Walk into Costco/BestBuy/Wal-mart buy a Windows XP/7 laptop today!

Walk into Costco/BestBuy/Wal-mart today to buy a generic 15.6 inch laptop. They're all running Windows 11 with no ability to revert back to Win8/7/XP! F*** y** Microsoft!

Actually, the only difference between today's machines and the WinXP/7 laptops of old are the gorgeous 1080p IPS screens. Back in the old days, you were lucky to get anything beyond a TN screen with terrible viewing angles and 1366x768 resolution!

I want to share with you all a modern accessory that changed my life, old Windows XP/7 machine with gorgeous modern FHD IPS screen. This is a machine I'm currently using as my main. All parts including the main machine are sourced from Aliexpress. When I'm done, I go transformer mode removing the screen stand and placing the screen flat on the desk so the screen doesn't block a projector I connect several meters away via v long HDMI cable (one PC to work with both laptop screen and movie projector).

Mini-PC board running WinXP/7/8.1 with LVDS output (to old-fashioned 1366x768 TN screens):



LVDS to eDP converter (for modern 1080p IPS laptop screens):



Modern 1080p laptop screen as primary/internal display (with eDP input):



Basically, this works because the mini-PC board is meant for industrial applications, which is why it has LVDS output in the first place. Also, because it is an industrial PC, in the BIOS there is a setting to change the LVDS screen resolution up to 1920x1200!

BTW, to make it all work, you will need a phone holder/stand that can hold a laptop screen up to 16.1 inches!



References:

Mini-PC board with LVDS and Intel i5 3317U CPU -- USD $150
LVDS to eDP converter -- USD $15
eDP 1080p laptop screen -- USD $70
mobile phone stand to hold laptop screen -- USD $5

Total cost: Around USD $240 (excluding mini-PC case, DDR3 memory, HDD)

 

The best part about this set up is it's possible to dim the LCD screen by going to Power Options in CP in Win7 and use the brightness slider at the bottom.

 

They say that variety is the spice of life.

The beauty in all of this is that I can now go on Aliexpress and buy any modern IPS laptop screen of my choosing (any size/sRGB coverage/contrast ratio/max brightness), so long as its resolution is 1920x1080 @ 60Hz and that will work with my mini-PC.

I no longer need Microsoft to dictate what OS my machine with "modern" display can and cannot run...

 

I used to drool whenever I read about items like this OrangePi SBC (with eDP on its underside -- hey how come that one gets a eDP output while I'm stuck with LVDS in my mini-PC! No modern screens can take LVDS anymore they all switched to eDP aeons ago...)

(Image above is the underside of the OrangePi 3B SBC only NOT its topside)​

BUT SBCs like the above OrangePi 3B all run weird Linux-based OSes I have ZERO experience dealing with... Well, I'm no longer envious of such items after discovering the LVDS to eDP converter!

 

I always hated external desktop monitors and portable monitors. They all do something akin to a man-in-the-middle attack where they take in the original video and tamper with it (change the contrast, gamma, color temperature, etc.) before sending the modified video signal off to the LCD screen!




You notice that laptops never have a hardware-level contrast/gamma/color temperature setting because there is no man-in-the-middle LCD controller to "attack" the video source... The only effective way to counteract it, remove the man-in-the-middle attack is to use a mini-PC with LVDS/eDP output that just dumbly feeds the video source to the LCD screen without needing to modify anything!

It gets worse, on some desktop monitors there is even a sharpness setting. The LCD controller has to put the video source thru a sharpness filter algorithm that destroys the original image source before sending it off to the screen. What if the algorithm the LCD controller used is particularly bad? Then the end result that appears on the screen will be spectacularly BAD!!

I'm tell you all, can bypass all the craziness that come with desktop and portable monitors by just making use of the LVDS/eDP output in your (hopefully) capable industrial mini-PC or laptop...

 

This set up is amazing! I was able to connect a 120Hz FHD screen to it. Of course you won't get 120Hz. Every other frame is missing and the screen will appear as if flickering -- but it does work! Unfortunately, 120Hz screens use a different backlight dimming protocol than 60Hz screens, so I was unable to use the brightness slider in Win7's CP to dim the screen...

 

Prior to assembling the direct video feed to LCD laptop screen via LVDS to eDP converter, I was dabbling in DIY monitors via LCD controller boards.

So the setup went like this:

mini-PC -> HDMI -> LCD controller board (man-in-the-middle "attack", requires separate AC adapter to power controller board) -> Laptop screen

instead of the more preferred/better/direct way:

mini-PC -> LVDS -> LVDS-to-eDP converter board (draws power from mini-PC, no separate AC adapter needed) -> Laptop screen

What I find most annoying about external HDMI LCD controllers:

1. Does a photoshop trick to darken the image so you think the screen has dimmed when in fact the backlight is still glowing at 100%.

2. Supplies dirty currents to the LCD screen so there are these semi-opaque bars that constantly scroll down the screen.

With a LVDS to eDP converter board (as in the OP), it really dims the backlight. Win7 did a good job with internal/embedded displays such that the brightness slider in CP really does work to dim the backlight!

Also, since the eDP converter board draws power from the mini-PC itself, the current is already filtered by numerous capacitors and very clean, as if the mini-PC were a laptop itself.

 

I am super-excited. I just ordered a 12.5 inch 1080p IPS laptop screen. (With this kind of setup, one can use unconventional screen sizes not found in mainstream consumer notebooks). One thing to look for when buying a laptop screen is whether you're getting old discontinued stock or something still in production. Panelook.com provides some good info including production status on any LCD screen!