Hi all,a friend of mine gave me his broken laptop "to play" with.The main board is burnt so I thought that the LCD display could be useful for my home cockpit...if I knew how to "transform" it into a monitor.That's the point...I know that the power supply of the lamp and the lamp are working, I suppose (hope) that also the electronics of the LCD is working....so the question is:is there any chance to find how to drive the display so that it can be connected to a video card?Has someone of you guys ever done that?Regards,Bob

if no answer here, try over at diyaudio.com "moving image" section.

>Hi all,>>a friend of mine gave me his broken laptop "to play" with.>The main board is burnt so I thought that the LCD display>could be useful for my home cockpit...if I knew how to>"transform" it into a monitor.>That's the point...I know that the power supply of the lamp>and the lamp are working, I suppose (hope) that also the>electronics of the LCD is working....so the question is:>>is there any chance to find how to drive the display so that>it can be connected to a video card?>>Has someone of you guys ever done that?It can be done, but usually the controller card you will need to convert the VGA to something the LCD understands will cost you more than a new 15" TFT monitor. (the stuff required is on the laptop motherboard) So, possible but probably not worth the effort. Sadly.//Tuomas

Well...unfortunately you were right eheh I will keep that display in the box until I can find a controller for an affordable cost.What a pity....Greetings,Bob

Actually, you can't get laptop lcd monitor to work because it uses ribbon cable that attached directly to laptop mobo. None of converters or video card can even get it to work unless you are a hardcore electrican. Also, you would need to have more than 120 volts to run the monitor which can be EXTREMELY Dangerous. My advice for you is not to try and hack it.

>Actually, you can't get laptop lcd monitor to work because it>uses ribbon cable that attached directly to laptop mobo. None>of converters or video card can even get it to work unless you>are a hardcore electrican. Also, you would need to have more>than 120 volts to run the monitor which can be EXTREMELY>Dangerous. My advice for you is not to try and hack it.Well, there *are* such converters available, but the cost will be usually more than a brand new 15" or 17" TFT at the store. And your point of voltages is also very true.So, yes, it is possible, but not easy, and does not make any sense cost-wise.//Tuomas

check over at www.shopeio.com as they have some laptop LCD parts (namely the 12.1" Sharp, inverter, CCFL backlight, controller and VGA board) and the VGA board they offer may be what you need to get it hooked up. It's $75 for that, but find out if it supports your model LCD.

Why not buy LCD monitor or TFT screen (Car roof top mounted TV)instead of hacking Laptop LCD? They are VGA compatible. It'd be lot cheaper like Tuomas said.