“I’d like to be able to feed several audio inputs into the thing and be able to select which one I want. Too bad for me, if there isnt a legit video signal entering that input, it ignores it completely. The TV will only switch to an input with an active video signal. A quick and dirty way to fix this is to take a single composite cable and plug one end into ‘Monitor Out’, and the other into the video input of your choice. This is called video feedback. It works though. If the screen was still working we’d see some really weird shit. Luckily, we aren’t exactly going to be needing good video for our purpose.”

You can also just solder a 75ohm resistor across an RCA plug to make a terminator, and plug it into the video input. This did the trick on my TV.

Posted at 9:33 am on Sep 22nd, 2008 by chrisla

Definitely very cool – but seriously, does anyone still use film/negatives? Methought everything was digital now.

Posted at 10:46 am on Sep 22nd, 2008 by matt

Or you could just pick up a scanner for 3 bucks at a thrift store.

Posted at 11:02 am on Sep 22nd, 2008 by BigD145

http://hackaday.com/2006/05/26/macro-photography-light-from-broken-lcd-monitor/

I suppose it’s alright since the old links aren’t good anymore.

Posted at 11:08 am on Sep 22nd, 2008 by Mike

I have a traditional light table and I use it all the time. I still do a lot of analog art (not photography) and it’s always useful. If nothing else, it’s really cool to have a nice piece of glass to cut things on. Mine has two layers – one of frosted plexiglass, and a top layer of tempered glass. I’ve also used mine for photo-exposing silk screens. Controlling the exposure time with a computer would be super cool.

Posted at 11:14 am on Sep 22nd, 2008 by crizo

Could use it for tracing.

Posted at 11:21 am on Sep 22nd, 2008 by r1b4z01d

@chrisla
Thanks for the tip! I will apply this to all inputs and update my site with credit to you :)

Posted at 12:34 pm on Sep 22nd, 2008 by SteveDiRaddo

well at least the busted tv didn’t get thrown in the trash can like everything else that breaks these days.

Posted at 1:27 pm on Sep 22nd, 2008 by mike

This is not very effective for serious transparency (slide) review. Real light tables produce actual white light. Use a loupe to look at the “white” screen on the monitor and you will see the readily apparent components of the additive (RGB) color system rather than the white you expected.

Posted at 1:45 pm on Sep 22nd, 2008 by keystoneclimber

keystoneclimber,

he’s just using the CCFL bulbs, not the LCD screen. They’re pretty darn white.

Posted at 2:37 pm on Sep 22nd, 2008 by kraemahz

I’ve just tried this with a broken LCD. After LCD screen removal, the remaining light panel is very interesting: portable lighting system for photography/video, or may be flat light on the wall or ceiling…

On mine, there’s a light diffusing plastic sheet on top of lighting panel, but once LCD panel removed, nothing keeps it in place anymore. So i’ve tried to dismantle the LCD panel itself hoping i could reuse the plastic screen.

On one side, there was an adhesive sheet of dark plastic, and just under the broken glass. Once removed, the remaining part cleaned of the liquid cristal, i’ve realized it is in reality a polarising filter and could be usefull also! But in the other hand, it is a little dark, so it reduces the amount of light going through. I think i could remove another adhesive sheet of plastic on the other side but i prefer to keep the polarising filter as is.

After this process, i was wondering if liquid cristal could be toxic. I should have think about this before dismantling the LCD glass panel :-< Does anybody know?

Posted at 3:06 pm on Sep 22nd, 2008 by gerald

There is no evidence at all that liquid crystals pose a health risk for humans, but tests are ongoing. At this point in time the teeny bits of glass that shred off at the edge of a cracked screen are far more dangerous.

Posted at 4:44 pm on Sep 22nd, 2008 by SteveDiRaddo

Maybe I missed it, but what brand of LCD TV is this?

How did you find out the RS-232 command set?

Are there RS-232 commands for controlling the brightness?

Posted at 11:11 am on Sep 24th, 2008 by JDN

Just a word of caution. While taking apart an lcd monitor, I realized that I opened the florescent light part of the monitor and probably exposed myself to the mercury.

Posted at 7:24 pm on Sep 24th, 2008 by tom

Hello. Great job. This is a great post. Thanks!

Posted at 2:38 pm on Mar 7th, 2009 by Sony Me