DMG Gameboy Dot on screen

[Gunk]

My gameboy has a dot on the screen....it's "white" or green as you can call it, for example when playing donkey kong...the title screen his arms are all shaded in but this 1 little dot. dead/stuck pixel? is there a fix?

thanks

 

[Argelfraster]

You can't fix damaged pixels really.

 

[lightguard]

Hrm. Being "white" means that the pixel is off, and is probably dead; sorry, it's gone.

If it's on, then it's likely "stuck", and there are a few possible fixes. One is to have a program rapidly flash for a while to unstick the pixel, which would be hard to do on a gameboy. (the oscillation may unstick the pixel) The other way is to "massage" (literally, gently apply pressure to the location) a bit, and see if the pixel will unstick. Both methods are unreliable, though, and run the risk of damaging the screen further.

 

[nitro2k01]

Flashing the pixel shouldn't do any harm, but I doubt it will fix the pixel either. But if you have a flash cartridge I can write a small program for flashing the screen quickly.

 

[Bibin]

Oh an old Passive Matrix LCD, that kind of dead pixel simply won't occur. Lines go when the transistors do, and flashing won't help a Dang thing. Suck pixels don't happen, just stuck lines. Massaging it will make it worse. Here's why.

If it's a small dot, or splotch, I'm sorry but your LCD has a hairline crack somewhere that makes the actual LCD liquid leak out very slowly. That dot? It's a bubble.

What lightguard said only applies to active matrix LCDs (the more modern, faster ones). Passives are a whole different world.

 

[nitro2k01]

Lines go when the transistors do, and flashing won't help a Dang thing.

On that note, there's a more popular reason why lines die on a DMG: Because the ribbon cable is starting to come loose from the glass. If that is the case (and I know I'm off topic) it's easy to fix by stroking the connection with a hot soldering iron. Vertical lines are particularly easy. Horizontal lines are more cumbersome as that ribbon cable is attached at the bottom side of the screen. Still quite doable though.