lcd view all day and night? - Page 2

david_yates · 07-06-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by tonystoolroom

I wonder what a 8" Data911 screen costs?

http://www.data911.com/main/display.html

Just got off the phone with them $2,585 for lvds display only, that is for the 8.4

alchemist29 · 07-06-2007, 06:01 PM

I know most LCD displays use Cold Cathode fluorescent lights as the backlighting nowadays, but I've pondered using a material similar to the Indiglo material... Electroluminescent plastics. They can be dimmed much easier than CCF tubes. The coupld of LCD's I've opened all had a sheet of Lexan type material to distribute the light from the tubes at the sides of the panel to the entire panel. You should be able to just replace the Lexan with the electroluminescent plastic material and wire it up.

LED's wound be another option... Replace the CCF with a strip of surface mount white LED's controlled by a PWM circuit.

Of course, the ideal solution won't be available for another couple of years, but that is Organic LED displays. I was hoping the IPhone might use OLED technology, but it's not quite there yet. OLED displays will be able to be dimmed down as dim or bright as you need because there will not be a backlight. The display itself produces the light, just like the phosphors on a TV.

archaic0 · 07-09-2007, 02:11 PM

The inverters usually are really high voltage, that's correct. Some soar upwards of 10,000 volts actually. And some even have some pretty big draws like 2 to 3 amps. Sounds small, but milliamps are enough to kill you if they hit your heart, and brain frying electoshock is done with less than an amp too. *smile*

I could try to find the inverters source power and try wiring in a rheostat there to drop it's input voltage with a knob. That would probably effect it's output voltage, but whether or not that would change the resulting brightness of the bulb is another story. I don't know just what technology the bulb is, but fluorescent are not dimable by voltage. you can't just wire in a dimmer switch like you can with incandescents. Recently they have been able to dim fluorescents, but it's by way of blinking the power on and off very quickly to 'fake' a dimmer light.

Has anyone actually wired in a knob and had it work or are we all just brainstorming?

For now, I'm just going to make an overlay with some stout wire and hang a tint film over top of the screen at night. Exactly how I'm going to do that is yet to be figured out. I need to solve a couple issues for it to work.

1. How do I make the tint stiff enough to hold it's shape? The tint is very loose just hanging out by itself. Either I find a way to stretch it and make it work, or I find a thin base piece of glass or plastic and tint that piece.

2. How do I attach this to the screen? I could just hang it, but it might need something stronger. Velcro might be an option. It needs to be able to come on and off quickly.

3. Where do I put this overlay during the day? If it doesn't have an assigned place and holder, then it's most certainly going to get broken or lost.

4. In the end, is the new solution better or worse overall than the bright light? I don't want to diminish my CarPC experience, so whatever solution I come up with needs to not get in the way of me using and enjoying my system.

shotgunefx · 07-09-2007, 02:38 PM

I don't know if it would help you enough, but my 3M privacy filter cuts down on interior glowing quite a bit due to the narrow field of view.

archaic0 · 07-09-2007, 02:43 PM

That's a thought... even if I have to get one and cut it down to size that might be better than the tint.

shotgunefx · 07-09-2007, 03:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by archaic0

That's a thought... even if I have to get one and cut it down to size that might be better than the tint.

3M has two kinds, a glass one with anti-glare and a flexible one. I've used both (though cutting down the glass one was tricky), but the glass one, besides being tricky to cut, is pretty thick and is a pain getting to fit.

The flexible one is trivial to cut and is rigid enough where you can just slip it behind the touchscreen. For awhile, I actually had it in front of the touchscreen and it held up pretty well to the abuse.

archaic0 · 07-09-2007, 03:11 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by shotgunefx

3M has two kinds, a glass one with anti-glare and a flexible one. I've used both (though cutting down the glass one was tricky), but the glass one, besides being tricky to cut, is pretty thick and is a pain getting to fit.

The flexible one is trivial to cut and is rigid enough where you can just slip it behind the touchscreen. For awhile, I actually had it in front of the touchscreen and it held up pretty well to the abuse.

So both work with the touchscreen? No touch issues?

Curiosity · 07-09-2007, 04:54 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by archaic0

Has anyone actually wired in a knob and had it work or are we all just brainstorming?

Sure, I think a few of us have done it. The 7" lilliput inverter draws less than half a watt at 12V, and dims quite a bit at a lower voltage. I did it to mine about 3 years ago. Just don't go lower than around 7V or it will flicker. 7V is over .7 watts.

shotgunefx · 07-09-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by archaic0

So both work with the touchscreen? No touch issues?

if you went with the glass one (I wouldn't), you need it behind the touchscreen as it's 1/4 thick

I didn't have an issue with the flexible one in front of the touchscreen, but pressing took slightly more effort. How long it will hold up to heavy and extended use in front of the touchscreen might be an issue though.

I'd probably put it behind it (which is how it's set up now). Though in front, I think it does a better job of hiding the screen when it's on from passerbys. I think because the touchscreen is in front, the LCD image hits it and is still partially radiated out to the sides. Still makes it much less noticable then without.

archaic0 · 07-09-2007, 05:28 PM

Well I'll just have to experiment with it. Luckilly I've got this current touchscreen already planned to replace so I have one I can mess with and not worry about frying. *smile*

Where did you get yours from? (the filters)

shotgunefx · 07-09-2007, 06:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by archaic0

Well I'll just have to experiment with it. Luckilly I've got this current touchscreen already planned to replace so I have one I can mess with and not worry about frying. *smile*

Where did you get yours from? (the filters)

Off ebay, the non-glass ones come in two varieties, framed, and non-framed, I got the framed one and just took it out because it was the cheapest one I found on ebay.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...erFilter/Home/

archaic0 · 07-10-2007, 11:11 AM

Cool, thanks. I found some on Amazon used for around $25. I was seeing some screens designed for laptops and handhelds that were around $10 though. I just need to make sure I get one that covers my screen, but it shouldn't matter which one I get as long as the physical size is correct.

Thanks again!

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