DIY smart TV or replace tv main board with newer model

[elpres]

What I have been wondering about is if anyone has ever tried replacing the main board in their older led/lcd TVs with a newer one or even with some android tv capture device thing?

He reason is that I have some older model tvs that would be nice to get away with a low cost (hopefully) upgrade and thought that maybe replacing the main board with one from a newer model might be the way to go.

As I don't have much knowledge in this area I came looking for the information I need and stumbled into this community.

I know in one of the tvs I have it uses an lvds connector, are they standard sizes, would a straight swap work?

Any help/info is appreciated.

[mmartell]

There are some that can be drop in upgraded but I would guess that's the exception not the rule since there are other systems involved.

[R_J]

as an alternative, Raspberry pi model 3 with Kodi has hdmi-cec so you could use the tv remote to navigate, might be cheaper than a new board. just my 5 cents (no more penies)

[stj]

or an ODROID-C2
much better than a Pi.

[elpres]

From my brief research into lvds so far, it should be doable at the most using a bridging board(?) to line up the correct pins. There may be more to it beyond that but that's what I've found this far.

[craciant]

I would imagine that many TVs have room in the case somewhere to take the guts out of a roku and wire it to an HDMI input internally. Of course, then you would be losing an HDMI input and the solution would be hardly more elegant than simply using a roku or chromecast as it was meant to be used. I figured it would be worth mentioning since the higher end rokus have radio remotes and (I think) hdmi-cec, so you wouldn't have to deal with the IR remote stack at all... could even remove any associated IR remote hardware to make room

[srhofmann]

In theory you can, but as you already pointed out a bridging board or custom cable will be needed. The connectors may be standardized but the pinouts aren't. It can be a challenge to get the panel schematic and the board schematics to make them. Also, you run the risk of not having correct colors. Manufacturers can tweak the mainboards(firmware) so they "display" and output the correct colors based on the panel type.

It's going to be simpler, faster, easier and safer to just get yourself a cheap media player or a tablet and drive your existing device.....

[GeorgeBlitz]

Hang a Roku off your TV. Especially if you aren't electronically and mechanically inclined.

That said, I stuck a Roku3 and HDMI->VGA converter inside an old Panasonic plasma 50. I added two USB-A jacks, a coax audio jack, and an RJ-45 Ethernet jack, all where the VGA jack used to be. The metal case hosed up wifi reception, so I stuck a pigtail antenna out the vent and taped it.

Note that WiFi is adequate for most stuff, but MKV movies encoded w/ DTS-MA need Ethernet.

This bought an old set w/ no HDMI at least another 4 years.

[Andrew F. Ali]

You can't replace a Main Bd of an older TV with a new Main Bd for another model. First off, the panel Nos. would be different and so the T-CON Bds will be different and most of all the software will be different. If you don't want to buy new TVs try the ROKU stick or AMAZON fire-stick. That will convert your non-smart TV to a semi-smart TV. You'll get youtube, Netflix and every thing else. You just would not be able to surf the net.

[desert-rat]

The problem with a lot of modern consumer electronics is that its cheaper to buy a new t.v. than to fix an old one .

[NeedsMoreFlux]

I'd rather use a laptop with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

I had been trying to fix a tiny laptop(got for free-used to have a tablet on top) so that I could install it inside my Samsung 55" T.V. case.

[desert-rat]

Yes you can watch the big game on a 15 inch screen and a few years ago most people were happy with a 19 inch rca/ zenith. Most people today want the bigger tv.

[Curious.George]

Originally Posted by elpres

What I have been wondering about is if anyone has ever tried replacing the main board in their older led/lcd TVs with a newer one or even with some android tv capture device thing?

He reason is that I have some older model tvs that would be nice to get away with a low cost (hopefully) upgrade and thought that maybe replacing the main board with one from a newer model might be the way to go.

I think a practical approach is to treat the TV as a "dumb display" and migrate all of the "smarts" to something outside the case.

Here, I drive the TV's with computers and source material from:

• media tank (incl. optical media)

• "network" OTA tuner (e.g., HDHomeRun)

• internet portal

In each case, I have control over the data going in and out of the house instead of wondering what some crippleware/spyware in the "smart" TV wants to do/say.

And, I have control over how the media is "consumed" (e.g., route it to a PVR vs. live viewing)

[Badee]

I agree that it can be a lot cheaper to buy a new TV than fix an old one but if you have the time and resources, then go for it

[amelbye]

I've had a similar thought. I have a high end TV, but it's 10 years old. Picture quality is good enough for me, and I have it hooked up to both a chromecast and an ubuntu-machine running kodi, so it does most the stuff modern tvs do, but without the glitches and poor performance that I've seen at my friends houses.

What bothers me is more about aesthetics. First gen LCD screens have huge bezels, and if TVs are anything like computer monitors, that bezel is completely un-neccessary. I'm sure the only reason they put it on there was so that they could remove it on a future model and sell you (more or less) the same TV once again. So what I'd like to do is strip off all the un-neccessary plastic and reframe it.

Whatever it's gonna cost, this is not about saving time and money. It's about making it your own. If there was a proven route to repurpose your panel with newer electronics, I'd be doing that as well, while I had it all apart.

[TechGeek]

Originally Posted by amelbye

I've had a similar thought. I have a high end TV, but it's 10 years old. Picture quality is good enough for me, and I have it hooked up to both a chromecast and an ubuntu-machine running kodi, so it does most the stuff modern tvs do, but without the glitches and poor performance that I've seen at my friends houses.

What bothers me is more about aesthetics. First gen LCD screens have huge bezels, and if TVs are anything like computer monitors, that bezel is completely un-neccessary. I'm sure the only reason they put it on there was so that they could remove it on a future model and sell you (more or less) the same TV once again. So what I'd like to do is strip off all the un-neccessary plastic and reframe it.

Whatever it's gonna cost, this is not about saving time and money. It's about making it your own. If there was a proven route to repurpose your panel with newer electronics, I'd be doing that as well, while I had it all apart.

As others have said, it's not really feasible to install newer hardware into it. The best you can do (and it still be reliable) is take something like a Chromecast or something like that and hook it up and hide it INSIDE the TV. Or just connect your computer to it and do it that way.

[Curious.George]

Originally Posted by amelbye

I've had a similar thought. I have a high end TV, but it's 10 years old. Picture quality is good enough for me, and I have it hooked up to both a chromecast and an ubuntu-machine running kodi, so it does most the stuff modern tvs do, but without the glitches and poor performance that I've seen at my friends houses.

"Smart" TVs are notoriously crappy. Part of it is the delusion that manufacturers operate under wrt software development: "We can JUST use all this FOSS and cut our development costs!" Then, CUSTOMERS discover that the software isn't ready for prime-time -- and the manufacturer no longer offers updates (cuz it's LAST YEAR'S model!).

Or, that internet accesses are routed through a secret proxy (and you can't use the set on your own "private" internet)

What bothers me is more about aesthetics. First gen LCD screens have huge bezels, and if TVs are anything like computer monitors, that bezel is completely un-neccessary. I'm sure the only reason they put it on there was so that they could remove it on a future model and sell you (more or less) the same TV once again. So what I'd like to do is strip off all the un-neccessary plastic and reframe it.

There will always be some aesthetic aspect of it that you'll dislike. And, you'll quickly find yourself unable to "compensate" with your limited fabrication skills.

"Oh, it's too THICK..."

"Oh, it's too HEAVY... (for the lift that I wanted to put it on so it would drop into a piece of furniture when not in use)"

"Oh, the screen isn't CURVED..."

Best bet is just to live with the structural analysis that the manufacture did for the case and bypass as much of the "smarts" as possible -- treating the various video inputs as high level interfaces and ignoring all of the other cruft in the set.

This is the approach I've been taking, here. Treat all "video displays" as DUMB displays and design a network interface to them that lets me push whatever video I want down the pipe (so, even a "computer monitor" can be repurposed as a modest-sized "TV") without having any kit lying around near the "set".

(I.e., move the STB into the wall so you just have a video connection on a wall plate)

[petehall347]

there is an external box to plug in and go now .
such as this ..https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8661221

[Curious.George]

Originally Posted by petehall347

there is an external box to plug in and go now .
such as this ..https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8661221

Yes, but it doesn't handle OTA, the contents of your media library, the video from your PC and let you see who's at the front door (let alone all at once!)

[alfatv]

If TV has HDMI input, the best thing is Amazon firestick 4k. It's remote can be programmed to control TV as well. Essentially TV becomes Smart TV.