Technologies are changing so quickly that once revolutionary devices do not even have time to exhaust their service life, turning into an unnecessary dust collector and a habitat for spiders. Unused electronics are the scourge of the modern world. Many of us probably have fully functional gadgets sitting around gathering dust, like old computer monitors, that can be put to a variety of uses.
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Just recently, we were happy that they fit on our desktop, making the computer a truly compact and affordable device. Today it’s just a plastic container stuffed with electronics. It's a shame to throw away the monitor, because it's still working. Nevertheless, this device may well get a second life, albeit in a different quality.
Old CRT monitors are not difficult to disassemble, but it can even be dangerous if done incorrectly. Therefore, before implementing any of the projects below, please read the step-by-step instructions for disassembling your device. It should not explode and harm you during the remodeling process.
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Flowerbed
Once safely disassembled, your monitor can enjoy its new life outdoors or help you bring a little bit of nature into your home or office. Why not turn a plastic container into a stylish flowerpot? The authors of the project claim that the rework will take about 2-3 hours.
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Disadvantages of LCD monitors when watching videos
We explained how to make an LCD monitor into a TV, but you need to take into account the following points:
- signal response time;
- viewing angle;
- contrast and illumination;
- depth of black.
A computer display is characterized by a longer response time to a signal and a smaller viewing angle, but for a TV this is nonsense, so the rules for watching TV for computer monitors are not relevant. In this case, the viewer must sit strictly opposite the new home product, at a right angle - otherwise black spots will appear and the picture will become distorted. High-quality viewing is guaranteed if you look directly at the TV. If the black color depth is insufficient, all impressions will be spoiled, especially in the twilight, and if the contrast on the screen is too high, the viewer will see a flat image.
Viewing angles of monitors with different types of matrices
These are the negative consequences that await you if you use an LCD monitor as another TV and do not take into account the above recommendations when connecting.
Most manufactured tuners have a VGA input, and monitors have DVI and VGA; we must also take into account their support for such TV parameters as PAL and SECAM.
Aquarium
Do you have a container with a glass lid? So what's stopping you from making an aquarium out of it? Using epoxy resin and a hair dryer, you can achieve a sealed container. All that remains is to decorate the background of the aquarium and put the fish in there. Perhaps, over time, there will be a place for other forms of marine life in the nice microtank.
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Which monitors are better
Foreign experts tested many computer monitors from different manufacturers to reach a verdict on whether they can be used as a TV after modification. The South Korean concern Samsung is in first place: monitors are quite easy to convert into TVs, they look perfect in a new role - these are mainly models with 17- and 19-inch screens.
Second place was shared by Sony and LG, which offer users updated monitor samples and their unique designs. You can use products from other manufacturers with less famous names, but the quality will be correspondingly lower.
When we make our own TV from a monitor, experts advise paying special attention to the screen resolution - if it is high, then displaying a homemade TV will be excellent.
Miniature puppet theater
After removing the insides of the monitor, it can be turned into a real theater, albeit a puppet one. Place a background on the back panel and cut a hole on top to control the dolls. The obsolete device will become a new playground for children!
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Smart set-top box
A smart set-top box is a small device designed to turn a regular TV into a Smart TV. It performs several tasks at once: it provides Internet access, has its own OS (which allows it to perform smart functions), and also expands the number of connectors. Most often, such devices are connected to an HDMI connector, but tulips can be used as an alternative.
Smart set-top box for Android X96 mini
Most monitors have either HDMI or VGA. In the first case, there are no problems with the connection, just take the appropriate cable. If the monitor is old, then you can look for a set-top box with a VGA connection, but this is very problematic, so it’s easier to buy an adapter from HDMI to VGA.
The advantage of this method is the ability to connect through a set-top box and speakers, since a rare monitor is equipped with them, and it usually does not have outputs for acoustics.
It is worth understanding that this method does not allow you to watch television channels through an antenna - access will be provided via the Internet, for example, through the official websites of television channels. Most of them have online broadcasts. You can also watch TV by installing an IPTV player and downloading playlists for it. Thus, for this option of turning a monitor into a TV, it is necessary to have the Internet, which means that in places where it is not available (for example, at the dacha), you will not be able to use a smart set-top box.
Cat's house
Your cat is constantly sitting on the computer system unit, so give her the opportunity to finally win. Let the monitor become her comfortable home. This project gives you the opportunity to express yourself creatively. You can decorate the house with feathers or colored paper, glue wooden handles on the bottom and place the house at the desired height. A heating pad placed under the bed will make this place not just cozy, but also warm.
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We are looking for a use for a broken matrix from a laptop
Broken laptop screens are a very common problem.
Broken matrices cannot be repaired and are discarded en masse. And every time I saw a broken screen, I wondered if it could be used, for example, for lighting? Or for a lightbox? Or something else? I had some free time, so I decided to indulge a little. The purpose of this note is to show what screens are capable of in terms of lighting - I think this idea was not only mine (spoiler - it doesn’t really shine) * ATTENTION! This is NOT a review, this is a "handmade" community! So, the LTN156-AR21 screen was chosen as a test subject - as the name suggests, it is 15.6″, and despite the title photo being horizontally compressed, it is a widescreen 1366×768 Well, it was during my lifetime. I didn’t take a photo of it before disassembly, just like the process of initial disassembly itself - on the one hand, it’s banal and simple, on the other hand, there is no single recipe.
The general idea is to cut/peel off all the stickers, unsolder the backlight, unscrew the screws, unclip the frame and take out the LCD itself. leave all the films lying on the bottom! We only remove the broken glass itself with the cables and the circuit board. We work carefully - you can cut yourself! If it works, we measure the dimensions of this piece of glass and cut out the same one, for example, from plexiglass or some other transparent plastic - otherwise it may not assemble. The plastic that I had was rolled up, so the result was not flat, but rather convex. Maybe I'll take another plastic, maybe I'll warm this one up with a hairdryer - we'll see. Well, accordingly, we put everything back together. I would recommend taping the frame to the back of the panel in a few more places to be secure.
We get something like this:
Well, there's a separate fee. We are looking for the backlight power supply on it. It is highlighted with a rectangle.
In this matrix, by the way, the LEDs are powered by a voltage of 25V (the boost converter with current stabilization is circled above), I did not measure the current.
I used arrows to mark the points where +3V was supplied to control the inclusion of the backlight and its brightness. This is pretty obvious from the labels on the board. It’s quite easy to find the power supply track - it’s thick and also goes straight to the connector. To obtain 3V from the supply 12, I used a 3.3V zener diode and a 100kOhm resistor.
All that remains is to solder the power connector and secure the converter board in place. I used Kapton tape.
Now, actually, for the sake of what everything was started. On my table I have a backlight made of Samsung LEDs wired into stars. It shines brightly, but also consumes almost 1A
A laptop screen consumes four times less, but also illuminates much worse. Here this “lamp” stands in the place of the current one, so the purity of the experiment is maintained.
Thus, I can summarize with regret: strangely enough, but in the general case, a panel from a 15″ matrix from a laptop cannot replace (or be used as) a working light. Also, it probably won’t be enough for a lightbox. But you can try using it for BOTTOM lighting in a lightbox - sometimes this can be useful. Several panels should probably provide good background light if they are mounted under the cabinets above the table. Perhaps, if you cut out and paste stickers, you will get interesting interior lamps. Well, in my student years this would have been simply an irreplaceable draloscope:
Moreover, I saw that the Chinese are still selling them, and for a lot of money...
Accordingly, you can use it to look at negatives/slides (who still has them), you can even try scanning them with a regular flatbed scanner, and for those who independently print on films for making printed circuit boards, for example, you can control what happened. In short, you can think of many uses for a draloscope, but lighting is not it, alas. But they cost nothing. Perhaps matrices with a larger diagonal will do better, perhaps I did not use the brightest matrix - but the more indicative the result.
Nest for laying hens
Swap the pillows for straw and you can set up your own small bird farm. Laying hens will love this house.
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Magazine rack
This project emerged as a result of a design competition. An old monitor can become a magazine rack. To do this, you just need to take old furniture legs and drill them to the base of the device. The author of the project even included a secret compartment for correspondence in the rack.
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Bin
This project is worth noting for its sense of humor. After a little refurbishment, a broken old monitor turns into a trash can with a standard volume of 50 liters.
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Note board
The main complaint about CRT monitors is their volume. But no one is stopping you from making the device compact with a small modification and giving it a new life. It can no longer become a flat monitor, but it can become a board for attaching notes, memos and papers. You just need to attach a cork board to the front of the monitor instead of glass. And wooden handles can be attached to the back for structural stability. In this way, you can also convert a flat screen monitor that has become unnecessary.
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Second life for old monitors
Hello. Here I told my friends how I made a candy bar out of an old monitor and laptop, or a TV, and I got the feeling that for some it seems like something very complicated. I decided to tell you a little. Finally I bought a TV as a 32″ monitor, and a 24″ monitor became available, and what should I do with it?) And then I needed a TV for the kitchen, we don’t watch TV at all, so we gave everything away or threw it away, but then my wife wanted it.
I have home Internet, and adding a TV set-top box is not a problem, I sent the application and wait for the courier, he will set everything up himself. The main thing is that the monitor supports HDCP. I connected the HDMI-DVI adapter via cable. But there was no sound in my monitor, I just cut out 2 holes in the back and glued the front part of the USB speakers there with hot glue for 200 rubles.
I glued all the tripe from the speakers (amplifier with regulator) inside, set the volume to the maximum required, and still the TV set-top box regulates the volume from the remote control. Initially, I had one operator, then I changed because of his greed, and now it’s almost 3 times cheaper.
So you need to send a signal to the speakers, and here it depends on the TV set-top box, in one I had a mother tulip right on the body, and in the other there was a regular Jack3.5 with an adapter cable to a father tulip. I cut the mother tulip connector into the TV near the connectors, and soldered everything. To power the amplifier, I took a phone charger and simply soldered it inside to the power board where 220V is supplied.
Monoblock
I also had an old laptop lying around for a long time without a screen, and an old 19-inch monitor. They were collecting dust on the cabinet for probably 4 years. I wanted to make a monoblock, and initially just attach one to the other and some kind of casing, but I took everything apart and tried to combine it in one case. I thought the power supplies wouldn't fit, but everything worked out.
Since I didn’t really feel sorry if it didn’t work out, I glued a sheet of backing sheet for the laminate to the base of the matrix with hot glue, and connected all the parts to it as they were in the monitor, and the laptop just needed a VGA cable, but it didn’t fit because of the large connector , took it apart, cut off the excess and soldered the screen directly to the laptop connector. And sound. This monitor had speakers, so I used them, I also glued it in a free place and connected the sound with a cable, I took the old one out of the car for AUX.
The USB was inconveniently located, I just stuck the USB hub in and glued it to the bottom.
It was necessary to cut a large hole in the case where the connectors fit; the case did not allow anything to be installed in that place, as well as for an 80mm fan. The fan was powered from the laptop charger through a pulse stabilizer. Since everything inside is heated, and everything on hot glue is impossible without cooling.
Yes, and I also brought out the laptop power button from the bottom, extended the wires and glued it. The standard cable was not very convenient, so I just took a plug with a wire and soldered it directly to the power connector.
Maybe someone will also want to repeat it)
Picture frame
There is nothing stopping you from making a digital photo frame out of your monitor, but you will have to use an entire computer to do this. But an outdated monitor can become a good analog frame. You can put anything in it - from photos to handmade creations.
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External TV tuner for a monitor - the easiest way
The DVB-T2 tuner is designed to receive various digital channels. To set up television broadcasting, a very ordinary antenna will be enough; some make it from the remains of a coaxial cable.
How to make a TV from a monitor without a computer? First you need to connect the tuner and screen using an HDMI cable; most likely you will need a VGA adapter for this. There shouldn't be any problems buying a converter. All that remains is to connect the antenna and speakers.
Using special converters, you can connect other equipment to the monitor, for example, a game console, various players and even a laptop.
Naturally, absolutely everyone is interested in the financial side of our experiment. The tuner costs from 1000 rubles or more, as for the adapter - its price is 250 rubles. The speakers can be taken from an old computer or music center.
Today you can also purchase a Smart TV set-top box that will allow you to connect to the Internet and play media content online. As for the price, they cost an order of magnitude more – from 2,500 rubles and more. However, the functionality will also expand significantly. Therefore, the purchase will fully justify the money invested.
Personal Computer
Using a Raspberry Pi single-board computer (sold here), you can turn an old monitor into a full-fledged PC for about $50. All you need to do is connect your Raspberry Pi to your monitor. In addition, based on the Raspberry Pi, you can create a retro video game console or a multifunctional watch, for example, such as the PiClock.
As conceived by the author of the project, the gadget is capable of displaying the current time, weather forecast in the region where the user is located, as well as a radar map. The developer has posted step-by-step instructions on how to build the device on GitHub, but essentially all you need to create a PiClock is a monitor, a Raspberry Pi, a keyboard and mouse, and an active Wi-Fi connection.
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Connecting a special board
A very difficult, but convenient way to convert a monitor into a TV receiver is to install a built-in board, such as the “Universal LCD Driver Board”.
Equipment may have different names depending on the manufacturer. But, the principle of operation, advantages, and connection sequence of all devices are similar. The use of boards provides a number of advantages:
- reproduction of digital broadcasting, on a par with analogue broadcasting;
- sound output without any adapters;
- the ability to control the gadget via PU;
- compact dimensions of all detailed internal contents (they easily fit in the monitor case box).
Note! The main disadvantage of this option can be considered the difficulty of placing the board in the case of most modern monitors.
Why is it wiser to entrust the placement of the board to a specialist? It will be difficult for a non-professional to handle the internal installation of the board. And, if you place it outside, the appearance of the monitor will deteriorate.
Private monitor
If you don't want others to see what you're doing on your PC, turn your monitor into a spy-proof monitor. To prying eyes, it will look like a simple white screen on which nothing is happening, but you can work as usual, wearing special glasses. To make this monitor, you will need an old screen, a pair of glasses, a screwdriver, scissors, polarizing film and a pocketknife. The process of creating a private monitor is demonstrated in the video below.
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Converting an LCD monitor into a TV
The world is actively abandoning desktop PCs. And this is not strange: after all, today it is easy to buy much more compact devices with greater functionality. If you have an unnecessary LCD monitor, do not get rid of it. It can be converted into a good TV receiver.
First of all, you need to buy all the necessary components to convert an LCD monitor into a TV:
- You need to buy a TV tuner:
- You need to purchase a splitter, as well as a cord for digital television:
- You need to buy an antenna, as well as a cable to connect it:
A high-quality connection to a new TV requires at least two sockets:
- One socket is for powering the tuner.
- The second socket is for powering the adapter.
First you need to connect the antenna cable, and then the plugs into the socket. In this case, you need to attach the tuner with the adapter responsible for power supply to the back.
Note! The tuner has built-in speakers, so its sound will suit only the undemanding listener. But, if you are an esthete and a music lover, you will have to get an external speaker system: the sound will expand, you will immediately feel the difference. For example, a soundbar or standard speakers would be appropriate.
A TV made from an LCD monitor will pick up channels perfectly. But television broadcasting in HD format will be unavailable. This point can be considered the main drawback.
