repurpose lcd screen free sample

Unused electronics are the bane of the modern life. Perfectly functional gadgets sit quietly in a corner of the store room, doing nothing. If you"re wondering what to do with old computer monitors, here are a few easy ideas to repurpose unused screens.

In this guide, it doesn"t matter if your old monitor is still working or not. Even if it isn"t, you can use its parts to make a great new gadget. From turning it into a super-tiny computer or dashboard to refashioning into a smart mirror, here are some of the most productive ways to repurpose a computer monitor.

Perhaps the best thing to do with an old flat-screen monitor is a DIY DAKboard. The DAKboard is a LCD wall display that shows the current time, weather forecast, calendar events, stock quotes, fitness data, and news headlines. It"s all displayed on a soothing photo. You could buy an official DAKboard, but the makers themselves have shown how to build your own wall display with a Raspberry Pi. when you can build one for far less money and a little geeky fun, the choice is obvious.

Sometimes, you"re working on something private in an open office, or browsing certain *cough* sites *cough* at home. You can"t have your colleagues or kids see what"s on the screen. To keep snooping eyes at bay, make a "your-eyes-only" monitor from an old one.

Basically, you will be cutting out the polarizing film of the old LCD monitor. This film will then be put on a simple pair of glasses. Now your screen appears white, but the glasses can "see" the content. It"s one of the best ways to keep prying eyes out of your PC.

If you have a broken old LCD monitor, it can be re-purposed into a usable mirror; but if you have a working old LCD monitor, adding a Raspberry Pi can turn it into a smart magic mirror!

If you"re on a tight budget for a first-time DIY project, consider the $100 smart mirror. It"s not the best version of turning an LCD monitor into a smart mirror, but you"ll get the basic features and not spend a bomb.

If you have the space available, the best thing you can do with an extra monitor is to boost your productivity with a dual-monitor setup. A second monitor has many potential purposes, such as extended screen space, a dashboard for your social media or news updates, or a dedicated video conferencing screen.

Make it a dedicated screen for Nintendo Wii:The Nintendo Wii can connect to a VGA monitor, so if you don"t have a Wii, buy one. In fact, buy a used one, they"re pretty cheap on Craigslist.

Like any gadget, monitors have a limited shelf life. If you"re looking to upgrade, you now have a few ideas of what to do with your old monitor. And that age should influence which project you chose. For example, given the effort involved in building a smart mirror, don"t go with a screen that"s already shown signs of trouble. The Raspberry Pi-based projects are usually the easiest to keep changing.

In fact, if you have an old monitor and old PC parts, you can repurpose the whole PC. You can turn it into a home security system, a home server or media center, or try other unique creative projects.

This particular board (M.NT68676.2) is used to power many different panel models. Although the board itself may be the same, it"s important to order the board that is specifically tailored to the particular LCD panel you have. The panels seem easy to identify. This is the Macbook LCD panel type (LP133WX1 TL A1):

I also have an old Dell Vostro screen that uses the exact same driver board, but the cables are different. Also, it may be the case that the boards are flashed with the appropriate firmware for the particular panel. So I would recommend not to gamble and get the driver board that exactly matches the model number.

I found an old adapter from a Wi-Fi access-point (long gone) which is rated for just 0.5A. It did power both the board and the screen perfectly. It worked with both the Macbook display as the Dell display so it doesn"t seem to be a fluke.

The hardest part of this proces (not pictured) was switching the on-screen-display from Chinese (which I don"t master) to English. But there is more work ahead.

At this point we end up with just a fragile LCD panel connected to a driver board through a bunch of wires. The whole setup is just an unpractical mess. There are at least two things left to do:

You can augment existing hobby projects with a screen and due to the relatively low power consumption, it may even be suitable for battery-powered projects.

If your goal is just to get a cheap LCD display, it may be cheaper to go to the nearest thrift-store and buy some old second-hand display for $10. But that may have some drawbacks:

I had been building a smart mirror for a few weeks. One of the main components of which is an LCD screen. Since this was a pet project, I was looking at the cheapest available solution. Most monitors available online cost upwards of 4000 INR, even ones on OLX and Quikr cost as much as. 2500 INR. There has to be a cheaper solution. My budget was capped at 1500 INR for a screen size of at least 13.3 inches. So I decided to wait until I could find a cheaper solution. I am so glad I did.

One rare Sunday afternoon while I was cleaning my cupboard, I stumbled upon the faithful old Dell studio. I switched it on, it worked despite it’s battery life deteriorated. I switched it on and started dismantling the laptop to procure the LCD screen on it. We all know that a laptop is a complicated piece of machinery, it is only when you dismantle it that one really comes in face with the fact. Make sure you dismantle it very carefully, preferably on sheet of cloth. You will need those thin screwdrivers for this.

Once you have the LCD screen, remove the cable at the back. This is the the LVDS cable, you will need a similar cable later. Now that you have carefully removed the LCD screen, you will need to procure a few things:

A standalone LCD screen cannot process a signal via a HDMI or VGA input directly. You will need a controller board to interface the LCD screen with your computer. It contains a tiny microprocessor. I would suggest searching for a ‘Universal LCD Controller Board.’ It is cheap if you only want a VGA input are not particular about getting an HDMI input. Look for this on eBay, Amazon, etc. For the one with the HDMI input, if you are willing to wait, AliExpress is gold.

You will need this to connect your screen with the controller board. Here’s a how to guide. In most cases you would need a 40 pin cable. You will need to scout the internet a bit to find a cheap deal (eBay would be the best).

The controller board often comes with an infrared sensor and a remote control. I prefer a button control. Search for ‘keypad for LCD controller board’. This is fairly cheap.

Get the model number of the LCD screen and search ebay and see if you can find an interface board that will work. You may need to contact the seller(s) directly.

There are many different types of screens, each with different electrical specifications and each requiring different software drivers to run them. Even if the physical connectors look similar, attempting to make connections between 2 devices which were not designed to go together would likely destroy both devices.

The Display interface connector on the Pi is for the proper Raspberry Pi LCD Touch Screen. It is not a magical "connect to any random LCD screen that someone finds down the back of the sofa" connector.

Different LCD panels have different interfaces. Some use LVDS, some use DPI, some use proprietary interfaces. Even if you get the right one of those (DPI) for the Pi connector, the signals used have to be the right ones and there have to be all sorts of drivers written to handle that specific hardware.

Yes but i want a bigger screen , and there is no bigger 10 inch even more screeb to buy , and y should i buy if i have a screen? I need only to know how to use it on rpi

Yes but i want a bigger screen , and there is no bigger 10 inch even more screeb to buy , and y should i buy if i have a screen? I need only to know how to use it on rpi

Secondly i no look specific for 10 inch i just want bigger screen to my project . its isnt must to be touch but i want good looking screen with small and thin driver board even no driver board ....

I need to understand something, i can buy hdmi screen and connect to rpi and its will work ? So y there is screens that i need driver board in additional ?

I need to understand something, i can buy hdmi screen and connect to rpi and its will work ? So y there is screens that i need driver board in additional ?

All screens need a driver board of some sort. A monitor or TV has the driver board contained inside the case. The driver board converts the LCD to different usable formats:

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We work hard to repurpose or recycle the working items to save all companies money on their equipment costs and reduce the consumption of Earth’s natural resources. Equipment with minor problems may go through our refurbishment process to restore its functionality and improve its appearance to be resold again.

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HDMI capability is essential for me to get the best quality out of a raspberry pi. The high cost you mentioned is much less than the cost of a larger screen for the portable breadboard capable raspberry pi laptop/breadboard lab I"ve been planning. Thank you for your post. BTW , I dont usually use Ali Express so the link you provided are very useful.0

I order the LCVD chord whatever to use my mondor for by gateway laptop the LCD V chord day they sent me is huge I"m gonna try counting the pins inside it of each one Could you help me and what do I need to do

Can you use the monitor controller card from the laptop I got the screen out if? I am just learning electronics so I am just experimenting with different ideas. Thank you for a great instructable.

I"ve seen this project a while ago and now that i found an unused laptop screen I got more into it, so I wanted to know if any of the controller boards that you shared would work with any screen model, or do i have to search for a compatible one?

My question to fellow developers is a simple one. Would you be interested in me taking optimised photos showing you how to convert a laptop screen for external use?

If yes, I"ll do the conversion in about a month"s time when I get the LCD controller board from China and any extra components needed. Just let me know in this post and as long as @Erel does not mind I"ll post a new thread on here.

The LCD controller board is often called the Analog/Digital (A/D) board. As a type of hardware processor, it allows for various video source inputs to be connected, selected, and displayed on the LCD screen. It does this by converting the different video input signals into a format manageable by the LCD panel.

In conjunction with the LCD controller, the LCD driver is a form of software that is the interface of and dependent on the controller piece. Combined, the two form an LCD controller driver board. As the controller connects the computer to the operating system (OS), the driver facilitates that communication. Though there is typically just one display controller per LCD, there can be added drivers to extend the reach of the drive to further segments of the LCD.

To generalize the process, the LCD controller/driver adjusts the input signal, scaling resolution if needed, and then outputs the signal for the LCD monitor to use. Some of these output interfaces are low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS), SPI, I2C, and Parallel.

In most LCD controller/driver boards, there are two other input/output systems. Both these systems, however, are two-way pathways. One involves controlling and monitoring options, such as controls for brightness, image, and color using the on-screen display (OSD) control panel. The other is for communication via connections like Ethernet, Bluetooth, or IP.

With modern developments, touch screen devices have become much more prominent, and so the touchscreen controller has as well. There are two types of touchscreens: the resistive one that measures pressure and the capacitive one that reads touch. In both of these, there are sensors that detect the touch signal which then transmit the signal data to the controller. The controller then processes the command for the OS.

To delve deeper into the details, consider the previously mentioned input signals. There are a variety of signals that LCD technology processes, such as VGA, HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort. These computer display standards vary in format and characteristics like aspect ratio, display size, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. One of the biggest differences between these standards is their usage of analog signals or digital signals.

The HDMI is a combination of digital audio and digital video transmission. There are many HDMI connectors, such as the standard, dual-link, and micro. These connectors are what the input signal travels through to reach the LCD controller and to direct what to display.

And last from the list of examples of input signals is the DisplayPort. It is similar to HDMI in its purpose to replace outdated VGA and DVI as well as its transmission of audio and video through its interface. The DisplayPort does not have as much variation in cables and connectors as the HDMI, with only one cable and two types of connectors. From the DisplayPort, there is a growing technology called the embedded DisplayPort interface, or eDP interface. LCD manufacturers have begun to gravitate towards this interface due to its fewer connections, smaller size, and ability to quickly transmit high quality displays.

Bringing the subject back to LCD controllers, with the various types of computer display standards, the video signal inputs can be a challenge to accommodate and translate for the LCD panel, but with the help of adapters and the growth of these standard types, displays continue to become faster and develop with greater resolutions.

When I purchased my previous desktop computer during the height of Covid, I set out to refine my current skillset. I began taking writing classes and for a time, some basic web development. It didn’t take long to see that my single screen desktop wasn"t enough, I needed another monitor. After several weeks of trial and error, I finally found the cable I needed to connect my PC to a second monitor. Instant success! I quickly put this new monitor to good use while searching for jobs on LinkedIn, writing, and watching YouTube.

Like a voice from above (since I am an ordained minister, I do listen to those voices.) my thoughts turned to how I could reuse that old laptop monitor. And guess what, YouTube responded with dozens of solutions on the topic. However, only one of them worked for me, a LCD Controller board.

But for that, I needed the model number on the back of the screen. The process is simple, but delicate. I had to disassemble my dead laptop to gain access to the hinges. These hinges secure the screen to the main laptop chassis. Once these hinges are released the screen will fall free. Next, I had to separate the screen from its confinement. The bezel surrounding my screen is plastic snapped into plastic and secured with six screws. Once the screws are removed, the plastic cover snapped apart. Be careful, it is extremely fragile.

The details for this procedure for my Toshiba, are described in the links below. However, they shouldn’t be too dissimilar. A search for your computer will hopefully reveal similar helpful information. But it’s broken, right, how much more can you break it? Once I had access to the laptop screen the search on Amazon was easy.

On Amazon, I searched for “Toshiba LCD controller board LTN173KT01” and several popped up. Be sure the description specifically states that is it compatible with your specific monitor. The number of pins is especially important. My screen needed a 40-pin connection. You will see my part number appear in the description thumbnail below. Again, this is a delicate procedure. Pull too hard and you can rip the cables from the monitor.

I didn’t think this far ahead, so I didn’t photograph how I connected the controller board. Simply put, gently unplug the original cable from the screen, and lay it aside. I left mine attached and taped it down to the plastic cover. After connecting a power cord, this may require additional research, but a link is listed below, I had one laying around, the monitor worked perfectly. You will also need a cable of some type (DVI, HDMI, or VGA) from the control board to your laptop or PC. I chose an HDMI cable.

All joking aside, be careful with your new build. An older PC might not be able to able the additional screen sucking ram. With the included HMDI connection, I can use other devices such as DVD player, photo viewer, or even a security camera monitor. How can I listen to a DVD player you might ask? Well, that’s a good question, but the answer is, external speakers! There is an external speaker jack soldered right onto the control board. I haven’t tested these other options, but the day is still young.

Before I began writing this article, I wanted to make sure this set up worked. Lo and behold, I was quite pleased when it worked on my first attempt. So, it truly is plug and play. I had wondered what was wrong with the old Toshiba and obviously it wasn"t the screen. Oh well, after all I"ve done to the old girl, it"s more like Humpty Dumpty than a laptop computer. As a result, this Frankenstein of a work station will suffice until it, too, dies.

As for mounting the screen to my standing desk, I used one of those old metal bookends that I screwed to the desk. I stuck the bookend and acrylic case to the back of the monitor with command strips. It isn"t ascetically pleasing, but it is functional, and where I can see it.