How standardized a lcd panels? Could I replace the controller in a smart TV with one of these HDMI to LCD controllers?
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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.
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.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/375318342725
Like the other person said, op added 2 underscores to it
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 retired from embedded systems design and design-for-manufacture a decade ago. Reading datasheets was most of the job. This doesn’t look too daunting. It’s a single interface between two readymade components. I’ve identified where some issues might come up, and there are probably some that I don’t know about yet. Still this seems less like building a circuit around existing ASICs and more like hooking up stereo equipment to me.
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!
Why buy one, when you can buy two at twice the price.
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
Ah i see, so because its connected to other devices in the sidewalk network, if my neighbor has it hooked up to wifi and mine isnt, it still can connect to the internet.
Yea that sucks. I hate that. I have “smart” TV that i never connected to my wifi cause i use a pc for streaming.
Next thing yknow theres gonna be lte modems in these things that they pay to keep on just to spy on us ffs man.
Jacking off with a monkey paw while you dream of a mesh network. Thanks amazon.
If you don’t have a sidewalk bridge but your neighbour half a mile away has one, your device will connect to your neighbour’s bridge and send data to Amazon without you knowing
Uhhh. No.
Well, that’s a pretty good reason to break your neighbors shit.
im sorry how is this legal?
Corpo exception.
Also, maybe it isnt; state isnt gonna stop em either way.
correct me if im wrong, but a device trying to connect to the network in order to analytics. Which can’t, which then defaults to a SECONDARY BACKUP mechanism, just to transmit ANALYTICS. Is basically just spying, and you cannot convince me otherwise.
I… Well I might try but only if it were funny. I agree. But its not effectively (and I don’t think technically) illegal.
Do these show up as networks on devices, or are they kind of hidden? I’ve looked before and never seen any open wifi around my house, but I am near a mall and lots of shopping.
They do not use wifi. They use BLE over short range, or LoRa or FSK on 900mhz over long distances. If you wanted to see them you’d probably need a scanner built specifically to find them but idk if anyone has made one.
Maybe you’d disable it on the settings, but it remains enabled anyways. Then it would detect an open wifi and connect autimatically.
Or maybe the software that comes with it is buggy as hell your HDMI framerate and resolution became affected.
A wifi antenna should be easy to find.
If you cut it, could it lead to an error, or just weaken the signal?
Ok, well personally, I’ve never seen an open network near my house, so if I cared that much, it would work for mine.
You really shouldn’t run an open wifi at your home. Or do you carry your TV to Starbuck’s or something?
Do you live in a farm your whole life or something?
Just in a country where open wifi without landing pages don’t exist. Apologies, didn’t think about actual open, public wifi.
Most people are more aware of these things nowadays, so you may not see it as much…
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 awayI 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.
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
This makes me want to look at TCL TVs more closely. Thanks.
I wouldn’t recommend any TCL older than 5 years. No idea about new ones but I used to sell and install them and they all just sucked. The video quality was mid and they had a weird input delay that made them annoying to use. These were tvs that were new out of the box.
I own a 2017 TCL and can confirm, horrible picture, rolling bars, bad lighting, the worst HDR ever, makes horrible cap noises when it is on
I would immediately return that crap to the store.
Where I first caught wind of this was in the return line at Walmart where a guy was returning a smart TV because he wanted to hook up to his Dish receiver and couldn’t without creating an account.
Every one I have encountered only requires that for use of the smart TV features. And if you have one that requires Internet just to use HDMI to connect to a device, your TV is 100% spying on you and you should return it.
I don’t buy TVs but I quized the guy pretty heavily thinking that was an option. He seemed to know what he was talking about about. This was an Onn Roku TV.
My experience with LG/WebOS has been fine if I don’t try to get online. It doesn’t pester me to do so.
I have a WebOS TV and I absolutely hate how slow it is. Turning on takes a long time. Selecting apps takes a long time. Flipping channels takes a long time. Did we forget how fast TVs from the 90s were??
To be fair, TVs from the 90s didn’t have apps, and I don’t actually use the apps on my LG, so it seems fine.
For older LG webos TVs, the delay between button push and action in the settings app can get as bad as 4 seconds.
The reason I bought it:
- Samsung pushed ads agressively on their TVs
- I had an HP tablet with webOS before and wondered what LG did with it after taking over the development. I was horrified.
The hardware is not much better. There’s constantly something wrong. But the LCD panel is pretty decent, so I just patch it up every time, rather than throwing it out.
In Spanish “WebOS” sounds exactly as if you were saying “huebos” which is slang for testicles.
Just a tidbit for your day to go just that much faster.
I’ve got a crappy Samsung knockoff with its own shit version of android that constantly switches inputs on its own and tries to load the home screen all the time. When the Xbox or PS5 is plugged in it will do that, when it’s HDMI into the laptop it doesn’t so YMMV but you should be ok.
Apropos of your first sentence, I have an odd question for anyone. The tv updated itself and now will try to turn off every hour or so due to some android power save, while I’m playing a game. I have to use the actual tv remote instead of the receiver which runs the inputs and volume. Can’t figure out how to turn that off, help!
Also, fuckin fantastic name Mr President. You and my cousin should hang out
I’m assuming you’ve checked but I’ll still ask, there’s no setting to turn off the battery saver mode.
The 2 hour screen saver is the longest option, there is no never. That is the extent of the power options on this Skyworth
Damn wtf, that’s truly unfortunate bud. Thanks for letting us know though, it’ll help us steer clear of that brand. I’m also looking for a new dumb TV to use as a monitor for streaming in my living room. I’m just gonna hook up a mini pc to it and call it a day. Wireless mouse and mini keyboard is all I’ll need.
BestBuy brand Insignia offers non-smart TVs.
Just don’t connect it to your wifi. Any TV that has cell service antenna, like most cars now, just don’t buy those.
No.
Smart TV’s run automatic content detection on all their inputs. You will also be nagged to put the device online relentlessly, and some models will not let you skip internet connectivity.
Which manufacturers specifically will do this? Other comments seem to think LG is ok. Genuinely curious if anyone has experience.
Someone should make a wall of shame for the worst offenders.
I wish I knew, but the ad industry LOVES this tech: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=smart+tv+ACR&t=ffab&ia=web Every other result is “How ACR is going to be awesome for advertisers/marketers”. the ones in between are “How to shut off ACR” :-/
I’ve been using a Visio smart tv and a Fire smart tv, well smart for it’s time at least, and I’ve never had any issues with it since it’s never been connected to a network.
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.
Just not feasible though. Smart TVs have everything in an integrated line, from the screen controller, down to the external ports. It’s like saying “Hey, I just want to take the North Bridge out of my motherboard because I don’t use the features”. Not gonna happen.
Now, in an alternate universe, if somebody went down this route and made replacement parts to remove all the cruft, you’d essentially be buying an entire new TV. There is no cost savings there. Buy a monitor, and hook up whatever smart shit you want at that point.
We gotta get in there and disconnect the antennas
But I’ve heard of a few models that don’t function at all until connected… yikes
Why go through all of that when you can just connect the board to the panel.
Why go through all that when you can just build a time machine and go back in time to be in the boardroom when someone presents the concept for a smart TV and then hide under the podium and tickle their genitals to distract them during the presentation and then spend the next 20 years in prison for sexual assault where none of the televisions have smart features?
I’d watch that movie
Then once you get out you can just buy a “commercial display” and not have to go through all that because there’s no smort features to begin with.
I would be interested in trying this but could I just lock everything except Netflix & Disney? Or have it one way and Keep my streaming but not have anything go from my tv back out?
Yeah, if you want to get fancy with your routing, you absolutely can.
I’m considering doing just that, having my TV and whatnot connect to a wireless SSID that only allows DNS to lookup certain streaming services. I’m not sure how difficult it’ll be, but I’ll probably play with it later this month.
Care to bring along a simple fool with you through your journey, maybe share how it goes?
NextDNS.io is free to start and works great for this
I’ll probably make a post somewhere about it here. But I’m lazy, so I don’t want to get your hopes up. :)
The sensible approach is to get an Android TV device that you have more control over. You basically have the same freedom with it as with an Android phone or tablet. Plug it into the TV and use the TV only as a monitor/speaker.
Warning: Do not buy cheap Chinese off-brand Android TVs from drop-shipping hellholes like Amazon. These commonly come with malware from the factory. Invest in a quality device with the features that you need.
If you’re on a budget, it’s possible to make do with a Fire TV Stick, which are often on sale for next to nothing - just don’t expect blistering performance or a good UI. They are still Android underneath that awful UI though. You have to fight Amazon’s attempts at funneling you towards their own content, but it’s doable.
If you want a device that you can easily use for a long time without having to worry about it getting obsolete, get an Nvidia Shield TV or Shield TV Pro. Pricey, but - in my eyes - worth it. At first glance, these may look like every other streaming box, but they justify their relatively high asking prices. For starters, the support for these devices is astonishing, with even the first generation from 2015 still receiving updates. While the current hardware generation is from 2019, it has features you can’t get anywhere else, like for example real-time AI upscaling of low-res content in certain apps and (on the Pro model) the ability to serve as a media server instead of just a client:
Hook a storage device up to it (or mount your NAS), add media to them (digitize your home media collection or acquire media from other sources), and use the Plex server application to turn this tiny thing into your own private Netflix that never sees anything delisted. It has enough power to allow you to watch video locally and, at the same time, transcode (=turn media into a format the other device can handle in real-time) up to two more videos (depending on the video files) for other devices in and outside of your home network. This means you could watch something on your TV and at least one other person could watch content you have curated (they don’t need a Shield TV - Plex clients are on a wide variety of devices). Given that this is a device that fits into the palm of your hand and needs less than 10W, that’s quite astonishing.
AdGuard has click-to-block service blacklists. Super easy. Just block everything you don’t want, and keep what you do. Should get you 95% coverage.
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.
Huh, cool! Do you know if they tend to last longer than consumer TVs? If they include better heat dissipation and whatnot (since they’re intended to always be on), it may be worth the extra price.
Not from experience, but if it’s designed to be on all day and you only use it 4 hours a day (ish) it should last a long time.
damn, this is actually a life saver right here. Hadn’t thought about commercial signage displays. Guess that’ll be living rent free in my head for the next decade until my TV shits the bed.
Heh, same. I bought what was probably the last generation of dumb TVs. It’s a 4k 65" panel from a company called Atyme which I believe is now defunct, made with an LCD panel that was part of some other company’s manufacturing order but didn’t pass quality check, and it has like 2010-ish TV electronics (you can tell because the settings menus look just like what you find on all the TVs from that period). It’s 4k but it doesn’t have any of the fancy features like HDR because the electronics are limited… but it also doesn’t have a bootup delay, it just turns on.
I didn’t learn about commercial signage displays until after I had bought it.
mine is a 1080 panel from 2012 consumer electronics era production. 20s startup delay, because i guess counting numbers is hard or something. Gotta love shitty tech i suppose. The 2010s era UI interface is SO real.
It’s hard because the advertising somewhat subsidies the price.(Ie: they want the ad revenue so they will sell the display at cost with the intention that they’ll make all the profit back from ads)
Yo can absolutely find commercial displays in that size and resolution, but you’ll pay a much higher price for them.
It’s probably worth it if they’re built better, which they probably are if they’re intended to run continuously. So better heat dissipation, mosfets, etc.
Or I could just accept my place and watch the ads and go along with all the caveats like a good consumer. I don’t see that happening.
I have a mix of smart and dumb TV’s.
All of them show me the same number of ads: zero.
All of them have the same level of access to networks (LAN/WAN): none.
Worst offender is a legacy Roku that keeps up it’s direct connect WiFi broadcast, but it’s on its own isolated VLAN.
Just buy a smart tv and don’t connect it to internet. You’ll get to buy from the same selection and enjoy the subsidized price.
My Vizio smart TV’s smart features won’t work if you don’t accept the terms of use. HDMI inputs worked though, and probably TV tuner… didnt try it. I eventually accepted of course, but that might be an option for you.
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.
Great info. I think the screen is easier. Thanks for this.
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.
Possibly dumb question but can you use a Projector during the day these days?
My TV is in my living room. Right next to 2 big windows. With 2 sliding glass doors across the room
if it’s dark, or you like black looking like not black. Yes.
You should probably find a way to cover those windows so that it’s dark in that room, if you were to use a projector, which thankfully, isn’t very hard.
This is one of the downsides of having a projector, the darkest black that you can get, is based on the darkness of the environment you’re in. Which can lead to contrast issues sometimes, but if you good light regulation, it’s fine.
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.
Would you mind elaborating?
It seems like the current standard is MIPI DSI. This is my sourcee of information. I think it is doable.
Judging by your link and some quick googling around, including this, it’s for mobile displays which have a lot less resolution than a 4K TV display.
That said, the 4.5Gb/s speed of it seems enough to feed a 4K display at 100Hz (I didn’t really dig enough into it to determine the protocol overheads or even much detail on protocol so take it with a pinch).
At minimum, you should probably open your TV and see if there is a flat cable with the right number of lines from the display to the controller since if it does not it’s highly unlikelly to be that standard (and even if it is but using a non-standard connector, you’ll need specs to figure out which pins are which lines in order to build an adaptor).
Mind you, it sounds like a fun project if you have a TV around that you don’t mind too much if it ends up broken.
Yeah, I think newer panels are probably MIPI DSI but there are cheap controller boards for that too. I don’t think I will do this as I really don’t have a need.
A previous, now deleted post sent me down this rabbit hole. I also understand why the OP deleted it. There are a lot of professional unboxers here who get upset with the idea of building anything.
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.
Alternatively, you could also get a 40+” monitor. Avoid Samsung, because nowadays they are really pushing their spyware everywhere, including displays. Some other brands should be fine though.
