How standardized a lcd panels? Could I replace the controller in a smart TV with one of these HDMI to LCD controllers?
LCDs do tend to speak somewhat standardised languages, but there is a lot more to a modern TV than just an LCD controller.
Color and white balance calibration, image/motion processing, HDR Processing, backlight control/dimming zones, input management, audio decoding/encoding/passthrough, digitizing analogue sources, HDMI licencing, Dolby licencing, etc.
If you want a better smart TV the best thing to do is to get a hackable TV like most android based models, replace the launcher, strip out system apps and telemetry with ADB and start fresh, then either leave it offline or use filtering to only allow access to the services you approve.
@Faceman2K23
Do you know a list of hackable tv's or at least brands?
I'm very interested in preparing for the moment my current tv break.
@HaywardT
Not sure if there's a list, but most Android based TVs can be cleaned and modded to some degree via ADB. If you can access the dev settings in android, chances are you can do a lot to make it better, strip out some google or branded packages, replace the launcher to block OS level ads etc. Projectivy usually works well since it supports input switching on many devices, but it's still better to do all of this to a separate box and then plug it into a TV that is firewalled/filtered/offline. more control and less to fuck up.
Rooting and unlocking bootloaders is more complex as these android devices dont have normal recovery systems and require a lot of custom drivers to make the video and audio processing work, so it's not worth going that far.
Just fyi - Your post is 20 minutes old and the eBay link has broken already
OP has (accidentally?) added 2 underscores to the URL. Remove them and you can see the original intended URL.
Thanks. I searched for # Driver Board Universal LCD Monitor Screen Controller 5V Laptop Computer DIY
Because I had seen them used for various projects before.
I have rematched controllers to displays in the past. It's neither simple nor easy. You'll need to dig through spec sheets to ensure you're sending the correct signals over the correct pinouts, at the correct frequencies and voltages. Be prepared to read some IO documentation for the sending and receiving chipsts, then verify pinouts with certainty. They are not always standard.
Here are 2 identical LCDs, with 2 very similar, nearly identical looking controllers. Note that one needed to be re-wired. It is not fun butt-connecting 2 dozen 28ga wires.
The in-rush of endorphins when the modded LCD thing actually worked probably knocked you out?
A bit of a side story: I disassemble probably 1–5 panels in a week. (For recycling, it takes about 20-45min per panel.) The flat cables alone are so flimsy, I would say just assembling a display again from known, matched and functional parts would take days. I would triple or quadruple that to assemble a display from random parts. Considering this, that modded panel is quite amazing to me.
In standalone panels, the PSU has a chance of killing you: the main capacitors can hold multiple joules worth of nope, charged to about 400v. So, if the main caps are not allowed to discharge (if they discharge at all that is), there is a possibility of death when disassembling a panel with an integrated PSU. Waiting "5min" is bad; a PSU needs to be unplugged for a day or two at least before the charge drains out.
Why did you do it?
I was a poor college student and had access to engineering samples from a local manufacturer. Discarded parts gave me twin 15" LCDs for free in the mid 00's. Also, to see if I could. It was a fun challenge. These are different revs of a controller that were outfitted in several slot machine prototypes. They gave me many years of service. I probably still have inkjet prints of the pinout and signal diagrams, somewhere.
Seems like a fun project to me too. It also seems like things have changed since the turn of the century, with regards to interoperability.
Oh, things are way better now than they were back then. I'd still confirm via documentation that the interfaces are compatible :)
I think it depends on what level the smart aspect is implemented and how integrated it is. Screen technology has been getting more and more locked down by corporate privateers/thieves.
I mostly tried hacking on small displays, and finally gave up as it was over my head. There is a whole lot going on in various layers and protocols. My rule would be to only buy a product like this if I can find a functional example of someone using my exact hardware with this exact hack in question.
In my experience, prototyping or hacking around with displays is a losing game because they are not constructed for handling like this. You must go to extremes to avoid placing strain on the flex ribbon connections and must be very careful about taking the thing apart to test with it disassembled. It only takes a tiny mistake to damage something that can not be repaired. They are usually sensitive to small nonsense too. These are fast parallel circuits. I stay away from them, but maybe I'm just being soft.
In short, this is one of those questions where if you have to ask the answer is no. It may be possible but unless you have a spare TV laying around that you don't mind breaking it's not a good idea to try. The best advice I have for any modder is to have multiples of whatever you're modifying on hand.
Through the magic of buying two of them....
I understood that reference!
2 is 1, 1 is none.
I can think of no better use for a TV
Well you could not connect it to the internet...
Not anymore with sidewalk and other similar corporate networks bypassing any requirement for the consumer to connect the TV to wifi
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/everything-you-need-to-know-about-amazon-sidewalk
"How much of my internet bandwidth does Amazon Sidewalk require?"
"Very little. Sidewalk’s connectivity is distinct from your home Wi-Fi. If you choose, however, to enable Sidewalk on your eligible Bridge devices, those devices would use a small amount of internet bandwidth."
This sounds like it still needs your internet to work unless I'm missing something.
The connection isn't for you. It's so the TV can fingerprint the content you watch, and then send that utilization data back to the company.
You don't need much bandwidth to do this.
So with no wifi connection, and a blueray player, if you play Star Wars, they can fingerprint a few frames, send them back to Roku or whoever over sidewalk via your neighbors ring doorbell, and know you played star wars... Even with your completely offline setup
I've always wondered this, figure this is the thread to ask it.
I've been using the same dumb TV since 2013 it's great, but eventually it's gonna die an I'm scared of what pieces of shit smart TV's are.
Could I not just use a computer and run it through the smart TV and bypass all the smart bullshit by using it as a monitor?
I have a Hisense and a LG and I never connected them to WiFi. I have not had any issues
Some smart TVs require you to connect them to the Internet before you can even use them with HDMI. It's a changing world. This post has a lot of interesting comments.
Provide the citation please because the last one you mentioned to me was about a return that you heard about while standing in line at Wal-Mart about a rok/tcl tv, which btw which you don't need to do any of that to use it.
https://support.tcl.com/ca-gtv-setup-configuration/how-to-bypass-tcl-account-creation
oh and
My experience with LG/WebOS has been fine if I don't try to get online. It doesn't pester me to do so.
No, yes, maybe, but probably not.
Also, only do this if it's a passion project for learning, because the odds that it works out the gate, and doesn't require multiple repurchases, are very slim.
The odds that you never quite get it to work right, or at all, very high.
If you're sure you want to do this, start by reading the technical documentation to get a grasp of which parts might, or should, work together, and how. Do this before making any purchases.
If that doesn't sound appealing, then buy an "digital signage" or "enterprise/business class" TV, or find a dumb consumer TV, new or used.
huh i wonder, if the answer is "yes" or "somewhat yes" is it a valid alternative to replacing the power supply in my tv?
i got one for free with a busted psu, but the power supply board is extremely rare (i only ever saw two listings of it, one on AliExpress and one on ebay, both just one piece left and for higher price than a new used tv; similar boards are like 5 times cheaper)
basically, unless i could find an alternative solution like that, I'm throwing it away
Why not disassemble it and sell all the working parts, if they are rare and expensive?
This comment reminds me of an episode of Pawn Stars when the son bought a very rare and expensive bike to fix up. The dad gave him hell saying if the bike is so rare and expensive, where are they going to get parts!?
I think you will need a power supply for your panel in addition to a driver board like this. This only provides the signals needed to switch the pixels but not the power to drive them. Some of these include backlight drivers but even then I think you would probably need more current for a TV than these provide.
Why go through all of that when you can just block network access, or not even connect it at all? Hell, just get a Blocklist that includes the bad URLs for your TV you don't want it using, and run it on AdGuard or Pihole. Lots of easier ways to work around this.
Unfortunately some TVs pester you when they can't get internet access, or will even attempt to connect to any open WiFi networks in range.
Some have offline ads or can't boot straight to an input, too.
Then there's Amazon trialing having Amazon-powered TVs automatically connecting to any Alexa devices and using them to gain internet access.
I'm not saying OPs suggestion is the best one, for most TVs, what you suggest works very well. But it's good to have more options, particularly as the market continues to get more and more locked-down.
Even aside from all that, if you could replace the controller board, that would open up other possibilities - potentially adding DisplayPort to a TV, for example. Or retrofitting FreeSync if the panel supports it. Or even just plain TV repair without having to pay through the nose for a part you can only get from Samsung/LG/Sony/etc.
So, "yes", but also no. You'll lose the calibration panel for your display, and the result will probably be unwatchable.
You're much better off buying a display which is un-smart to start with. These are often called "commercial displays". Or of course you could just buy a monitor.
I've looked, and it's surprisingly difficult to find one with decent resolution in a decent size. It seems they're all 1080p nonsense.
I'm not even looking for fancy features like OLED or whatever, I just want 4k in >60" screen size without any smart features. Why is that so hard??
What you want is a "commercial signage display". They usually have all the modern display features because they're intended to make products look good, and they're generally well built because they're meant to be on all day.
They cost more than similar TVs because they're not subsidized by smart TV shovelware and data gathering.
reminds me of this video that shows how they reverse engineered the macbook touchbar display and made their own driver. I bet a tv is harder, but I've wondered the same thing, and would be interested to see someone try.
so far i've been between simply buying a projector, im assuming those havent been smartified yet.
Or buying a big format display, i think those still exist, i hope they do at least.
Presumably you could probably mutilate a smart tv to properly disable it's functionality, but im not electrical engineer so don't ask me.
So if anyone is interested I found the answer to my question. There seems to be two standards for LCD panels and there are these cheap converters for both of them.
Haven't taken any TVs apart yet, but this lookes like it could totally work on a laptop lcd panel
There are some amazing projectors available these days and they don't seem to be crippled by smartification. There are some cool homebuilt projectors that are made of bright light sources and old cell phone screens to, if you want to learn.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
