DIY LCD backlight

This simple method lets you make LCD backlight of any color and size to bring new look to an old device.

Step 1: Let's make something.

For this job you'll need piece of transparent plastic, LEDs, resistors and some wire plus good set of different tools and couple of straight hands ;-)

Comments

[hyaki]

thanks man!! ;)

[hyaki]

Hello,
Very cool tutorial!
I have some question:
Where did you get that plastic plate?
Can I buy Online with custom thickness?

Thanks

[AP Digital light]

It's a piece of regular 1/8" acrylic that I've found in my scrap box;-).
You can use any kind of transparent plastic.
There are lots of online plastic suppliers who offer custom cut material of any size. Standard thickness 1/16", 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 3/8",1/2", 3/4", 1".

[Yerboogieman]

i tried this with a transistor radio and cracked the board opening it

[zack247]

how hard is it to find one of those? ive always wanted one.

[Chromatica]

Your Smart.

[vandiesel]

You're a D-bag

[Chromatica]

JK

[Yerboogieman]

Aren't you perfect. Smartass.

[Chromatica]

>clap clap<
Good comeback

[Chromatica]

Cool.
First LED project?

[junits15]

where can I learn how to use an lcd display?

[AP Digital light]

There's lots of info around web.
You can start with this free "PIC microcontrollers" book
http://www.mikroe.com/en/books/picmcubook/appb/

If you need more examples just google "LCD interfacing".

[junits15]

thanks

[rami123]

very nice!!!! i go to add backlight to 11 controls of Air Conditionals in my house! i think to use SMD Leds

[askaquestion]

Just wondering if anyone in here had experience gluing a layer of glass on a LCD screen with UV glue? If so, I would love some advice on how to do this with little to no spill-over so that it doesn't get into the circuit board components that are around the edges of the LCD screen itself. I have heard there are issues with applying pressure to the LCD screen with anything heavier than just the glass itself so I was wondering how to calculate the right amount and placement of the UV glue if I cannot apply any pressure to spread it out....

[ripprasternode]

Picture and text show polarizing filter below the plastic lighting plate (if you removed it by mistake). If the filter had not been removed it would be above the plastic lighting plate. What is the reason for this layering change or is this a typo?

[AP Digital light]

Good catch. Filter should be above lighting plate.

[e22karol]

It looks goods

[NJB]

Very Nice! I'll have to try this with my old GBA if I can muster the courage to meddle with it's guts... (and find it in the first place!) A thought for the analogue meter, if you replaced the Backlight LEDs with UV LEDs and then coated the needle in UV-reactive paint (or a mixture of glue and glow powder) then you'd easily be able to read the value even in the dark!

[AP Digital light]

Nice idea with UV needle. Thanks.

[humexavier]

can you make A LCD DISPLAY OUT OF LASER TRANSISTORS OR A LED LIGHT change colors faster with a LED laser diode to work like other light sources?

[AP Digital light]

Narrow laser beam is not well suited for illumination of large area but for some kind of effects it can be used.

[Whatnot]

Not to quibble but the reason old analogue meters have the reflective strip is so that you can line up your eye with the needle and its reflection and thus avoid erroneous readings caused by the distance between the needle and the scale and the angle at which you look at it. Not that that always matters but I thought it might be an interesting titbit.

[The Real Elliot]

Have to admit I never wondered (enough) what the reflective bit was for. Now that I know, it's an elegant solution to an obvious problem. Thanks.

[pcairic]

The word you are looking for is
parallax : the apparent displacement or the difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points not on a straight line with the object; (Merriam-Webster)

[Whatnot]

Not quite, although I could have used parallax in the description it would not do on its own and I was deliberately more liberal with words to make it clear anyway. So I wasn't really looking for the word parallax :)

[pcairic]

Great instructable! I wish there was a way to make the light reflect more evenly.

[AP Digital light]

I agree. So, more research to conduct. Thanks!

[CameronSS]

Why bother diffusing both sides of the plastic? If only the front side was diffused, wouldn't less light leak out the back? Apologies if I sound ignorant, I haven't done much work with optics.

[AP Digital light]

I'm not optic guru too. It's matter of experiment. LED emits narrow beam of light and you have to try different combinations to get even illumination and maximum brightness.

[hondagofast]

How easily could you replace the florescent backlight tube in the LCD screen for a laptop with LEDs? They are the biggest power hogs on any laptop...

[AP Digital light]

I think it's possible but some research work is required. 1. Select white LEDs with proper optic characteristic. 2. Fit them into the room which is provided for a slim CCFL tube. 3. Give it long test run to check if eyes will feel good after several hours of staring at new screen. ;-)

[Punkguyta]

It's been done many many times, time and time again. Don't bother googleing, just do a search Here

[hondagofast]

That link doesn't work. :P

[Punkguyta]

*shrug* Does for me

[Localghost]

one can probably use smd pure white LEDs, similar to the ones used for cellphone backlights.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Hackaday!

Congrats

[evilution]

I have done similar to this in the past but I used PLCC-2 Tantal surface mounted LEDs or 4x4 right angled SMD LEDs. A little bit harder to solder but take up less room and they give out more light than most rectangular LED packages.

[incorrigible packrat]

I dig the meter. It looks a little unhappy, though. Does the sad-face part still make a reflection of the needle, so as to eliminate parrellax error, when reading it?