Kane99 Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Is it possible to convert an old laptop's screen into a 3rd screen? I'd like to have a 3rd screen added to my current setup, but I want to make sure it's light enough to mount above my current monitors, plus my wall sucks, so I don't want anything too heavy. I figure an older laptop screen would be possible, the only issue, is that I'd have to figure out how to mount it and wire it, and idk If I'm capable of doing all that. Do you guys know of any how-tos I can check out? I believe I mentioned a while ago, that I wanted to put up an HDTV, but I don't know if I have the space for that. So a smaller 3rd monitor would be pretty dope imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shagger Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 A laptop screen isn't connected to the components of the laptop itself the same way a PC monitor is. There isn't a physical conversion interface, like HDMI. It's all connected, converted and processed directly through the machines internal circuitry, even an expert would barely know where to begin, not to mention you'll likely damage the laptop screen in the process anyway. If all you want is a 3rd screen to show windows, a discord tab or whatever non-gaming related task, a small, cheap monitor or cheap LCD TV would suffice. It wouldn't be very expensive and would be light enough to fit any wall if you wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazycrab Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Shagger said: A laptop screen isn't connected to the components of the laptop itself the same way a PC monitor is. There isn't a physical conversion interface, like HDMI. It's all connected, converted and processed directly through the machines internal circuitry, even an expert would barely know where to begin, not to mention you'll likely damage the laptop screen in the process anyway. If all you want is a 3rd screen to show windows, a discord tab or whatever non-gaming related task, a small, cheap monitor or cheap LCD TV would suffice. It wouldn't be very expensive and would be light enough to fit any wall if you wanted. Well technically there is, but it's an internal cable like this: I got a little curious myself and looked into to it and the only way I can see how this might be possible is to use something called a Controller Board driver Kit: But even if we were to assume that this would work (and I REALLY don't know if it would) you would have to attach this exposed board either the wall behind or to the back of one of the other monitors, it's just not practical. There are much easier ways to configure a regular monitor in this way with frames and mounts. Edited October 17, 2020 by Crazycrab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 3 hours ago, Shagger said: A laptop screen isn't connected to the components of the laptop itself the same way a PC monitor is. There isn't a physical conversion interface, like HDMI. It's all connected, converted and processed directly through the machines internal circuitry, even an expert would barely know where to begin, not to mention you'll likely damage the laptop screen in the process anyway. If all you want is a 3rd screen to show windows, a discord tab or whatever non-gaming related task, a small, cheap monitor or cheap LCD TV would suffice. It wouldn't be very expensive and would be light enough to fit any wall if you wanted. Well said! In addition to that, I can recommend a few because I've researched this kind of stuff myself since I'm going into 3-d animation. I already do whiteboard/2-d animations but 3-d animation was always my goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfire Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 If the screen is functioning then it is possible that there are some people experimenting with 3rd screen. A lot of people I know are making use of the vertical screen for reading sort of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 On 10/16/2020 at 7:16 PM, Shagger said: A laptop screen isn't connected to the components of the laptop itself the same way a PC monitor is. There isn't a physical conversion interface, like HDMI. It's all connected, converted and processed directly through the machines internal circuitry, even an expert would barely know where to begin, not to mention you'll likely damage the laptop screen in the process anyway. If all you want is a 3rd screen to show windows, a discord tab or whatever non-gaming related task, a small, cheap monitor or cheap LCD TV would suffice. It wouldn't be very expensive and would be light enough to fit any wall if you wanted. I'm thinking of going that route actually. It's way too technical for me to make a monitor out of a laptop. But, I have seen videos on YouTube of people doing it. I think you just need to use some kind of small motherboard thing and some other components. Yeah, after writing that, I'm sure you can see how awful I would be at doing this lol. But, if I find a cheap old laptop, I might actually give it a try just for the hell of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfire Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Some good screen from the Philips out there worth taking a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
