How to Connect a Touchscreen Monitor Without VGA?

[rick0rz]

Hi i have a 10" touchscreen moniter and i woundering how could i connect it to a computer via VGA connection as it does not have 1, all it has is the grey connector you can see in the picture i presume all touchscreen moniters are the same principle in how they are made but what's needed for them to run as a computer moniter could this need some sore of driver board? it also picks its power up from this connector, thanks!

 

[negitron]

Why is all that information scratched off the board? That's stuff you probably need to figure out what it is. It's certainly stuff I would need in order to identify it.

 

[rick0rz]

Why is all that information scratched off the board? That's stuff you probably need to figure out what it is. It's certainly stuff I would need in order to identify it.

i think the writing was just the name of it, It was for a message board called silent messanger II a control console purely for programming the dot matrix sign

 

[negitron]

Ah, this thing:

http://www.millenniumvisuals.com/silentmessenger.php

http://www.millenniumvisuals.com/images/solar/SilentII.png

That's probably a proprietary interface. You might be able to work it out experimentally, if you're careful; but the chances of anyone here knowing offhand is virtually nil.

 

[rick0rz]

Ah, this thing:

http://www.millenniumvisuals.com/silentmessenger.php

http://www.millenniumvisuals.com/images/solar/SilentII.png

That's probably a proprietary interface. You might be able to work it out experimentally, if you're careful; but the chances of anyone here knowing offhand is virtually nil.

thats certainly the one! lol, i see i can't think how to get round it my aim was to be able to plug it into my laptop and use it as a primary monitor :(

 

[negitron]

Well, after studying the pictures I can now tell you a few things about the display that I know from my work experience. These things may or may not help you but I hope they do.

First, looking at the full view of the back of the unit, the single black and two pink wires at the bottom right are the high-voltage wires for the backlight CCF tubes (there are two of these). The part contained in the panel recess above those wires is the HVDC supply for the backlight tubes. On the top of that--the opposite end from the HV wires--there is a bundle of grey wires leading back to the PCB. These are the backlight control lines; they allow digital logic to control the backlight: turn it on, turn it off, etc. as well as supply low-voltage for the boost converter, probably 12 VDC in this case. The ribbon of alternating white and black wires is the data bus for the display; it might even be the same interface as the very similar screen we use in one line of our products. Gimme a day or two to look it up. And lastly, that Kapton-coated ribbon cable emerging from the far left side of the display near the PCB is the four-wire connection to the touch panel, which is an X-Y resistive type--each pair carries a resistance which indicates where on the corresponding axis the screen was touched. That connects to the PCB through that black connector labeled P1. I can't tell what U1 is because the numbers are too unresolved to read, but based on the number of pins, it's possibly a microcontroller of some sort.

 

[rick0rz]

that gives me a bit more of an idea! i really appreciate the help too if you want me to post anymore pictures or anything that might help let me know id love to get this moniter working. there is another pcb that the grey ribbon wire plugs into but i think its just for the control circuit i could post a photo of that if needed.

 

[negitron]

Sure, post that too.

 

[rick0rz]

This is the pcb the screen plugs into but i don't think i need to use this?