*Official* The PSOne LCD Mod Thread

[prosser13]

Welcome to the *Official* The PSOne LCD Mod Thread!

The PSOne LCD mod has always been a popular with modders, and I've seen there are a few of us who have done/are going to do/are thinking of doing it. Because of this, I thought a thread with all the info would be a good idea, to answer anyones questions on it

What is the mod?

Basically, the mod involves soldering new connections onto a PSOne LCD's circuitboard to allow it to connect up to a graphics card on a PC, either by composite connection with an RCA cable or using a VGA cable and connector on the graphics card depending on the modN. The official PSOne LCD, which is the best one to us, is 5" diagonally, and so is great for displaying stuff on.

How hard is it?

This depends on a number of things:

1. Your soldering skills - the better you are the easier it is
2. Which mod you do - from what I've heard, the composite mod is easier to get setup
3. The screen - the mod will be easiest with the official Sony PSOne 5" LCD, as this is the one which has been used most and so most info is available on it

With a bit of effort and some help, anyone with a soldering iron should be able to do it

What do I need?

This is a basic list of components, if any one used anything different just say and I'll add them:

A Sony PSOne LCD
A soldering iron and solder
Some superglue (optional but its best to sure up your solder joints with it)
A small crosshead screwdriver
A female connector of your choice (in my case it was a composite connector)
A cable (either RCA or VGA)
The power connector for the screen
Some heatshrink (optional but makes the mod look cleaner)

Whats the difference between the composite and VGA mods?

Advantages of composite:

Small cable
Easy to set up - just plug in and go

Disadvantages:

Border around the edge of the image at 640x480 which cannot be removed without an extra piece of custom made circuit board(please correct me if I'm wrong)

Advantages of VGA:

All graphics cards have at least one VGA/DVI connection
Can be connected up to an older graphics card with C-Sync to remove border at 640x480

Disadvantages of VGA:

Mod can be harder to set up
Thicker cable and connector

What can the modded PSOne LCD be used for?

The LCD, once modded, can be used for whatever you want! Check out Samurize for displaying a massive range of info though at www.samurize.com (more info coming soon)

What is the "White LED" mod?

This mod involves replacing the stock cathode backlighting with white LEDs - these consume less power and less heat, and also can be brighter if one of the capacitors is bypassed

The mod itself has been typed up from "Hacking Video Game Consoles" by Haykuro, it can be found: here. This incudes how to bypass the capacitor to make it brighter too. This writeup also tells you what to do if manage to overload your PSone screen

Useful links

These are the two I used:

Serio LCD Hacking
Bit-tech: PSOne LCD in a PC
PSOne LCD White LED Mod
Taking apart a PSOne LCD

Pictures

I'll link to each post rather than adding them all here. Post links:

prosser13 - overviews and screen
DuckieHo - VGA connection with connections visible
DuckieHo - modded car power adapter with 3-pin fan connector

Useful posts

I'll link to any posts with useful info as well as adding a short description. Post links:

haykuro - White LED writeup with other info

Dimensions

PCB dimensions:

Width: Unknown
Height: Unknown
Depth: Unknown
Diagonal: Unknown

Screen Dimensions:

Width: 4" (10.16cm)
Height: 3" (7.62cm)
Diagonal: 5" (12.70cm)

FAQ

1. Q:Is there any way to do the mod without soldering anything?
A:No sorry, there isn't

2. Q:Can I trick my card into supporting C-Sync/what recently released cards support C-sync?
A: No, you can't, and none - if your after C-sync your best bet is to get a Matrox Millenium PCI or something similar which does, and have it as a secondary graphics card.


More to come, including details on the mod itself, but please post with questions/info/stuff to add/corrections, etc

[prosser13]

My pictures:

640x480 with flash:



Brightness picture:



Colours (at 320x240 so ignore picture quality):



I'll try and get some more soon

[Bacchus451]

Excellent idea for a post, Prosser. I, for one, am subscribed to it as I intend to do this in the future.

As far as setting up a secondary PCI video card, will my computer get confused if have two installed and use the old PCI just for the screen?

[prosser13]

Nope - in your BIOS is an option to chose between your primary display slot; chose PCI-E instead of PCI or Auto and it'll use your current and better card

[gobygoby]

Nm

[prosser13]

Rofl

Err, whats that Gobygoby?

[gobygoby]

Originally Posted by prosser13

Rofl

Err, whats that Gobygoby?

NM = nevermind. I was going to say something, but changed my mind, need to find all the facts first.

[Haykuro]

I'm hoping to build my portable PSOne in the summer, which incorporates a PSOne screen.
Also, has anyone here used the "White-LED Mod" ?

[prosser13]

Originally Posted by gobygoby

NM = nevermind. I was going to say something, but changed my mind, need to find all the facts first.

Ahh...didn't see an "Edited on" thing so though you might have it as a placeholder or something

Originally Posted by Haykuro

I'm hoping to build my portable PSOne in the summer, which incorporates a PSOne screen.
Also, has anyone here used the "White-LED Mod" ?

I've seen it, but not used it - I know what it is though, I'll drum up the info and post the link in the main section.

My backlight is bright enough TBH, if it burns out I will buy some and do the mod.

[gobygoby]

Originally Posted by Haykuro

I'm hoping to build my portable PSOne in the summer, which incorporates a PSOne screen.
Also, has anyone here used the "White-LED Mod" ?

Seems simple enough. Havent heard of anyone else trying it though. not really sure what the mod is for though...
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1765356,00.asp