LCD with no backlight

Since I've not taken one apart I don't know the answer to this, so...
If the backlight and rear cover are removed from a monitor is it
possible to have a cool looking transparent LCD display?

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.theconsensus.org/ - A UK political party
http://www.onetribe.me.uk/wordpress/?cat=5 - Our podcasts on weird stuff

 

Yes, and no.

The rear cover is part (in most cases) of a clamp system that holds
electrical
elements in contact with the glass, so it can be removed only by
disconnecting
the data to the screen.

I've done this, and you can brush the display with your hands or other
objects and the static electricity makes it respond.

 

In my experience it's a flex pcb cable that goes to the glass. On the
flex PCB are the gate and column drivers.
These are usually bare die flip chip assembled, potted in gunk.
http://www.national.com/opf/FP/FPD33684.html
The backlight is attached mechanically and can be easily removed. I
built a crappy projector like this once.

 

Yes. Actually, I salvaged the screen from the monitor I'm using right
now from some sort of stereo-vision monitor. It still has a special
polarising filter between the backlight and the screen itself which
was retrofitted.

 

Take a look at the Aruze hybrid slots:
http://www.aruze.com/en/products/millenary/luckyfrankie/index.html

These are actually stepper motor reels behind an LCD. The LCD can
block out the the reels, as well as provide different backrounds. I
saw tournament versions of these slots recently and they are pretty
awesome to look at.

 

Yes, but I promise you that the novelty value wears off pretty quickly,
because it's a pain to actually use your computer that way. ;^)

 

I've done it. You disassemble the display panel, removing the
backlight & the diffuser, then reassemble the panel - with spacers,
if necessary. If you were going to make it a permanent project, you'd
need to make a big cutout on the back panel, of course.

Yes, they are.

 

Esp in the dark


--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.theconsensus.org/ - A UK political party
http://www.onetribe.me.uk/wordpress/?cat=5 - Our podcasts on weird stuff