The end result looked pretty damn good! Thumbs up!

One year ago I broke two panels trying to do this. Yesterday I was able to complete this project successfully!

The amount of broken laptop screens I've chucked away over the last 2 years must be close to around 50 - 60 ! Got 10 broken laptops sat in cupboard and gonna use these screens for drop lighting on my media centre wall :D

Some hospitals have panels like this with window frames and curtains for rooms with no windows. The light slowly brightens in the morning and dims in the evening. Studies show that patients recover faster from surgery and have shorter stays than in windowless rooms without the devices. I made one with a picture of a beach printed on transparency film. Since I worked in a photo lab, I was able to print it myself during a lunch break. The effect was very good.

I know I know... you have been bathed in praise often enough but seriously, I just cannot stop myself from joining the club. Your videos are cheerful and explain practically everything we need to know without unnecessary details or becoming too technical. This project sounds like amazing fun, thanks for sharing!

These could also be used for food or product photography. That's what I am going to do!

so theres only the one power adapter running all four screens? and you just run the four wires off it to each of the screens?

I did this and it worked like a charm. Got it done and running in just over an hour. Got my sub!

Now i never need to leave my room!

I'm in the process of building one like this (actually I've already build it but I want to frame it like a fake window) and my observations are as follows: -LEDs are very cold white, much cooler than overcast sky or flash LED in phones to the point that I'm thinking about adding some warming filter to fix that -Every manufacturer uses different nomenclature, in Samsung pad marked as "VLED" next to LED tape was a wrong one and only soldering directly to the fuse (next to the laptop connector marked VBL) resolved issue. VBL (Samsung), VLED (LG) and VBLP (AU) were correct ones. Enable and PWM are usually next to each other. -Align all screens in same direction if you keep diffusor layers. Otherwise you may end up with one "window" getting darker and other going brighter and vice versa when changing angle of view -Some screens look bad without diffusors, you may see LEDs on edge or strange patterns on back plastic part -Some of those diffusing layers collect fingerprints like crazy, messing up fresnel lens effect. I guess that in a long run there shall be some clear plastic screen in front of the screen. -Those screens tend to operate from around 6V and well over 12V too. I'm currently running them at 15V with no issues. They auto adjust current, so brightness stays the same. -They are bright, but not super bright. 4x 15.6 inch draw around 10W total (around 1A at 10V) but give slightly less light than 5W corn LED bulb.

your previous lichting video gave us a really nice idea for a lichting problem in our new house. We have a limited budget but your solution is perfect for this. It looks great, is budget and environment friendly. And even more important to us, it gives a natural feeling to the lichting. Thanks a lot!

A TIP FOR ANYONE TRYING THIS: After soldering and testing for functionality, put GOBS of hot glue over the connections (and about an inch leading up to them) to secure the wires and prevent the tiny, delicate copper pads from being irreparably ripped from the surface of the circuit board. IF this disaster does strike, you may be able to use the next nearest (even smaller) pads "downstream" from the correct ones. Ask me how I know...

This is actually excellent to fake sun in places that don't get a lot of sunlight in winter, would help with SAD I imagine!! Love this so much!

Thank you for this tutorial. I own three 15.6 led panels, I decided to pair two of them to do this. FYI (board tags in order) : - AU Optronics : LED_EN, LED_PWM and V_LED - LG : LED_EN, PWM and VLED

This is very clever, low cost and simple. I think a larger floor standing light perhaps 2 panels wide and 4 panels long would look very elegant. Very inventive, thank you,

These DIY projects are never getting old 🥳👍

Hi Matt I have been watching your videos now for a year, and every time I watch one of your videos they bring a smile to my face and lighten up my day. They are so cool and tend to be more interesting than any youtuber out there. Keep posting and keep being the coolest youtuber.

Oh my God you have the best ideas ever! You know that feeling you get when you immediately want to purchase something after seeing a really good advert for it, even though you'd never heard of it before and don't necessarily need it? That's the feeling I get when I see these videos, that I NEED to build it! Never stop making these awesome videos!

Pulled a 55" Samsung TV from the dumpster. Screen and plastic frame was smashed but other internals were still good. Man, this thing is bright! 😎 Not sure what I'm going to do with it but just had to try after watching your channel.

Really glad I came across this project, I have access to a great number of cracked screens so I might very well give it a go. In theory you could even build a large frame to house it all and make it that extra bit sturdy.

Cool - I've been wanting an LED light tracing box - with this I bet I can make my own!

Thanks for the great benefit of recycling broken screens into great works of art.

This is a high level channel: clear and stylish explanations, together with full effectiveness. Thums up

I was given a broken LCD/LED monitor. I removed the cracked LCD panel, the board that drives it, the speakers, buttons, connecting cables, and the outer diffusion layer. The LED-driver circuit was on the same board as the start-up circuit. I burnt out the start-up circuit that makes it switch itself off (because there no input connected to it), using a 12v DC adapter. Now it lights up by default using the LED strip and driver circuit already in it and stays lit. It also runs on a 12v DC power supply input. No extra parts were needed and I didn't have to do any soldering. To finish it off I just put a switch on the power cable. It is really bright, and does look very similar to daylight, lighting up the whole room. I imagine that if it was on the ceiling inside a campervan it would be quite indistinguishable from a skylight.

I have a dark room and I've been dreaming of such thing! You're such a smart man. One of those videos when I wish I could klik thumbs up multiple times:D

I finally got my hands on 5 displays and so far one of them is working! Keep up the good work!

I feel so great watching videos on this channel. There's a lot to be learned about electronics, and you present it rather amiably as well! :)

This is a pretty neat tutorial! Bookmarked for future use & will probably be on the lookout for cheap cracked/smashed/faulty screens, because at the end of the day, I'm not too fussed about the LCD part, just the backlight :)

You could make a DIY Softbox with those!

LCD layers are transparent? Oh man, imagine making a smart window or something like that using the LCD layers placed up against the glass. Displaying the time, news, perhaps using it as a computer monitor... Next project?

Really clever! Kinda makes me want to turn my old 32" "HDTV monitor" in to a faux skylight until I can install a real one. It's got old cathode tubes, I think. The downside is that you're now pumping blue light totally unchecked (no longer filtered by the screen) in to your room and over the past few years we've come to understand that coloured light produced from blue light (primary colour for producing white in LEDs right now) isn't particularly good for the eyes or sleep hormones.

What a fantastic idea and look. Just what i need for my dark unit. Im not at all sure i could make it, zero experience, but, wow, it looks sp great.

Nice modification. Although when i try to relax, i usually turn off any displays in front of me, instead of turning 4 of them on.

If the LCD is broken in the right way, leaving them in could also look pretty cool.

I damaged four screens before I could correctly solder without destroying pads, but I finally got it! Thanks for the vid. Hope to see more.

All of your videos are very good and informative. Never knew we can make a window lamp from broken screen. I got one broken monitor screen. I will try with that one. Thanks for upload.

This would work well for studio lighting too!

It would be awesome if you mande an updated version of this :0

I love your channel mate, I'm so happy I decided to go back and watch all of your videos!

This is simply genius. Also I love the way you explain things and your sweet voice. I haven't built this yet and I already feel relaxed.

I always wanted to try this. You definitely made this to look simple :)

I had this Innolux screen from a bit more recent lenovo laptop, and LED_EN as well as PWN voltage had to be 3.3V and allowed 5V max. So the version of 6V was already too much. I had to calculate a voltage divider to create 3.3V, which required 500 and 200 ohm resistors. There was also an extra power supply marked VCCS, which needed 3.3V as well, but unlike the others its limit was only 3.6V max. And finally, the PWN point was nowhere to be found. I had to connect the PWM voltage wire straight to the pin at the flat cable connector. So some screens are bit more complex these days.

I'm obsessed with your videos mate!

WOW . . that looks really good and natural . .

The VLED may also be called and VCC. Your welcome :)

Such a COOl idea! Can't wait to engineer this thing a bit further even with a wooden frame to make it really look a regular window.

so many possibilities, what a great build thank you

This is my new favorite channel. Absolutely awesome project. Thank you for sharing.

these videos are soothing and you're very polite haha

You could add a wooden frame around it to make it look like a real window :D

After watching the video I decided I am ready to have a try. After burning out the second screen I discovered it doesn't work without the actual knowledge. It was very tempting on the video I have to admit. But it is false to believe that it is anything but a universal solution with some soldering skills anyone can or could do. Just for reference the screen I have tried was two LP141WX3 (TL)(N1) without any pads labeled as suggested. I have spent too much time on this already and my bench looks like a recycling centre. I am amazed by your skills but pls do not try to suggest it is working without actually understanding how to read data sheets and circuit drawings. I can build a quadcopter from scratch after learning it for three years and my first build and the last shows a huge difference and my understanding has developed to an advanced/expert level. Learning does not work without the sweat (and the failures). Keep up the good work Matt, I think for now I will stay with my RC where I can make things actually fly. LOL

I made one. That light's actually really nice and motivating! Thanks for the tutorial.

i wish i was tech savvy to make this, this would help so much when i'm painting

Okay, so I really admire this project and want to do it myself. I burned through like 4 panels (which are tougher to come by then expceted, and I live in a big city), the golden contacts on the boards either rip off too easily, or are tough to to get the solder to stick (even a proffessinal at work has had his difficaulties). Takind the panels apart is not too easy as well, putting them back togehter a bit tricky aswell. The video makes it look quite simple. Dont want to hate, as said I really like this vid and the project but be prepared to encounter some problems =)

WOW! That looks amazing!

I loved this project. And I also loved your honesty. I've subscribed, hoping to learn a lot of ways to recycle old electronics items in my house

If MacGyver had a sidekick, it would have been you for sure man. I want to know how you learned this stuff!!!! AAHH. Home made VR Headset anytime soon? Thanks for posting this. Very inspirational your videos are.

You can also use these panels for grow lights.

What a great video!! It's one reason I never throw away broken laptops, as I know one day I will be able to salvage something from them to use again. Laptop screen can be converted to make 'light boxes' for viewing negatives, or for artist as a tracing aid. either way, a small A5 one is 20 quid, going up to nearly 70 quid for an A4 size.

Fantastic........all those years i have been throwing screens away i could have made the most amazing Saturday night fever dance floor!!!

Just built one myself, works perfectly as a softbox replacement for video production and live streaming!

Idea is really awesome, I wonder how I'd be more difficult if I'd want to regulate intesity of brightness...

Love the work, presentation details and relaxing voice.. thumbs up and keep up the good work!

These could be great for closed space video and photography work... be a great way to light backgrounds and all sort of things. top class build, love your channel. Have also seen the vid on how to build a super bright led panel, that's a cool one too

_"Hey buy this 400$ lightbox for your professional videos and ..."_ Lol nope gotta take a few spare old broken laptop monitors! :D

You're lucky to have such good soldering points on the pcb, mine where like a third as big and the copper came right of the board when I tried to solder them :/

I love this! Great work!!

Cracked an old screen open that I had laying around and it has exactly the same board. Today is my lucky day

Would be really great if you actually could do this full-time!

DIY Perks: I know that this is a super old video at this point. But I've just pulled down a damaged laptop screen and giving it a go. My pads are as follows: VLEDIN, LED_EN, and PWM_LED. Just in case you want to update the description still!

This is amazing! I definitely want to try this :)

my goodness! i've thrown away soo many laptop parts I'm legit kicking myself!!! this would be a game changer in my house 😅 great video XD !

sponsored by Windows xD

The VLED (12v) pad, was named as VBL to my screen. Also you can use a multivoltage power supply (from 1,5v to 12v), to have an easy way to regulate the brightness of the panel.

That looks brutally convincing.

Had this video saved for years and finally to the point in my basement remodel where I’m gonna build a few to make my home office less of a cave

Ok I did this bought 4x 5k iMacs and took the screens off thx I love it

Thanks for the info - I've actually been looking into making a compact DIY light table for tracing drawings :)

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the inspiration and the tutorials.

Perks’ like a big brother we never had.

Brilliant! As an extension to this project, how hard would it be to add a PWM controller to the light so that the light would become dimmable?

How did he setup the wiring for the three other monitors?

Wow, that was impressive. Thanks for sharing.

Seriously, this is awesome. Just subbed!

i have one more idea to use these lights as a three point lighting for video production.

Are you thinking of uploading a new video anytime soon? Dying for a new project to be blown away by.

Incredible How-To video. Thanks!

I love this .Found another hobby to pursue

You look like the guy that I would trust in representing the human race to an advanced civilization...or the first android...

can you add a potentiometer before that PWM ? just to have a variable brightness ?

A good thought indeed, though haven't tried yet but it feels great...Wonderful idea

I enjoyed it so much thank you for the creativity and for sharing it. Can you please show how to connect all four together at the end?

Got myself a screen! In passing I visited a pc repair shop in leicester and asked if they have any broken screens. He then just gave me one for FREE. Now all i need is a power supply and the resistors. PS. the solder contacts are tiny!

Hope someone still reads this: I wonder how the whole thing should be connected to the power if i only want to use one single screen. Should i still use an 12v/1.5A adapter and the two 180 Ohm resistors? Sorry I'm kind of new to this hobby. I'm also wondering if it would be possible to connect the resistors directly to the adapter, since i could get my hands on one without plug-ending. Thanks in advance!

my best creative youtuber ever

i really like this DIY project , thanks mate

0:50 I have one laptop exactly like that and guess what, I just removed the lcd screen! xD

Hi! Is there any way to dim the light?

Very cool, I love the light that comes in from my windows because it is bright and looks good while making videos, and this could be a cheaper alternative to studio lights and its also very slim.

Very Informative. Thank You for taking the time to make this video.