Old Laptop Screen As Flat Panel monitor

T

T N Nurse

Guest
Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


Thanks in advance
 
In article <tnnurseNOUCE99-813024.10362825032004@singer.cent.gla.ac.uk>,
T N Nurse <tnnurseNOUCE99@hotmail.com> writes
Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


The question is asked a lot and the answer is always NO.
Click to expand...

Because the LCD panels in laptops are driven directly by a chipset on
the motherboard.

You should try selling your faulty laptop for spares on ebay, there is a
good market for that sort of thing.
--
Tim Mitchell
 
This question keeps coming up all the time.

The answer is NO! The laptop screen is drive directly from the chipset
interface on the mother board. There is no decoding since the screen is a
matrices rather than a real monitor.

You should sell your laptop for spare parts, and invest in a proper LCD
monitor. Then your problem will be resolved.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
=========================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
=========================================


"T N Nurse" <tnnurseNOUCE99@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:tnnurseNOUCE99-813024.10362825032004@singer.cent.gla.ac.uk...
Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


Thanks in advance
 
"T N Nurse" <tnnurseNOUCE99@hotmail.com> schreef in bericht
news:tnnurseNOUCE99-813024.10362825032004@singer.cent.gla.ac.uk...
Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Well, it can be done. It *is* done after all in the flat panel monitors
available on the market. But the time and money you have to invest makes it
an uninteresting task. First you need to know all about the interface. It's
a matrix interface most of the times and there are a lot of different types.
The manufacturers do not provide information about it so you have to find it
out a difficult way. If you finally succeed, you have to design an dedicated
interface for it. Something like reinventing the... let's say broom. Takes a
lot of time. The components required are not cheap either. So you'd better
look for a flat panel screen with an commonly used interface like VGA. They
are available in various sizes and tastes but you may have to search for a
firm that sells single items. But beware. It may be more expensive then the
ones from the next computershop.

petrus




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Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 10:36:28 +0000, T N Nurse wrote:

Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
There are rack mountable LCD monitors available. Perhaps one
of them would suit your needs.

Aidan Grey
 
On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 15:23:08 GMT, "petrus bitbyter"
<p.kralt@reducespamforchello.nl> wrote:

"T N Nurse" <tnnurseNOUCE99@hotmail.com> schreef in bericht
news:tnnurseNOUCE99-813024.10362825032004@singer.cent.gla.ac.uk...
Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


Thanks in advance


Well, it can be done. It *is* done after all in the flat panel monitors
available on the market. But the time and money you have to invest makes it
an uninteresting task. First you need to know all about the interface. It's
a matrix interface most of the times and there are a lot of different types.
The manufacturers do not provide information about it so you have to find it
out a difficult way. If you finally succeed, you have to design an dedicated
interface for it. Something like reinventing the... let's say broom. Takes a
lot of time. The components required are not cheap either. So you'd better
look for a flat panel screen with an commonly used interface like VGA. They
are available in various sizes and tastes but you may have to search for a
firm that sells single items. But beware. It may be more expensive then the
ones from the next computershop.

petrus



If you're just doing audio work with this portable rig you could save
Click to expand...
money by purchasing a monochromatic flat screen.
They should be dirt cheap as they've been around for some time.
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.639 / Virus Database: 408 - Release Date: 22-3-2004
Click to expand...
 
gothika (Vampyres@nettaxi.com) writes:
If you're just doing audio work with this portable rig you could save
money by purchasing a monochromatic flat screen.
They should be dirt cheap as they've been around for some time.
Click to expand...
Or just buy a used laptop. For display purposes, one can get away with
a fairly old one, and those will be cheap. Buy one with a dead battery,
running it off the AC adaptor, and a more recent one will be cheap too.

Michael
 
et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black) writes:

gothika (Vampyres@nettaxi.com) writes:


If you're just doing audio work with this portable rig you could save
money by purchasing a monochromatic flat screen.
They should be dirt cheap as they've been around for some time.

Or just buy a used laptop. For display purposes, one can get away with
a fairly old one, and those will be cheap. Buy one with a dead battery,
running it off the AC adaptor, and a more recent one will be cheap too.
Click to expand...
But beware that some laptops require an at least a battery that will
hold some kind of charge to function even on AC.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.
 
I would keep the battery in the laptop, even if it has gone dead, as my
Libretto 30 laptop would die if I removed the battery and connected just AC
to it. I think it uses the battery to regulate the power.



Naveed


"Michael Black" <et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:c430t0$np6$1@freenet9.carleton.ca...
gothika (Vampyres@nettaxi.com) writes:


If you're just doing audio work with this portable rig you could save
money by purchasing a monochromatic flat screen.
They should be dirt cheap as they've been around for some time.

Or just buy a used laptop. For display purposes, one can get away with
a fairly old one, and those will be cheap. Buy one with a dead battery,
running it off the AC adaptor, and a more recent one will be cheap too.

Michael
Click to expand...
 
"Aidan Grey" <apgrey@nospam.con> wrote in message news:<ncterlplorehfpn.hv61wq0.pminews@news.odyssey.on.ca>...
On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 10:36:28 +0000, T N Nurse wrote:

Hi,

I'm working on building a compact rack-mounted PC for audio
recording to hard disk. The main problem I'm having is having
to lug around a large monitor everywhere (which sort of defeats
the 'compact' part of the design!) and to a lesser extent, keyboard
and mouse.
Click to expand...
Whats up with the board? It might be repairable at least enough to get
it to run DOS.

-A

I have an old IBM thinkpad with a faulty motherboard, but the
screen works fine. Is there any way this could be adapted to
act as a monitor? It's res, 1025 x 760, is fine for the purpose.
If I could also get the keyboard and mouse pad running and hook
the lot up to the rack via an umbilical, that would be icing
on the cake!

Any ideas or pointers? A search of Google turned up a few
hits, but mainly people asking the same question.


Thanks in advance

There are rack mountable LCD monitors available. Perhaps one
of them would suit your needs.

Aidan Grey
Click to expand...
 
computersurplusoutlet.com sometimes carries some units that might do the
job.
 
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