The Idea:
Last night I was sitting here staring down my lcd with the burnt out backlight, thinking about ways to light it... "Light.. so easy in the house... but.. hey, wait" I noticed the intense coil of the compact fluroescent bulb plugged into my lamp. 850 lumens output rated for only 13w of power input.. for indash installation, one could theoretically build a bright white lightbox (say that 3 times fast), not dissimilar in stature to the drop in mounting case for the subaru sold here, housing say.. 6 of these little compact fluros (which, cost 1$ last time I checked) and power them off a tiny little AC inverter.. lets say a cheapo compact 100w one. If the box was properly sealed, with 6 of these lights aimed perpindicular to the back of the lcd, I imagine it would be brighter than all sin... and a fairly cheap upgrade to realize, too.
Parts List:
100w Inverter - 15$
6 Compact Fluros - 6$
Some aluminum to make the lightbox casing - ??$
Some ultrabright spraypaint to paint the enclosure - 5$
Computer fan - 5$
Considerations:
Heat:
With a fan blowing across the back of the enclosure, heat shouldn't be a problem.. I did a hand test, and the bulb gets warm.. threshold too warm to hold, but not quite. I think a low speed fan blowing on the back of the aluminum would handle temps well.
Dimming:
A rotational switch, with 6 contacts that leaves all contacts behind it closed as its rotated would be an effective means of dimming.. Simply having each contact trigger a different bulb. I've already tested with a cardboard box lined with wheyerhauser's brightest pritner paper, and when using all the stock fresnel lenses and diffusers, a single cfl in the middle gives perfectly even light distribution.. The whole inside of the box reflects light every which way, and makes its suprisingly even, even when using nothing but the difusser. The light has no exit other than the opening towards the LCD.
Dash room:
There would be a need for a considerable amount of space behind the LCD in order for this to work.. my rough estimate would put it at about 7" depth minimum... I'd have ot measure things and figure a little more to get the proper depth.. I don't think this would be a serious issue all around, though.
So thats more or less the idea.. I couldn't find any prior discussion on using these, and figured I'd draft up a base for the idea all around... now you guys can tell me why it won't work.. please keep in mind its just a concept, and I want to hear youse guyses views on its feasability.. no need to call me an idiot for thinking of sticking 120AC lamps under the dash.
-Jared
Linear Mode
