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chip-douglas · Jul 20, 2002, 02:59 PM

So now that apple has shown that a bigger monitor will go on the new iMac, how big can we go? Anyone had the back off the lcd taken apart to see what they had to change to mount it to that arm.

How badass would a new iMac look with a 23" apple studio display grafted onto it?

COmie JOe · Jul 21, 2002, 12:01 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by chip-douglas:
So now that apple has shown that a bigger monitor will go on the new iMac, how big can we go? Anyone had the back off the lcd taken apart to see what they had to change to mount it to that arm.

How badass would a new iMac look with a 23" apple studio display grafted onto it?<hr /></blockquote>No dice chip.... no dice

the power diffrence is too large and weight alone would cause problems

chip-douglas · Jul 21, 2002, 12:28 AM

After visiting the apple store and checking out the specs on the different monitors, I'm not so sure I agree with you there. The 17" apple makes is definately possible. The 22 and 23" ones look unlikely without some serious work on the arm. But I'm going to look around for lcd's that might look good on the iMac in the 18 or 19" range and see what I can find out.

As far as electical requirements, the 15 and 17" displays are virtually identical.
15" �Line voltage: 28V DC � 1.5V
�Power: 50W (maximum) when operating; 35W or less when system is in energy-saver mode

17" Line voltage: 24.5V or 28V DC
�Power: 50W (maximum) when operating; 35W or less when system is in energysaver mode

22" �Line voltage: 28V DC � 1.5V
�Power: 77W (maximum) when operating; 35W or less when system is inenergy-saver mode

Remember that these specs include the usb hub also, and I still have to find out how that compares to the iMac. But at first glance, I don't see any real showstoppers here.

The weight on the 15" is 11.5 lbs. The 17 and 23" lcd specs don't list the weight. The 22" weighs 25 lbs, so that might be kinda tough

Once my next student loan comes in, I'm gonna see if i can see if this is possible. With a quick check of sony, I found this one that looks promising with better specs than the imac lcd <a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/home/item.jsp?hierc=9683x76x9705&catid=9705&ite mid=40671&telesale=null&hidden=null&cp s=null&type=s" target="_blank">sony 18" FP</a>

Any other constructive criticisms or reasons you can think of off the top of your head that this wouldn't work? All are welcome. It's always nice to be able to say that mine is bigger than yours <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

COmie JOe · Jul 21, 2002, 01:35 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by chip-douglas:
After visiting the apple store and checking out the specs on the different monitors, I'm not so sure I agree with you there. The 17" apple makes is definately possible. The 22 and 23" ones look unlikely without some serious work on the arm. But I'm going to look around for lcd's that might look good on the iMac in the 18 or 19" range and see what I can find out.

As far as electical requirements, the 15 and 17" displays are virtually identical.
15" �Line voltage: 28V DC � 1.5V
�Power: 50W (maximum) when operating; 35W or less when system is in energy-saver mode

17" Line voltage: 24.5V or 28V DC
�Power: 50W (maximum) when operating; 35W or less when system is in energysaver mode

22" �Line voltage: 28V DC � 1.5V
�Power: 77W (maximum) when operating; 35W or less when system is inenergy-saver mode

Remember that these specs include the usb hub also, and I still have to find out how that compares to the iMac. But at first glance, I don't see any real showstoppers here.

The weight on the 15" is 11.5 lbs. The 17 and 23" lcd specs don't list the weight. The 22" weighs 25 lbs, so that might be kinda tough

Once my next student loan comes in, I'm gonna see if i can see if this is possible. With a quick check of sony, I found this one that looks promising with better specs than the imac lcd <a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/home/item.jsp?hierc=9683x76x9705&catid=9705&ite mid=40671&telesale=null&hidden=null&cp s=null&type=s" target="_blank">sony 18" FP</a>

Any other constructive criticisms or reasons you can think of off the top of your head that this wouldn't work? All are welcome. It's always nice to be able to say that mine is bigger than yours <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <hr /></blockquote>Where are you getting those specs?

also I hate to harsh your mellow but the connectors aren't going to just magicaly going to be identical.

chip-douglas · Jul 21, 2002, 05:53 PM

It took about 10 seconds of actual research.
<a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/83/wo/579cQ0qL708R4lyKF72/1.3.0.3.34.7.0.CoverPageLeftAccessoriesPromo.1.1.0 .3.3.11.3.1.1.0" target="_blank">http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/83/wo/579cQ0qL708R4lyKF72/1.3.0.3.34.7.0.CoverPageLeftAccessoriesPromo.1.1.0 .3.3.11.3.1.1.0</a>
The apple store lists specs so that people can actually see what they are buying. Sometimes, although I'm sure not too often, it takes more than just putting an apple logo on the product to sell it.

No offense, but does anyone on this board have any optimism or research what they say before posting. I come up with an idea I want to try, throw it out, and automatically people say "no, not possible, you can't do it" without even thinking about it.

I never said it would be easy to do, but it beats chucking "old" computer and buying a new one just to replace the screen. People have crammed an old Atari 2600 into a gameboy like portable, how hard, relatively speaking, would changing a monitor be.

Sorry about that little rant, but some people are just way too negative around here and I needed to get that off my chest.
--------

So here's what I'm thinking as a preliminary plan to figure out what is doable.

1)Attach weights onto monitor to see how much extra weight it can handle before the arm starts slowly sliding down.

2)There are 12 hex screws on the sides of the monitor "case" (3 per side) I'm gonna open that up and see how the monitor is connected to the arm and base.

3)If necessary, disassemble the arm to see how the cable is strung through, and hopefully maybe see if there is any way to adjust tension on the arm (there has to be if they want that thing to work in a few years) and maybe get some ideas on how to modify or replace the arm to make this work.

4)Anything beyond that, gonna have to wait a bit, cause I don't have much spare time as it is.

Like I said, this might not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but it's not impossible. If it does work, I then get to try to make my bondi iMac an iMac G3 233 FP.(and don't even try to tell me that won't work, because it has already been done.)

[ 07-21-2002, 06:56 PM: Message edited by: chip-douglas ]

COmie JOe · Jul 23, 2002, 02:40 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by chip-douglas:
It took about 10 seconds of actual research.
<a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/83/wo/579cQ0qL708R4lyKF72/1.3.0.3.34.7.0.CoverPageLeftAccessoriesPromo.1.1.0 .3.3.11.3.1.1.0" target="_blank">http://store.apple. com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/83/wo/579cQ0qL708R4lyKF72/1.3.0.3.34.7.0.CoverPageLeftAccessoriesPromo.1.1.0 .3.3.11.3.1.1.0</a>
The apple store lists specs so that people can actually see what they are buying. Sometimes, although I'm sure not too often, it takes more than just putting an apple logo on the product to sell it.

No offense, but does anyone on this board have any optimism or research what they say before posting. I come up with an idea I want to try, throw it out, and automatically people say "no, not possible, you can't do it" without even thinking about it.

I never said it would be easy to do, but it beats chucking "old" computer and buying a new one just to replace the screen. People have crammed an old Atari 2600 into a gameboy like portable, how hard, relatively speaking, would changing a monitor be.

Sorry about that little rant, but some people are just way too negative around here and I needed to get that off my chest.
--------

So here's what I'm thinking as a preliminary plan to figure out what is doable.

1)Attach weights onto monitor to see how much extra weight it can handle before the arm starts slowly sliding down.

2)There are 12 hex screws on the sides of the monitor "case" (3 per side) I'm gonna open that up and see how the monitor is connected to the arm and base.

3)If necessary, disassemble the arm to see how the cable is strung through, and hopefully maybe see if there is any way to adjust tension on the arm (there has to be if they want that thing to work in a few years) and maybe get some ideas on how to modify or replace the arm to make this work.

4)Anything beyond that, gonna have to wait a bit, cause I don't have much spare time as it is.

Like I said, this might not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but it's not impossible. If it does work, I then get to try to make my bondi iMac an iMac G3 233 FP.(and don't even try to tell me that won't work, because it has already been done.)<hr /></blockquote>OK well you seem to have done no research other than looking at basic specs, the FP screen inside the apple displays have a diffrent down converter setup, power consumption and cableing. SO unless you have taken both of the products apart mabey you should no critizie others, and insted do more research yourself.

CobaltGT · Jul 23, 2002, 04:34 PM

Holy **** . Two people who don't have a clue what they're talking about, but at least one admits it!

Before I even begin to start to explain how to do this, the next question is why? Is there a point? It would be more cost effective to sell your 15" and buy a 17", and it would work much better. If you play games, you're gonna need the geforce 4 anyways. The 17" resolution is already pushing the gf4. What about a headless iMac? Wow, Apple is making a G4 Cube, right now, and it comes bundled with a 15 or 17" LCD display!! You iMac base could go under the desk and you could have a 22" Cinema on top. You''d have to forget about games, but games are a waste of time anyways. The Geforce 4 presents a faster solution than the current radeon 7500 in a cube.

Cube 450 on ebay $900
800mhz Upgrade card $600
Radeon 7500 $150
Apple 17" LCD $1000

iMac 17" $1999

Cube gets the 2mb L3 but the iMac gets the superdrive.

So, now that the iMac is cheaper to obtain than the cube, we go with the iMac and make it headless.

Chip, first step is to produce a pin out. If you don't have a multi meter, buy one. They're $40 for a decent degital one. Next begin measuring the voltages of the connectors for the flat panel. Comie, of course the connectors aren't just going to plug into each other, hence the name of the forum "Mac Modification". Jobs says the iMac display is all digital, so we assume it uses DVI or ADC. ADC is bastardized<a href="http://www.networktechinc.com/technote.html" target="_blank">DVI</a>.

Use the exisisting display's power supply and solder on a DVI port to the iMac sans arm or whatever. Problem with DVI, digital signals aren't readable with analog electronics. Hopefully the wires follow color code (you check this before cutting off the iMac's head). Place 22" on desk. Sell iMac's original display on ebay for $800 (Apple charges insane prices for parts, people will pay you that much. I sold the screen off my PB G4 for $800). Viola', 22" headless iMac.

Adapt this however you want for a headed iMac, but the mounting of displays concerns me, you'd have to fabricate something. Weight could be worked around, there's paper thin 18 or 19" LCDs. The iiyama and samsung's with 3/8" bezel come to mind. The iiyama is even <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/02q3/020710/index.html" target="_blank">white</a>. You can route power through the arm or up/down xform the stock power.

Cheers

[ 07-23-2002, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: CobaltGT ]

COmie JOe · Jul 24, 2002, 09:34 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by CobaltGT:
Holy **** . Two people who don't have a clue what they're talking about, but at least one admits it!

Before I even begin to start to explain how to do this, the next question is why? Is there a point? It would be more cost effective to sell your 15" and buy a 17", and it would work much better. If you play games, you're gonna need the geforce 4 anyways. The 17" resolution is already pushing the gf4. What about a headless iMac? Wow, Apple is making a G4 Cube, right now, and it comes bundled with a 15 or 17" LCD display!! You iMac base could go under the desk and you could have a 22" Cinema on top. You''d have to forget about games, but games are a waste of time anyways. The Geforce 4 presents a faster solution than the current radeon 7500 in a cube.

Cube 450 on ebay $900
800mhz Upgrade card $600
Radeon 7500 $150
Apple 17" LCD $1000

iMac 17" $1999

Cube gets the 2mb L3 but the iMac gets the superdrive.

So, now that the iMac is cheaper to obtain than the cube, we go with the iMac and make it headless.

Chip, first step is to produce a pin out. If you don't have a multi meter, buy one. They're $40 for a decent degital one. Next begin measuring the voltages of the connectors for the flat panel. Comie, of course the connectors aren't just going to plug into each other, hence the name of the forum "Mac Modification". Jobs says the iMac display is all digital, so we assume it uses DVI or ADC. ADC is bastardized<a href="http://www.networktechinc.com/technote.html" target="_blank">DVI</a>.

Use the exisisting display's power supply and solder on a DVI port to the iMac sans arm or whatever. Problem with DVI, digital signals aren't readable with analog electronics. Hopefully the wires follow color code (you check this before cutting off the iMac's head). Place 22" on desk. Sell iMac's original display on ebay for $800 (Apple charges insane prices for parts, people will pay you that much. I sold the screen off my PB G4 for $800). Viola', 22" headless iMac.

Adapt this however you want for a headed iMac, but the mounting of displays concerns me, you'd have to fabricate something. Weight could be worked around, there's paper thin 18 or 19" LCDs. The iiyama and samsung's with 3/8" bezel come to mind. The iiyama is even <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/02q3/020710/index.html" target="_blank">white</a>. You can route power through the arm or up/down xform the stock power.

Cheers<hr /></blockquote>it is blaintly obvious that it would not be cost effective... that is somehting that almost anyone with half a whit can see.

As for "not haveing a clue" I beg to differ,first off I have done service work on apple products since 1989, 2nd off I would like to ask you if you have ever done service work on a Apple flat pannel (I have done a number of repairs one such products) somehitn that I doubt either of you have done ( I may be wrong but I am going to find it hard to believe)

3rd of all is the cables inside both displays (15in and 17 &21) have a diffrent number of pins, and diffrent signals. (side note the inverter board for each display are diffrent for obvious reasions along with that the power feed connected to the inverter is infact diffrent also for the same obvious reasion) (hint: size and power consumption)

and the 4th and final thing I see wrong is assumeing, how can you just assume on no base at all other than it is a "digtial signal". you believe that the signal sent to the FP on the imac is DVI or ADC in a reconfiguration (side note what is now called ADC was going to be the DVI standard, but some manurafactures didn't want power to be supplyed in the connector)