Viewfinder / External Computer Monitor Build Log (Reusing LCD Screens From Laptops)

Here's a link to the wiring schematic:
http://schematics.com/project/portable-viewfinder-external-computer-monitor-48143/

I recycled the LCD panel from an old laptop to make a battery powered viewfinder for my camera that can mount to my tripod. The device also has speakers and accepts HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs, and can also be used as an external monitor for computers!

Link to video by GreatScott!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOXMDb4cjI

Link to LCD controller board:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/271324589042?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

Link to my video showing how I made "safety glasses" for my camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0FvySfHSg

This is pretty much a shorter version of the video I made last summer showing how I made this. To be honest about halfway into making this device I realized how heavy it was going to be and lost a lot of motivation to finish it, as I knew it wouldn't be very useful (due to its weight).

I knew then that Li-Ion was the battery I should've used but I didn't know enough about them to try anything with one. I played it safe and got the giant brick that's featured in this video.

I decided to re-edit this video because the first one is mainly too damn long! Not to mention how dull and boring it is. Honestly it's because I knew this project was a failure halfway through it, and really was only pushing myself to finish just so what I did already invest into it didn't go to waste. By the time I finished I also didn't care about the video, so I did a pretty half-assed job on it too.

Frankly nine months ago I didn't know how to make a decent "how-to" video. I only really got the "revelation" to add music and a narration a couple months ago when I made my video about the display pedestal.
And now I decided to use the same method on the video for this project. It's not as great as I'd like it to be but considering how dull the original was, this one is much better, mostly because I had the motivation to make it good. I made sure to explain as much as I could and created new footage or pictures just so that I could explain something. It's way more informative and contains more backstory, but still is more than half its original length! If you read this far then I want to thank you for doing so! I hope you enjoyed the re-edited video for this project!

I've learned a lot more about Li-Ion and as a result I'm considering making a 2.0 version of this project. I plan for it to be powered by a Li-ion battery I will make from 18650 cells pulled from laptop batteries. I plan for it to be half its original thickness, smaller speakers to save space, 1 maybe 2 usb charger ports so it could charge devices. And maybe (but not likely) give it the ability to record incoming HDMI signals so it'd effectively be a DVR!

Видео Viewfinder / External Computer Monitor Build Log (Reusing LCD Screens From Laptops) канала Q.T. Productions of Utah