Advance SP: the panel format and pinout differ. The colour you choose corresponds to the protective lens supplied with the screen, with the "No logo" version supplied without any screen-printed marking — write to us before ordering if a specific colour is essential.

Skill level required

Intermediate level, about an hour. Opening with a tri-wing screwdriver (Y1), removing the original screen, connecting the supplied ribbon cable to the screen board. Then plan to adjust the shell's screen window: needle file, rotary burr or IPS-ready shell. Work with an anti-static wrist strap.

In the box

• 1 IPS screen, 2.6 inches, with its driver board
• 1 connection ribbon cable
• 1 protective lens in the chosen colour

Supplied without games or console, in compliance with the law.

Read before ordering: Retro Peripherals

Delivery in 10 to 18 days · ships within 3 to 5 days · 2-year legal guarantee · 14-day returns.