2004 Sony PSP breathes new life with DIY HDMI and IPS screen mods

Launched in December 2004, the Sony PSP 1000 is a classic gaming handheld that was ahead of its time. It was like a pocket PlayStation 2 that could play a good number of AAA games released in its time. However, it shows its age when compared to modern handheld gaming PCs.

For instance, while it looked great at the time, the TFT LCD screen that the PlayStation Portable (PSP) comes with has ghosting issues. The original display also has low peak brightness, which can make it hard to get a decent experience outdoors. Another feature that the the classic gaming handheld lacks is an HDMI output. So, you can’t just hook it up to a TV.

However, for DIY hardware modders, both these two shortcomings are easy to solve. Thanks to the age and the large community behind the gaming handheld, there are a good number of mods available for PSP owners to try. Among them are mini HDMI and IPS screen mods, which a YouTube channel named Macho Nacho Productions has explored.

As for the IPS screen mod, it made the nearly 20-year-old Sony PSP 1000 offer a better overall gaming experience with higher brightness and reduced ghosting. The display that the YouTuber used, in particular, is close to a drop-in kit as it doesn’t need an extra adapter like some of the previous screen mods for the gaming handheld.

Moving to the HDMI mod, it will enable you to play the PSP games on the big screen. While the installation is relatively easy compared to the other HDMI kits, you still need to remove the UMD drive and modify the chassis. Also, as the UMD drive will no longer be there, you will have to rely on an SD card to load games onto the handheld.

Another thing to note is that the Sony PSP 1000 doesn’t have native wireless controller support. So, when you hook the gaming handheld to a TV, you need to use it as a controller, which isn’t as convenient as playing with a Nintendo Switch (available on Amazon) in docked mode, for example.

Still, both the DIY modifications do make the Sony PSP 1000 breathe a new life. It adds two modern touches to the nearly two-decade-old gaming handheld. If you want to make these mods to your unit, do check out the tutorial video attached below.