Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lcd

Does every digitizer have an LCD soulmate?

InsanePenguin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:16:44 -0800

Are digitizers and LCD screens specifically mated in touchscreen products? I ask this because a year ago, I bought my G1. Loved it, dropped it, cracked the digitizer. The LCD was fine, so I went with it. Finally got frustrated enough to look to eBay for a new digitizer. Bought it, installed it, was heartbroken. It didn't work, so I went back to my old, cracked digitizer.

And then, Mefi's own Greg Nog asked everyone what he should buy to replace his brain-dead G1. Seizing my opportunity, I MeMailed him and asked him if I could have his asploded G1. He sent it, I put the digitizer in, annnnnnd nothing. Well, damn. I figured, I had the damn thing in pieces again anyway, so this time I used his digitizer and his LCD screen and it worked.

So my question is, why wouldn't the eBay digitizer or his digitizer work with my LCD screen? I extensively (I think) Googled and haven't found any answer to this, at least pertaining to the G1. Admittedly, I didn't Google considering touchscreens in general. I thought the eBay digitizer was broken, but apparently not. Very weird. Can anyone shed some light on this mystery? Perhaps there is some way to "flash" the screens to work together that I simply couldn't find? I'm stumped.

White flatscreen TV around 42"?

Riki tiki — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:57:20 -0800

Looking for a good flatscreen TV, 42" or thereabouts... and white. I haven't been able to find anything that size that isn't in industry-standard black. Any suggestions?

Cleaning marker pen off LCD screen

WhackyparseThis — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:33:28 -0800

Has anyone had success in removing permanent marker from an LCD monitor? My 2 year old got hold of a purple Vivid marker, and drew on the computer screen. I usually wipe the screen with a dry microfiber cloth, but it's not working on the dried marker.

Help me design a new home entertainment system.

ColdChef — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:08:04 -0800

My old tube television has died a terrible sputtering death. Help me get over my sense of loss by assisting me in replacing it with a new HD television and entertainment system. Here are my needs: I'm working with a budget of around $2000. I want a HD LCD television set that's between 46-52 inches. I currently have an old-style Tivo box, a decent DVD collection, a Playstation 2, a Nintendo Wii, a DVD/VCR combo, an iMac, and a Netflix account.

I'm not interested in converting all of my DVDs to BlueRay, so I want a player that has a good conversion system for old DVDs. I'm fighting the urge to get a Playstation 3, because I have a tendency to spend too much time playing games--but I could probably justify it with my wife if it's the best option.

Here's what I'd like to be able to do: have 2 or three game systems hooked up simultaneously, stream Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu from my iMac.

Should I upgrade my Tivo to the Tivo HD/XL? Would that keep me from having to get the PS3?

Also: my home is very Mac friendly, but I've never really looked at the AppleTV. Should I?

So here's what I'm looking at:
HD LCD Television
BlueRay Player
New Tivo?
Whatever will allow me to stream Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu

Thanks in advance.

Recommend me an LCD TV!

Alterscape — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:33:56 -0800

I'm thinking about getting a 32"/37" LCD TV. Primary applications are DVDs (and I guess, now, BluRay), NetFlix/Hulu streaming, and an existing PS2. I'm also eyeing the PS3 (or a Wii?) but haven't made a decision yet. We don't have cable/satellite, and don't typically watch over-the-air. What factors should I be considering? I'm looking into a modern TV to replace our ancient 13" CRT. My budget is flexible, but I'd like to keep it around $500. Right now I'm looking at the Vizio line, through Costco. There are a couple of $550-ish sets -- one 37" 1080p, and one 32" 120Hz 1080p. I've checked out the AVSForum reviews for both, and they seem generally positive -- mid-to-low-end sets with features and performance to match, but okay quality.

Questions: Given the applications I've listed, where is my money going to be more useful -- the bigger screen, or the faster refresh rate? Am I missing any other obvious considerations I should be paying attention to? Brands I should be paying more attention to? Other places to get a better deal? I like Costco because of the warranty/return service, but I might be persuaded if I can get significantly higher quality for the price, or lower price for the same quality.

Modern TV Needed

shew — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:03:56 -0800

Help me find a new LCD television for my modern guest bedroom. I currently have the Samsung LN-S3252D in my master bedroom. It's white. It's sexy. I love it. I need another one (or similar) for my guest bedroom. Since that TV is about four years old, I was hoping to get an upgraded model. Has Samsung discontinued this model? I can't find the LN-S* series anywhere. I was hoping that Samsung would have a new version of the same design out by now but no luck.

I'm willing to buy a different TV but do not want to compromise on the design. Has anyone stumbled upon any great looking, modern flat 32" panels out there?

Getting Ink Off a LCD

deadcrow — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:10:58 -0800

Ballpoint pen + LCD monitor + 5-Year-Old Artist: Any hope for safe removal (of the ink, not the child)? It seems that a small child got a hold of a ball-point pen and my brother's macbook and did some line art near the center the LCD screen. There are two black ink lines, one about 1" long and another about 3". He describes them as looking the hairs on the screen. There are no apparent cracks or dents in the screen.

My brother has done some research on removal but is nervous about advice to scrub vigorously with dish soap and warm water or to use
a paper towel (he wants to remove the ink, not scratch it so the ink is indistinguishable from the scratches). He has tried LCD cleaner with a Q-tip to no avail (but refused to scrub vigorously). Some have said that rubbing alcohol can damage the screen as can hairspray, but most people claiming success used one of those options. The ones that claimed the soap worked said they spent 3-5 minutes scrubbing.

Are there any safer options he should try? Is scrubbing and LCD screen vigorously ever a good idea?

Advantages of LCD over plasma?

Alaska Jack — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:03:00 -0800

For what reason would one buy an LCD TV? I've finally talked myself into getting one of them fancy digital TVs. So about the first thing I did was research the respective benefits of Plasma and LCD TVs. Here's what I've come up with:

Plasma: Cheaper, wider viewing angle, deeper blacks (i.e. better contrast).

LCD: ??

Supposedly, plasmas were once subject to burn-in, but evidently that's not an issue anymore; and also, plasma screens tend to have a bit more glare in bright rooms. But can't you just close the curtains?

Can anyone tell me why I would want an LCD?

Bonus question: I heard that for some reason, a plasma screen won't display "true" HD (whatever that means) unless the screen is 50" or more. Is that true?

How much is my 37" 720p LCD TV worth?

greendress — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:53:48 -0800

How much is my used Sharp Aquos LC-37G4U (37" 720p LCD TV) worth? How much would YOU pay for it? A co-worker may be interested in buying my old TV. Neither of us is sure what would be a fair price. Can't find any of this model on eBay to make a direct comparison; found 2 listed on Craigslist in other cities -- one for $400 and one for $600 (which I'm SURE is too much) -- but who knows how much they actually got. The details:

- Sharp Aquos LC-37G4U
- Bought Feb. 2005
- 37" LCD
- 720p (does not support 1080p)
- does NOT have built-in HD tuner
- Nice condition, fully functional, still have all accessories and whatnot, e.g., stand, remote, manual

Links: Sound & Vision - ExtremeTech - PC Mag - Amazon.com

Looks like a new 37" 720p LCD can be had on Amazon for not too much over $600 -- but since technology marches on, a new one would have a built-in HD tuner, better contrast ratio, probably more inputs, and might be better in other ways.

If it were yours, how much would you expect for it? If you were buying it, how much would you pay for it?

Help Using a Laptop Without a Backlight

Charmian — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:36:46 -0800

Today my laptop's backlight stopped working. The screen is visible, but very dim. I can't repair it immediately (if it's even worth it). Does anyone have any tips for lighting the screen to make it more visible? Shining a penlight didn't seem to help much, because the screen is so reflective. The laptop is a three year old HP Pavilion dv1000. It is no longer under warranty. I probably will get another computer instead, because I don't think I'm up to replacing a backlight myself, and it sounds like getting it done in a shop will cost more than the computer itself.

What's the best low end 30" LCD screen?

pbh — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:49:18 -0800

What's the best current low end 30" LCD screen, and what are the tradeoffs between them? I'm looking at getting a 30" LCD screen for (Linux) development work (Eclipse, Firefox, terminals as opposed to gaming). As a result, I mostly care about the screen real estate, though I'm going to be looking at it all the time, so brightness and color might matter, and I suppose refresh might be nice (though I can't tell if refresh will substantially matter for my application). I currently use a Samsung SyncMaster 305T in another location, which I'm pretty happy with, but no one seems to sell them any more as far as I can tell.

There seem to be a bunch of "cheap" 30" LCDs in the US$800-1400 range. Dell 3007WFP, Dell 3007WFP-HC, (sort of) Dell 3008WFP, HP LP3065, LG W3000H-Bn, and possibly others. Are any of these just rebadged versions of the others? Are there any substantial tradeoffs between the low end 30" screens I should be aware of?

Bait and switch, or something less sinister?

man down under — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:22:22 -0800

Is this a scam? I'm looking at buying a LCD HDTV and found this offer online: Samsung LA40B750 40 in. LCD TV for AUD$ 1,450.00 from www.marthaelectronics.com How can I determine this is a legitimate firm? Google searches offer no consumer reports or angry bloggers, but it seems too good to be true...

Should I fix my LCD TV or replace it?

underthehat — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:33:34 -0800

Should I fix my LCD TV or replace it? Our 18-month-old LCD TV has died. Tech support says it's probably the "main board." We're outside the warranty period. Repairs (including shipping) will probably run to at least half the cost of simply replacing it. The TV is an Olevia 532H; we'd probably replace it with a Samsung 32".

I'd like your advice on what to do. Here's how I see it:

Pro fixing: Until now, the TV has worked well, and we like it, so if a repair is likely to keep it going for another 5 years or so, that seems worthwhile-- but how long should we expect an LCD TV to last anyway? Repairing is probably cheaper, though it's unclear by how much. I think it's also better for the environment, since we won't be discarding one hunk of plastic and glass for another.

Pro replacing: Prices have come down, so the replacement would be a better-quality, more reliable set (though again, how long should an LCD TV last?). The cost of replacing it is known, whereas we don't know the cost of repairs until we've already spent $150+ sending it in and paying a diagnostic fee. We also get back to a working TV quicker.

What do you think?

Is it my monitor or my power brick that's broken?

ArmyOfKittens — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:18:17 -0800

Is it my monitor or my power brick that's broken? Recently my Fujitsu Siemens S20-1W started acting up. When powering up the PC the monitor stopped detecting that it was supposed to switch on - I would have to power it off and on again from the front panel. After a week or so of this behaviour, it simply stopped powering on at all.

We noticed that the light on the power brick was out, so I disconnected the brick from the monitor, and swapped the kettle lead for a different one. While the brick was not connected to the screen, the light was on. As soon as we reconnected it, the light on the brick went out, and still the monitor would not turn on. We tried this with two other kettle leads (we have like a million lying around) and it would be the same each time: plug the kettle lead into the brick and it would light up, but it would stop working as soon as we connected the brick to the screen, and would never work with that kettle lead again.

Fujitsu-Siemens' support line won't help: it's out of warranty; they recommend I get it repaired locally. If I can't fix it myself, I'd like to have a fair idea of where the problem lies if I do have to take it to a professional. I'm reluctant to just go to Maplin and buy a new power brick in case the monitor kills it.

(The problem coincided with my planning to buy a larger screen, so I don't need it fixed immediately, but it's a very nice screen and it would be nice to pass it on to my partner.)

Help me design my perfect computer workstation setup!

pbh — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:59:17 -0800

Help me design a computer workstation setup for home that incorporates a 30" screen, a Linux compatible video card, a possibly height adjustable desk, and a silent or very quiet desktop machine. For my job, I can work at home, and I'm about to start a project which will likely involve a lot of programming there. Until now, I've gotten by with an 8 year old desktop machine with a relatively small screen. It seems like it's time to upgrade, and I've got a fairly reasonable budget to do it, but I can't figure out how the components fit together or what the best way to do what I want is.

Here's what I'm looking to do:

I would like to have a 30 inch LCD. I've been eyeing something like the Dell 2007wfp or the Samsung 305T, but I'm not sure whether it matters what I choose. I don't need a high refresh rate for gaming or anything, and I'm not particularly concerned about color reproduction accuracy or anything like that.
I would like to have a video card that can drive the 30 inch (I think this means it needs to have dual link DVI, but are there also other requirements, like some amount of video RAM?). It doesn't need to be particularly high powered, though it does need to be Linux compatible, and specifically I would like it to work with Ubuntu. (Ideally, the video card should be from some vendor that has had consistently good support in the past.)
I would like to have the machine be very quiet, since it is probably going to go in my living room, and I don't want it to be a huge distraction when I'm doing other things. I seem oddly attuned to fan noise, for some reason. This seems like it might affect both the desktop and the video card choice. Some fairly average specifications (maybe 4 gigs of RAM, a few cores) would be fine so long as it is quiet, drives the screen, and the hardware has Linux support.
I also need a height adjustable desk for the machine and screen, ideally one that I can adjust easily for standing or sitting (inspired by this, but I'm worried those specific ones are way outside of my budget).

I'm in the US, and my budget for all of this is maybe three thousand dollars (do let me know if any particular requirement seems like it will make things much more expensive). I'm happy to build it myself or use some generic option, so long as it vaguely fits these requirements. A previous askme looked at a similar question, but in a much different price range. That thread also suggested the Ars Technica System Guide, but that guide seems to be orthogonal to the question of quiet and the monitor size that can be driven.

Suggestions on any or all of these components would be great!

LCD TVs & $$$ Expectations

AlbatrossJones — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:17:17 -0800

Including both big-brands and generic, what should I expect $500-600 to get me as far as LCD TVs go? 30-40 inches? Unreasonable? In my online shopping, LCD TV prices seem so variant...is there any insight someone can offer? I'm using the TV for predominantly gaming, TV and some movie watching purposes.

Any brands to avoid? LG? Vizeo? Generic just as good as the big guys?

HELP!

How can I fix my LCD monitor's loose connection?

christonabike — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:53:09 -0800

My LCD monitor is flickering, scrolling, and generally behaving strangely, almost certainly due to a loose connection. Can I fix it? Over the last couple months, my 24" Soyo LCD monitor has been exhibiting strange behavior. It will vary in brightness, scroll horizontally, display jagged lines and exhibit other strange behavior. At first, wiggling the DVI cable would alleviate the problem; now I have to physically shake the monitor. I've also used both the monitor's VGA and DVI inputs and it exhibits identical behavior. This all points towards a loose connection inside the monitor. Is it possible to identify and/or fix this problem myself?

I started to poke around myself, but after removing the plastic housing I was daunted by the next layer of metal casing. Even if the odds of me being able to fix it are low, I'd still like to give it a shot before I have to buy a new one.

INTERACTIVE SMS DISPLAYS

ashepp — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:11:01 -0800

Does anyone know of an affordable solution to display SMS messages on an installation to the general public? Ideally a turn key lcd screen solution or similar. Appreciate any help! Adam.

Can't switch between XBox and Computer on my LCD Monitor

ODiV — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:33:06 -0800

How can I switch between my XBox 360 and my Computer on my LG 22" widescreen monitor? I have a 3rd party VGA adapter for my XBox. It only works with the LCD monitor (Model L226wtx-bf) if there is no signal on the DVI from the computer.

I can run another computer into the VGA input and switch between both computers just fine using the Source button. If I try to do the same thing with the XBox, It will not switch to Analog. I get a black screen for a second or two and then it goes back to the DVI.

If I have the XBox running and displaying on the LCD, I can boot up the computer and the VGA continues to work until I switch over to DVI. Then I can't get back to the XBox.

maintanance agreements: threat or menace?

anonymous_account — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:47:05 -0800

I just bought a giant LCD TV and didn't buy the maintenance agreement. Now I feel that maybe I should have. In fact, I probably still can, although it would be some trouble. The TV cost $1300. It's a Sony. The agreement was $100 for 2 years, and $200 for 5 years, I think. I've bought a bunch of them over the years for various appliances and electronic stuff and have never used the service once.

I was slightly pissed off at the point of sale because the salesman tried to get me to buy a $120 package of MONSTER equipment after we finally decided to buy the TV and I just felt like stabbing the a-hole in the back.

The salesman said that I couldn't change my mind on the maintenance agreement after purchase. However, I can return the TV within the next 30 days with no restocking fee. So presumably, I could return the TV and then purchase it again with the maintenance agreement if I were so motivated.

My question: are these maintenance agreements in general, and in particular, good deals?

Pixels not included.

_dario — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:02:44 -0800

I'm at my wits' end trying to find a suitable LCD monitor to use as a secondary screen for an oldish Toshiba laptop. I have an laptop, a Toshiba Satellite A30 with an intel 82852-GM graphic chipset. I would like to buy an external monitor to use it (mainly) to watch movies. My size and price requirements direct me towards a 22" flat panel, so I looked into the market for those. Speakers are not a requirement since the audio output from the laptop is hooked to a hi-fi system, and the input port should be the classic VGA.

First disappointment: I saw an LG panel that looked great, (WG2234, apparently not marketed in the US) but - turns out - the laptop is not able to drive the panel with its native resolution (1680x1050). A little research on forums pointed out that there are many laptops with that same problem - apparently all those that have that graphics chipset which - besides Toshiba - was used by Dell, Acer and others.

A possible solution that was presented would be to download a developer kit from Intel and compile a custom driver for the resolution/frequency of that specific monitor. I don't want to do that, since success is apparently not guaranteed and I'd need the monitor anyway to make tests, etc., with a sizeable chance (I think) to damage it or void the warranty by feeding it the wrong res/freq values.

Browsing the list of resolutions the graphics card is capable of, turns out that no 16:10 resolutions are supported, while 16:9 resolutions as 1920 x 1080 are, so I turned my search into 16:9 screens, such as this Samsung 2233SN (apparently marketed as SW in the US), which looks good and has the right resolution.

Second disappointment: I had the monitor ordered from the store and took my laptop to check if everything matched, just to be sure. Despite numerous attempts by me and the guys at the store, there was no way to have the laptop and the monitor hook up correctly: even when the laptop resolution on the secondary desktop was 1920x1080, the monitor would have two black lateral bands, and all icons and such would be horizontally compressed, so in the end I had to leave it at the store.

My only hunch is that the 1920x1080 res. from the laptop is actually a lower resolution, which is then supposed to be stretched to a 16:9 factor by the display, but other than that, at this point I'm out of ideas. Can you suggest alternative models or - preferred - a way to have the (Samsung) monitor work as expected?

What DC voltage does an average LCD monitor use?

leafxor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:41:54 -0800

What DC voltage does an average LCD monitor use? I'm trying to power an LCD monitor from a 12-volt battery, but I don't want to waste efficiency by inverting it to a 120-volt AC, then letting the monitor turn it back into DC current again.

Why can't I make my LCD monitor display interlaced video?

Diz — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:45:23 -0800

Why can't I make my LCD monitor display interlaced video? I can't find any filters to display an interlaced video source directly.

All the solutions I've found for displaying interlaced video on a LCD involve deinterlacing it by combining two adjacent 60Hz fields into a single 30Hz frame with artifacts introduced by the deinterlacing process.

I understand the usual explanation given about how an interlaced video source has a half-vertical resolution field at double the frame rate and that a LCD monitor operates on a "display a color until told otherwise" principle instead of a CRT's "display this color until the phosphor fades out".

I don't understand why I can't tell my LCD to update the odd scanlines for one field while retaining the even scanlines (or simulating the phosphors fading), then the even for the next field, then the odd, etc...

At any given point in time, the CRT is displaying a color from each phosphor, so I ought to be able to duplicate that given a fast enough LCD.

It seems like a modern LCD has a response rate fast enough to match a 60Hz CRT refresh rate. TN panels have 2-5ms responses, well below the equivalent of a 60Hz CRT refresh (1/60Hz is about 16ms).

Does anyone know of a filter/player that will do this or have an explanation why this is technically unfeasible?

LCD Brokensystem

topynate — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:22:42 -0800

My LCD monitor (19" F-419 AG Neovo, five years old) is broken/breaking. It probably isn't the backlight. What's up with it? The failure mode is the image breaking up and fading to black in an odd pixelated way, leaving a dark screen that seems black, but actually has faint vertical lines that appear to be related to the image that should be appearing. The problem isn't with the graphics card, because the 'No image' graphic is affected in the same way. More recently, power-cycling the monitor often doesn't restore the image - it just starts off black. The image is definitely corrupt, and not merely dim - the backlight appears to be working normally, given by the how bright the screen looks in the dark.

The interval between failures appears almost completely random to me, although possibly the fault appears more when the screen is brighter.

Is it completely hosed?

Is VGA that bad on an LCD?

smackfu — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:48:21 -0800

Is it worth upgrading to a 22" or 24" widescreen LCD if I'll be hooking it up with VGA rather than DVI? I know DVI is better, but is VGA that bad?