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need a tiny monitor for pal video (< 1")

C

cfaisst

I'm looking for a very small monitor that can display a *PAL* signal
from a video source (pal camera, vcr, etc.). The display should be at
most 1 inch, so portable tv are out of the question :-((((

i'm not good at electronics, so getting a small lcd and building a
driver board myself is rather difficult for me (unless i have a very
detailed description ;-). or can i somehow disassemble an old
camcorder and use the viewfinder for that ?

any help is *greatly* appreciated. Thanks!!!

(p.s.: if possible, email the answer to [email protected])
 
M

Mike

or can i somehow disassemble an old
camcorder and use the viewfinder for that ?

Yes. Find a beat up old style camcorder (e.g. eBay) for a few dollars.
Make sure that the viewfinder works (the mechanism or camera optics can
be trashed, that doesn't matter). Rip it right off :)

Usually, they are a CRT and driver board, separate from the rest of the
camcorder. Only a few wires to connect: 5v to power it, Composite video,
common ground for video and power, and maybe a wire to light an LED (rec).

May not be as easy with an LCD display one, as the level of integration with
the camera may be higher, so it's not as easy to separate.
 
J

James Sweet

Mike said:
Yes. Find a beat up old style camcorder (e.g. eBay) for a few dollars.
Make sure that the viewfinder works (the mechanism or camera optics can
be trashed, that doesn't matter). Rip it right off :)

Usually, they are a CRT and driver board, separate from the rest of the
camcorder. Only a few wires to connect: 5v to power it, Composite video,
common ground for video and power, and maybe a wire to light an LED (rec).

May not be as easy with an LCD display one, as the level of integration with
the camera may be higher, so it's not as easy to separate.

From what I've seen, about 50% of camcorder viewfinders accept composite
video, the others have separate sync inputs. I've only ever dealt with NTSC
but I would guess PAL is the same way. Busted camcorders are easy to find
though, sooner or later you'll get one that'll work.
 
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