v1 or v2 Centaur Board

A common question is how to tell the difference between the versions of the boards. In most cases, a version 1 board has visible gray circles in the squares, caused by the lighting mechanism on the back of the board, additionally these tend to have dates on the circuit board of 2018 (though use the circles as the method to determine what board you have). Version 2 boards improve on this and the circles are no longer visible unless there is some sort of other light source from the back. (the circuit board inside tends to be 2019 or later).

Please note: whilst this is very commonly the case, it is unfortunately not 100% certain as there have been boards reported that have the v2 board but with the v1 circuit board and screen. Additionally, a very small amount of v2 boards have the raspberry pi inside soldered with a castellated connection. This makes them harder to replace the pi, but not impossible. Thankfully they are rare.

The difference in the visibility of circles is very noticeable. It’s easier to view this in pictures, so here is a version 1 DGT Centaur board sitting on top of a version 2 board.