Finding a suitable screen - and powering it

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neolith
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Finding a suitable screen - and powering it

Post by neolith » Mon May 21, 2018 3:48 pm

I need a little help. Some time ago I started a small project, because I wanted to give learning C++ a try. Building a better digital picture frame than the one I already have seemed like a good idea as the scope of such a software appeared reasonable. Lack of time and having to switch the involved tech several times made this a bit harder than expected, but now my program is running.

So now the next step would be the hardware – starting with a screen.
I'd like to use a screen of 9" or bigger and I'd like to power the Raspberry and the screen together. So I either need a screen that can draw power directly from the Pi or I need to find a way to power them both from one source of power (as in one switch switches on the Pi and the screen) – if that is possible at all. Unfortunately I don't know anything about electronics. I don't need to power this with a battery btw. Right now I am thinking about using a RPi3 as the Zero is lacking a bit in terms of performance.

My problem is that I do not know what to look for in a screen to have it draw power from the Raspberry and I don't know what tech would be involved if I wanted to power them both from one source.

Any tips what I should be looking for? :)
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MegaLoop
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Re: Finding a suitable screen - and powering it

Post by MegaLoop » Tue May 22, 2018 7:53 am

If you've got any old/dead laptops sitting around, you could find a driver board for the screen on ebay. Most boards run on 12v or less and have 5v power on the board which you can use to power your Pi.

I used a Zero Wireless with a 10 inch screen from a netbook and a RPi3 with a 15 inch screen from a standard laptop. Works great, and a fun build! Cheap, too!

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Re: Finding a suitable screen - and powering it

Post by neolith » Tue May 22, 2018 11:44 am

MegaLoop wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 7:53 am
If you've got any old/dead laptops sitting around, you could find a driver board for the screen on ebay. Most boards run on 12v or less and have 5v power on the board which you can use to power your Pi.

I used a Zero Wireless with a 10 inch screen from a netbook and a RPi3 with a 15 inch screen from a standard laptop. Works great, and a fun build! Cheap, too!
That's a good idea, I didn't know that driver boards have a 5v output! Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it! :)
– "The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." –

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