undercabinet Tablet Mod - EE input needed

kkrull

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So I prewired my kitchen for an undercabinet screen mod. Seems like with the launch of Windows 8 and the availability of thin touchscreen screens and tablets I might take a first shot at hooking one up.

The prewiring is one active USB extension and one rigid HDMI run and 120v AC line voltage, although I might be able to pull new wires.

The undercabinet is two 0.75 inch thick melamine boards extending about 10.5" out from the wall with thin LED lighting running parallel to but 9" away from the wall. In other words I have 9" inches to work with beside the LED lighting or 10.5" if I squeeze between the cabinet and the lighting.

Recent considerations for the mod included the dell XPS 12 tablet convertible. It is thin enough I could just mount it upside down in a cutout of the bottom melamine panel. That setup would clear the undercounter LED lighting. Ideally I would have preferred just an extended (touchscreen) display and have the CPU elsewhere, so for EEs out there, without seeking a teardown, how tough would it normally be to adapt power, USB and most importantly an HDMI to eDP adapter from a disassembled touch screen?

Or if I go to the trouble to disassemble a screen, since I could actually fit it between the undercounter lighting and the cabinet I could even use a bigger screen. Are there any likely candidates for larger touchscreens, 17" or less with 1920x1080 resolution that are less than half an inch thick? The more recent the cannibalized notebook or tablet the better.

If I stick with the XPS 12, anyone think I will be able to buy the screen and hinge assembly separately anytime soon? I think the XPS 12 will be available within a few weeks.
 
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power5

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You do realize that you will have a screen inset down into the counter. It will not be a smooth counter top. Debris will fall into the recess and need constant cleaning. The only way to get a flat top on your setup you would need a rear projection.

I am working on gathering parts for a coffee table multi touch as a second monitor for my HTPC setup. Much better for controlling my movie selection from my server instead of trying to read windows explorer from 15 feet away. And it will just be cool. My daughters can use it for playing games too. I will be doing a Rear DI setup. Watch through all these options if you want to make a flush mount. Will cost some money though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4g3cdgoU78&feature=related


There are a few companies selling touch frames to turn any cheap monitor into a touch screen, but again, it will not be flush. It will be like a picture frame with the glass set down like 1/8".

Turn your sound off for this video or you may murder yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV4TVg8XOP0&feature=related
http://www.cyclotouch.com.au/produc...=2501&osCsid=3fb53769ffcae3d7c4974049d3a856fa
 
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kkrull

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Sorry Power5. I originally said undercounter when I meant to say undercabinet. I am not trying to build anything like a projected multitouch setup (although I do like the SUR40 and aspire to build a multitouch mirror for another application). My question is really about the electrical engineering required to extract a compact and touchscreen monitor from a tablet computer and convert it into a monitor that can take external video and USB input.
 
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theefman

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Sorry Power5. I am saying undercounter when I meant to say undercabinet. I am not trying to build anything like a projected multitouch setup (although I do like the SUR40 and aspire to build a multitouch mirror for another application). My question is really about the electrical engineering required to extract a compact and touchscreen monitor from a tablet computer and convert it into a monitor that can take external video and USB input.

Why not get a touchscreen monitor? If you are sending video from another device a monitor already has all the inputs you need and just needs to be removed from its casing. Unless you need the monitor to run W8 wouldnt a monitor fit your needs?
 

kkrull

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A couple reasons

Why not get a touchscreen monitor? If you are sending video from another device a monitor already has all the inputs you need and just needs to be removed from its casing. Unless you need the monitor to run W8 wouldnt a monitor fit your needs?

All true. But I need a thin sub 15" touchscreen monitor in order to fit. There are no thin ones and of the few 15" ones the resolution is low. I really would like to mirror a 1920x1080 resolution from another location, but scaling down to say 768 vertical looks terrible. Notebook touchscreens come in 1080p, but again I need the rest of the electronics to hook it up.

But to your point, maybe I could get the replacement parts for the Dell and a monitor with HDMI to eDP, DC power supplies and a USB hub, maybe even a broken screen monitor from eBay. I just don't know how likely the parts would match. Frankenmonitor.
 

theefman

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Ah, guess that wont work then. But its possible as Windows 8 starts to get more widespread more monitor options will appear. Hope you get something that works.
 

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