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Ask an Expert Forum Converting two old laptop screens to work on my desktop
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Converting two old laptop screens to work on my desktop

Former Member
Former Member over 14 years ago

Good day to you all,

 

I've been building pcs for as long as I can remember, but never really bothered much with taking them apart (bar replacing ram, drives and cleaning out the heatsinks).

 

I was recently given two old Dell Inspiron (6000 and 9400) laptops that don't work anymore, and thought to myself "Hey, I can use the screens". So I dismantled the laptops, took the screens off (but left them in their housing for now for safety reasons).

 

I want to use them alongside my desktop pc as wall mounted screens, so I know I need to make a connecter to go from the VGA/DVI ports on the back of my graphics cards to it's video input, and also convert a power supply to power up both the screens.

 

I am willing to admit next to complete ignorance on how to do any of this (bar watching TBHS and seeing some of what he has done with standard monitors). The screens are both Samsung screens, which from what I have read up on are the standard for older Dell screens.

 

Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

Thanking you,

Rkiver

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  • DAB
    0 DAB over 14 years ago

    I thought of doing this about 9 years ago and found it was very difficult.  However, if you can get your hands on a burned out LCD monitor, you may be able to connect your old lap top LCD to the control chip that converts the PC video into LCD commands.  All of the curcuitry is there, you just need to match the pinouts.

     

    You might also look at the LCD driver chips on old cell phones, if the LCD displays use the same wiring, you might be able to interface it.

     

    Good luck,

    DAB

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  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago in reply to DAB

    That's a great idea, I've a few old monitors that I don't use that are too small, so I could pull the parts out of them. Thanks DAB, I'll give it a go and post up some pictures of it as I do it and we can see how that goes.

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  • Paul
    0 Paul over 14 years ago

    It is highly unlikely to work if you use the board from an old Desktop LCD monitor as generally Desktop LCDs use an RSDS interface to the panel not LVDS (Which laptops use).

    Also the Desktop LCD board will be configured to use a specific panel configuration, resolution and timing. That can't be changed.

     

    You can use the laptop LCD through VGA or DVI if you get a board like the ones here: http://www.systemation-inc.com/products_standard.html

    Or get a motherboard that has an LVDS connection (many Mini ITX boards have it).

    With these options you can configure them to the panel type you have.

     

    I have done it using a mini ITX board. Some details are given on my website http://www.oldvcr.tv/projects/index.html?Mode=View&ID=20

    You will need to get the datasheets for your LCDs and you will need to find out the power supply requirements pinout for the backlight inverters.

     

    These days you are much better off buying a Desktop LCD second hand or new.

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