Hardware New 3DS XL top screen suddenly washed out and pixelated

[Charganium]

Today I put my 3DS into sleep mode and set it down on a (cushioned) chair. When I opened it back up the top screen was faded and washed out. The rows of pixels are more obvious as well. It looks sort of like if the original GBA screen was backlit. In addition, it is slightly darker at the corners, and when the screen first lights up black when booting, you can see a faint imprint of the home menu display. Could this have been caused by entering sleep mode while in emuNAND? What else could've caused it? It looks like it suffered blunt force trauma or something but it didn't. Is it fixable? Can Nintendo themselves fix it? Will they update my system if they do?

I have attached some pictures. They aren't very good but you can clearly see the color difference.

 

[Aurora Wright]

Could this have been caused by entering sleep mode while in emuNAND? What else could've caused it? It looks like it suffered blunt force trauma or something but it didn't. Is it fixable? Can Nintendo themselves fix it? Will they update my system if they do?

1) no
2) defective hardware. it happens, sadly.
3) sure, I guess they can replace the screen.
4) yes, they always do

 

[tigerfrost]

Strange, depending on the age and usage of the handheld it could be the following .

1. a loose ribbon on the motherboard, there are 2 of these from the top display connecting to the motherboard and i have seen some that have not been making a connection causing this issue, a defective ribbon.

2. Screen fade caused by defective LCD, a rare instance and should be reported back to Nintendo if its still under warranty.

3. Water or moisture damage, this can be caused by hot and cold environments extreme conditions.

Has your 3ds been open before ? has it ever been subjected to water ?

 

[James310]

¡uʍop ǝpısdn ʇ,uǝɹɐ sǝɹnʇɔıd ǝɥʇ ɟı ןnɟdןǝɥ ǝq ןןıʍ ʇı

 

[Charganium]

1) no
2) defective hardware. it happens, sadly.
3) sure, I guess they can replace the screen.
4) yes, they always do

Are there any reputable non-Nintendo-affiliated places to get the screen replaced?

Strange, depending on the age and usage of the handheld it could be the following .

1. a loose ribbon on the motherboard, there are 2 of these from the top display connecting to the motherboard and i have seen some that have not been making a connection causing this issue, a defective ribbon.

2. Screen fade caused by defective LCD, a rare instance and should be reported back to Nintendo if its still under warranty.

3. Water or moisture damage, this can be caused by hot and cold environments extreme conditions.

Has your 3ds been open before ? has it ever been subjected to water ?

Only to remove the SD card, but I use it for a couple hours each day and my hands can get pretty sweaty.

Helpful if the images aren't UPSIDEDOWN

Not really

 

[tigerfrost]

Are there any reputable non-Nintendo-affiliated places to get the screen replaced?



Only to remove the SD card, but I use it for a couple hours each day and my hands can get pretty sweaty.



Not really

There is no way you can tell unless you open the 3ds and have a look at the ribbons connecting to the motherboard.
If its still under warranty i would send it to them for repair OR take it back to the shop you bought it from.

 

[porko]

the cable is the first suspect, more so because it happened just as you closed/opened the lid.

the good news is that it's easy to open up and inspect the cables.

flipping the pic would help, our brains would see it more clearly imo, especially since we're all used to seeing the home screen!

 

[Lucar]

Re-Uploaded the Images rotated 180°.

 

[Xexyz]

Re-Uploaded the Images rotated 180°.

View attachment 37104 View attachment 37105

It can't really see anything wrong, I just see a blurry picture.

 

[porko]

it's easier to see now, the difference seems pretty minimal... your description though, is clear enough.

have you tried opening it up to inspect the cables yet?

i have accidentally turned on the 3d before on my old regular 3ds, which made the top screen appear fuzzy, but since the xl has the notch this isn't very likely.

 

[funnystory]

Today I put my 3DS into sleep mode and set it down on a (cushioned) chair. When I opened it back up the top screen was faded and washed out. The rows of pixels are more obvious as well. It looks sort of like if the original GBA screen was backlit. In addition, it is slightly darker at the corners, and when the screen first lights up black when booting, you can see a faint imprint of the home menu display. Could this have been caused by entering sleep mode while in emuNAND? What else could've caused it? It looks like it suffered blunt force trauma or something but it didn't. Is it fixable? Can Nintendo themselves fix it? Will they update my system if they do?

I have attached some pictures. They aren't very good but you can clearly see the color difference.View attachment 37099 View attachment 37100

Looks like you have a TN screen.

 

[Lucar]

Looks like you have a TN screen.

TN?

 

[Xoo00o0o0o]

TN?

Its just a cheap type of display tech that usually has high color shift when adjusted vertically and horizontally as well as very dull colors.

 

[Lucar]

Its just a cheap type of display tech that usually has high color shift when adjusted vertically and horizontally as well as very dull colors.

Ah. Thanks for the response.

 

[Xoo00o0o0o]

To answer OPs question though, it does look like a failing LCD. If you're 3DS is out of warranty and you feel comfortable replacing the LCD/ribbon cables, I would do it because it is cheaper than buying a replacement 3DS in most cases. If you're still inside your warranty I would go ahead and send it to Nintendo, a broken 3DS with CFW is a lot less useful than a working 3DS with the newest firmware.

 

[BothyBhoy]

¡uʍop ǝpısdn ʇ,uǝɹɐ sǝɹnʇɔıd ǝɥʇ ɟı ןnɟdןǝɥ ǝq ןןıʍ ʇı

how the heck did you do that???? amazed!!!!....

 

[DSoryu]

Can't see clearly what the problem is, the phots are so blurry.

 

[Sirius64]

As others have said, looks similar to a loose or damaged ribbon cable. If it is a bad LCD, or the ribbon's damaged, and it's under warranty, I'd send it off. If they do update it, it's a freshly refurbished unit, and as such, worth a good chunk of change. You could put that money into getting a new unit with old firmware (Look into game bundles). Just make sure to backup your emuNAND.

If it's out of warranty, putting in a new LCD takes a while, but it isn't especially difficult.