DIY MONITOR

My gaming laptop was nearing the end of its days of being a laptop, so I decided to give it's screen a new life. I started by carefully dismantled the laptop's LCD panel. This was relatively simple. First, remove the plastic bezel, then unscrew the four screws holding the screen in place. There was only one ribbon cable connecting the panel to the computer, so after I had disconnected it, the screen was free.

To give it a new home, I had to buy an eletronic controller that could convert the single ribbon cable into power, HDMI, audio and controls. After looking up the screen's serial number, it was easy to find a cheap controller board on EBay.

 Next, the structure to hold it all together: plywood. I cut a old piece I found around my Dad's shop to the right dimensions with a jigsaw, then sanded the corners to make it smoother. After marking the right spots with a pen, I drilled some small holes to guide the screws that would hold everything onto the wood. The end result is an extremely light and small display. I now use it as my second display.