Blue 4x40 LCD?

[thoughts]

I've built an mp3 player for my car, running Linux and using a 4x40 LCD screen for display. You can see it at:

nodivisions.com/tech/systems/musicbox/ (http://nodivisions.com/tech/systems/musicbox/)

The problem is that the LCD is the normal greenish color, and since the interior lighting (console, etc) in my car is blue, I'd like to get an LCD with a blue backlight. The problem with THAT is, the only place I've found such an LCD in the 40x4 character size is www.electronic-assembly.de, and to buy one from them and have it shipped to the US would cost me about US$125. I don't really want to spend that much since my green one only cost me $35 from www.mpja.com.

Does anyone know of a US company from which I could buy a 4x40 blue LCD? (Hopefully) at a price comparable to a green one? www.crystalfontz.com has 4x40 displays, and the page says "available in several variations of backlight...." but I wrote to them, and they only have green.

Thanks.

[TheFrag]

you **Can** replac the LEDs in them, at least you can on cell phone LCDs....

[thoughts]

The LEDs in my LCD are not replaceable. They are extremely tiny surface-mount / embedded components; the diode is only about 15 mils across, and there are 100 of them.

Here are some photos of my smaller 2x40 LCD, with the LC-part removed so the LEDs that comprise the backlight are visible:

http://nodivisions.com/tech/systems/musicbox/dsc05850-fifty-leds-behind-my-2x20-lcd-01.jpg

http://nodivisions.com/tech/systems/musicbox/dsc05853-fifty-leds-behind-my-2x20-lcd-02.jpg

Those tiny dots are the LEDs. They're 1/4 inch apart, center to center. They appear to be somehow embedded in that white PCB... there's no solder visible at all on either side of it. And even if I could figure out how they're connected in there, I'm sure it wouldn't be fun to try and remove 100 of them and then re-install 100 of a different color (assuming I could even find them in blue, and assuming they'd be the same voltage, which they usually are not).

[FunkDaMonkMan]

Welcome To The Forums!!!


um.. yea it looks like you won't be replacing those. I'll see if I can dig up a link for you.