Science Photo essay
by kalob

Gameboy



Ill be doing this project on the gameboy color


outputs:
sound
visual
light
inputs:
Electricity

how it works - the back



this will be the basic rundown on how this side of the chip works.
once the cartridge is inserted into the slot (the big black thing in the center) its rom (read only memory) chip is read and the data is sent to the CPU, aka the computing chip. The CPU sends its data to the audio chip, directly right of it, and the ribbon cable on the very top of the chip. The ribbon cable brings the data from the CPU to the screen of the device. The CPU also gathers information from the buttons on the other side of the device. on the bottom half of the chip, you can see the speaker, as well as the springs that hold the batterys.

how it works - the front



The labeled pads on the bottom white protion of the board are the controls. When the bottom half of the buttons makes contact with these pads, it sends the inputs to the CPU. The wiring and iputs at the top is what connects all the bits and chips from the other side together. the red light at the upper most left of the bored is the power indicator. it shows when the device is on.

how it works - connection port



this port is used to connect two gameboys together for cross play. The port has three connections. the bottom port is the clock port. it matches up the internal clocks of both devices. the middle port is the input port and connects to the other devices output port. the top port is the output port it connects to the other devices input port.

how it works - the buttons



On the left is the gameboys respective buttons and button membranes. when you press down the plastic buttons, it pushes down the membranes under it. the under side of the membranes make contact with the board and send the inputs to the cpu. the button that looks like a big plus is called the D pad. its used for directinal movement. The A and B buttons use varies from game to game but its common for A to be jump or interact.

how it works - ribbon cable



the ribbon cable is the cable that gathers visual data from the CPU. its connected to the top port on the back of the board, and the screen. theres not all to much else to say about the ribbon cable, except that its notoriusly fragile. if you disconnect it wrong you need to completly replace it.

how it works - screw



Most nintendo devices, even up to this day, use this special screw. instead of four indents, there is three. this is to diswade anyone trying to get into there devices and repair things themselves. tech companys are trying to move away practices like this now under the consumers right to repair.