Acer Aspire 5738ZG - CCFL to LED possible using 5740 LED LVDS?

As the title says, I have a Acer Aspire 5738ZG that I restored.

Since I had some leftover 5740 parts from a broken one (mobo had bad EC BIOS and I don't have a flasher - if I will find a dump, I might give that a try though.) I thought of transplanting the 5738ZG innards into the 5740 case, as it had much better ventilation than the original 5738 case.

As far as it goes, I might still have the 5740 display w/LVDS cable (which is LED) and I have been wondering if it will work on the 5738.

The connectors are same on both units. The only difference is the 5738 uses CCFL (AUO B156XW01, lively colors!) and the 5740 uses LED. (I sold the display itself but kept the rest)

Thanks in advance for any info you have on this matter!

I'll also leave the before and after specs here:

Before:
Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 2.10GHz
Radeon HD4570 512MB
4GB DDR2 - 2x2GB Samsung PC2-6400
500GB WD Scorpio Blue (100% health)
Sony-NEC Optiarc AD-7580S DVD-RW
Atheros AR5B95 WiFi card

After:
Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz
same GPU
4GB DDR2 - 2x2 Micron PC2-6400
same HDD
Panasonic UJ-890 DVD-RW
Intel Centrino N-100 Wireless (could've used a WiFi Link 5100 or 5300 but don't really see the point)

 

I don't think that's plug & play. Inverter has to be gotten rid of and there is a need to some conversion kit for voltage. There used to be something like that for sale with different connectors for different laptops if I'm not mistaken but that's been a while ago.

Anyway - short answer is that is most likely can be done but it's not plug & play.

 

As far as it goes, I have both displays and they're complete - as in CCFL display with its respective inverter, and the LED display with its respective LVDS plug.

Both LVDS cables are similar on the mobo - same connector in same orientation. This, and it seems the 5738 does have an model advertised with LED display.

Would a conversion kit still be required if I have the LED display with the correct LVDS cable (from the dead 5740) for the 5738?

 

Connectors on the mobo are the same. What about the other end of the cable?

 

5738 - classic LVDS
5740 - 40pin LED

 

An LVDS LED-backlighted panel draws the backlight power from the LVDS cable itself (about six to eight pins/wires). A CCFL uses the cable from the inverter for this purpose.

Dual CCFL-LED models do exist and can even have the same motherboard. It is also theoretically possible to have an LVDS cable that can run both backlight types; your B156XW01 has eight disconnected pins right at the location of the connecter where an LVDS LED panel has its backlight power pins, but this is probably due to ease of manufacturing.

Without knowing for certain that the CCFL and LED versions use the same motherboard it is still a bit of a gamble. The mb connector may be the same but that does not mean their pin-configuration is also identical. Schematics of the motherboard would be definitive proof or, failing that, you might plug in the LED cable without the screen attached, power up and measure the voltage on the, purportedly, backlight pins. Google ' LVDS LED panel name + pdf' and you'll have the schematics for the panel. These include a pin-out which can then be used to make sure you're measuring the correct pins; voltage should be around 10-15V. For most other pins this is not really a sane thing to do since with a 0.4 or 0.5mm pitch there's a good chance to inadvertently cause a short. Backlight pins are a bit more lenient though since both voltage and ground tend to be grouped together in three's or fours, so you can safely touch the middle pin of each while hitting either pin alongside it is harmless.

If it turns out the current motherboard cannot drive a LED backlight as-is then you could still opt for the converter option:
LED TO CCFL 15.6 LED to LCD Screen Converter Cable 40pin to 30pin LTN156AT01 New

The converter-supported panel is an LTN156AT01 (CCFL-end), which is perfectly compatible with the B156XW01. These also have a wide range of options for the inverter cable, so they will work with most systems. Only caveat is the pin pitch of the 40-pin LED connector; these can be 0.4 or 0.5mm and the listing doesn't mention which one is used (could inquire with seller). Another thing is that there's a score of different versions of these adapters but every one of them only supported single-channel panels. That means only up to 1600x900 is possible (a few panels make do with 1-ch.), but no 1080p or 1200p.