Proposed Hack: iMac G4 15in SXGA mod. — #10

Post #10 by ~Coxy

Source Forum	68kMLA
Category	Hardware
Post Date	Mon, 4 Jan 2010 - 03:51
Original URL	https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/proposed-hack-imac-g4-15in-sxga-mod.19449/

Post

I personally don't think it's as hard as all that. Depending on the exact vintage of the parts, they probably speak the same language of LVDS. The main concern would be whether they use a similar enough connector to do it. I would imagine if the laptop SXGA screen is full 8 bit then it could be done.

The "Holy Grail" is people posting and expecting an easy answer about re-using the LCD out of their old laptop (see http://www.applefritter.com/holygrail ). The response is generally "blah blah needs a custom controllers blah blah too hard blah blah". To an extent, it's right. You do need a controller, and it's not that easy. But it's not as hard as they tend to make it out to be. There are two main types of signalling - TTL and LVDS. Newer stuff (last 8 years or so) is all LVDS. LVDS comes in four flavours - 8 bit 2 channel, 8 bit 1 channel, 6 bit 2 channel and 6 bit 1 channel. The more bits/channels, the more data can be thrown at the LCD. Then the hard part is getting a cable. If you check the right datasheets, you may find that panels/controllers can be swapped around pretty easily.