Would laser cutting it also be out of the question? Or more to the point, is it the force used to cut the screen that breaks the screen or is it the fact that the screen is cut in half that breaks it?
What was more shame was that I fried yet another motherboard by using a damaged cable. Exactly the same way I fried a motherboard a few weeks ago... If you knew all the equipment I throw away daily you would cry. And cutting the screen could be possible if you were able to actually cut it clean. The controller isn't the problem. It seems to still work. Sure, it will show up on a computer as a full-sized screen, but that can be fixed in software if you are good. The controller doesn't know wheter or not it's sending signals to the pixels or not. (Look above ) the problem with laser cutting is the heat. And as far as I know you can't cut glass with it. In my case it was the force that destroyed it. When breaking the glass the layers separated. If the layer were cut completely before cracking the glass it could have worked. Having that said, screens aren't made to be easily to cut, and you probably won't get this working properly on the first try.
I think the heat of the laser would start melting some of the layers. Personally I think slow and steady with a cutting disk on a dremel might be your best bet. I don't see how damage from that would spread too far from the cut. As many have said, this is an epic attempt, I can't wait to see the results. I want pics of the lcd carnage.
ok I'm going to ask since no one else has. Why do you want to cut a tft screen? Would it not be easier just to BUY a smaller screen.
From what I know about partical physics (gained from living with a rocket scientist and watching a hellova lot of Star Trek as a kid. Here is what you need to do.... Create a singularity with a stable opening of at least 16". I'd say a 17" wormhole should do the trick if you can manage one, but odd numbers are always a pain so you may need to go for an 18" If you slowly feed your working screen long edge into the singularity, no more than 1" per minute. (wear eye protection!) The extreme gravitational stresses should create a clean sheer point on your screen, thus leaving the rest perfectly functioning. This will prevent the LC from spilling between the layers you wish to continue using. Of course to get this to work, you'll need to use a top of the range gravity compensator. The run of the mill ones just won't work on a project like this. But if you have the equipment to create the singularity, hacking together a gravity compensator will be dead easy. See job done, I'm suprised nobody else suggested this technique in truth. And by the way.... THIS IS THE BEST IDEA OF GETTING THIS TO WORK! IT CANNOT BE DONE
I would be concerned with contamination to the rest of the remaining screen. I don't know how the back is fused to the front to trap the liquid crystals. But seeing a cracked screen where part of it still worked makes me think it might be possible. I would be concerned with most saws leaving stress fractures at the edge of the cut, killing pixels or a crack that would grow and ruin the screen. Just to be crazy, I think a die cut saw used to cut individual chip dies from the silicon wafer could do it They have to cut the glass in manufacturing, I wonder what they use. As for the controller, as long as it can't tell the pixels are not there, I don't think it will affect anything. Just send an image to the LCD already sized for the screen.
So... Does this mean that i have to do a proper try to prove you wrong? They cut the glass before they lay on the polarizer film and the LC.
Judging by: I don't think this plan is impossible, just very very difficult to do without destroying most of the bit of the screen you want to keep. I think with the right tool for cutting, doing it very slowly, sealing as you go and sacrificing a border of ruined pixels along the cut it might just work. As mentioned above, the controller would probably just think there are half a million or so dead pixels Of course, that doesn't change the fact that this plan is batshit insane and quite possibly will turn out to be impossible for a reason that hasn't occurred to me, but don't let that put you off
Would it be better to do with when the LCD is not turned on? Maybe you could freeze the LCD, would that in anyway freeze the inside pixels and stop them from leaking or whatever they do? Would it not make it solid so you do not kill as many as you do when they are at room temp? Crazy idea, possibly a stupid one :/
Depends on what you mean by "full mod". I could try to cut the panel properly just as a prof of concept. The backlight is easy, it's just a matter of cutting 2-3 sheets of plastic and a sheet of acrylic and mounting the CCFL back on. I'm no good at coding, so getting it to show up as a proper sized screen isn't possible for me, but it sounds like that's not the problem for OP. There will be some dead pixels. but some of the display will have to be hidden for mounting it anyway i guess. ALL LCDs have a small border around the edge that contain no working pixels. I did it with the screen turned off. And I'm not sure what good freezing the display will do.
From reading through this thread I'm going to join the 'it can be made to work but it could be tricky' side of the argument. Obviously you'll need an appropriate cutting tool, I think this is the most important part. It's certainly an interesting thread...
The idea is that the liquid crystal won't run. And it won't --if the screen has been sufficiently cooled (Say -20C --at least well below its operating temperature range). Unfortunately, this makes the screen more brittle also (which is a problem when cutting it) and the liquid crystal will just run as soon as the screen warms up again.
