Building a USB-C touchscreen monitor (new for 2021)

in this video we're going to be making a usb type-c touchscreen monitor that has a super unique look to it as it's made out of brass now brass has been chosen for this build as it allows it to be super slimline as well as look incredibly smart being usbc based it can be plugged into smartphones and laptops and pretty much any kind of modern device for some seriously flexible functionality so as you can see it's quite an exciting project so let's get building it the first thing that's needed for this project is obviously the lcd panel itself if on a tight budget it's worth noting that these can be pulled from old or dead laptops though to use them with external devices they'll need to be paired up with a control board that can be purchased separately finding one that's suitable requires the display's model number on the back to be punched into ebay or aliexpress with the phrase control board after it which should bring up plenty of options while this method is brilliant for giving new life to old panels there's a new breed of control boards and displays that have hit the market that add a whole slew of advanced features such as 4k resolutions high refresh rates and even touch support and usb type-c video input the control boards for these are usually significantly thinner than the old types as well allowing projects made with them to be very slimline as they're readily available as new sets i've placed links to some in the description whatever screen type is used though they're all very delicate and fragile so need a nice robust frame to keep them secure in past videos i've recommended using mdf as a backing sheet which then allows the screen to be glued to it and neatened up with some vinyl wrap this is still my recommended method for people who are new to building things at home as it's pretty easy to do but i've since discovered that using brass is a step up for constructing this frame system as it not only looks far nicer but it's also more robust and allows for a significantly thinner and more elegant construction because it can be soldered together for example the entire screen including its internal battery is about the same thickness as just the edging of the mdf version let alone taking its electronics into account not bad at all when it comes to diy builds brass is available in all sorts of shapes and sizes from most hardware stores though for this build only two types are needed which is a plain sheet to use as the back plate and a length of u-channel this u-channel in particular is vital as it will make a nice secure border for the lcd panel to fit into first though it needs to be cut into lengths that match the outer perimeter of the screen with each quilt being made at a 45 degree angle and refined with a file these angles allow each of the lengths to put together to make some nice neat corners and they're going to be held together by soldering them to the back plate i mentioned earlier being prepared is key for any type of soldering so it's important to test fit all of the joints first here for example i'm using a strip of aluminium to wedge my back plate into position against the inside of the u-channel which will later leave a slot that's just the right size for the lcd panel for the solder to flow properly though it's important to add some flux before starting after which a blow torch can be used to heat up the brass from the other side allowing the lead-free solder to melt on contact and be brought into the joint by capillary reaction now if you ever do similar work to this yourself make sure that you always wear goggles and a suitable breathing mask and work in a well ventilated environment or outside also make sure that you keep your workpiece securely clamped in place until it's cool enough to touch and keep a pair of overmittens nearby just in case once cooled down it's definitely taking shape and as you can see i've left the bottom edge off for now so that the screen can be slid in through this gap later it is pretty messy looking though but that's okay as with a bit of water and wet and dry sandpaper it cleans up well i started with 800 grit here followed by 1000 grit 1500 grit and finally 2000 grit using metal polish to give it a really nice shiny finish at the end this is one of the most satisfying things about brass with just a bit of polishing it always comes out looking beautiful as you can see though it doesn't stand up on its own so the next step is to work on some support legs brass u-channel again is perfect for this so after cutting off two pieces they can be clamped together like so after which a pilot hole can be drilled through them both being widened to three millimeters these holes are going to have a screw through them to provide the hinge action but before that their corners can be rounded off with a file to allow them to open without jamming against each other and the usual polishing process makes them look really quite smart giving them a test fit with a locking nut shows that they hinge open well to 90 degrees and are just stiff enough to support the screen like the edging these hinges too can be held in place by soldering them to the brass sheet but this time it's particularly important to be as brief as possible so that the edging itself doesn't also get heated up if the edging does heat up too much it's likely that its solder will melt too and become loose which would be very difficult to rectify so best avoid it as you can see these legs hold up the main chassis perfectly and because of their positioning they allow a range of angles depending on how the screen is used so it's nearly time to add the lcd panel but first we need to make a little chamber on the back in order to house the display's control board and battery new channels again can be useful for this though one side needs various cutouts made in it that line up with the ports on the control board brass is very workable as you've already seen so it's pretty easy to make quite a precise fit even using basic tools this time instead of soldering them in place they can be attached with screws from the other side this is simply down to ease as there's enough room here to use screws without them being visible or getting in the way unlike the bits that were soldered they do need to be countersunk though as the screen will lie directly on top with this little chamber securely mounted in place the lcd panel can now be added mine slides in perfectly here though a lot of care needs to be taken routing the cable round to the back as it's so delicate so with the screen in place it's now time to work on the battery system now the battery i'm using is actually from an old smartphone as it's thin enough to fit into the chamber and pretty high capacity considering its diminutive size by my calculations it should last for two hours powering the screen which really isn't bad at all as lithium batteries can be damaged if they're overcharged or over discharged though it's important to use a little pcb protection board with it that handles both of these jobs making the battery safe to use before mounting it into the little chamber though it's important to stick down a sheet of insulating plastic to add a barrier between the electronics and the bare brass with that the control board too can be glued in place but unfortunately as the chamber is so thin the keypad is just too tall to fit inside thankfully though removing the connector and just soldering the wires in place directly makes this an easy fix the keypad can now be glued to a custom lid which can in turn be screwed in place now as you can see the bottom of the lcd panel is still exposed so to cover it up a strip of brass can be soldered to the last u channel which makes a great cover for this area with it now complete it looks absolutely fantastic and a real testament to the beauty of brass once the internal battery has been fully charged through this little pin connector the internal battery can then be plugged into the monitor to turn it on and the reason it's done this way is to allow external batteries or chargers to be used to power the screen if required as the display board features both hdmi input and usb type c it can be plugged into pretty much any modern device here for example i'm using a usb type-c cable to plug it directly into my laptop and it passes touch data through to it effortlessly it can even be used with a smartphone which is particularly useful if the phone has a desktop mode as it allows it to be used like a full-sized ipad style tablet pairing it with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard takes things a step further as well allowing it to become basically a fully self-contained and highly portable pc nice one of my favorite use cases for it though is to use a suction cup to mount the phone itself to the back of the screen making it quite useful for high quality video calls as you can use the rear camera so as you can see this is a very versatile diy screen that also looks incredibly elegant due to its construction now there is one last thing to do which is to add some high quality speakers to it and i want these to actually match the brass construction so it's going to be pretty interesting the building method we're going to use but before that it's time for a quick add from this video's sponsor skillshare if you'd like to learn a new skill then skillshare is definitely the place to start they've got thousands of inspiring classes to choose from and they're easy to follow thanks to their concise step-by-step structure that takes you through from the fundamentals right on to being able to properly understand the topics at hand allowing you to explore new skills deepen existing passions and get lost in creativity being curated specifically for learning you can stay focused with no interruptions and they're frequently adding new classes as well so there's always something fresh to explore and you never know what kind of new passion you might discover this way i'm personally finding lindsay marsh's graphic design course really useful for upping my youtube thumbnail game for example so there really is something for everyone so if you'd like to try out skillshare yourself the first thousand of you to sign up with the link in the description can get a free trial of their premium membership allowing you just to explore everything that they've got to offer to see whether you'll like it and if you do it's less than ten dollars per month if you go with an annual subscription which is great value so happy learning so aesthetically the little add-on speakers that we're going to make need to also be as small as possible so that they don't ruin the overall slimline look to the screen making small speaker enclosures is normally quite challenging but thankfully there are complete units available that are pre-sealed and even feature tuned passive radiators for extended frequency response they come in a variety of sizes too though i'm going with the smaller set to keep things slimline these particular ones were sent to me by sound imports so if you want to check them out for your own projects you can find links to them in the description and i'll be showing you the rather impressive sound quality in just a minute as the drivers themselves are quite delicate though the first thing to do is cover them up for which some brass mesh is absolutely perfect this stuff is easy enough to cut through with scissors and bend into shape and after carefully wrapping it around the units it makes quite a robust dome shape that protects the speaker drivers a good way of making a back for these is to bend a strip of brass that can be glued in place with epoxy and as i want mine to be easily connected and disconnected i added some pin connectors to this back with sockets for them being mounted on either side of the bottom of the screen earlier i provisionally added some wires to the control board speaker output so that these sockets could be easily hooked up to the board's internal amplifier allowing the drivers to just be clipped in place when required not only do these look really nice aesthetically but they sound amazing given their size take a listen [Applause] [Music] [Applause] directly facing the listener really helps in their clarity and there's a nice stereo effect going on as you hopefully heard having speakers connected like this is particularly important when hooking up devices that don't have their own built-in such as game consoles and it adds yet another aspect to this screen's wide-ranging versatility so i hope you've enjoyed seeing how to make this really unique portable monitor and i hope it's giving you some interesting ideas as well of techniques that you might want to use in your own projects because brass really is a fantastic material to use as you can just scale things down without having to use bulky screws or relying glue or anything like that so it's a really fantastic material to start using and i've already got a few ideas as to what other things i can make out of brass but you've got to wait until the next video for that so hopefully that'll make a bit of hype because it's going to be pretty exciting but until then i'm matt you've been watching diy perks and i hope to see you next time goodbye for now

Channel: DIY Perks

Views: 1,845,272

Rating: 4.9676275 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: DrqdHVeBkp4

Length: 13min 45sec (825 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 15 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/julianchillt]

You just have to love his attitude and excitement when doing his projects! Love this guy and his videos are always an inspiration imo.

[u/asyrin25]

I would pay a lot of money for a 17" OLED panel or hell, just the portable monitor.

[u/cabinwoods]

A 17" 4K display would be perfect, non-touch.

[u/theacidbat101]

seriously tho the monitors this guy is making are portable!