Sorry for my lack of activity lately, I’m still really busy with work. I’ve almost finished my modified OEM LVDS cable with a 40 pin controller side connector.

Check this out its the data sheet for a lvds cable for a standard 15" panel
using the JAE FI-X30H (Connector Single Row 1,00 mm, 30 Contacts) connection which can be found here it states to use 50mm +/-5mm (probably fairly important for interference) of AWG28, UL-proof cable

Neat find. Amazing what's out there on the web, eh?

But is that just their spec for the typical product they supply or a required/recommended length?

i dont know but if they supply it i doubt it has interference

Point taken. Unlike some things in life here shorter is better.

I've got a panel in transit to me now and if the Gods smile upon me I shall be trying to fabricate a cable in the not-too-distant future. Still gotta order my dang "Kon-troller" though. Perhaps tomorrow I'll do that.

And I'll keep it as short as possible/practical and report back here with my findings.

well that datasheet states 50 mm +/-5mm so i think that means it has to be no shorter than 45mm and no bigger than 55mm right?
oh yeah where'd ya get your panel and which one are ya getting?

I'd interpret it as saying it's just a typical length of the cable supplied or something like that. Not necessarily that anything longer or shorter won't work. Don't know really though. I'm about as far from an expert as can be.

I'm getting a Toshiba via a private deal with member Johnzo. I had an LG Philips but was put off using it after I tried to strip the antiglare off a busted LG panel. Too dang difficult. I hear the Toshiba is very fragile if all reports are to be believed but that don't scare me . . . much. Prolly I should have just used the LG and not worried about stripping the LG antiglare and/or antireflective layers but . . .

I can only hope the future is kind to me as I've been without a working panel for a few months since my second 17" controller failed without obvious reason.

heres a JILI40 one

its says the cable length is 500mm, tolerance - 10mm / + 20mm

When do ya think you'll have files for distribution?

Also, anyone ever do any legwork trying to find a 15.4" WUXGA commercially available/assembled LVDS cable for direct out-of-the-box use or even requiring only minor modification that'll work with this Kontron controller?

I'm shooting for the next week or so, my job has had me really busy. I have files for 3 different panel types. I just need to do some final testing at lower resolutions.

As good a place as any so . . .

Whilst waiting to get ahold of Kontron and sitting on my (not literally sitting) Toshiba 15.4" WUXGA I've been worrying over making up the LVDS cable to go from the panel to the controller board. Then it hit me. I've got two cables already from my 17" failed units.

Click to view attachment

But, they are missing two wires.

Click to view attachment

So, perhaps I'll chop off the useless end which used to plug into the 17" controller and pull two wires from the "extra" cable and fill in those two empty slots so I'll only have one end to deal with when making a cable for my WUXGA and Kontron.

Click to view attachment

is that solid or stranded wire?
i noticed the big ferrite choke on the cable too, i wonder how to figure out what choke would be adequate for a diy cable?

Haven't checked the wire yet. As far as chokes go I wouldn't know one from another. No expertise there at all. But, both this wire and the choke work for the LVDS cable off a 17" and I wager they'll work just fine for the 15.4" - not apples to oranges, more like Granny Smith to Red Delicious.

Note the east coast distributor for Kontron "small volume" purchasing (like one unit ) is WDL as mentioned previously in this topic. Their number is 800-548-2319. I'll also add this to the first post as a courtesty to HF.

If you keep the choke it will work great! I made a similar one from a dead 17" as well. The only problem is that you might find it to be too short.

FWIW the folks at WDL (east coast Kontron distributor) are very nice.

My contact is having trouble "finding" the OSD-Panel - she says Kontron doesn't know what it is.

I'll keep you posted. Turnaround time for the controller is ~1 week @ $241.00.

HitesFiero: Which is pin 1 on those 30p LVDS connectors? I'm reading it as this:

Click to view attachment

Better safe than sorry.

Also, I assume one twists differential pairs. So, referring to this diagram, one would twist 8/9, 11/12, 14/15, . . ., 29/30, and the others (GND's, Vcc, CLK, and DATA, etc.) may run untwisted?

Edit: And while I'm asking is there any potential downside to how the non-differential lines are run - twisted, untwisted, mixed-and-matched, what?

Stranded. Looks like 7 strands.

At this point I highly recommend modifying an existing LVDS cable if you can find something appropriate. It's a piece of cake gently prying up tabs and rerouting stuff into alternate locations within the factory connector(s). I hope I have as much luck with the end I have to solder.

And that it's long enough when all is said and done but I'm not anticipating a problem with length.

This is the NON-HDCP version, correct? Are we still looking at March-ish of next year for HDCP?

Yeah, this is current info. I've no idea of the next version. That's HitesFiero's domain.

The one by the "1".

Correct; But I would still twist the CLK and DATA edid's for no better reason that the fact that most of the OEM cables are twisted. Your grounds and power are fine run strait.



March was the last I heard.

I finally finished my modified laptop LVDS cable last night. I’m hoping to test it tonight, and if it works as well as I think it will, I can finish tweak my beta version firmware and panel files for release.

Thanks for the feedback HF!For once in my life I have a timeline closely matching another on the planet. May I be at the front end of the queue please?

It strikes me I've got to test my Toshiba prior to stripping it. Well, how shall I power the backlight? All I've got is the controller/inverter from my 17". That has 4 connectors going to the backlight. This WUXGA has only 1. What's the easiest way for me to power that backlight for testing? Hmmm . . .

I'm guessing others may run into a similar problem in the future and that's why I ask here.

Edit: Problem solved courtesy of a friendly member.

Okay, I'm soldering up my LVDS cable. Tiny bugger but plenty doable. Anyway, do pins 10, 11, 22, 23, & 26 on the controller need to be tied to ground or can they float (open, unconnected)? And assuming that's the case since there are only 4 grounds on the controller side (pins 7, 14, 17, & 24) but 8 on the panel side (pins 1, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, & 28) would one simply pick neighbor pairs on the panel side and run them to a nearest neighbor on the controller side (pin 1 & 10 panel to pin 7 controller, pins 13 & 16 panel to pin 14 controller, etc.)? Simple question but I've never been afraid to ask anything. That's usually why I'd come home from college parties with a face red from slaps.

That should work, take a look at the pics in my next post, you can get an idea of how I did the main grounds. On the Sharp WUXGA, all the grounds are common except for pin 1. The connector is also a common ground.

Well my modified OEM cable didn’t work to well, lots of signal loss. I don’t think the controller liked the extra resistance in the super fine gauge coax. So I revised my original cable, but with better 28 gauge wire harvested from an old SCSI cable.

This is my modified OEM cable with a 44 pin Molex type plug. I took this pic before I desolded off it's JAE30 LCD end. I prefer doing a JAE30 on both ends, it's just cleaner and less cluttered.




This is the new cable with the controller end soldered on. I used liquid electrical “tape” to seal the solder points.





Here is the freshly soldered LCD end



Here is a completed shot with a ferrite choke added. I still have to twist it and bind it in tape.



I hope to test it tomorrow.
Here is a completed shot with a ferrite choke added. I still have to twist it and bind it in tape.

I'm with you all the way regarding using a JAE30 on both ends.

Using a factory cable scavenged the way I did worked really a treat for me and just about anyone should be able to scrounge some from busted monitors so I recommend it to anyone following along with this experiment. Of course, they'll all be wise to wait until these cables work 100% first!

Also, I have a spare virgin JAE30 connector which I'll part with for cost provided my first stab at this cable works.

And I think I'll give that liquid electrical tape a shot. I was pondering what to do on that end. Still a little fuzzy on the whole ground thing but I'll proceed as I see fit.

Here's my cable with ground pairs not yet attached and a close-up with a standard pencil point in the pic to give folks a feel for the size of things they'll be soldering should they decide to attempt this. This is not a beginner soldering project but anyone with a steady hand and some experience should be able to tackle it.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

A good past flux makes the soldering much easier on these tiny connections. Apply solder to wire only.

And don't drink a double espresso just before soldering.

dam D, can you also crack safes? That's pretty good soldering work considering the small area.

What can I say? I've spent my whole manhood handling tiny things with my fingers.

LOL

Ok, the new cable works well and I'm satisfied. I can start the final revisions on my panel and firmware files.

5th screen shot with the new cable.

Yay! Hurray! Now contact YOUR contact at Kontron and have them contact MY contact at WDL and tell them how in the hell to get the OSD-Panel!!!!!!

So D, did you finsih your cable ? How does it work ??

I don't think he can test it yet, he's waiting on my firmware! Sorry D I'm pushing really hard on this.

No worries HF.

GS: Click here puh-leeeez. Thank you.

And the cable IS finished.



And WDL really is having big trouble getting the CA folks at Kontron to let them know how to get a gold-dang OSD-Panel. I'm good at waiting . . .

... sorry HF, just a friendly "jab" at 'ol D is all... your firmware will be done long before D get's his controller straightened out... (ooops, I did it again, didn't I ?? )

The latest from WDL:

Hi Dan,

Sorry, nothing yet. We asked again this morning. Kontron's been copying us on their interoffice emails, but no one has come up with the answer just yet.

Cheryl

I'm picturing all these California people seeing this inquiry in their email from an east coast distributor regarding this product Kontron supposedly sells and not a damn one knows what in the hell to make of it. Typical.

Edit: Again, this concerns the OSD-Panel. No one knows what it is!!!

Have you explained it as the "little circuit board that has the power button and LED that connects to the main controller" ?

Dude, I've sent them excerpts from THEIR OWN MANUAL!!??!!?? Isn't it fascinating?

BTW: USPS just showed as "delivered". <Running madly to office to check mail leaving just a cartoon cloud of dust.>

Edit: Moment of truth?

Dude ? Last time I was called dude I was wearing chaps and ... I digress; back to topic... you're working today ? USPS is working today ? I thought is was Veteran's Day, or at least observed today ? Kids here are out of school, and no mail for us either...

Dunno DUDE. I figured there'd be no mail at the very least. I'm typing this USING MY WUXGA!!!

It's noisy/jittery. Not sure why?

Soooooo sweet though.

That may be the controller. What input are you using ?

RGB. Are others better?

Maybe it's in withdrawals because it doesn't have the OSD button panel.
This actually shows you don't necessarily need it.
Of course, maybe it needs to be adjusted, and, well, then you do need that OSD board!

On the other hand, maybe it's that shabby cable you made?


yes... just kidding!

... sorry fm, D is actually using a controller I lent him. It is a realtec controller for the wuxga, the early ones Johnzo was selling. It has the OSD board and the LVDS cable that came with it, but it does have "gitter" issues for which I didn't spend enough time working through the problem, if it is even solvable (if that is even a word?)

... we'll just have to wait and give him a hard time about his lousy cable once he gets a chance to use it.
( don't worry Dan, i'll take care of it for ya. Click here puh-leeeez )

No wonder your wife you so much. You're VERY trainable.
And doubly sorry fmerrill for confusing you with our banter in this serious thread. We get carried away at times.

GS: Running 1280x720 as per your recommendation. Still a jittery bugger but at least I can fill the screen at that resolution all proper like. How odd. If "cheap" controllers all have issues like this I - for one - feel an extra $100 or thereabouts is certainly money well spent. I ain't badmouthing this controller since it should get me through to where I need to be but geez-louise this jitter is really annoying.