lcd

334 Articles

Repair A Malfunctioning LCD

June 20, 2009 by 43 Comments

When most people encounter dead pixels on an LCD text display, they figure that the display is dead and they decide to scrap it. However when the LCD display on one of [Joe]’s cordless phones started to show dead rows and columns of pixels, [Joe] decided that he could fix it. With only a pencil eraser, a hot air gun, and a screwdriver (for disassembly), [Joe] was able to fix his phone’s screen in just under 10 minutes. His process involves heating the glue holding the LCD’s ribbon cable to the phones PCB with a hot air gun and using a pencil eraser to reattach segments of the ribbon cable to the PCB. If anyone here has a problem similar to [Joe]’s, be sure to check out his detailed how-to complete with step-by-step pictures.

LCD Multitouch

June 7, 2009 by 17 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLztKzljMc0&feature=player_embedded]

[Jacob] wrote us to show off his latest project. He built his multitouch interface out of an LCD monitor. We’ve seen plenty of multitouch projects here, but usually they are projection style. This project uses the panel out of an LCD, with the diffusers and backlighting removed. The panel itself is fairly transparent, so a webcam with IR filter can see the light pens right through it. It does seem a bit dim in the video, we’re wondering if it is better in real life.

Custom Motorcycle Display

May 16, 2009 by 21 Comments

motorcycle_display

[fibra] has been slowly building a custom controller for his motorcycle. It’s an automated chain oiling system that varies application based on RPM. The LCD can show wheel RPM, voltage, time, date, air, and engine temperature. A separate driver board has a MOSFET for controlling the oiling valve. The real gold here is the attention to detail. He built a one off circuit board. The case is laser cut acrylic that he then shaped. The box is molded smoothly into the original instrument cluster using epoxy. It’s excellent work that could be mistaken for a commercial product.

Weather Monitoring

May 5, 2009 by 18 Comments

weather

This weather monitor can track pressure, temperature, and humidity and last several months on a pack of AA batteries. It has a PIC18f452 to control all the bits, as well as some fancy power management to get the most out of the batteries as possible. The screen displays the highest and lowest temperatures of the last 42 hours as well as having options to display all other sensor input, updated every minute or so. You can get the full schematic and parts list on the project site.

[via YourITronics]

Happy Birthday Gameboy

April 27, 2009 by 18 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN5duEPO_vc]

In honor of Gameboy’s 20th birthday, Stupidinventions has released a video showing how to replace the screen. They tend to be a common weak point. Essentially, they just bought another , we’re assuming broken, Gameboy and swapped them out. Not a horribly complicated hack, but nice to know that it’s so easy. We have fond memories of the Gameboy, which came flooding back when he blew in the cartridge.  Happy Birthday Gameboy.

Radish – Eco Friendly Google Calendar

April 17, 2009 by 26 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyHaImmmkGs]

[Aaron] a google employee came up with an idea that would be good for the environment, as well as fun. The Radish is a solar powered display, updated from a google calendar, with extremely low power consumption. They are building this to be an indicator of the conference room schedule. When we first read this, we wondered just how much greener it could possibly be than printing a few sheets of paper. Then we read that they were going through six reams per day. wow. The Radish gets its power through a solar panel, and preserves it through some creative power saving modes and the fact that it has an LCD that only requires power to update. Would this be a good place for some E paper? Data is transferred using IEEE 802.15.4, which is slow, but also more efficient in terms of power than normal WiFi. The system is so efficient, it can run for 3-4 days in low light conditions after a charge . Another cool fact is that [Aaron] got to design and build this on company time. Google allows people to spend 20% of their time on innovative new projects of their choice.

correction: the LCD goes into an extremely low power “sleep mode” when not being updated, and retains the last image loaded.