good LCDs to hack with

[ChristTrekker]

I was strolling through Walmart the other day, and happened to notice the 10" LCD picture frames. 800×600 resolution is not bad. Of course, the first thing that pops into my head is, "I wonder if that could be hacked into a CC?" To those of you that have done similar hacks, where do you source the LCDs for that?

 

[tomlee59]

This is a topic that's been discussed in detail in several different places. The upshot is that the only practical way to do this is to find a complete, small LCD monitor with a VGA interface (bonne chance, mon ami). There are no standard interfaces for OEM LCD panels, and manufacturers rarely publish datasheets for them. So, despite the seeming appeal of modding a picture frame LCD, it's pretty much hopeless.

 

[Osgeld]

not unless you screen shot your desktop and slide show it on the frame :-/

 

[tomlee59]

not unless you screen shot your desktop and slide show it on the frame :-/

 

[trag]

I've looked into this on the SE/30. In that case one would want a display approximately 7.25" X 5.25" or something a little larger and then to use less than the full display area. So, perhaps a 640 X 480 display and then build the circuitry to drive it so that only the center 512 X 384 pixels are used and the rest are black. This would give something close to the original dot pitch, but in color. A 10.4" display (.33mm pitch) might fit but may be a little too long (8.25") but would give about the right dot pitch, .33mm = ~77 dpi instead of 72 dpi.

The reason for using an oversize screen and then underusing it is that the rounded bezel is awkward. If one chooses a display which just fits in the opening, the bones of the display will show at the corners. The largest dimensions of the openings seem to be about 7.25" X 5.25" so a display should be at least that large to cover the full opening. But then some of the display will be covered by the plastic, so one will not be able to use the full resolution of the LCD. An 800 X 600 display could be chosen and then only the interior 640 X 480 region used, but then the dot pitch would be considerably smaller than on the original. I think using a 640 X 480 in a 9.4" or 10.4" size and only using the interior 512 X 384 would probably be the most pleasing solution.

Anyone know if the edge of the screen opening is all in one plane such that a flat panel will fit flush against the opening?

Such panels are available. However, if one looks at new prices (digikey.com, optrex brand LCD) they cost about $280!! You can buy an entire netbook with display for that. What the fark?

On the bright side, the datasheets for panels bought in this manner are readily available. The down side is that one must build what amounts to a custom video card to interface the Macintosh to the bare LCD panel. The interface isn't terribly complicated. If you can figure out how to get the Mac OS to load a frame buffer (video RAM) with the image, then getting from that memory to the LCD panel is not too complicated, in theory.

There are probably cheaper panels available in the surplus, used or auction markets, but then you run the risk of not being able to get datasheets for the panel. So, any panel you consider, the first step is to check for an available datasheet. There are panels available on Ebay from time to time, but usually in single quantities. The problem with that is that if one puts the effort in to engineer this thing, it would be nice to be able to build more than one.

The dream would be to find a lot of around 100 appropriately sized LCD panels on Ebay for a few hundred dollars...

This place purports to list all manner of surplus LCD panels:

http://www.surplustraders.net/a/0371.shtml

I am put off by the fact that no one lists prices and it's all "contact us and we'll talk". This is common in the surplus electronics market, but it makes it nearly impossible to figure out what typical pricing is when you're still in the feasibility stage. Plus, datasheets are often not available. At least they list model numbers so one can check for datasheets.

 

[geeko]

The upshot is that the only practical way to do this is to find a complete, small LCD monitor with a VGA interface (bonne chance, mon ami).

I have an lcd, approximately 8 inch VGA monitor (originally a car tv, but it does work as a monitor) it was given to me by one of my friend's dad, and it displays an 800x600 resolution. i have eyeballed the faceplates of both my macintosh SE and CC, and it looks like it would fit in either of them.

the only thing is, i have no idea what brand it is, i just know it is Chinese, and similar ones go for almost $200 on ebay.

 

[Osgeld]

to continue on the last point there, yes IF you are interested in doing a hack of this nature mobile LCD's are probally the best bet, I used to work at a car audio WD and 7-10 inch screens were stocked at all times and were fairly inexpensive (less than 150$ for a 7 inch) as long as you didnt get into nice brands or "options"

some had (in addition to composite) RGB inputs (which its not that hard to take a vga style signal and time it down to rgb) and s-video, new models even had dvi and hdmi

course the biggest thing now is HD and WIDESCREEN, which sucks cause the old aspect ratios are not going to be made much longer, but at the moment there is probally enough overstock to drive prices down to cost

I also agree its better to get one larger than the opening or you will see the edges, I dont know about os 9-x but its pretty common to be able to adjust display settings to fit a screen regardless of resolution in linux, I do it often enough with sd tv's and hacked consoles running linux

if it wasnt for that fact I could not see the menubars in Xdsl while running the xbox, eventho the screen res is 640x480 its really running something like 548x360 or something totally off the wall to fit onto a tv with all of its overscan and imperfection

 

[tomlee59]

I have an lcd, approximately 8 inch VGA monitor (originally a car tv, but it does work as a monitor) it was given to me by one of my friend's dad, and it displays an 800x600 resolution. i have eyeballed the faceplates of both my macintosh SE and CC, and it looks like it would fit in either of them.

the only thing is, i have no idea what brand it is, i just know it is Chinese, and similar ones go for almost $200 on ebay.

I'm surprised that it is a VGA monitor (and by "VGA" I don't mean simply its resolution, I mean the VGA interface as well). The car-TV monitors I've run into have composite or S-video inputs. Osgeld has mentioned seeing ones with RGB and DVI/HDMI inputs, but these would still require non-trivial amounts of hacking to adapt them to a CC (and the CC itself would still have to be upgraded to provide a VGA-compatible output in any case).

And to answer another question, the inner surface of a compact mac's crt bezel is not all in one plane, unfortunately, so mechanical hacking is needed, too.

 

[geeko]

I'm surprised that it is a VGA monitor (and by "VGA" I don't mean simply its resolution, I mean the VGA interface as well). The car-TV monitors I've run into have composite or S-video inputs. Osgeld has mentioned seeing ones with RGB and DVI/HDMI inputs, but these would still require non-trivial amounts of hacking to adapt them to a CC (and the CC itself would still have to be upgraded to provide a VGA-compatible output in any case).

And to answer another question, the inner surface of a compact mac's crt bezel is not all in one plane, unfortunately, so mechanical hacking is needed, too.

it is defiantly VGA, it works fine with all the computers i have attached it to, mac and pc.

 

[Osgeld]

And to answer another question, the inner surface of a compact mac's crt bezel is not all in one plane, unfortunately, so mechanical hacking is needed, too.

I keep thinking, but no real way to test it (cause i dont have a mac) is to use a pair of digital calipers as a scribe, the front of the mac is flat isnt it?

 

[Bunsen]

Only the SE and SE/30 cases have flat front bezels. All the rest are curved left to right.

 

[tomlee59]

it is defiantly VGA, it works fine with all the computers i have attached it to, mac and pc.

That's terrific -- you are very lucky!

 

[Bunsen]

If you look in the SuperDuo thread in Hacks, I link to an ebay store with bare LCD panels of various sizes and costs, and he says he'll throw in a VGA converter board for $30 with purchase.

 

[trag]

If you look in the SuperDuo thread in Hacks, I link to an ebay store with bare LCD panels of various sizes and costs, and he says he'll throw in a VGA converter board for $30 with purchase.

I don't see a Duo thread in the Hacks Forum. I see Pismo and Blackbird, but no Duo.

 

[olePigeon]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-8-VGA-AV-car-PC-TFT-LCD-RCA-XGA-Monitor-US_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem53df6bc7a6QQitemZ360230668198QQptZCarQ5fAudioQ5fVideo#ht_5637wt_1076

Something like this would work. 8" VGA LCD panel. I thought about buying one of these, but I haven't drummed up the courage.

 

[tomlee59]

Something like this would work. 8" VGA LCD panel. I thought about buying one of these, but I haven't drummed up the courage.

That would indeed work. The price is pretty steep, though.

 

[Osgeld]

for a 8 inch lcd the price is actually quite good, for a 8 inch lcd with vga that is a deal

they don't get cheap until 15 inch and larger

 

[Bunsen]

How about US $116.68 with free shipping?

8.4" TFT LCD TV Monitor AV Player with VGA - 800 x 600 4:3

If you look in the SuperDuo thread in Hacks, I link to an ebay store with bare LCD panels of various sizes and costs, and he says he'll throw in a VGA converter board for $30 with purchase.

I don't see a Duo thread in the Hacks Forum. I see Pismo and Blackbird, but no Duo.

My bad. The SuperDuo thread is in 68k Powerbooks.

Here's the seller I was referring to, with LCDs conveniently sorted by size.