Three West

There have been a few new and exciting developments in my quest to create my own production monitor. First, I have to say up front that it is cheaper to buy a broken LCD TV (with a good LCD panel and controller board) and fix it, than it is to try to use a laptop LCD as an independent monitor (Independent of the laptop).  Also, I was browsing the web and someone came up with a rather simple idea for using a laptop LCD panel as a monitor (although this doesn’t allow for camera hookups). They simply removed the harddrive and anything else that wasn’t necessary for the operation of the LCD and mounted the rest in a new custom case. But since I’m making a production monitor for my camera, that easy solution won’t work.

I’ve learned quite a bit more since the last post. Making an LCD panel work (outside of fabrication of the components), is both simple and not simple. All you need to make an LCD panel work is an LCD panel, some kind of backlights, an Inverter to run the backlights, a controller board to control all available aspects of the display and process signals, and a power source. What an LCD panel from a laptop lacks is the controller board since the LCD on a laptop is controlled by the video card and/or motherboard of the laptop. But if you look at an LCD TV, the only thing that is different is that it has a controller board to manipulate the display instead of a component on a motherboard that can’t be removed like with a laptop.

So, I went on Ebay and started looking for controller boards I thought would work with my LCD panel. It’s not that doing so isn’t worth it, it is just time consuming. If you are like me and don’t mind hunting for something and having to learn tons along the way, then this is no issue. But if you just want everything laid out before you (i.e. like you would with buying commercial products), then this venture is not for you.

In the process, I learned what backlight inverters do and why they may or may not be important. They sound important until you realize they are just powering the little CCFL lights that make the screen bright enough for you to see. Then they don’t seem so important because if you really want to, you can always get around it by using cheap CCFL lighting effects kits like this person, or doing something really gangsta like this person.

As for the LCD panel, it’s simple. If it’s broken, it’s useless, throw it away. If it’s not, it’s good, keep it. That leaves us with the controller board. This is the big pain. The good news is, they are being sold on Ebay from cheap to “get the f**k outta here”. The bad news is, they may only work with specific LCD panels. The other good news is, many commercial LCD TVs use panels from the same few companies, like Hitachi, Samsung, etc. I will have more on this when I get the controller board I bought on Ebay for $45. The board also came with the keypad and for $20 more I bought the inverter for it as well; all with free shipping (I’ll be using this board set with a larger LCD panel). I’ve ordered an new inverter for the IBM screen (the exact same part the laptop came with) and I’m going to use a controller from a similar size LCD TV. More on that when it’s done.

The point here is this … if you have an LCD panel from a laptop you want to turn into a LCD monitor with AV inputs, go on the web and buy a LCD TV with a broken LCD panel. They are cheaper than the controllers themselves where the seller has simply pulled them out of an LCD TV with a broken LCD panel or dead inverter. (If you look at the picture of the items I bought on Ebay, you’ll see the controller board I bought was more expensive than the LCD TVs I bought that just have bad inverters.

It’s also important for you to get a controller board that already has the power connector on the board. Some LCD TVs have a separate power supply unit (PSU) and you just don’t want to deal with those at all. You want a completely self contained board so all you have to do is plug your LCD panel into it and plug in a power adapter (which can be found anywhere on the cheap).

While I was out hunting the vast universe for a controller for my LCD panel, it started appearing far easier to buy an LCD TV that has a bad inverter. You would be getting essentially a working LCD TV without the backlights working. At the most, it would be a $20 fix. Even if it cost you $60 to fix, it be worth it. For instance, I bought a 26″ HDTV TV for $0.99 (you see it right)! The shipping was $39 (the TV is 33lbs so that’s not too bad). And the only thing wrong with it is… yes, the inverter is bad. So, I’d say it is a steal if I even had to pay $60 for a new inverter but I won’t, so it’s even better.

If you buy an LCD TV with a bad inverter, when you get it, simply dismantle the TV, replace the inverter and mount the LCD panel (w/backlights), inverter, and controller board in a custom case of your making or choosing. Viola! You have your very own high resolution production monitor for dirt cheap!

While I was editing this post, I received the first LCD TV I bought off Ebay. It is a 15inch Polaroid HDTV. When checking around the web it seems these TVs are not very popular with consumers and from the looks of how many are for sale on Ebay for the same problem, I can see why. But another man’s junk….  I plugged the TV in and a nice red Polaroid screen comes up and then one that says “no signal” and the screen goes black. I shine my trusty LED flashlight on the screen and I can see “No Signal” moving around the screen. So yes the monitor is still on and working but the backlights are not. Because the screen does light up momentarily, I think I can safely say the CCFLs are fine and that there is definitely a problem with the inverter. I can’t believe folks give away TVs for this issue but hey, it means a cheap HDTV for me, doesn’t it? *Smile*

Well I’m off to dismantle this thing. The other issue I’ll have to address is that this TV has a plug similar to ones used on computers. I’m going to have to figure out a way to use a 12V battery pack I have. Stay Tuned!

*If some elements to the right block your view of the photos below, scroll down until they are off the screen. The image will stay in place.