Looking to mod laptop screen

Saiyanthou

Saiyanthou

Saiyanthou

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Joined
8 Oct 2004
Posts
95
HI,

I currently have an Acer Aspire 6530 which performs beautifully, but I can't get over the poor resolution of 1366x768. I've done some research and found on eBay 16" full HD TFT screens. (Part no: LTN160HT01-A02 16.0" FULL-HD)

Does anyone know much about modding laptop screens, how modular are connectors etc or if this is even possible?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

Johno

Edit: Added screen part number
 
I gave them a phone earlier, but I think "Technical Support" is a bit loose. It was just a girl in front of a pc who can enter my make and model number into the search engine on their site.
 
After a good deal more research and the discovery of the Acer service manual I've ordered the screen and should hopefully be enjoying some laptop 1080p goodness. I will post as to the success or fail for any future modders.

Johno
 
Would you not need to upgrade the graphics card too? Im not that clued up on this sort of stuff.
 
as long as still the same connector and screen size then you are ready to go. only two type of connectors which is for normal LCD and LED.
 
I doubt very much that this will work, have you got a new inverter and vga cable coming with this as well? I've taken apart thousands of laptops over the years, and the vga cable and inverter connectors differ from model to model.

The chances that your new screen will have the same connectors as your old screen are slim to none, and even if they are the inverter will probably not give the correct power to the backlight.
 
Screen arrived this morning and proceeded to disassemble and put in the new screen. As expected all connectors and fittings were identical. According to the service manual this model laptop can take the LCD I'm fitting. Replacing the LTN160AT01 with LTN160HT01.

All fitted and working, but not properly. The screen when displayed in windows is broken up by lots of vertical lines. Going to disassemble again to check all connectors are fully in place.

Anyone ever encountered this problem?
 
Looks like I might need a new data cable, inverter seems to be fine though as back light is functioning normally. It seems only every second vertical line across the screen is displaying, I am hazarding a guess that there is potentially a data line missing for this screen.

Anyone know where I can get Acer screen data cables?
 
Right, much delay but finally I'm writing this from my Acer6530 at 1080p. So for the neigh sayers I say :P.

Not as easy as first thought, by any stretch of the imagination, tip for anyone else attempting similar - Download the Service Manual!!!!.

Apart from disassembly the only modification I had to make was a slight cable modification, due to the LCD cable only having enough data lines to handle single LVDS whereas the 1080p requires dual LVDS, 8 extra cables.

If anyone else wishes to try this I can provide details on how, although it's worth trying to understand why.

Cheers,

J
 
I've recently procured the same laptop and found the same screen (probably - on ebay) I also found both a disassembly guide and parts list so I was sure the screen would work, but if you could pass on info on the new cable I'd need/mods I need to do to it I would appriciate it. :D

On a side note laptops are such a pain in the arse to modify, I was thinking of buying the internal tv tuner for the 6530 until I realised I'd need a new lower case and board with the jack on (same sorta thing goes for putting in the finger print reader which I wish mine had :()</rant>
 
First off, good purchase, best graphics in a budget laptop and even in 1080p I get good fps.

The reason the screen fits is thanks to Acer making various models but keeping similar parts, so what you've got is the screen from a 1080p version of the acer 6920. The actual cable required is impossible to come by, what I had to do was buy a duplicate cable and remove 8 cables as they have the right length and connectors, and put these into my existing cable.

Due to the lack of publicly available information of the pin-outs of the LVDS connector on the motherboard it was a case of trial and error. I am offshore at the moment but I should have the correct pin outs somewhere.

One thing to note is removing the small cables without damaging them is very difficult, it's worth practising on waste cables before removing the ones you need.

I will post a guide when I get back from offshore.
 
Thanks very much for offering to post a guide for me, but I still find it odd that there is no available cable to buy if as you say you can get a version of the 6920 with 1080p (also strange coincidence you mention that model, it's what I'm typing on now, but the 1366x768 resolution naturally :().
Oh and Which cable is it I need to buy a duplicate of? So that I can start looking around

EDIT: I found the 6920 parts list and it has a cable which says it supports WUXGA - 50.APQ0N.012 "LCD/CAMERA CABLE 16""
WUXGA/WXGA" so I may try and procure one of them and see what happens...
 
I say impossible because I've trawled the internet and eBay with no avail. One eBay shop looked through thousands of cables but only ever found the WXGA cable.

The reason is that the 6920 was originally release, I think, with a 1080p screen but was quickly changed down to the WXGA 1366x768, and therefore less of the 1080p cables are available.

You need to acquire a duplicate of the WXGA version of that cable ("LCD/CAMERA CABLE 16"") and extract 8 pins from it.

Unless you know someone who can get manufacturer parts.
 
I don't mean to speak badly of your google-fu but if you put in the part code that I gave several shops turn up that are capable of getting hold of it but I went with this one as it seemed to be the cheapest (but still pricey for just a cable) http://www.trusthardware.co.uk/pp/uncategorized+products//CABLE.LCD/CAMERA.16in..WUXGA.html

EDIT: (the number is the acer part one in the same way as the screen's acer part no. is LK.16006.004 - so maybe that's why you couldn't find one?)
 
Last edited:
Saiyanthou said:
HI,

I currently have an Acer Aspire 6530 which performs beautifully, but I can't get over the poor resolution of 1366x768. I've done some research and found on eBay 16" full HD TFT screens. (Part no: LTN160HT01-A02 16.0" FULL-HD)

Does anyone know much about modding laptop screens, how modular are connectors etc or if this is even possible?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

Johno

Edit: Added screen part number
Click to expand...
In short, you can't to it, not without some seriously crazy skills... :p

I think the best mod here would be to just plug a nice big 24" screen into the HDMI/DVI port - then you'll have a better screen than any 'gaming' laptop. ;)
 
MikeHunt79 said:
In short, you can't to it, not without some seriously crazy skills... :p
Click to expand...

I'll take that as a compliment :p

StuiWooi, I'll admit my google-fu is not strong but the company's I managed to find with the cable had either no stock, crazy long lead times or didn't seem legit.

Mike's idea of a nice 24" is good but portability might be a problem, especially if you go for the úber dell beast.

Mods of laptops etc come with a risk factor, you can either persevere to get the part you want or make your own and hold your breath. Me, I have little patience.

If you manage to get the 'actual' cable please give details: price, time etc. And good luck if you wish to try the mod! Meanwhile I will enjoy my laptop 1080p gaming goodness as we have weather downtime :D.

J
 
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