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Making Use Of Old LCDs?
phorm writes "Not so long ago, higher-definition LCD's used to be quite hard to come by, with laptops and other hardware tending to use old non-TFT-style LCD's which ugly bleeding colors and poor refresh. Nowadays, almost everything has a nice TFT (Thin-film-transistor) display, including laptops, PDA's, digital camera, and often even cellphones. However, not all of these devices are as dependable as they once were, and many of them end up as little more than paperweights. With TFT-LCD's by themselves still being somewhat of a pricey commodity, is there any way to salvage and use these parts for home projects? I personally have an 8" notebook display, and a 1.5" digital camera LCD which are just begging to be recycled as something useful such as a projector component, status display, or something else useful. So far I've had little luck discovering a way to get these components to work outside of the original hardware, so I was wondering if any enterprising hardware-nerds on Slashdot have had better luck than I and could offer a few pointers. Are these components doomed to end up in a landfill, or can somebody offer a way to make them useful again?"
Just hit google up about "DIY Video Projection".
"Doctor, it's not the voices I hear in MY head, but the voices I hear in YOUR head that really frighten me."
Car mp3 Player Display
/. reader, but because you decided to make the front page, I hereby revoke your /. UID.
Attach to side of monitor for a small second monitor
Write a linux driver to interface directly with the lcd, and GPL it, along with specs.
I *would* imagine you could come up with a variety of uses, since you are a
It'd be cool to wire up a front door peep hole up with an old CCD and LCD screen. Better yet, make it a reverse peep hole. Then you've got something.
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
8" porn viewer in your bathroom.
Laptop LCDS are a pain to work with. They are just the screen themselves and the rest of the controllers and hardware is usually built into the video card or laptop motherboard and is useless outside that.
You can get controllers for many laptop screens, however they only work with specific screens. Say maybe 2-8 out of 300 can work with a particular controller. Most controllers need to have their BIOS programmed and that's usually done out of the factory for specific applications.
On top of that you need to supply your own inverter, any special or propriatory cables or connectors, a power supply, and housing.
This is doable, but expensive.
99% of the time you'd get a better, cheaper, newer LCD display somewere else then trying to build a display out of some random LCD screen.
Better off getting a retail version, or buying a kit from a place like EarthLCD.
I think more then just ideas on what to use them *for*, the original poster would like some advice on how to connect the LCDs to a computer or MP3 player etc. I might have extra laptop screens as well - but no clue how to connect their (proprietary?) laptop wire thingamagies to the 15-pin VGA port... or the "other" port on my ATI Radeon :)
- To err is human; but to really screw up, you need a computer
Is going to be your biggest problem. I've had some EPSON-made TFT lcds from cellphones that even epson refused to give me datasheets to - most cellphone LCDs are custom jobs for each specific manufacturer, and they will not be telling you any information about them.
You are better off trashing the screens you got and ordering some cheap LCDs from a place like http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_you_need/speci al/index.html and connecting it to your car mp3/dvd/player whatever.
Check here for some LCD controllers and tips on how to put it together. The problem is that the controllers often cost as much or more than a cheap LCD by itself.
Save the screens for the CCFL lamps that illuminate them. That way when you have to replace such a tube when it wears out or breaks in your working replacement device, you will have a means of repairing it.
CCFL (cold cathod fluorescent lamps) have a life of anywhere between 15,000 and 50,000 hours and most will lose half of their brightness after roughly half of its lifespan. They're also made of thin glass and are easily broken. If you break a CCFL tube you will probably not be able to buy a replacement and even though the tube only costs a few dollars you will have to replace the entire LCD screen at a cost of hundreds of dollars (in a laptop system).
So yeah, keep them for parts... mainly the lamp.
-JemPlease reply most immediately so the shipping details can be worked out, I can accept western union payments at this time, but not paypal as the bankrupcy people will find out! I await your reply so these sad little orphaned LCD monitors can be given new life.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Your old LCD makes a great surface to cut coke into lines with a credit card. Much better than a mirror, since you don't have to stare at your own face as you snort.
Linky linky
Scuttlemonkey is a troll
I've successfully taken out the backlight panel from a few LCDs to use as lightbox for photograph transparencies. It's a nice, uniformly illuminated white panel that runs off (usually) 5Volts or so, and gives a good light for viewing photograph slides.
"Should Ask Slashdot be replaced with a form that queries Google?"
No.
Seriously, there's nothing wrong in posting this question to a group of geeks like us. Interesting results can develop, and discussion is usually a good thing. Perhaps people who haven't considered recycling LCDs will be inspired, you never know.
Quitcherbitchen.
"Derp de derp."
so those might not be so hot unless you've got TV/NTSC out on your video card. LCDs with VGA controllers can be
found but are much more expensive. many vendors prefer to deal in volume only, so don't expect
too much help, or fast email replies.
i'd have to agree with some of the other posters; you might want to get an old thinkpad and butcher it a bit if you need
to get more resolution than TV(less than 640x480 IIRC, maybe 425?)
anyway, here are some other novel uses:
1 - get a bunch and make a shutter for a window in a car, sunroom, etc.
2 - get a bunch and make Art, i.e. a large random color/shape thingy to hang on a wall
3 - use it as a shutter in your front door for inspecting IDs
4 - use one as a digital shutter for a darkroom enlarger(for those still using film, that is.)
5 - make your own car/truck rear-view screen(needs a vid-cam)
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"...that's as white as it gets; all the bits are on..."
Thanks for setting him straight, I was looking at his post wondering what planet he was from.
You should have also included the fact that interlacing is an accepted (evil?) on the analog world and is still a big thorn in the digital community. That little "i" or "p" in those resolution numbers is a big trade off. Computer monitors use progressive scanning almost always, and that is the way it should be.
Television has fought so many format wars that the battle lines are still being drawn. For example this week they are holding NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas.
Every single inch of convention space is taken up by the broadcast divisions of the big companys and the 'mom and pop' vendors all competing for your attention for five solid days.
Now I am rambling but I will leave you with this: The Las Vegas hotels hate this convention with a passion. Because the entire thing is populated by people that are so smart that they know the odds inside and out.
You might want to check out EarthLCD. They carry a good number of parts for making LCD panels usable outside their original housings and configurations.
As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!