Icom: Icom IC-2820H Display Polarizing Film Replacement

[KD5ITM]

In May of 2007 I bought a brand new Icom IC-2820H dual band mobile. Back in August of 2023, over the short time span of just 2 - 3 weeks, the display polarizing film went from perfect to bad. First of all, why after 16 years would the polarizing film all of the sudden go bad? Yes 2023 was a hot summer here in Houston, Tx, but then again, every summer in Houston is a hot summer. So I don’t know if I’m 100% convened that the summer heat caused the polarizing film to go bad all of the sudden. I keep the display brightness setting set at one setting below the max brightness setting. And I have the display dimming setting set so that the display dims to one notch dimmer then the display brightness setting after a few seconds of transmitting or pushing a button. This way the display back light is not at 100% brightness 100% of the time with the idea that it will extend the life longevity of the display. After 17 years with my 2007 IC-2820H being in the mobile, Im happy to say that the radio still looks just as new as it did the day I first pulled it out of its Icom box.

I have seen a few youtube videos of how to replace the display polarizing film on the IC-706MKIIG radios, but have not seen a single video or found any instructions on how to properly disassemble, replace the display polarizing film and reassemble the display on the IC-2820H. Does anyone have any helpful detailed info / video on how to properly replace the display polarizing film on the IC-2820H?

Is there a specific type of polarizing film required and if so where is the best place to get it from? Or will any generic polarizing film that you can buy off of Amazon work and if so is there a recommended quality brand that I should go with rather then some low quality Chinese junk brand?

Thanks - Tim - KD5ITM