Despite the incredible look of its
black and red shell, the new DS Lite that comes in the
Brain Age 2 bundle might not be the incredible piece of gaming hardware we've made it out to be. Over at GAF, one of the forum posters noticed the difference in viewing angle between the two and commented that it was the same (see: bad) on three different units he had encountered.
Is Nintendo changing the LCD screens on all of their DS Lites? Any of you encountering the same problem or have another DS Lite to compare with?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-27-2007 @ 3:08PM
Aaron said...
I think it's important to note that the problem -isn't- a dimmer screen, despite what the picture shows: this is a point the author of the original post stressed, and a large majority of people on other forums ( http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_ds_lobby/b7594/149264842/p1/?10 ) seem to be missing.
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8-27-2007 @ 3:11PM
.midnight said...
I have a new White one that seems to be manufactured very recently (according to serial number) and it suffers the same problem: horrible vertical viewing angle. My launch DSL did not have that problem... I'm guessing that my white DS has the same screen as those Brain Age 2 bundle one. I have a few days to exchange it, so I better settle this issue.
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8-27-2007 @ 3:30PM
Kia said...
Hmm... I have an original white one and this new red/black one. I will have to take another look and see if there is a difference. Please let your readers know if Nintendo makes any announcements regarding this issue.
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8-27-2007 @ 4:02PM
bryan said...
Nintendo is probably just using old DS Lite systems that were sent in by customers that had issues with their systems.
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8-27-2007 @ 5:23PM
Teddy said...
The touchscreen of my crimson/onyx DSL has a slight yellow tint on the upper 1/3 of the screen. I also have a white DSL which I bought last year and it doesn't have that yellow tint (I compared the two side by side in the dark). I was thinking about returning it, but based on what I'm hearing/reading, I would probably end up with another yellow-tinted unit, maybe worse. I notice it mostly on games which use white screens a lot, like Brain Age and BA2. With most games, the screens are OK, at least at the 3rd brightness setting. With my white DSL, the 2nd brightness setting is enough.
Anyway, I had considered trading in my white DSL if a gloss-silver DSL would be released next year. Now because of the cheaper/inferior screens being used, I'm sticking with my white DSL until the next generation Nintendo portable. I hope it holds together until then. I think I'm also keeping my crimson/onyx. Red is my favorite color.
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8-27-2007 @ 5:44PM
Jack said...
Yes. I Just recently purchased a Nintendo DS Onyx that is fairly newly made, and i have the exact same problem that the Red & Black DS has. I Never noticed it until today though, because I hold my DS looking at me, and never at an angle
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8-27-2007 @ 6:14PM
NetOperator Wibby said...
hmm ... that is a problem but it seems that mine is working okay (i got the new red and black lite). of course, i can't tell a *real* difference b/c i don't have anything to compare it too, apart from my teal NDS ... and that's pretty old.
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8-27-2007 @ 6:49PM
MDJ said...
I have the crimson/onyx DSL and I've noticed the same yellowish tint on the touch screen that Teddy mentioned above in comment #5. Not sure about the viewing angle problem because I no longer have my onyx model from last year.
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8-27-2007 @ 9:07PM
Seph-kun said...
I've played a few of my friends' DS Lite systems...and remembering when playing those, and comparing my DS Lite to those times...I see no problems. But the bright colors hurt my eyes.
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8-27-2007 @ 10:56PM
james said...
Didn't notice the problems mentioned, but I did notice that the touch screen had a different "feel", the stylus seemed to glide more smoothly over the old one (which I had available to do a side-by-side comparison). In fact, with the new DS the stylus almost seems to drag along the surface, and I noticed a scratch after one day's play -- something that never occurred with my old white system after months of play. It also had a more noticable glare in day-light, and the glare itself was wavy rather than straight & reflective like the other Lite. I'm pretty bummed, because unfortunately I can't return it and get my traded-in Lite back.
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8-27-2007 @ 11:30PM
james said...
Oh, another thing -- when cleaning the top screen I noticed that it has that weird liquid silver smear more and with less pressure applied than the other DS Lite. These definitely seem to be lower quality. That being said, I do appreciate the feel of the matte surface for the lower half, the start and select buttons have a satisfying "click" to them, and the d-pad seems tighter. Screens are a definite bummer, though.
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8-27-2007 @ 11:41PM
Rob said...
I just tried my wife's Brain Age DS today. The color fidelity does not seem as good between the two screens as my launch day lite ,and the bottom screen feels bouncier.
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8-28-2007 @ 12:01AM
Teddy said...
Yeah, it doesn't feel smooth when you use the stylus on the touchscreen. I can live with the yellow tint since it's not that bad, but I may have to return it because of the "rough" feel of the touchscreen. Maybe I'll wait for Nintendo to introduce the "improved-quality" version of the crimson/onyx.
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8-28-2007 @ 12:47AM
Scout650 said...
It's weird, I never actually noticed the yellow tint until I saw this article. It doesn't bother me that much. Plus, since I put a screen protector on it the first day, I never noticed a difference in dragging my stylus between the red/black and my white one. Kind of a bummer that it ended up like this, but I could deal with it. Maybe Nintendo might do a factory recall.
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8-28-2007 @ 10:40AM
james said...
I don't really think these are recall worthy problems, but it would be nice to hear some acknowledgment that they are using lower quality screens and that, hopefully, they plan to return to previous manufacturers. But, yeah right, investors would not like that at all.
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8-28-2007 @ 2:59PM
Jen D. said...
I have a crimson/onyx DS and a white DS that was purchased shortly after they came out. I haven't noticed the yellow tint that other people have described, but I have noticed that the newer DS screen has more glare. I put screen protectors over all of my DS screens, so this has reduced the problem a lot. I haven't noticed any sensitivity issues with the touchscreen, either. As an improvement, the buttons on the newer DS feel a lot crisper. The buttons on the old DS always felt a little mushy.
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8-31-2007 @ 2:29PM
Alisha Karabinus said...
I got mine about four days ago and I haven't noticed anything weird with mine at all -- maybe I got a second batch.
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9-10-2007 @ 2:34AM
Jon said...
Have the yellow-ish touchscreen as well. Can't really compare it to any previous versions of the ds since this is my first one. Just a point to add, that when both screens fade to black, the bottom screen still looks lit (gray-ish), whilst the top screen is completely black.
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9-27-2007 @ 6:01PM
Zubayr said...
i sent both my launch day white nintendo ds lites in for repair about a month ago, i got new ones back recently and yes, there is a difference in the screens. Theres a difference in the viewing angles, AND the back light on the bottom screen isn't as white as it used to be on my launch day ones. its more yellow on both of the new ones i received back. this might not be on all new models, and it isnt anything major, but i sure regret sending my launch day ones in. just thought i'd let you all know.
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10-03-2007 @ 5:08PM
brad said...
our comments: Well I just bought the Crimson/Oynx today.. and I thought my first one
was broken. I returned it and got another, and it was the same. So the comparison has begun.. and it's not all bad...
check it out:
http://ndsskinny.com/?p=65
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