Topic: Screen Comparison: SP, DS, Micro

[Shecky]

Ok, so there are technically 5 units in question:

1) Original GBA SP
2) Updated GBA SP with the newer screen
3) Nintendo DS
4) Nintendo DS Light
5) Micro GBA

I have witnessed first hand (1) (3) and (5).  I'm going to guess the above is also the right ranking of screen quality, from "worst" to "best".  Although, (2) and (3) may be the same screen.  The micro's screen is actually quite impressive... reminds me of the PSP in the luminance and clarity.  Is there any word on what kind of screens will be in the DS Light?  I'm guessing it will use the same setup as the micro for volume and brightness adjustments (for those who don't know, it uses up and down push buttons for volume, which also double as a brightness adjustment if the L trigger is held).  That doesn't mean its going to look like the micro in quality though...

Micro really is a *sharp* screen.  To bad the units don't lend themselves well as in store display units, being small and hard to secure...

[Requiem]

The DS Lite supposedly has micro like screens.

I pasted impressions of the system (not mine) in the DS Lite thread. TSays that the screens are brilliant.

[thepoga]

"The DS Lite supposedly has micro like screens."
You don't mean clarity right? Because the screen is essentially the same except brighter and hopefully a bigger viewing angle. The colors will be micro like if thats what you meant, because the brightness will make the colors more vibrant.

[vudu]

I have a Micro and I can confirm that the screen is great.  I'm currently playing FFIV and it looks much better on the Micro than on my original SP (I haven't tried it on my DS yet).  I'm particularly impressed with the backgrounds.  They look really impressive on the Micro.

[Shecky]

We had Advance Wars 1 and 2 side by side, on a friends DS and Micro.  
The Micro blows the DS away in terms of clarity and color ... well at least for GBA games.

That's why I was wondering if the DS Lite would sport the new style screens.  Sounds like it does, which would mean that the color and vibrance should improve.  The clarity of the Micro may come from its small screen size though.

[Shecky]

So I was able to compare the new GBA SP and Micro side by side in a EB.  The two units definitely carry a fair amount of brightness and color.  It may be that the new SP even is brighter than the DS.  Still, I think the brightness of the Micro was still slightly superior.  Clarity was hands down better on the Micro as well.

I don't think the new SPs have a brightness adjustment, but with the units bolted to a frame in the store, it's hard to tell.

[darknight06]

New SP's do have a brightness adjustment, it's where the old light switch was.  

When I compared the Micro to the DS the only thing that really stood out to me was the brightness, the coloring was about identical to a newer model DS give or take.   IMO I thought the SP mkII's screen was better in the comparison if for no other reason than better color saturation and it's size despite it's screen reaction time being lower.  Yeah the Micro might be clearer, but that screen is also damn tiny so go figure.

If the DS Lite is using screens similar to the micro I hope they raise the color saturation just a little bit more than what's currently going now.  The DS in general has been getting more color saturation in increments since launch so I don't see why they would stop now.