- Joined
- May 23, 2001
- Location
- Asteroid B-612
WARNING, I DID NOT WRITE THIS AS A GUIDE FOR REPLACING LCD MONITORS. I RESEARCHED THIS FOR NON-GAMING PURPOSES. THEREFORE, DON'T PLAN ON USING TFT LCDS FOR A GAMING COMPUTER.
Lately I've been drooling over the idea of having an LCD monitor for under $300 and I have some tidbits of knowledge to share with everyone.
Manufactured LCD monitors cost alot of money due to the fact that LCD screens are natively controlled by digital signals. The LCD panels themselves are the cheaper part to manufacture. The most exspensive part in any LCD monitor is the complex Analog-to-Digital Convertor.
After poking around for days on end I've found several models of LVDS (the format used to display of TFT screens) video cards that you can use with almost ANY replacement Notebook TFT screen that you could buy on ebay for under $100.
apollodisplays.com/ has a Rage 128 based AGP 2x card that you can buy a sample of for $175. It has a regular CRT output as well.
Video cards with LVDS connections are rare, and most of the LCD controllers that I found on ebay were either ISA models or were VGA to LVDS convertors that cost alot more. I wanted a standalone card that could output to either format and this was the only card I could find.
Keep in mind that not all TFT screens connect the same way and hooking them up will take alot of preperation and research. But since people have been trying to find this information I thought I should share it.
Bottom Line: If you have a second PC that ISN'T used for fast-paced gaming and you want it to take up little or no space. You could use this Video Card and a TFT replacement monitor off of ebay for a total cost of under $300.
Lately I've been drooling over the idea of having an LCD monitor for under $300 and I have some tidbits of knowledge to share with everyone.
Manufactured LCD monitors cost alot of money due to the fact that LCD screens are natively controlled by digital signals. The LCD panels themselves are the cheaper part to manufacture. The most exspensive part in any LCD monitor is the complex Analog-to-Digital Convertor.
After poking around for days on end I've found several models of LVDS (the format used to display of TFT screens) video cards that you can use with almost ANY replacement Notebook TFT screen that you could buy on ebay for under $100.
apollodisplays.com/ has a Rage 128 based AGP 2x card that you can buy a sample of for $175. It has a regular CRT output as well.
Video cards with LVDS connections are rare, and most of the LCD controllers that I found on ebay were either ISA models or were VGA to LVDS convertors that cost alot more. I wanted a standalone card that could output to either format and this was the only card I could find.
Keep in mind that not all TFT screens connect the same way and hooking them up will take alot of preperation and research. But since people have been trying to find this information I thought I should share it.
Bottom Line: If you have a second PC that ISN'T used for fast-paced gaming and you want it to take up little or no space. You could use this Video Card and a TFT replacement monitor off of ebay for a total cost of under $300.
