Building A-wall-mounted-17inch-obviously-digital-photo-frame-and-basic-pc-in-one

foozball3000

foozball3000

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Here's another ambitious project:

A-wall-mounted-17"-obviously-digital-photo-frame-and-basic-pc-in-one

It's fairly simple. Build a pc on the back of a LCD screen. Ta-da!
(Could be interesting to attempt this with a CRT Screen.. :p)

So, this thread is to inspire people to take out the power tools and start pushing cool stuff like this into the market. Not on a big scale, but if you're planning to build one for yourself, you can easily make 3 of them and sell the other 2 at a price that covers your expenses.

So, here's what I'm planning: (And I'll update the OP as I go..keep in mind, this can take a while)
Touch screen
I heard that you can buy some stuff that you stick onto the screen, then install some software and then you have a touch screen..

Linux OS
Before the crowds go wild... It's for two reasons. 1. It's free, which reduces production costs. 2. It's super customizable.

Wireless tech
It's nothing new, but something handy. If the photo frame in your living room can wirelessly hook up with your media server... it can use that as it's source for pictures/photos/what ever you want.

I'll ponder on this as the day progress...
Please feel free to add comments/suggestions/insults/bank details..

UPDATE On prototype.
I found a working Labtech 7500 D in the garage.. soon it will be a photoframe for grandma's Christmas gift. :D
All it needs is:
A frame - I'll check out Pick and Pay tonight.
A PCMCIA USB card - It's R200 for a new one. I wanna pay R50 for it. :( So I'm still on the lookout for one.
Connection to the power supply. - I'm thinking of just building the power supply into the thing, but I have no idea how to hook up the wires. :confused:
Software - I'm starting to have doubts about installing puppy linux, as it might be too big. But we'll see soon enough.
 
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You can also actually buy 17" screens that are already setup to be touch screens... you don't need to retrofit that touchscreen layer (which could make things look messy).

Building a pc onto the back of a monitor could get interesting to manage with heat dissapation issues if you ask me. It might be better to do something along the lines of a seperate box that you can then run the display cable into the monitor frame in some "stealth" fashion
 
ToxicBunny said:
You can also actually buy 17" screens that are already setup to be touch screens... you don't need to retrofit that touchscreen layer (which could make things look messy).

Building a pc onto the back of a monitor could get interesting to manage with heat dissapation issues if you ask me. It might be better to do something along the lines of a seperate box that you can then run the display cable into the monitor frame in some "stealth" fashion
Click to expand...

The last time I checked they were jolly expensive.. but I'll look at both options.

The intel nano MoBo's are quite cool, and fairly cheap. Then you can even play games on the thing.

All it is, is a powersupply, ram, Mobo, cpu and small hdd... I think a separate box is a bit overkill.
 
It probably is overkill.... and yes those Nano mobo's are pretty awesome.

I've just dealt with my fair share of heat issues from home-brew ideas so I kind of err on the side of caution nowadays.
 
I wouldn't mind doing something like this. Does anyone know how I can use an old Compaq Laptop LCD screen in a project like this?
 
Abe said:
I wouldn't mind doing something like this. Does anyone know how I can use an old Compaq Laptop LCD screen in a project like this?
Click to expand...

Just the screen alone, or the laptop attached?
Ideally, a laptop will be awesome for this.. but even second hand, they're way too expensive for what you get.
 
foozball3000 said:
Just the screen alone, or the laptop attached?
Ideally, a laptop will be awesome for this.. but even second hand, they're way too expensive for what you get.
Click to expand...

The laptop is working but pretty crappy (its from before they merged with HP). There is nothing wrong with the screen though 1024x768 which is why I would like to use it.
 
Its difficult to use a laptop LCD standalone due to the way they integrate the LCD into the laptop.
 
find cracked screen laptop... then use the external video out and the usb for touch interface
 
Also look at the integrated ATOM cpu mb's.
Touch screen might be cool, but also consider wireless KB + mouse for a cheeper option.
Can always remote into the pc and change stuff from their.
 
get an eee, remove the screen, and cellotape it onto the back of an LCD.
voilla.

edit: hmm... not a bad idea

deep wooden portrait frame around lcd with eee g2`s motherboard. Already connects wirelessly to pc and laptop, so why not use VNC to load photos, movies, music, or change settings. Doing this as soon as I upgrade my screen.
 
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Touch screens do not generally a good photo viewer make. Do you want to be viewing photos or watching your shows on a smudge infused screen?
 
spiderz said:
Also look at the integrated ATOM cpu mb's.
Touch screen might be cool, but also consider wireless KB + mouse for a cheeper option.
Can always remote into the pc and change stuff from their.
Click to expand...
Perhaps just a Num-Pad extention? You can get by with 16keys...

Jabberwocky said:
get an eee, remove the screen, and cellotape it onto the back of an LCD.
voilla.

edit: hmm... not a bad idea

deep wooden portrait frame around lcd with eee g2`s motherboard. Already connects wirelessly to pc and laptop, so why not use VNC to load photos, movies, music, or change settings. Doing this as soon as I upgrade my screen.
Click to expand...
That's the idea behind this project. ;)
bwana said:
Touch screens do not generally a good photo viewer make. Do you want to be viewing photos or watching your shows on a smudge infused screen?
Click to expand...
You have a really good point... never thought about that issue.
 
Another option, much cheaper than touch screen, could be to use a wireless keyboard/mouse stored nearby.

VNC type setup would probably be much more handy though. All depends on your budget.

Heck, you could go for a web-cam to do eye tracking and some basic gesture support if you want to get really artsy. An eyecam-inspired interface if you wish.
 
Cool idea, I wanted something similar for the youngest's room...

I got a 2nd hand digital photoframe (10 or 11") for under a grand which can do mp3's, pics AND divx!
The plan was to hack a laptop or attach a SFF desktop/nettop to a 21" lcd, but this just works better! And cheaper!

It's got 2x USB & 1x SD input, so it's pretty cool!
 
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