I have just ordered one white on black from him (he’s the same that’s on ebay right?) for the AR, still waiting for the package. So you say he sent you 2 displays? He hasn’t sent me any message yet. I really don’t want to take out the glass cover. Is the small one smaller than the original? Thanks!
the small one is exactly the same size as the original so there shouldn’t be a need to remove the glass panel. he sent me the bigger one as well because i was like a guinea pig for the new installation process, which turned out to take half a day from me – someone with very limited soldering-related electronics experience – with the sellers guided assistance. i’m not sure what the future plans are regarding the bigger display, whether or not he’s going to keep selling them or if there were some issues still.
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Could you please describe what kind of soldering you had to do? do you need solder sucker or other kinds of specific tools other than the iron? I guess you didn’t take pictures of the process… Sorry for the questions and thank you!
unfortunately didn’t take pictures but got some real good ones from the seller. and again, this was an experimental installation so if you’re buying the smaller display only, the process might be different. i didn’t have to do any desoldering so didn’t need a solder sucker but had to cut away parts of the PCB of the stock display for which i used angled wire cutters. didn’t need any other tools than the cutters and a solder iron. i guess the options are to cut away the PCB or to desolder all the pins of the display, but i’m not sure what the “default” installation process is. contact the seller and ask!
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I will, thanks!!
I’ll make this post here to avoid double topics. I bought the display from the same guy from as the poster above. Mine was the regular sized one. I asked for white on black but looks more like blue unless you look at it from exactly above. The cellphone’s camera captures it as blue but looks blacker. Also the display has a brightness trim which i still have to explore a bit more. The seller is responsive and nice.
About the installation process, it was conceptually simple but a bit physically demanding. I’m have to point out that I have had some experience soldering before, but never desoldered or soldered pins like these here. Also removing the old display is a bit tricky, you have to apply more brute force than I had expected, but it came out fine. I also had a bit of a problem desoldering one of the many pins that for some reason wouldn’t melt (had to go buy an 80w iron to apply more heat). Other than that there where no other problems. I attach a bunch of pics of the process cos finding these stuff in the internet is always hard. The seller will provide proper instructions and pictures, and I hope mine can add more clarity to the job. Trust what he says, and you are always welcome to ask for my help too.
Theres pictures of the torx screws found inside. You’ll also need an allen wrench to take out the faceplate. Also general pictures of the guts of the AR, and the set of tools I needed to do this. Glad to be able to keep on using my reliable AR after 4 full years of continuous gigging and travelling. It’s as good as day one and built like a tank! Released in 2014 still a very contemporary machine thanks to the OS upgrades and initial quality.
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Beautiful!
Thanks for this! I’ve been searching for some info on how this is done and your post is by far the most comprehensive I’ve come across. I’m thinking of doing this on my A4 and was wondering, how did you go about de-soldering the pins - did you use a de-soldering pump or was it not needed?
Glad it’s useful! The screen seller’s instructions said to rock the old screen up and down until all the pins break and you can take out the screen. Then you just desolder each pin and take it out with a plier.
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Thanks again!
Well, I Ordered one of those screens for my analog four and one for my Rytm from the guy in england whole sells them on reverb. After waiting for instructions for a week with no response I just went ahead and did it following the visuals and instructions on this thread.
It seemed to go fairly well aside from 3 out of four standoffs breaking but I figured the pins will do to help hold it in place.
Anyway I just fired it up and I’m able to adjust the contrast but there are zero graphics.
I’m pretty heartbroken
I’ve double checked my solders and they look decent (I build effects pedals for a living so I solder daily) but I’m worried I may have scratched the board removing the old screen.
.
Post some board pictures then.
QQ: where you adjusted the contrast? With the onboard trimmer or there’s some control on the display board?
damn that sucks 
does the rytm seem to be working otherwise? iirc my display had two separate trimmers, did you try adjusting both?
Ohh man that’s terrible. In fact some time after I installed mine, the machine went nuts and I had to take it to a synth repair technician, he said there was a burnt transistor, and I’m not sure if this is related to the screen installation. He managed to repair it, and in the process he resoldered the screen pins much better. I recommend doing the same if you find someone.
As for the trimmers, there is an onboard contrast control on the Rytm, and the screen itself has a Brightness trimmer. BTW, have you tried moving the contrast trimmer? It can make all graphics invisible. . Beware that the screen trimmer is only for brightness!
Personally i think life is too short fir ‘upgrading’ displays. If the original packs up well that’s a different kettle of fish.
A few years later and the simple ‘gel’ mod as good as when it was applied.
You need to change the display when the liquid crystal is almost completely faded out… A gel won’t help in that case…
Yes, for sure. My reply was offering a non invasive alternative for those that wish to upgrade when their current display is still functioning perflectly o.k:-)
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Hi, the display has dimmed in my AR MK1, contrast adjustment does not help. I can’t find anywhere on sale the recommended Electron Winstar WG12232A-TFH-V#A 3.3 volts. Found in China Winstar WG12232A-TFH-V#J 3.3 volts. The difference is in the last letter “J”. The Chinese says that the difference is in the chipset used. I have doubts about compatibility. Does anyone have experience replacing it with the Winstar WG12232A-TFH-V#J 3.3 volts model?
No experience with it, but FWIW, I scoured a bunch of the data sheets and found the same as you. It seems like the ‘#J’ variant uses a different controller brand, but is otherwise identical in specs to the ‘#A’ variant. So theoretically, it should work. 