Another happy customer here. Yes, I could have scoured ebay for a 2nd hand monitor, but doing this myself and rescuing something that would have been in landfill otherwise was a great experience. Suprisingly quick to do, especially as I used the screen casing from the laptop. Wall mounted above the desk in my workshop, which makes a great COVID work-from-home space. Thanks very much Matt!
That's what I'm trying to figure out too. All these DIYs seem to tell people to make homemade egg cartons to hold the existing monitor in rather than reusing the existing shell. I'm starting to think it's more of a flex to show off their own woodworking skills rather than the practicality of just drilling a few holes in the existing shell and perhaps throwing hinge. I'd probably go as far as to say you can probably stop all the Dollar Store or Walmart and buy a larger size picture frame and cut just enough out the back to hold up the board.
@@desecration171 It's just a personal preference to have a different look than the default building material. Why do people always have to think everyone else is maliciously doing something?
@@MorganEdgy I could ask a similar question of people on the internet that always takes things out of context for the sake of argument (contrarianism). You understand the fundamental differences between a DIY and vanity project, yes? DIYs generally fall under the premise of being "cheaper than hiring a professional" or easy enough for a layman. If it requires you to mine your own dilithium ore, buying a printing press, negotiating with terrorists for a flux capacitor, and getting a special license from the ATF then it's not really a DIY. Most people who are looking at recycling monitors aren't trying to create $400 custom jobs. You can buy prebuilt frames at half the price or buying secondhand at 1/4 or 1/8 the price. I go to construction zones all the time and ask for scrap pieces they are throwing away. The majority of videos for recycling monitors I've seen are more cost-prohibitive or go beyond what is necessary for a basic shell. That's the obvious point I was making.
I'm studying masters in computer science, and I have a bit of a screen size issue on my y720, but I have 2 broken laptops, I can now make 3 screens working at the same time while studying, it's sooo helpful. thank you so much.
It's strange to me that some startup hasn't done this for profit. The sheer amount of old laptops selling for $25 and under that have salvageable screens is immense. Add 3d printing to the mix and you could make cheap portable screens.
Well... Thinking about it, you would work for hours to do a decent job, spending around 100 dollars or more considering you will buy an old laptop around 25, a control board around 40, a vinyl, cable protection, the wooden board, screws... To then get a screen that is not that thin, has not industrial levels of finishes and is probably not even high quality. It's just a cool DIY project.
@@dariobelardi333 I could see it being plausible though, most of the electronics and components can be obtained wayyy cheaper in wholesale or by contacting the factories that produce the pcbs. But manual labor is gonna be the hard part to cut down on
As a high school teacher who constantly has to prepare exam papers, do grade analysis and a digital art hobbyist. .. this is the most useful DIY I've watched in a long time.
I know this is an old video but it is at no point outdated, I came across this when looking for stuff to do during Covid and I remembered my mom having a very old laptop from 2008 that was fully dead, however in pretty good shape, obviously the specs we're nothing by today's standards but the retrieved parts we're certainly very interesting. I had always been looking for a second monitor, since I mostly use my gaming laptop, however it is very annoying to keep having to click of a game to check the chat or look something up. I saw this video and since the screen I had was also from "laptop format" it should sync with my current setup quite nicely. This meant ordering a controller board from Amazon and hooking it up, it worked fine. However, I wasn't really that much of a fan of the design of the outside used in this video, it certainly isn't bad but it wasn't really my style. Since I own a 3d-printer and have a good amount of experience in 3d design software I decided to 3d-print a whole outer casing for the screen. After many hours of printing it came out beautifully and I've been enjoying it for a couple days now, also really questioning how I ever lived without it ;). I went with the black and red theme since it fit my laptop and current setup. For those of you curious here are some screenshots of pictures of the finished product: gyazo.com/783252a9936f8ff03577770dc1cd27b4 gyazo.com/22d7b9e2e674ae8ebd1350d391d08c65 gyazo.com/48dafb1626fd1cdad8532a8ca3286753
The point is to do it yourself, hence DIY... There is a sense of accomplishment and pride when you do something yourself rather than just buying it. Also you tend to appreciate it more.
***** Well it doesn't necessarily have to be done, whatever suits your needs and can be done cheaply with what you have, I for one just viewed this video as an example.
I've not considered doing anything like this because I got my secondary monitor for free. The guy didn't need it anymore, so he just went 'sure, take it'.
I've done something like this before, with a dead netbook screen. However, something I don't quite understand is "Most laptops are restricted to just the single built in display". You can also just add a monitor like you can with a desktop... that's essentially all you did here... That said, good tutorial for those who may not have known. It's a great way to save a little money if you've already got a laptop screen from a laptop that's otherwise not usable.
Portability, perhaps? Most laptop users are working on the go, after all. I can easily see someone just casually setting up the second screen in a cafe, in a hotel lobby before a meeting, or even while waiting for their flight. Plus there's the added bonus of not needing another power supply.
888SpinR There are definitely portable monitors meant to travel with laptops out there. I used one (AOC) in a computer case mod in the past, specifically because it only required a single USB cable for both video and power. To be clear, I'm not knocking the project, I think it's sweet. I just think he tried too hard to justify it, when he could have just said "because it looks cooler" lol
What do you mean by "Most laptops are restricted to just the single built in display"? Wait, I know what you meant now, in the vid. Yeah, that statement made no sense these days.
Its cheaper. I googled portable monitors, everything was like 90+ On this project he spent like 20 bucks on the control boards, probably like another 15 bucks on the wrap, epoxy, and wood board. The project is for people with a spare laptop around that they can salvage the screen from. Even if someone doesnt have a spare laptop, the screens are like 55 bucks (non touch screens).
Tightly epoxying the vinyl to the front side will also prevent ingress of cleaning fluids that would otherwise dissolve the standard adhesive. If you use a laptop screen the same height of your laptop you are going to use it with, you should make the stand/base so that it neatly lines up. One word of warning for the power supply thing though. Often the PSU of a laptop is at the bare minimum of what the laptop needs when it charges its battery and runs doing something power intensive. Thus by drawing away even more power, it might not be healthy, so run some numbers for the wattage that is needed (assuming 80% efficiency of the regulator).
I love your concise explanations. Its such a pleasant change from many videos that have about 10% content and 90% waffle. Congrats your whole series is fascinating.
Came here from your newer USB-C touchscreen video, and while the quality of this video is still pretty good, it's awesome to see how much you've grown. You have more energy and the production quality of your newer videos is really great, and you seem much more confident. It's awesome you've been doing this so long and growing as you have been!
That's one of the videos that inspired me the most... I found this video during the COVID-19 lockdown in spring of 2020, to fight the boredom I built my own display using a 15" LCD scraped from an old laptop (MAXDATA ECO 4500IW). What is interesting, the controller I ordered for the display is able to upscale the video in HDMI mode to 1080p - although the physical resolution of the display is lower (1280x800), the picture is surprisingly well readable. I made an enclosure out of a back of an old kitchen cabinet - it was a wood-like material of 3 mm in thickness which I sliced and glued into three layers of appropriate shape. I modified the presented project by mounting the entire device on drawer guides attached to aluminium vertical L-shaped bars. This allowed me to move the display up and down, so that it can be placed precisely above the laptop screen. I also added a Raspberry Pi lying around at the back of the device and I added the small OLED display attached to it. The entire setup works well to this day and I constantly use it for my work.
Love this video. Again, how is a three-year old video only just making its way to me?? How did I not see this ages ago!! Will be doing this with my *other* laptop lol
This is why I love your channel man, you make some really cool stuff that I don't see everyday, and your videos are really entertaining and with really high quality, and the stuff that you make is awesome as always, keep doing more :)
Absolutely love it mate, I built one myself and I am VERY satisfied with it. Amazing creativity and great narration defitenly helps putting things together when you are actually told what to do and shown. Thanks mate keep up the amazing videos😇🙂
@@beninfarum923 No sir, I have a laptop screen and a Samsung tab screen. But i have not gotten that far yet. I was truly hoping that once I had an interface board, I'd be alright (pnp) but now you have me wondering. Lol.
@@albinoameise Fair question, i i ended up making a desk lamp out of the tab screen with a 5v .5amp source because i am a knuckle dragging Neanderthal underwear model. I have also obtained an entire set of cold cathodes from a larger tv. im hoping to do some cool stuff with those using my torch and a bag of medicinal edibles. we shall see what comes of this.
I'm curious if there is a way to wire the three panels into 'one' so you only need one connection to your video card. Unless you have a REALLY nice video card. =D
the double monitors would be facing outward when folded, added ninja benefit, Hinge a clipboard over them as a screen protector when closed and a paper easel when open
We have a notebook at work which really can not be replaced because of the old fashioned COM port which connects it to an older, but vital, CAM machine. The screen died and it was going to cost the company about $350 to get the part and have a Dell technician install it. We had an old notebook sitting around which was absolutely good for nothing as it would not even turn on. Though the models were different and made in different years they were both Dell. The screens appeared to be about the same so I thought, "Why not?" My first ever attempt at a notebook monitor swap worked. While $350 is not a big deal to my company they were glad to save the money and surprised I could do the work. Made me look good. We also had two identical PC monitors. One monitor clearly went bad and was not good any more. The other one had the bezel button break and would not turn on. Shame of it was the monitor was still fairly new. But I held on to it and eventually swapped the bezel to get one working (and fairly new) monitor.
Ha, I wish. But the monitor I fixed is now being used as a 2nd by a new guy. He appreciates the history of the fix. If I never fixed it, I had nothing to give him. Repurpose is better than recycle.
Loved this so much I did it myself. had a lot of fun doing it. I reused the top of the lap top instead of building a new frame. Thanks for all the tips!!
Valkirian Reborn it's all really depend on your presentation, the bakers really need to be convinced to invest their money, just look at the project that successful, their presentation is on point
I'll certainly give you points for the portability, but it might not be as cheap as just buying the controller, because you also mention more materials that most people might not have laying around, like the MDF, the carbon fiber vinyl, PCB standoff pillars, female to female standoffs, cable shielding, piece of aluminum, fast drying epoxy, masking tape, and 12v power adaptor. Also the monitor should have some kind of cover for the display if it is to be carried around with the laptop. I'm certainly interested in building at least one of these just for the fun of it.
@@pierrel8330 On the website of the manufacturer of the display controller board they sait that 12v 3-5a is good. (5a if you plan on using a 17 inch panel)
Just finished mine and it works fantastic + looks great. Thanks for the fun to build and the pride to have succeeded to get it to work. When are you going to build a drone ? I am sure I am not the only one to be very interested.
I mean 2:18 harder jump cut than Game of Thrones. how'd we get from disconnected display to control board correctly connected and perfectly functioning haha come on
On the back of the lcd monitor, there is a 30pin or 40pin connection (depending on the screen you have). The controller board comes with the appropriate connection and can simply be plugged into the back of the monitor like anything else. It slots upwards into place and can be held with some strong electrical tape - if you want that extra protection against it getting dislodged. It is a very delicate connection though, so when disconnecting the original laptop cable from the back or connecting the controller board cable, ensure that you dont force anything. It's easy as that - you then connect a 12v3a DC jack (which can be bought for cheap) which powers the control board - and attach your hdmi to the desired source. It is a great and easy way to recycle old laptop screens that anyone can do..!
@@Kyrindelock1 so as long as everything is matched (the panel and the control board), it is only plug and play job? no program installation whatsoever?
I didn't even think about USB C, thats a great idea! Now, I know nothing about electricity, but would it be possible to use a USB C male to HDMI female converter (like this a.co/5TEi1oi), interrupt the wire between them to take power out to the monitor? Data would be transferred to the HDMI part and power would fork off to the controller board. Would USB C have the voltage to do that? Connecting a monitor with a single USB C cable sounds neat!
Daily Cake Slice A USB C is like an HDMI and IEC cable put together. Essentially, if you have a laptop that has a USB C port, you could both power and send data with just one cable, not splitters or converters necessary. If you dont have one in your laptop, your probably going to want to go and find a splitter converter that sends power from a USB A and the data from an HDMI which would then go to USB C. So in other words, find an adapter where it has an HDMI and USB input and a USB C output. As far as USB C being able to handle the voltage, you can daisy chain power multiple monitors without a problem. Do your research on USB C cables though, not all are created equal and don't cheap out on them. The cheaper ones can fry your devices so try and steer clear of those.
Gregg Carter Gregg Carter Thanks, I actually have a desktop with USB-C, but it's a small form factor so I wanted a portable monitor. If I'm not mistaken, display outputs are usually disabled when you have a graphics card and you instead use the ones that are on the card. Do you know if I'd be able to still use the usbc port? Sorry I don't mess with this stuff much :P The reason I talked about a splitter is that I doubt any control board I buy for the screen I have would have a usbc port (it's pretty old). If I took the USB c cable connected from my computer and had the power wires power the screen and have the data wires (I assume that's how all this works, if not I'd just have things branch off) go towards the USB c to hdmi converter, and have that go to the control board, would all possibly work?
Brilliant, I just spent a day fixing my old Toshiba P200 but having now got four old laptops kicking around, I'm quite excited, the possibilities are endless! I really enjoy the build, simple and I'll get came in around £24? If you told us how cheap, we would know for sure it's not cheaper tha. a second Monitor. Anyway, that'd be cheating...
You would need a screen with a digitizer as well as a circuit board that can process the information, but as long as you can find one that isn't too expensive, then I don't see why not.
Plus it saves having to lug the plug pack for the laptop around if you intend to work on battery power - most modern laptops get around 6 hours out of the battery, or even longer if doing light tasks such as simply browsing the web. You could add a protective cover using piano hinge at the very base of the screen. This would attach to some thin ply covered in the same nylon wrap. It could be secured in place with many things - hook and loop tape, small neodymium magnets etc. A fabric loop attached to both the cover and the back of the screen would make a convenient carry handle, and make the display easy to open for use.
I would not recommend tapping off the laptop power supply to power the monitor! The laptop power supply is built, ONLY, to power the laptop but if it also has to power a screen you might run into problems. A seperate power supply for the screen would be a better option. Otherwise this a great hack! -Cheers
Sander Ruijters could work or not. Most laptop power supplies are generic to be used for different models and usually have a good bit of headroom. In any case you'll see if it works or not. If it does, fine. If not, no harm dine, just get another power supply.
Also, he fine-tuned output to 12V without any load. When the laptop (and power supply) is working close to maximum capacity, the voltage might drop significantly... better use a bigger PSU for this setup than a laptop alone requires :)
The exact opposite! If you see, at the bottom of every laptop there are some specifications on voltage and amperage which match exactly those on the psu, so if you do the splitter thing you will certainly have sudden power offs or reboots. If you put a different specification psu(even if it has a slight difference) on a laptop it might not even power up and there is a good chance to burn the charging mosfet! Better just use a seperate power supply.
Hey. I made you project, I did a prototype first, then I took it a step further on a second screen. I added speakers, a proper TV stand, made it wall mountable with a VESA plate, stepped down the voltage on one side to 5v for aRPiZero (for Kodi and to control a DVD player), a TV tuner, a USB slot for power only (powers a Roku stick or anything 5v3amps for example) and a DVD drive (also out of the laptop). It's awesome and I've already started making another.
Nice! I will now be on the lookout for any old laptops. Question: your speaker(s) to the left... what brand are they. They look intriguing. Looks like it has a ribbon tweeter and I have liked that type for a long time. I burned out one of them in my favorite set of speakers a while back. I've tried to find a replacement - would need to replace as a set - or new set of speakers as mine were from the early 90's.
+DIY Perks i have an PC one in all, looks like dead, but not sure yet, gotta check the power supply and testy if it can run again. if not, well, gotta sell the pieces and make a secondary screen and make a DIY speakers, such sounds so fast amazing and loud with bass, don't know, many ideas to do (´･_･`)
I mean cool and all, but with some looking you can find a good one for real cheap! One day, I was like "I wanna get a second monitor" so i went to a nearby thrift store and found a monitor. It was 1080p, pretty big, worked great, and it was 50% off at the time, so no lie, i got it for 3 dollars.
In my country we cant find one for less than $40 (1/6 of minimum wage) , really old and fat. If you need a portable one, and thin, u need to buy from china (bcs here is double the price), and it will cost so much more than $40. I've bought all i needed to this project today, already have the screen from a old laptop, and it cost me around $30-35. So i guess its worth it... I can use it in home and take it with me to my university/work/gf's house
I think you're missing the point of this video. Of course he could just go out and buy a cheap monitor, but he wanted to build one himself (badass), as well as recycle an old screen that was probably just going to end up in a landfill somewhere.
You really had me fooled with the carbon fibre effect, I was about to go off and look up the prices of CF sheets. Smart use of the motherboard standoffs too. Never come across control boards like this before, will have to investigate.
if you use a random orbital sander with 180 or 220 grit sandpaper, it will turn it frosted or matte. The pattern is a result of the random sanding action of the sander. It's an old school trick to turn shiny acrylic into frosted.......
I've a ton of old laptops kicking about, some I've fully refurbished, some I'd parked to strip for parts for to upgrade the refurb's. I'd suspected that it might be possible to drive all these spare LCDs panels and I can confirm I've now got one working with an inexpensive LDVS controller board, thanks to this video :)
Here's a tip for portability and battery life: Glue the monitor on the side of a car battery. Battery acts as a stand, a power source and it has a handle for moving the monitor around!
Smartphone screens are more proprietary than laptop screens there fore there is no one whitebox controller board option to rule them all on the market.. You might get lucky here and there but it's just not worth it. This is why you don't see a lot of videos about single board fruit computer users reusing smartphone OLED screens.
@@digital945 Also to add to my post, the connectors in phone OLEDs are tiny and non standard.. Very easy to break and ruin the whole screen.. PC monitors and TV sets are much easier to work with.
I always want to make a small 240 320 java based system and want to play old java games with keys .this system look like a miniature laptop .is it possible to make this. It seems funny but I will like to that .
I'm glad that I found this channel. I was about to trash two Mac laptops that have really good 17" screens. Looks like my office desk may have 1-2 new external displays.
I've been gaming on a laptop for 8 years and recently decided to build a computer and buy a monitor. I have a 24inch monitor with 144hz/1ms and the monitor has no faults. But after using a 60hz refresh rate and a 15'6 inch wide laptop screen for 8 years I can't get used to playing games on 24inch monitor and 144hz. Sounds weird right? but it just feels so different and my eyes can't get used to it. I've been looking around for monitors at 15'6 wide and I've found a few at around £200 which I think is insane for a such small monitor (I payed £200 for my 24inch monitor lol). After watching your video I'm so glad that this is possible to recycle a laptop screen. I still have my laptop which actually died and wont boot up, so im going to give it a try and recycle the laptop screen. WISH ME Luck:) P.S Great Informative Video.
Jason Estrada iv only just dissembled the screen from the laptop (been busy) and I’m actually ordering all the parts this Friday to come for next Monday. I should have the monitor completed by next Friday 29th. I’ll either post a few pictures or a mini video here when it’s done. Ps. Getting the screen to power up and work is the easy part, it’s building the surround for the screen which I’m mediocre at doing. I’m gunna follow this tutorial carefully with a cup of coffee at hand :) cya next Friday 👍
The smaller a part is, the more expensive it is to manufacture and assemble, as it require more precision from the machine which build them, and the quality control is also more intensive.
Depends on the type of epoxy, even the one made for plastic will still be hard to slice with sharp razor, and the dried epoxy will make it ugly when you reapplying it later. A small, hinge-type paperclip would works better for this project.
love the simplicity of this, just wondering how the screen was powered when used with the desktop pc? im assuming just a usb to dc power lead from the tower...
I think he was powered with a regular DC Power supply. USB 1.0/1.1 can only deliver 0,5 W. USB 2.0 2,5 Watt. USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 up to 4,5 Watt and USB C can deliver 15 W. So you'd need something like USB-PD and a Step Up - Step - Down converter...and I have never seen a PC with USB-PD... Most displays need 30-60 Watts.
At the end of the video, is it possible to have a diagram on how you did the additional power from laptop to secondary screen? I’ve tried and just get screen flicker.
Hi!: Looks easy, but you don’t make much mention of how the control board hooks up to the screen and what it’s components do! I can cope with the practicals of diy: frame and surround; but would like more detail "if possible" regarding the wiring, before I take the risk. Thanks. My screen is still in its casing, so will be easier to mount to a stand, but I’m unsure of what wires go where/do what!! My donor was an HP Pavillion dv6000 widescreen 14.4 inch. It has two micro "four wire" plugs, two very tiny circular “sound”? plugs marked one and two, and a strip "push down” plug. I have the part number as LTN154X3L01 so know what board to order. Thanks in advance.
I'm not checking your particular monitor here because I'm sure you can figure it out from the video and this: So you remove the ribbon cable from the monitor (and, depending on the monitor, the separate power cable if it has one. You then plug one end of the cable that comes with the control board into it, the other end into the back of the monitor. I'm not sure how much clearer he could have been about that part, to be honest.
@@markieman64 Thanks for the reply, and as I said originally, there are several leads coming from my ‘still cased’ screen. The one I’m assuming you’re calling the ribbon cable isn’t a ribbon, but a standard small round cable and has what I can only describe as a push down plug attached. This something the style of which I’ve never come across before: I don’t know if this would need some sort of adaptor to fit a standard ribbon 'side insert’ type socket ?? There are then still four other leads, two four wire plugs and two ‘round’ female plugs, marked one and two (1-2). The original text assumed knowledge, as have you, that a ribbon cable is present! As I still have no idea what these cables all do, that’s why I ask.. But thanks anyway.
@@barryturner2702 By "still cased" when referring to your screen, do you mean you still have not taken the bezel off and removed the LCD from the laptop? I assumed you had since, as this video shows, the serial number for the LCD screen is on its back. You need this to know which controller to get (knowing the model number won't tell you that since they can be different.) Are there any results on TH-cam when you search for "remove LCD from X" where X is your model number? There are then a few useful websites that show the various types of monitor removal where it relates to recycling the LCD to make a monitor. As I said, the ribbon cable usually attaches onto the back of the LCD, which is covered by the laptop's outer cover, so if your laptop is still cased, you wouldn't be able to see it...
Holy Moses! I didn't know about this! I have a QD14XL20 Rev.03 screen from an old Dell Laptop I discombooberated. Went on your link to to find a control board and, lo and behold, there it was for $20.70 plus shipping (unable to remember how much shipping right off). I am going to buy one. The possibilities are endless. I am new to building ANYTHING using computer components and plan on using the equipment I buy to augment my rig. Two heads are better than one, as I have heard. Well, same goes for monitors. Looking forward to building a Cyber Computer some time in the near future. Thank you for an informative and entertaining video.❤😎
Nice! I'm an old hand at electronics, but my stuff tends to work well whilst looking like crap. Your videos might inspire me to try harder ! Particularly like the 'carbon fibre' wrap. I could have this place looking like Darth Vader's toilet in no time.
This would have to be one of the most useful channels I have stumbled across. We live in a tiny place and got rid of our secondary monitors due to space issues. Yes, it's that small. But this DIY monitor takes up such little space that I might look into it, especially since so much is done via programs like zoom, it would be super helpful to have a secondary monitor for my laptop, Many thanks for your ideas.
Hi what is the input lag and ghosting like on that specific screen you used? as I have just built a mini ITX build and looking for a portable screen, and not liking the USB, for power and signal 15.6 and 17in poortable monitors for sale, your ideas seems perfect.
I haven't tested input lag, but from general mouse movement it seems imperceptible, and I'm very sensitive to any kind of lag on a monitor. Probably something to do with the control board doing no real signal processing. Ghosting is noticeable however, but that's down to the specific panel used.
yes, because it uses HDMI, but you'd need to get another way for the audio. possibly the headphone jack on the dualshock 4 would do it? i don't have a ps4. i know the ps3 had optical audio out, but i seem to remember hearing they removed that from the ps4? if yours has optical, of course, then you can use that easily to connect speakers or headphones, either directly or via an optical to analogue adapter.
@@KingNekodom How so, what kind of control board did you use, I have a dead hp spectre x360 (the expensive one) would love to surprise my gf with a second screen out of it.
I'm going to try this but use the old Laptop screen housing after spray painting it. I'm just waiting on the controller board now. Fingers crossed I should have this done by the end of the month. Thanks for the video, it is super helpful!
Hi Matt, I saw this video a while ago, I had when I saw an HS laptop but the screen was not really great, suddenly I had not tested this reuse . A few months ago I recovered a newer laptop, I did not manage to restore it to working order (HS motherboard) but I took care to dismantle everything that was recoverable and in particular the 'screen which is more recent (I even made sure to keep the frame of the screen to be able to reuse it in this project). Last month, after some hesitation (I was afraid of not taking the right module and thinking of money unnecessarily) I finally decided, I took the back of the screen in photo and contacted different sellers of this smodules by sending them the photo to be sure to take the right module that I received ill there two days ago and yesterday I connected it and I was super happy to see that it worked immediately without any difficulties. I would certainly do the same again in the future on even more recent screens, in any case thank you for this video, it's really very satisfying to be able to give a second life to what would have ended up in the trash when it can be reused . A French follower.
What do you do for a living? I swear you could work in some sort of professional voiceover(ing?) company for tutorials or guides Your voice just sounds so guuuuuud......
Nice build this and something I really want to attempt. Problem I am finding is that whilst there are used 1080p (and new replacement) screens on ebay, finding the matching controller board is difficult to impossible. Anyone have any tips for sourcing?
you can try to find your driver board number, and search it online to find out new led screen image. and you zoom it to the driver board. viola you have it. some manufacture doesn't print it to the backside of the screen.
if you use a 12 volt to 5 volt step down converter soldered to the power jack from the bottom of the control board, you can power the raspberry pi from the step down converter. the jack is likely to be center positive
Great video, I have an observation question. Couldn't you use these techniques to just strip down an old monitor? The reason I say this is that it occurs to me that if I instead strip down an old monitor, it would already have the control board saving the hassle and ~$25 of ordering one. Of course, a monitor is already a monitor but A) I would like to break it down so that it is small enough to fit in my laptop bag and B) power it without the additional cord. Unless, of course, the power requirements so much and power supply too necessary in a traditional monitor to remove or compress. Portable monitors are hard to find and always in the 100+ range, which is silly IMO. I gathered all my nice monitors from thrift stores for
RaFi TV that would definitely increase the cost if you can't do this on your own. for that price you could also buy a separate flat monitor i would guess
I would go for a matte black one also, or try and get one as similar to the the texture/colour as the laptop you want to partner it with. Just my opinion. I once bought a car and the interior was covered in the Carbon Fibre stuff, was nasty.
Mate, what if the display has touchscreen? My english is bad. So if the display has touchscreen, does it work? I'm really thinking to make a second monitor for my PC, and if it has touchscreen it will gonna be great! How the touch will go to PC? UBS cable?
Catalin Neaga Uhh, Touch will make it more complicated as you need a USB-connection and a driver installed on the PC you want to use the screen with. Depending on the functions the controller board provides it can be quite easy or pretty complicated. I am not an expert though
Silvan Verhoeven that's if the touch controller uses serial bus, if it uses I2C, SPI or another type of bus you can be screwed if you don't know how to interface with it. And the OS has to understand it too, so drivers may be required.
Silvan Verhoeven well, if tou are sending simple data, every bus will do. But those I mentioned are the most used in hardware for PCs and such. And btw, I'm no expert hehe.
Thanks for the answers :))) I just want to know, i've got a laptop, an old one, whitout touchscreen, but is was a bit easier like (and i've saw good screens on ebay, just an usb cable and houdini.
![[ENG SUB] Let's make a tablet with a broken LCD smartphone - Making a Dex tablet](/img/n.gif)
Holy moley - it's only been up a few hours and we're nearly at 3k likes! Thanks guys!
DIY Perks made one of those super bright torches! ruined one but the second go worked! awesome projects and great cinematography
OMG, where do you get those amazing wallpapers?? :O
YES THOSE WALLPAPERS!
DIY Perks it's an awesome build!
the vinyl wrap + epoxy is great!
Another happy customer here. Yes, I could have scoured ebay for a 2nd hand monitor, but doing this myself and rescuing something that would have been in landfill otherwise was a great experience.
Suprisingly quick to do, especially as I used the screen casing from the laptop. Wall mounted above the desk in my workshop, which makes a great COVID work-from-home space.
Thanks very much Matt!
Hey dude, do you have a pic of your finished screen?
how did you use the screen casing of the laptop? Sounds awesome!
That's what I'm trying to figure out too. All these DIYs seem to tell people to make homemade egg cartons to hold the existing monitor in rather than reusing the existing shell. I'm starting to think it's more of a flex to show off their own woodworking skills rather than the practicality of just drilling a few holes in the existing shell and perhaps throwing hinge. I'd probably go as far as to say you can probably stop all the Dollar Store or Walmart and buy a larger size picture frame and cut just enough out the back to hold up the board.
@@desecration171 It's just a personal preference to have a different look than the default building material. Why do people always have to think everyone else is maliciously doing something?
@@MorganEdgy I could ask a similar question of people on the internet that always takes things out of context for the sake of argument (contrarianism). You understand the fundamental differences between a DIY and vanity project, yes? DIYs generally fall under the premise of being "cheaper than hiring a professional" or easy enough for a layman. If it requires you to mine your own dilithium ore, buying a printing press, negotiating with terrorists for a flux capacitor, and getting a special license from the ATF then it's not really a DIY. Most people who are looking at recycling monitors aren't trying to create $400 custom jobs. You can buy prebuilt frames at half the price or buying secondhand at 1/4 or 1/8 the price. I go to construction zones all the time and ask for scrap pieces they are throwing away. The majority of videos for recycling monitors I've seen are more cost-prohibitive or go beyond what is necessary for a basic shell. That's the obvious point I was making.
I'm studying masters in computer science, and I have a bit of a screen size issue on my y720, but I have 2 broken laptops, I can now make 3 screens working at the same time while studying, it's sooo helpful. thank you so much.
That’s so cool I didn’t know u could have three screens!!!
@@gabruekqbryh7871 You can have as many screens as you want
@@alkaupadhyay7650 Yeah I know that now Thanx 👍😁
Did you make a setup of three screens?
@@samdownload8192 i wanna know too lmao
It's strange to me that some startup hasn't done this for profit. The sheer amount of old laptops selling for $25 and under that have salvageable screens is immense. Add 3d printing to the mix and you could make cheap portable screens.
only downside is just shipping time
Well... Thinking about it, you would work for hours to do a decent job, spending around 100 dollars or more considering you will buy an old laptop around 25, a control board around 40, a vinyl, cable protection, the wooden board, screws... To then get a screen that is not that thin, has not industrial levels of finishes and is probably not even high quality. It's just a cool DIY project.
@@dariobelardi333 I could see it being plausible though, most of the electronics and components can be obtained wayyy cheaper in wholesale or by contacting the factories that produce the pcbs. But manual labor is gonna be the hard part to cut down on
a company has done something similar to this now, except with 2 screens. Its called portabl, but their prices are outrageous
@@dariobelardi333 3d print > wood board plus wholesale purchasing
As a high school teacher who constantly has to prepare exam papers, do grade analysis and a digital art hobbyist. .. this is the most useful DIY I've watched in a long time.
How is being a teacher relevant here?
@@aaqilian5.085 read the comment
@@guilhermealmeida6804
Sorry, but I also don't understand why that is relevant. Can you please explain?
Dude... I already knew how to recycle these screens but I was puzzled about making an enclosure.. YOU NAILED IT!!!
Nope, he SCREWED IT!
i just glue the control board to 4 pieces of plastic and then glue it to the bare panel. then i bend a wire coat hanger to make a stand. works well.
@@Bugside why did i laugh at this so much xD
@@devicemodder Dude, that´s...crude. LOL.
same xD
You can actually get 5 Volts from the LCD controller itself. The port for attaching an IR sensor has a +5V, gnd and IR pins.
It has? Wish I knew that!
and... what's the alternative?i don't have the multimeter with me
How would you go about attaching it?
How would you go about attaching it?
so i can potentially power a usb-powered device without an extra step down thingy?
I know this is an old video but it is at no point outdated, I came across this when looking for stuff to do during Covid and I remembered my mom having a very old laptop from 2008 that was fully dead, however in pretty good shape, obviously the specs we're nothing by today's standards but the retrieved parts we're certainly very interesting. I had always been looking for a second monitor, since I mostly use my gaming laptop, however it is very annoying to keep having to click of a game to check the chat or look something up. I saw this video and since the screen I had was also from "laptop format" it should sync with my current setup quite nicely. This meant ordering a controller board from Amazon and hooking it up, it worked fine. However, I wasn't really that much of a fan of the design of the outside used in this video, it certainly isn't bad but it wasn't really my style. Since I own a 3d-printer and have a good amount of experience in 3d design software I decided to 3d-print a whole outer casing for the screen. After many hours of printing it came out beautifully and I've been enjoying it for a couple days now, also really questioning how I ever lived without it ;). I went with the black and red theme since it fit my laptop and current setup. For those of you curious here are some screenshots of pictures of the finished product:
gyazo.com/783252a9936f8ff03577770dc1cd27b4
gyazo.com/22d7b9e2e674ae8ebd1350d391d08c65
gyazo.com/48dafb1626fd1cdad8532a8ca3286753
Nice work.
nice one mate
Omg, you are very talent
This is actually a really good idea, surprised I haven't seen something like this until now
The point is to do it yourself, hence DIY... There is a sense of accomplishment and pride when you do something yourself rather than just buying it. Also you tend to appreciate it more.
***** Well it doesn't necessarily have to be done, whatever suits your needs and can be done cheaply with what you have, I for one just viewed this video as an example.
I've not considered doing anything like this because I got my secondary monitor for free. The guy didn't need it anymore, so he just went 'sure, take it'.
Steamrick That's neat, personally I'll probably never do anything like this either because I already have a triple 27" monitor setup :p
GreatScott! made something similar/the same a few years ago, check him out. I agree, it's a cool and fun project :)
I've had a dead 19inch laptop for like 5 years, I'm so glad I found this video as I would have never thought of this!
Same here, well mine's a 14 inch but I never got rid of it.
This is why its good to to be a pack rat, and watch the videos of like minded people. Never know what great useful ideas for junk that you overlooked.
James Clayton yeah right
@@potato_x69 Exactly. xd
19 ??? u mean 17 ?
I've done something like this before, with a dead netbook screen. However, something I don't quite understand is "Most laptops are restricted to just the single built in display". You can also just add a monitor like you can with a desktop... that's essentially all you did here...
That said, good tutorial for those who may not have known. It's a great way to save a little money if you've already got a laptop screen from a laptop that's otherwise not usable.
Portability, perhaps? Most laptop users are working on the go, after all. I can easily see someone just casually setting up the second screen in a cafe, in a hotel lobby before a meeting, or even while waiting for their flight. Plus there's the added bonus of not needing another power supply.
888SpinR There are definitely portable monitors meant to travel with laptops out there. I used one (AOC) in a computer case mod in the past, specifically because it only required a single USB cable for both video and power.
To be clear, I'm not knocking the project, I think it's sweet. I just think he tried too hard to justify it, when he could have just said "because it looks cooler" lol
***** Ahh I wasn't aware of that. Still living in the last decade I suppose. They are pretty costly, though.
What do you mean by "Most laptops are restricted to just the single built in display"?
Wait, I know what you meant now, in the vid. Yeah, that statement made no sense these days.
Its cheaper. I googled portable monitors, everything was like 90+
On this project he spent like 20 bucks on the control boards, probably like another 15 bucks on the wrap, epoxy, and wood board.
The project is for people with a spare laptop around that they can salvage the screen from. Even if someone doesnt have a spare laptop, the screens are like 55 bucks (non touch screens).
new dilemma: should I make a secondary monitor or a lamp out of my old laptop's screen...
What's important?
Is it mashed? Light, not? Secondary screen.
Make the lamp out of the heatsink plus a high power led.
Monitor
Or a smart mirror
Bruh!! Same here!! How come we think same>>
That 1.1k dislike are those monitor companies blowing their fuses
or the fbi because he's breaking the rules of the system
is there such thing as necro-commenting
Its CompTIA trying to stop people fixinf it themselves. They could create a cert for DIY Screen.
@@owaisunar5227 people who are stupid enough to mess this up exist
Or maybe by people who realize it can be cheaper and way faster to just buy a used "regular" monitor. Nice video, but not worth building this diy.
Tightly epoxying the vinyl to the front side will also prevent ingress of cleaning fluids that would otherwise dissolve the standard adhesive. If you use a laptop screen the same height of your laptop you are going to use it with, you should make the stand/base so that it neatly lines up.
One word of warning for the power supply thing though. Often the PSU of a laptop is at the bare minimum of what the laptop needs when it charges its battery and runs doing something power intensive. Thus by drawing away even more power, it might not be healthy, so run some numbers for the wattage that is needed (assuming 80% efficiency of the regulator).
I love your concise explanations. Its such a pleasant change from many videos that have about 10% content and 90% waffle. Congrats your whole series is fascinating.
Came here from your newer USB-C touchscreen video, and while the quality of this video is still pretty good, it's awesome to see how much you've grown. You have more energy and the production quality of your newer videos is really great, and you seem much more confident. It's awesome you've been doing this so long and growing as you have been!
4 years ago, yet even in 2020. this video helped me make a monitor
we want to see the end result!
That's one of the videos that inspired me the most... I found this video during the COVID-19 lockdown in spring of 2020, to fight the boredom I built my own display using a 15" LCD scraped from an old laptop (MAXDATA ECO 4500IW). What is interesting, the controller I ordered for the display is able to upscale the video in HDMI mode to 1080p - although the physical resolution of the display is lower (1280x800), the picture is surprisingly well readable. I made an enclosure out of a back of an old kitchen cabinet - it was a wood-like material of 3 mm in thickness which I sliced and glued into three layers of appropriate shape. I modified the presented project by mounting the entire device on drawer guides attached to aluminium vertical L-shaped bars. This allowed me to move the display up and down, so that it can be placed precisely above the laptop screen. I also added a Raspberry Pi lying around at the back of the device and I added the small OLED display attached to it. The entire setup works well to this day and I constantly use it for my work.
His voice is so relaxing! That makes the video enjoyable too.
Hey Matt, would love to see a 2020 update of this with USB-C for power and input!
It'd be the same process, just go to eBay or Aliexpress and find a controller board which has that I/O
Its already there
It looks better than proper monitors haha!
Exactly!
well yhea, but you can just get another monitor.. and extend the screens.
TeckGeek Obviously. But that's not as mobile.
lol true
nice profile picture!
Love this video. Again, how is a three-year old video only just making its way to me?? How did I not see this ages ago!!
Will be doing this with my *other* laptop lol
I thought the same thing. I should have learned about this years ago
ikr
Ikr I saw it ages ago then when I got a free monitor it all of a sudden popped up on my recommended
@Ariel 9977 i would like to do this project but i was asking my self...how can i be shure to buy the right power adapter?
This is why I love your channel man, you make some really cool stuff that I don't see everyday, and your videos are really entertaining and with really high quality, and the stuff that you make is awesome as always, keep doing more :)
You can also use one screen like this in the backseat of a car for playing some videogames with a raspberry pi or something like that.
Max Hero Great idea
Hook up a ps3 and put the screen in the car like a Tesla
Need some help @Max Hero
Maybe watch a film with your phone ? 🤔👍🏻
@@latitzouri stfu
Absolutely love it mate, I built one myself and I am VERY satisfied with it. Amazing creativity and great narration defitenly helps putting things together when you are actually told what to do and shown. Thanks mate keep up the amazing videos😇🙂
I know this is an old video but I did this to one of my old laptops after watching this and thanks a lot! Really stoked with how it works
didnt understand: drilled holes into my screen
Leander not into the screen into the piece of wood then u attach the screen
@@evildragon196 it was a fucking joke
hahaha lmao
@@lander3308 lol 😂
you fuked up
Matt, you are as cool as a fan, mate. I'm going to build this while I hide out from the ole Coronavirus. Thanks much. Hope you're well. Tk
Todd Kimbrell were you able to find a way to make the lcd driver from the laptop parts
@@beninfarum923 No sir, I have a laptop screen and a Samsung tab screen. But i have not gotten that far yet. I was truly hoping that once I had an interface board, I'd be alright (pnp) but now you have me wondering. Lol.
What is your progress? Did you finish it? :)
@@albinoameise Fair question, i i ended up making a desk lamp out of the tab screen with a 5v .5amp source because i am a knuckle dragging Neanderthal underwear model. I have also obtained an entire set of cold cathodes from a larger tv. im hoping to do some cool stuff with those using my torch and a bag of medicinal edibles. we shall see what comes of this.
@@albinoameise never started
I still have 3 old laptops over here, all 1366x768. Considering making a surround monitor setup. :3
Thought about this also, but maybe there is some border where this gets hella impractical :D
Also your desk needs to be way on the bigger side ;)
I'm curious if there is a way to wire the three panels into 'one' so you only need one connection to your video card.
Unless you have a REALLY nice video card. =D
R9 280x, not sure if it will be able to handle games on higher settings, but I am going to buy a second 280x so that should be alright.
you could put hinges between the mointors than you can fold it and take it with you
kenoalbatros That sounds like a great idea. :3
Nice idea. I'm thinking about a foldable double-Monitors, for a transportable 3 monitor setup with my laptop.
just buy usb monitors.
hmm... I might do that :)
the double monitors would be facing outward when folded, added ninja benefit, Hinge a clipboard over them as a screen protector when closed and a paper easel when open
We have a notebook at work which really can not be replaced because of the old fashioned COM port which connects it to an older, but vital, CAM machine. The screen died and it was going to cost the company about $350 to get the part and have a Dell technician install it.
We had an old notebook sitting around which was absolutely good for nothing as it would not even turn on. Though the models were different and made in different years they were both Dell. The screens appeared to be about the same so I thought, "Why not?" My first ever attempt at a notebook monitor swap worked. While $350 is not a big deal to my company they were glad to save the money and surprised I could do the work. Made me look good.
We also had two identical PC monitors. One monitor clearly went bad and was not good any more. The other one had the bezel button break and would not turn on. Shame of it was the monitor was still fairly new. But I held on to it and eventually swapped the bezel to get one working (and fairly new) monitor.
Awesome!
I replaced the monitor in an older IBM T60 with a monitor from a broken PPC Apple iBook G4. Two different companies. Same screen, same company.
tron3entertainment I hope that you've charged your company 50% of the price.
Ha, I wish. But the monitor I fixed is now being used as a 2nd by a new guy. He appreciates the history of the fix. If I never fixed it, I had nothing to give him.
Repurpose is better than recycle.
tron3entertainment True, but it's also better to teach a man how to fish. 😄
Yours is one of my favourite channels on TH-cam!! This is soooo Good!
Loved this so much I did it myself. had a lot of fun doing it. I reused the top of the lap top instead of building a new frame. Thanks for all the tips!!
Was thinking along the same lines ... good to know someone thought of the same thing , did it and worked
you should try a kickstarter man, your ideas are really targeted for a mass market
Is kickstarter really good ? :) because i'm developping a game and maybe i will post it on kickstarter for little money help ^^
Valkirian Reborn
it's all really depend on your presentation, the bakers really need to be convinced to invest their money, just look at the project that successful, their presentation is on point
Yeah, I've also thought about it
Said Alghifarix Thanks :)
but his point is to do-it-yourself, what should he sell on kickstarter?
I like watching stuff i'll never build myself.
hahaha me too!!! lame, right?
404 ha, I'm not the only one
404 I'm in that club too
404 yup I'm in!!
😂😂😂😂😂
I'll certainly give you points for the portability, but it might not be as cheap as just buying the controller, because you also mention more materials that most people might not have laying around, like the MDF, the carbon fiber vinyl, PCB standoff pillars, female to female standoffs, cable shielding, piece of aluminum, fast drying epoxy, masking tape, and 12v power adaptor. Also the monitor should have some kind of cover for the display if it is to be carried around with the laptop. I'm certainly interested in building at least one of these just for the fun of it.
I made this project years ago and I have to remake it cause, incredible as it sounds, this still isn't a thing at the price point
How much was it?
What are the specs of the power adapter for such a screen
@@pierrel8330 On the website of the manufacturer of the display controller board they sait that 12v 3-5a is good. (5a if you plan on using a 17 inch panel)
Did you use m2 or m3 pcb pillars?
Just finished mine and it works fantastic + looks great. Thanks for the fun to build and the pride to have succeeded to get it to work.
When are you going to build a drone ? I am sure I am not the only one to be very interested.
where did you buy the extra power supply?
gerasimos jerry I bought it from eBay, vendor called warm-tech. Cannot post a link here. It cost me € 5.5, and works perfectly. Good luck !
Frederic Martin Where did you buy the cable sleeving? And what size?
Frederic Martin imagine he collaborate with colin furze,
Can I like use a faulty screen
Your videos just keep getting better man, well done.
I mean 2:18 harder jump cut than Game of Thrones. how'd we get from disconnected display to control board correctly connected and perfectly functioning haha come on
Need to know that too :D
trueee
On the back of the lcd monitor, there is a 30pin or 40pin connection (depending on the screen you have). The controller board comes with the appropriate connection and can simply be plugged into the back of the monitor like anything else. It slots upwards into place and can be held with some strong electrical tape - if you want that extra protection against it getting dislodged. It is a very delicate connection though, so when disconnecting the original laptop cable from the back or connecting the controller board cable, ensure that you dont force anything. It's easy as that - you then connect a 12v3a DC jack (which can be bought for cheap) which powers the control board - and attach your hdmi to the desired source. It is a great and easy way to recycle old laptop screens that anyone can do..!
simple. you attach the wires and power and test that the monitor works before doing all the rest of the work.
@@Kyrindelock1 so as long as everything is matched (the panel and the control board), it is only plug and play job? no program installation whatsoever?
Running power from USB-C would be a great option too for newer laptops
My thoughts exactly, if only there were more laptops with USB-C at the time *sigh*
darkmist255 Macbook user detected
I didn't even think about USB C, thats a great idea!
Now, I know nothing about electricity, but would it be possible to use a USB C male to HDMI female converter (like this a.co/5TEi1oi), interrupt the wire between them to take power out to the monitor? Data would be transferred to the HDMI part and power would fork off to the controller board. Would USB C have the voltage to do that? Connecting a monitor with a single USB C cable sounds neat!
Daily Cake Slice A USB C is like an HDMI and IEC cable put together. Essentially, if you have a laptop that has a USB C port, you could both power and send data with just one cable, not splitters or converters necessary. If you dont have one in your laptop, your probably going to want to go and find a splitter converter that sends power from a USB A and the data from an HDMI which would then go to USB C. So in other words, find an adapter where it has an HDMI and USB input and a USB C output. As far as USB C being able to handle the voltage, you can daisy chain power multiple monitors without a problem. Do your research on USB C cables though, not all are created equal and don't cheap out on them. The cheaper ones can fry your devices so try and steer clear of those.
Gregg Carter Gregg Carter Thanks, I actually have a desktop with USB-C, but it's a small form factor so I wanted a portable monitor. If I'm not mistaken, display outputs are usually disabled when you have a graphics card and you instead use the ones that are on the card. Do you know if I'd be able to still use the usbc port? Sorry I don't mess with this stuff much :P The reason I talked about a splitter is that I doubt any control board I buy for the screen I have would have a usbc port (it's pretty old). If I took the USB c cable connected from my computer and had the power wires power the screen and have the data wires (I assume that's how all this works, if not I'd just have things branch off) go towards the USB c to hdmi converter, and have that go to the control board, would all possibly work?
Brilliant, I just spent a day fixing my old Toshiba P200 but having now got four old laptops kicking around, I'm quite excited, the possibilities are endless! I really enjoy the build, simple and I'll get came in around £24? If you told us how cheap, we would know for sure it's not cheaper tha. a second Monitor. Anyway, that'd be cheating...
Can you power it with a portable 12v battery and attach a chrome cast to it?
Wait and see ;)
Knew there was more to it haha Im looking forward to it :) Great job on the videos !
can you hook up a ps4 or Xbox to this? and can you make a touchscreen like this?
You would need a screen with a digitizer as well as a circuit board that can process the information, but as long as you can find one that isn't too expensive, then I don't see why not.
Quoc Tran thank 🙃
You professional TH-camr...
Saved the most exiting part for after the sponsorship. Clever...
Respect the creativity
matt, you create such great content mate. keep up the great work!! i hope loads of people sub your channel
A series of LI-ION battery packs on the back would make it self powered and will really kick this project up a notch.
Plus it saves having to lug the plug pack for the laptop around if you intend to work on battery power - most modern laptops get around 6 hours out of the battery, or even longer if doing light tasks such as simply browsing the web.
You could add a protective cover using piano hinge at the very base of the screen. This would attach to some thin ply covered in the same nylon wrap. It could be secured in place with many things - hook and loop tape, small neodymium magnets etc. A fabric loop attached to both the cover and the back of the screen would make a convenient carry handle, and make the display easy to open for use.
youd get more out of this. its just a screen, the batteries wouldnt have to power a cpu and graphics, only the screen.
I would not recommend tapping off the laptop power supply to power the monitor! The laptop power supply is built, ONLY, to power the laptop but if it also has to power a screen you might run into problems. A seperate power supply for the screen would be a better option. Otherwise this a great hack! -Cheers
Sander Ruijters could work or not. Most laptop power supplies are generic to be used for different models and usually have a good bit of headroom. In any case you'll see if it works or not. If it does, fine. If not, no harm dine, just get another power supply.
Also, he fine-tuned output to 12V without any load. When the laptop (and power supply) is working close to maximum capacity, the voltage might drop significantly... better use a bigger PSU for this setup than a laptop alone requires :)
The exact opposite! If you see, at the bottom of every laptop there are some specifications on voltage and amperage which match exactly those on the psu, so if you do the splitter thing you will certainly have sudden power offs or reboots. If you put a different specification psu(even if it has a slight difference) on a laptop it might not even power up and there is a good chance to burn the charging mosfet! Better just use a seperate power supply.
tevoaol It will never suddenly power-off as long as laptop has a battery :)
true, if your battery is in good condition
Hey. I made you project, I did a prototype first, then I took it a step further on a second screen. I added speakers, a proper TV stand, made it wall mountable with a VESA plate, stepped down the voltage on one side to 5v for aRPiZero (for Kodi and to control a DVD player), a TV tuner, a USB slot for power only (powers a Roku stick or anything 5v3amps for example) and a DVD drive (also out of the laptop). It's awesome and I've already started making another.
Nice! I will now be on the lookout for any old laptops.
Question: your speaker(s) to the left... what brand are they. They look intriguing. Looks like it has a ribbon tweeter and I have liked that type for a long time. I burned out one of them in my favorite set of speakers a while back. I've tried to find a replacement - would need to replace as a set - or new set of speakers as mine were from the early 90's.
They're Monitor Audio GX50's - best speakers I've ever owned and I love their looks.
+ChessIsJustAGame You could look for new ribbon tweeters at loudspeakerfreaks.com. They have like 50 different models there, maybe one could fit?
Thanks! I will.
+DIY Perks i have an PC one in all, looks like dead, but not sure yet, gotta check the power supply and testy if it can run again. if not, well, gotta sell the pieces and make a secondary screen and make a DIY speakers, such sounds so fast amazing and loud with bass, don't know, many ideas to do (´･_･`)
Lol they cost 1.250€ here in Italy (pretty rare also). I think as much they are your best speakers!
I mean cool and all, but with some looking you can find a good one for real cheap! One day, I was like "I wanna get a second monitor" so i went to a nearby thrift store and found a monitor. It was 1080p, pretty big, worked great, and it was 50% off at the time, so no lie, i got it for 3 dollars.
Owo
In my country we cant find one for less than $40 (1/6 of minimum wage) , really old and fat. If you need a portable one, and thin, u need to buy from china (bcs here is double the price), and it will cost so much more than $40. I've bought all i needed to this project today, already have the screen from a old laptop, and it cost me around $30-35. So i guess its worth it... I can use it in home and take it with me to my university/work/gf's house
I think you're missing the point of this video. Of course he could just go out and buy a cheap monitor, but he wanted to build one himself (badass), as well as recycle an old screen that was probably just going to end up in a landfill somewhere.
You really had me fooled with the carbon fibre effect, I was about to go off and look up the prices of CF sheets. Smart use of the motherboard standoffs too. Never come across control boards like this before, will have to investigate.
You are brilliant!!!! You speak in English, not tech and I am so appreciative of that! You must be a Ravenclaw, with brains like those!
Thank you so much for posting this DIY video, this is exactly what I want to do with my broken laptop!
Does it work with u!
Any problems encounter.
@@omranshahrour7291 Ieded up buying a new laptop
That actually has a better bezel than most monitors
I'd buy it if it was a ~21'' 1080p monitor.
might be an old tv pannel hack?
I suppose everyone has their preference. I would have mounted it on a piece of acrylic. great build though!
I think that it will cause disturbing light on edges
depends on the way the monitor is manufactured Many have an outer casing
or you can make the top matte with some scratchy stuff, maybe sandpaper starting really rough and then working down to make it not scratched but matte
if you use a random orbital sander with 180 or 220 grit sandpaper, it will turn it frosted or matte. The pattern is a result of the random sanding action of the sander.
It's an old school trick to turn shiny acrylic into frosted.......
I've a ton of old laptops kicking about, some I've fully refurbished, some I'd parked to strip for parts for to upgrade the refurb's. I'd suspected that it might be possible to drive all these spare LCDs panels and I can confirm I've now got one working with an inexpensive LDVS controller board, thanks to this video :)
Nice simple DIY project!
Here's a tip for portability and battery life: Glue the monitor on the side of a car battery. Battery acts as a stand, a power source and it has a handle for moving the monitor around!
Are you joking or not.
I'm talking like a month of screen on time.
I really don't think a heavy car battery would be the best for portability or powering a monitor in the first place.
Mikko Haavisto For portability, let's glue a huge battery to add weight and size to the slim monitor.
Please put a video on "How to separately use a smartphone lcd MIPI screen" just like you have told us how to use an old laptop screen separately
Smartphone screens are more proprietary than laptop screens there fore there is no one whitebox controller board option to rule them all on the market.. You might get lucky here and there but it's just not worth it. This is why you don't see a lot of videos about single board fruit computer users reusing smartphone OLED screens.
Wow Great hope anyone could do that
@@digital945 Also to add to my post, the connectors in phone OLEDs are tiny and non standard.. Very easy to break and ruin the whole screen.. PC monitors and TV sets are much easier to work with.
@@Elfnetdesigns there are data sheets are available of most of screens .....but yes you are right it will take lot of time for this all
I always want to make a small 240 320 java based system and want to play old java games with keys .this system look like a miniature laptop .is it possible to make this. It seems funny but I will like to that .
Finally a use for all my old laptops, thank you thank you! I would marry this DIY if i could. Subbed!
I'm glad that I found this channel. I was about to trash two Mac laptops that have really good 17" screens. Looks like my office desk may have 1-2 new external displays.
I've been gaming on a laptop for 8 years and recently decided to build a computer and buy a monitor. I have a 24inch monitor with 144hz/1ms and the monitor has no faults. But after using a 60hz refresh rate and a 15'6 inch wide laptop screen for 8 years I can't get used to playing games on 24inch monitor and 144hz. Sounds weird right? but it just feels so different and my eyes can't get used to it.
I've been looking around for monitors at 15'6 wide and I've found a few at around £200 which I think is insane for a such small monitor (I payed £200 for my 24inch monitor lol).
After watching your video I'm so glad that this is possible to recycle a laptop screen. I still have my laptop which actually died and wont boot up, so im going to give it a try and recycle the laptop screen. WISH ME Luck:)
P.S Great Informative Video.
Angry Animation did it work for you ?
Jason Estrada iv only just dissembled the screen from the laptop (been busy) and I’m actually ordering all the parts this Friday to come for next Monday. I should have the monitor completed by
next Friday 29th. I’ll either post a few pictures or a mini video here when it’s done.
Ps. Getting the screen to power up and work is the easy part, it’s building the surround for the screen which I’m mediocre at doing. I’m gunna follow this tutorial carefully with a cup of coffee at hand :) cya next Friday 👍
why do many screens have thick bezels when it's so easy to make them thin as seen in the video?
Companies do that from durability reasons.
The smaller a part is, the more expensive it is to manufacture and assemble, as it require more precision from the machine which build them, and the quality control is also more intensive.
doe maeries also for cooling
There are two types of lcd panel that come in market. One that is thick is normal one another comes called paper led panel which is more expensive
cuz laptop manufacturers also put wifi, camera and microphone in there
I like this would be nice to see a v2 that incorporates a rasberry pi and touch screen and use as a portable video player
Andrew Jones can I use this to connect my xbox
@@traponion7168 yes
That's called a "computer"
Here during quarantine, I'm definitely gonna do this with my old Dell.
I wouldn't have epoxied the screen, in case you meed to take things apart. but to each their own.
Depends on the type of epoxy, even the one made for plastic will still be hard to slice with sharp razor, and the dried epoxy will make it ugly when you reapplying it later. A small, hinge-type paperclip would works better for this project.
Two way tape is even better or quick release velcro ^^
Like Envinite said, depends on the epoxy. Most likely it's pretty hard, tough stuff. Not easy to slice through.
love the simplicity of this, just wondering how the screen was powered when used with the desktop pc? im assuming just a usb to dc power lead from the tower...
I think he was powered with a regular DC Power supply. USB 1.0/1.1 can only deliver 0,5 W. USB 2.0 2,5 Watt. USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 up to 4,5 Watt and USB C can deliver 15 W. So you'd need something like USB-PD and a Step Up - Step - Down converter...and I have never seen a PC with USB-PD...
Most displays need 30-60 Watts.
At the end of the video, is it possible to have a diagram on how you did the additional power from laptop to secondary screen? I’ve tried and just get screen flicker.
he says that you should have a 12v power adapter
Your the first channel where you don't spend 5 minutes at the end of every video of topic
hmmmm how about making a 4 screen setup??
damnnn that would be awesome with those small bezel
I love when he says "recycled", and starts building a Dinosaur out of an old computer
lol
Hi!: Looks easy, but you don’t make much mention of how the control board hooks up to the screen and what it’s components do!
I can cope with the practicals of diy: frame and surround; but would like more detail "if possible" regarding the wiring, before I take the risk. Thanks.
My screen is still in its casing, so will be easier to mount to a stand, but I’m unsure of what wires go where/do what!!
My donor was an HP Pavillion dv6000 widescreen 14.4 inch. It has two micro "four wire" plugs, two very tiny circular “sound”? plugs marked one and two, and a strip "push down” plug. I have the part number as LTN154X3L01 so know what board to order.
Thanks in advance.
I'm not checking your particular monitor here because I'm sure you can figure it out from the video and this: So you remove the ribbon cable from the monitor (and, depending on the monitor, the separate power cable if it has one. You then plug one end of the cable that comes with the control board into it, the other end into the back of the monitor.
I'm not sure how much clearer he could have been about that part, to be honest.
@@markieman64 Thanks for the reply, and as I said originally, there are several leads coming from my ‘still cased’ screen. The one I’m assuming you’re calling the ribbon cable isn’t a ribbon, but a standard small round cable and has what I can only describe as a push down plug attached. This something the style of which I’ve never come across before: I don’t know if this would need some sort of adaptor to fit a standard ribbon 'side insert’ type socket ?? There are then still four other leads, two four wire plugs and two ‘round’ female plugs, marked one and two (1-2).
The original text assumed knowledge, as have you, that a ribbon cable is present! As I still have no idea what these cables all do, that’s why I ask.. But thanks anyway.
@@barryturner2702 By "still cased" when referring to your screen, do you mean you still have not taken the bezel off and removed the LCD from the laptop? I assumed you had since, as this video shows, the serial number for the LCD screen is on its back. You need this to know which controller to get (knowing the model number won't tell you that since they can be different.)
Are there any results on TH-cam when you search for "remove LCD from X" where X is your model number? There are then a few useful websites that show the various types of monitor removal where it relates to recycling the LCD to make a monitor.
As I said, the ribbon cable usually attaches onto the back of the LCD, which is covered by the laptop's outer cover, so if your laptop is still cased, you wouldn't be able to see it...
This took me awhile to read through this comment + replies...
@@adriennekaio4980 Thanks for sharing ;-)
Holy Moses! I didn't know about this! I have a QD14XL20 Rev.03 screen from an old Dell Laptop I discombooberated. Went on your link to to find a control board and, lo and behold, there it was for $20.70 plus shipping (unable to remember how much shipping right off). I am going to buy one. The possibilities are endless. I am new to building ANYTHING using computer components and plan on using the equipment I buy to augment my rig. Two heads are better than one, as I have heard. Well, same goes for monitors. Looking forward to building a Cyber Computer some time in the near future. Thank you for an informative and entertaining video.❤😎
I’m about to go through your back catalogue of videos. Totally procrastinating from the Sunday lunch 🤣🤣👍
I am using it with my raspberry Pi 3b+ so that I can use it while traveling....also the screen is touch sensitive
Nice! I'm an old hand at electronics, but my stuff tends to work well whilst looking like crap. Your videos might inspire me to try harder !
Particularly like the 'carbon fibre' wrap. I could have this place looking like Darth Vader's toilet in no time.
This would have to be one of the most useful channels I have stumbled across.
We live in a tiny place and got rid of our secondary monitors due to space issues. Yes, it's that small.
But this DIY monitor takes up such little space that I might look into it, especially since so much is done via programs like zoom, it would be super helpful to have a secondary monitor for my laptop,
Many thanks for your ideas.
Hi what is the input lag and ghosting like on that specific screen you used? as I have just built a mini ITX build and looking for a portable screen, and not liking the USB, for power and signal 15.6 and 17in poortable monitors for sale, your ideas seems perfect.
I haven't tested input lag, but from general mouse movement it seems imperceptible, and I'm very sensitive to any kind of lag on a monitor. Probably something to do with the control board doing no real signal processing. Ghosting is noticeable however, but that's down to the specific panel used.
DIY Perks was there any firmware that you installed.
DIY Perks can this be connected to a PlayStation 4?
yes, because it uses HDMI, but you'd need to get another way for the audio. possibly the headphone jack on the dualshock 4 would do it? i don't have a ps4. i know the ps3 had optical audio out, but i seem to remember hearing they removed that from the ps4? if yours has optical, of course, then you can use that easily to connect speakers or headphones, either directly or via an optical to analogue adapter.
Kit Vitae I've done this project and on the controller board there is a 3.5 mm jack that can be used to attach a speaker/headphones
This is really creative!
I'll make sure to look into this project!
Can we make a touch screen monitor by adding some additional parts.
@@KingNekodom How so, what kind of control board did you use, I have a dead hp spectre x360 (the expensive one) would love to surprise my gf with a second screen out of it.
I knew from the first moment that i wont do the build, but watching this is just so relaxing
This is more than a perk. This is a fucking Life saver!
Agreed. Portable XBOX monitor with built in speakers at the bottom?
12 volts? maybe an in car screen for reversing or watching vids.....
MikMech built in speakers would definitely have to be super low power. Something like 2 volt speakers at most XD
Of course, without using a seperate power supply.
now you know immagine all the applications you can do with 12" monitors from old netbooks
How does your house look like a minimalists? I would imagine a lot of spare parts
*Love this channel!*
I'm going to try this but use the old Laptop screen housing after spray painting it. I'm just waiting on the controller board now. Fingers crossed I should have this done by the end of the month. Thanks for the video, it is super helpful!
U chould make a ULTRA HD Tv with it
That is what I am planning to do with my one.
Hi @DIY Perks can you do a tutorial how to connect screen's cable pin to the board? i can't figure out hot to connect it
bro... ive never thought about using a candle for the heat shrink
I normally use a hairdryer lol
I often use a lighter. Very handy!
@@photonicpizza1466 yeah I just use my trusty old zippo lighter
Hi Matt, I saw this video a while ago, I had when I saw an HS laptop but the screen was not really great, suddenly I had not tested this reuse . A few months ago I recovered a newer laptop, I did not manage to restore it to working order (HS motherboard) but I took care to dismantle everything that was recoverable and in particular the 'screen which is more recent (I even made sure to keep the frame of the screen to be able to reuse it in this project). Last month, after some hesitation (I was afraid of not taking the right module and thinking of money unnecessarily) I finally decided, I took the back of the screen in photo and contacted different sellers of this smodules by sending them the photo to be sure to take the right module that I received ill there two days ago and yesterday I connected it and I was super happy to see that it worked immediately without any difficulties. I would certainly do the same again in the future on even more recent screens, in any case thank you for this video, it's really very satisfying to be able to give a second life to what would have ended up in the trash when it can be reused .
A French follower.
Can I use the laptops plastic that held the monitor together as it's casing????
Yeah i had the same question. Btw i have a friend whose name is also Harsh Vardhan😂
@@ThunderStormFortnite yeah, it's a common name actually.
What do you do for a living? I swear you could work in some sort of professional voiceover(ing?) company for tutorials or guides
Your voice just sounds so guuuuuud......
He briefly metioned doing websites in the video... I assume he's a web designer?
Daniel Leonov nah its a sponsorship
addison kwong I wonder that too... that's a nice house :p
Daniel Leonov if he was a web designer, he wouldn't use Squarespace ;)
Taughnex yeah real men only use Notepad haha
Nice build this and something I really want to attempt. Problem I am finding is that whilst there are used 1080p (and new replacement) screens on ebay, finding the matching controller board is difficult to impossible.
Anyone have any tips for sourcing?
All you have to do is get in touch with the seller and ask them to program it for your specific screen.
you can try to find your driver board number, and search it online to find out new led screen image. and you zoom it to the driver board. viola you have it. some manufacture doesn't print it to the backside of the screen.
Might need to make this simply to have a reason to improve my laptop
can I connect it to rasberry pi 3 through HDMI & separate power supply ??? pls tell me if I can
The Hungry Hound yep, you can
GamerTobiHD thnx that would help
if you use a 12 volt to 5 volt step down converter soldered to the power jack from the bottom of the control board, you can power the raspberry pi from the step down converter. the jack is likely to be center positive
Great video, I have an observation question. Couldn't you use these techniques to just strip down an old monitor? The reason I say this is that it occurs to me that if I instead strip down an old monitor, it would already have the control board saving the hassle and ~$25 of ordering one. Of course, a monitor is already a monitor but A) I would like to break it down so that it is small enough to fit in my laptop bag and B) power it without the additional cord. Unless, of course, the power requirements so much and power supply too necessary in a traditional monitor to remove or compress. Portable monitors are hard to find and always in the 100+ range, which is silly IMO. I gathered all my nice monitors from thrift stores for
is it possible to use a LCD from a dead android tablet?
I want to know too
You are the God of DIY
Is it possible to use the control board from the recycled laptop if its all working ?
isn't laptop lcd lvds cable connect to motherboard?
i'll say not because generally the controller is built into the motherboard pcb.
I love you vids 😊 but Carbon Fibre wrap makes things looks to cheap 😞
a matte black one would look much stealthier
It's Me the best thing would be to Cnc an aluminium shell
RaFi TV that would definitely increase the cost if you can't do this on your own. for that price you could also buy a separate flat monitor i would guess
I would go for a matte black one also, or try and get one as similar to the the texture/colour as the laptop you want to partner it with. Just my opinion. I once bought a car and the interior was covered in the Carbon Fibre stuff, was nasty.
Then go out an buy some real carbon fiber instead.
Mate, what if the display has touchscreen?
My english is bad.
So if the display has touchscreen, does it work? I'm really thinking to make a second monitor for my PC, and if it has touchscreen it will gonna be great!
How the touch will go to PC? UBS cable?
Catalin Neaga Uhh, Touch will make it more complicated as you need a USB-connection and a driver installed on the PC you want to use the screen with. Depending on the functions the controller board provides it can be quite easy or pretty complicated. I am not an expert though
Silvan Verhoeven that's if the touch controller uses serial bus, if it uses I2C, SPI or another type of bus you can be screwed if you don't know how to interface with it. And the OS has to understand it too, so drivers may be required.
MCdevilkiller Seems as the expert just joined the discussion ^^ Didn't know Touch can use I2C also, never heard of SPI
Silvan Verhoeven well, if tou are sending simple data, every bus will do. But those I mentioned are the most used in hardware for PCs and such. And btw, I'm no expert hehe.
Thanks for the answers :)))
I just want to know, i've got a laptop, an old one, whitout touchscreen, but is was a bit easier like (and i've saw good screens on ebay, just an usb cable and houdini.