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Adding Oled Or Backlight?

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  • 4 weeks later...

anyone ever heard of the afterburner? Its a kit for the original GBA, and it takes som installation, but what it does is illuminates the screen, like a gba SP. Why couldnt you do the same thing for a MD?

i believe it´s possible, the only thing you need is a el-foil that is fully transparent. (just like the afterburner-kit, which is unfortunately no longer available, and very expensive anyways)

-i just dissected my nh900 to remove some dust that was between the diplay and the cover, and i think that the space there should be sufficient to apply.

if you take a closer look at the display of your unit, you can see that there's about 0.5mm space between the cover and the display.

i think there's not much that can be done to the display itself, since it's in a metal frame, should be hard to mod that. but i'll investigate on those foils.

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could it be possible to access the "el-power" from the remote somehow ? this would be the most practical source, since it offers auto-on/off..

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  • 2 weeks later...

Someone (a coworker) dropped a jar on my NH900 and made a dent on the top edge (about 1/4 inch above the LCD). I had to take the sucker apart to 'unbend' the metal. It still has a scar. But it works fine.

What I did notice, however, is the fact that you could dent the thing. That means some hollow space. So I had an idea of getting an LED, stashing it in there and wiring it to some power source. Heck, I was ready to take apart a solar calculator and get started.

Then school and work hit me. But it's a thought. You wouldn't be truly backlit, but ghetto-style lit like those old watches (pre-Indiglo). The only technical hurdle I can think of is how to store solar energy. Or, can you draw enough power from the battery? Without interrupting the power supply to the main circuitry? I wish I could get my hands on broken models to play with.

But work and school smile.gif

Any geeks out there (trust me, that's not an insult, but a compliment, these forums have helped me out immensely => I have a love/hate relationship with Sony because of MDs and you guys heal the frustration) that can figure this out, it's an idea. I think it's definitely possible to have some lighting in the chamber above the LCD. There are thin gaps where light can flow down and out.

Good luck! cool.gif

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VERY cool. I'm not the one with the knowhow OR equipment, but I'll be watching this eagerly. I would gladly pay someone to do this to mine. Geez - you can't even read that display in the daylight, unless lighting conditions are perfect... Other than that, I love this machine.

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Wont it be easier just to buy a remote with backlight?

As one who is easily amused, I too have been following this thread with interest and curiosity.

Yes, using the backlit 3-line remote does help. But not all menu functions are accessible via remote. For my purposes, that primarily means getting into the record menu to set it to Manual. I suppose I could memorize the sequence...and risk fubar-ing the concert.

Me, I'm safer just setting it up outside or in the head, and keeping it on pause until the action starts. BTW, it has been my experience that you can keep the MD in REC/PAUSE indefinitely, i.e. it won't shut off after x minutes in REC/PAUSE (though it would consume battery power). Does anyone know or experience otherwise?

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Me, I'm safer just setting it up outside or in the head, and keeping it on pause until the action starts.  BTW, it has been my experience that you can keep the MD in REC/PAUSE indefinitely, i.e. it won't shut off after x minutes in REC/PAUSE (though it would consume battery power).  Does anyone know or experience otherwise?

been using the same method with my NH900 and haven't seen the batt indicator budge even one stripe even when having it on rec/pause for quite a long time (almost 3/4 of an hour), nor seen the player shut off... so think this probably the best way to circumvent the 'no backlight'-recording-handicap of this otherwise pretty little machine

and at least seems safer to me (and probably a lot of techno-illiterates like me)

Edited by The Low Volta
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Okay, just to keep the ideas flowing, since this thread is captivating solely on the "this close to making it work" merit...

Timex watches with that funky Inidglo backlight are pretty thin, and the light would have to run off very little power. Why not strip down a Timex and figure out how to power the watch's light source on your MD battery? Even a goofy, anemic hack job would work in a dark venue. And how cool would it be to install a tiny LED inside the unit for when you swap discs, or behind the mic jack so you can find it at night?

C'mon, if high schoolers can pimp out thier 4-cylinder subcompacts with neon, why can't we add light effects to our MD recorders? I draw the line at excessive pinstriping, though. happy.gif

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I have been thinking about this. If the light were internal how would it be powered? I am assuming that it needs to be in series with the remote or main unit (if this assumption is wrong please correct me). So I believe that although it may look untidy, a "snake light" from the external battery holder would be more practical.

If you open the battery holder, you can see that where it connects to the unit, the pins are in contact with metal strips. If you placed a "custard cream" (biscuit = tin foil/copper foil, cream = insulator e.g. 2 sided tape) between a pin and strip you could run an led from that. Its just a thought, and i would give it a go if the only led i have ran off anything less that 3 volts....

On the other hand, if i had a broken nh900, lots of money, or more confidence in my electrical skills i would definently give mounting an internal light a go. There is loads of room, its just a matter of how to power it....

Edited by matrulesok
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OK, correction, the pins and strips are connected, so the connection would have to be made elsewhere in the box.

As far as the light goes, I have taken an old casio watch apart and tried the led. It is not very powerful, but is tiny and ou would be able to see if recording was on or not. However it may not even be good enough for menu browsing. But that is from 1 watch, the first one i tried was good enough, but i broke it when tring to solder it (because of its size).

This external light is definently do-able, but it may prove less effective that i first planned.

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Well, it works in parrallel, so thats another correction i guess. tongue.gif I soldered the wires to the capacitor in the battery box. My effort is flawed in a few ways:

1) wires are too thick - battery box doesnt fit together again - easily fixed

2) light is too dim - can only see about 3 characters at a time - easily fixed

3) nh900 doesnt work on external aa power alone - did it anyway? - potential problem.

4) no on-off switch - can be fixed, but how big will it be

Assuming that problem 3) can be fixed (I think it was caused by 1))this method with thiner wires and a brighter light will definently work, but is it worth the extra effort over a keyring led???

I hope that someone gets round to trying an internal light as it seems possible. Good luck. Im off to put my battery box back together...

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Edited by matrulesok
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This thread got me thinking, what about the possibility of using the backlight from my nice, big RM-MC40ELK instead of a small flashlight to shine onto the NH900's display in the dark, so I could enter the REC Settings menu to set the record volume to manual?

Nice thought...but no. The backlight's glow doesn't put enough light on the screen to make the display visible.

I also hadn't previously noticed whether you could "monitor" the menu settings from the remote, as you navigated through the NH900's menu. That would have been a nice "second best." I tried it at a concert last evening...again, no dice. The remote's display does not reflect what is on the NH900's display, as you navigate the menus (though I did notice that when you change recording level on the remote, you can also see it change on the MD's display).

Rats, drats, and darn-its.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Time to end all hopes of retrofitting any form of backlight/sidelight.

Forget it guys, it doesn't work.

Even for a sidelight, it is necessary, that the reflective Layer is transmissive.

And that is not the case with the displays used in the NH700&900.

I have a scanner receiver here, that has a display light(sidelight) and the same type of display.

The result: The display contents are invisible in the dark, only the dust behind the frontglass is well lighted.

My recommendation: Leave your recorder as it is and get one of those little LED lights, available for a few bucks on ebay(Photon light/Led Lenser, etc.).

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