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    Removing laptop screen and using it as a monitor?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ronnieb, Oct 5, 2009.

  1. ronnieb

    ronnieb Representing the Canucks

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    Is there a possibility of this? I have a toshiba m200 that's not worth fixing, but I loved the 12 inch screen, and i was wondering if it was possible to mode the screen to have a vga port or something so that I can use the small screen as a secondary monitor with my desktop.
     
    ronnieb, Oct 5, 2009
    #1
  2. Duct Tape Dude

    Duct Tape Dude Duct Tape Dude

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    I have googled this every which way for my screen for a bunch of weeks.

    The short answer is it's complicated and expensive and you're better of sinking the money into a monitor.

    The long answer involves different standards of output which are impossible to get 100% right at a small level. Your laptop screen uses an interface known as LVDS, which is a digital signal, and VGA uses an analog signal. VGA is a very standardized format, while LVDS varies from manufacturer to manufacturer while maintaining a similar enough format to still be called LVDS. This is why you can't just swap laptop monitors from another OEM most of the time.

    It IS possible for you to find a pinout diagram of your monitor, and build your own controller, or look into a few custom screen companies who have them built already and for the low price of approximately $200-600 (since you have a smaller monitor) give you a controller for it. I ran across a team who built a VGA controller for a laptop screen but it was only 1024x768 at its highest setting.
     
    Duct Tape Dude, Oct 5, 2009
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  3. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Yes as above, the interfaces and plugs it uses are complicated.
     
    flipfire, Oct 5, 2009
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  4. ronnieb

    ronnieb Representing the Canucks

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    Well it is a tablet screen, would that make it easier or more difficult?
     
    ronnieb, Oct 5, 2009
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  5. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    it should be exactly the same.
     
    moral hazard, Oct 5, 2009
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  6. Duct Tape Dude

    Duct Tape Dude Duct Tape Dude

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    Yeah, the same. If you wanted to have the active display part it'd be even more difficult.

    If anything you'd be best parting it out on eBay, and then using the money towards a new monitor. It'd be loads cheaper than trying to get that to work.
     
    Duct Tape Dude, Oct 5, 2009
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  7. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Are you out of budget that hard?
     
    spradhan01, Oct 6, 2009
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  8. ronnieb

    ronnieb Representing the Canucks

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    Nahh haha. I really liked the 4:3 display and the clarity of the screen, and the fact that it is a tablet display made it that much cooler! I have a monitor I wouldve loved to have a small 12 inch with system stats displayed
     
    ronnieb, Oct 6, 2009
    #8