Large screen for Raspberry Pi with no compromises

2016-08-27 08.57.09

There are plenty of screens for Raspberry Pi on the market. However, most of them is quite small varying from 3 to 10 inches most.

Some of those screens are dedicated ones some have HDMI interface through which you can connect it to RPi. Well, you can even use analog output to display the content of RPi’s desktop on a TV.

There is also a way to connect a notebook screen to Raspberry Pi. You need two things to get it done.

  • notebook screen

The notebook screen is the most important part. It can be acquired form an old notebook or can be purchased as a notebook screen replacement. Most of the screens have a LVDS connector that is used to power the screen and transfer data to it.

  • LVDS adapter

Using a LVDS adapter it is possible to connect HDMI-equipped electronics to the screen. Most of LVDS have not only HDMI connector but also a VGA or an analog input connector. It seams that the LVDS controller is not compatible with all LCD screens. During acquiring that kind of controller one has to make sure that it works with owned screen. Simply send vendor name and serial number to the store from which you can buy the controller.

This is a perfect set-up to make a budget smart window!

There is one disadvantage to the LVDS controller. During the operation it gets pretty warm and sometimes quite hot. But it is to be expected since it has to power up a 15,4″ screen. But with some active cooling like small fan it should do.

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After assembly of all the components the result is following

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Configuration menu of the LCD screen

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2 thoughts on “Large screen for Raspberry Pi with no compromises

  1. Pranjal

    Great post but i have to ask you some questions,
    1.) From where we can get that lvds adapter?
    2.) I’ve seen some adapters they have 3 piece set and in your post it’s only 2 pieces, they have one adapter, one LCD control panel, and one other small PCB.
    What is the difference between them and which one should I use??
    Please reply!!!!

    Reply
    1. Wojciech Domski Post author

      You can buy that kind of adapter form AliExpress or form eBay. Just keep in mind that this kind of device does not work with every screen. Basically the controller is screen specific.
      As for your second question, since I can not see it, it is hard to tell but maybe it is a power adapter? It is really board dependable.

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