**Building a DIY Window Panel: A Step-by-Step Guide**

To build a DIY window panel that can provide a refreshing and relaxing source of light, you will need to follow a series of steps. First, you'll need to acquire the necessary components, including the backlight pad, PWM pad, and LED pad. The PWM pad is used to control the brightness of the backlight, while the LED pad serves as an on-off switch. The V LED pad, which is often located next to a fuse, requires a signal voltage to function.

Once you have obtained all the necessary components, it's time to start building your panel. Begin by soldering a short length of wire to the V LED pad and connecting it to the positive side of the 12-volt adapter, which is typically the red wire in this setup. This will provide the necessary voltage for the backlight to function. With the backlight connected, you can now give it a test and watch as it lights up immediately.

**Removing the LCD Layer**

The next step in building your DIY window panel is to remove the LCD layer entirely, allowing the backlight to shine through unobstructed. To do this, cut through the LCD ribbon cables on the back of the screen using a knife, as the circuit board becomes loose after cutting. It's then a good idea to hold the screen in place with some electrical tape to prevent any damage or short circuits.

After securing the screen, you can remove any tape surrounding the bezel and pry it upwards all the way around until it comes free. This will allow you to lift off the LCD layer and reveal the backlight underneath. Take note that without the LCD layer, the panel may appear flat and two-dimensional in comparison to one with the diffusion and frenal layers left intact.

**Assembling the Panel**

With the backlight exposed, it's time to assemble your panel. Begin by attaching the PWM pad and LED pad to the bezel using some electrical tape or a strong adhesive. Make sure that all connections are secure and won't come loose over time. You can also use cable ties to thread through the holes in the bezel and create a hook, allowing you to hang the entire panel from a sturdy object.

**Adding a Stand**

One of the most convenient features of this DIY window panel is its ability to be used as a floor-standing light. Simply fold the panel at 90 degrees and let it support itself using the built-in stand. This makes for a versatile and space-saving solution that can be easily moved around or left standing in one location.

**Conclusion**

Building a DIY window panel is an easy and cost-effective way to create a relaxing and calming source of light in your home. With just a few simple components and some basic tools, you can have a functional window panel up and running in no time. Whether used as a standalone decoration or incorporated into a larger lighting system, this DIY project is sure to bring a touch of elegance and sophistication to any room.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enusing dingi over using dingy overhead light bulbs to illuminate rooms in the evenings doesn't look particularly Pleasant and for some people can even have a negative impact on your mood so in this video what we're going to be doing is recycling some old laptop screens to make a false window light that can illuminate a room in a soft and natural way in in addition to being far more relaxing this project is great for the environment because of recycling and better energy usage because the LEDs used in these screens are just so efficient now this to me feels like a really classic DIY perks video so without further Ado let's get going so the first step in this project is to acquire some broken laptop screens removing these from laptops is usually quite a simple process requiring you to First remove the screen bezel these are often held in by screws that are hidden behind rubber pads and once removed it should just uncp then it's just a case of undoing the screws around the panel itself and pulling it out alternatively you could get some broken screens from a PC repair shop these are usually just thrown away so it's worth giving your local shop a call to see what they've got don't let them charge you much for them though because they really are just thrown away most of the time now keep in mind that there are two backlight types used in laptop screens older ones use compact fluorescent lights whereas newer ones use LEDs which are the type we want for this project and are thankfully becoming the easiest to find to check what type of backlight a panel users perform a search on its model number and take a look at its spec sheets it should be clearly listed as either being led backlit or ccfl backlit another way to tell is by looking at the control board on the back and seeing if there's a small ribbon cable running off it usually on the right hand side if it is there it's usually a good indicator of it being an LED backlit panel in any case once you've got your hands on some panels the first thing to do is set up the power source for this we'll need a 12vt power adapter and as we'll be using four screens which use just under 5 wats each it needs to be able to supply at least 18 Watts at 12 V this is of course 1.5 amps in order to plug this adapter into the screens we'll first get a reasonable length of paired wire and solder a socket to its end for the adapter to plug into here I've made sure that the black wire connects to the negative side and the red wire connects to the positive side as the panels also need a signal voltage in order to turn on we need to also derive around 5 volts from this 12vt power source by making a voltage divider using two of 180 ohm resistors these need to be wired in series between the positive and negative wires on the other end of our extension wire which gives a no load voltage of 6 volts where they meet once that's done we can stick it to the back of a screen using some electrical tape and pull off any plastic that might be covering the circuitry now it's time to get out your magnifying glass because it's time to do some detective work what we need to do is find four contact points on the circuit board this is because the internal LEDs in these panels are driven by this board so we need to provide power to it rather than the LEDs directly as it handles both the current and voltage regulation the easiest contact point to find is the ground PAD as it's big and square and what we need to do is solder a short length of wire to it and connect it to the negative side of our 12volt power source which is of course the black wire now that it's grounded we need to find two smaller pads one labeled LED D and the other labeled pwm these labels can vary a little so have a look at the FAQ in the videos description for Alternatives if you're having trouble finding them to these pads we need to solder two very short lengths of wire which can then be bridged together and connected to the middle of the two resistors so that they both receive that 6vt signal voltage I mentioned earlier this is needed because the pwm pad is intended to receive a very rapid pulse from the laptop depending on the brightness requested if the request is solid like what we're giving it the backlight is also solid meaning that it's left at full brightness as for the LED pad that's essentially an onoff switch requiring a signal voltage in order for it to turn the backlight on the last pad we need to find is usually called V LED and it's often next to a fuse in my case marked TK again there are some variations so don't forget to check that FAQ if you can't find it again we need to solder a short length of wire to this pad and then hook it up to the positive side of the 12volt adapter which is in my case the red wire once that's done we can give it a test and it should light up as soon as it's connected to the 12vt adapter as you can see this particular screen has been pretty bashed up but that doesn't matter as the next step is to remove the LCD layer entirely to allow the backlight to shine through unobstructed to do this we need to first cut through the LCD ribbon cables on the back of the screen using a knife as the circuit board becomes loose after this it's a good idea to hold it in place with some electrical tape afterwards now we can remove any tape surrounding the bezel and pry it upwards all the way around until it comes free now we can lift off the LCD layer and we're left with just the backlight itself one thing to note is how bright it is now without the LCD layer in front of it impressive stuff now there are a few diffusion and frenal layers still over the backlight but I recommend leaving these in as they focus the light forwards and give the impression of a three-dimensional space behind the backlight itself which really helps it to look like a real window just for comparison here's a screen with all of the diffusion and frenal layers left in and one with them all taken out as you can see the one with all the layers left in appears to have shadows of space behind it almost as if you were looking through a very foggy window which really sells the effect the screen with all the layers removed appears flat and 2D in comparison so now the bezel can be put back on and once all of the screens have wired up to the 12volt power adapter and the resistors it's time to fix them all together you can be as elaborate as you like with this depending on your skill level but the simplest way is to just tape them together from the back using gaffet tape there's also an additional bonus to doing it this way which I'll get to in just a minute now we can use a cable tie to thread through the holes on the bezel to make a hook and use it to hang the whole thing in your chosen location now you can turn on your fake window and enjoy a refreshing Lively source of light that will boost your mood and give you a relaxing place to chill in the evenings it's also useful in areas with no windows at at all like this hallway and it is really effective especially considering that in many cases it can be built for barely any money at all recycling for the win another really awesome way to use these panels is as a floor standing light by simply folding it at 90° and letting it support itself so that's it for this video I hope you enjoyed it and if you did don't forget to hit that like button and if you're new to my channel maybe you can consider subscribing as well now on the topic of relaxation one of the things I personally really enjoy doing when I'm relaxing is listening to audiobooks so it's only fitting that I introduced today's sponsor on this video audible who are supporting this channel by providing you guys with one free audio book if you sign up using the link in the description now they've got hundred thousands of titles to choose from so I recommend having a look through and choosing something that you are personally interested in um but if you're stuck one book I read about 8 years ago is Hurricane gold which is basically a James Bond book set when he was a teenager I really enjoyed it then and I've lately had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook version and I enjoyed it just as much so if you're stuck I do recommend giving this one a try now um I'm hoping to do DIY perks full time soon so if you do sign up using that link it does support the channel so seriously thanks cuz you get free audio book plus you're supporting my channel so so yay uh it's a win-win situation um so that's it for this one guys I uh hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time bye for nowusing dingi over using dingy overhead light bulbs to illuminate rooms in the evenings doesn't look particularly Pleasant and for some people can even have a negative impact on your mood so in this video what we're going to be doing is recycling some old laptop screens to make a false window light that can illuminate a room in a soft and natural way in in addition to being far more relaxing this project is great for the environment because of recycling and better energy usage because the LEDs used in these screens are just so efficient now this to me feels like a really classic DIY perks video so without further Ado let's get going so the first step in this project is to acquire some broken laptop screens removing these from laptops is usually quite a simple process requiring you to First remove the screen bezel these are often held in by screws that are hidden behind rubber pads and once removed it should just uncp then it's just a case of undoing the screws around the panel itself and pulling it out alternatively you could get some broken screens from a PC repair shop these are usually just thrown away so it's worth giving your local shop a call to see what they've got don't let them charge you much for them though because they really are just thrown away most of the time now keep in mind that there are two backlight types used in laptop screens older ones use compact fluorescent lights whereas newer ones use LEDs which are the type we want for this project and are thankfully becoming the easiest to find to check what type of backlight a panel users perform a search on its model number and take a look at its spec sheets it should be clearly listed as either being led backlit or ccfl backlit another way to tell is by looking at the control board on the back and seeing if there's a small ribbon cable running off it usually on the right hand side if it is there it's usually a good indicator of it being an LED backlit panel in any case once you've got your hands on some panels the first thing to do is set up the power source for this we'll need a 12vt power adapter and as we'll be using four screens which use just under 5 wats each it needs to be able to supply at least 18 Watts at 12 V this is of course 1.5 amps in order to plug this adapter into the screens we'll first get a reasonable length of paired wire and solder a socket to its end for the adapter to plug into here I've made sure that the black wire connects to the negative side and the red wire connects to the positive side as the panels also need a signal voltage in order to turn on we need to also derive around 5 volts from this 12vt power source by making a voltage divider using two of 180 ohm resistors these need to be wired in series between the positive and negative wires on the other end of our extension wire which gives a no load voltage of 6 volts where they meet once that's done we can stick it to the back of a screen using some electrical tape and pull off any plastic that might be covering the circuitry now it's time to get out your magnifying glass because it's time to do some detective work what we need to do is find four contact points on the circuit board this is because the internal LEDs in these panels are driven by this board so we need to provide power to it rather than the LEDs directly as it handles both the current and voltage regulation the easiest contact point to find is the ground PAD as it's big and square and what we need to do is solder a short length of wire to it and connect it to the negative side of our 12volt power source which is of course the black wire now that it's grounded we need to find two smaller pads one labeled LED D and the other labeled pwm these labels can vary a little so have a look at the FAQ in the videos description for Alternatives if you're having trouble finding them to these pads we need to solder two very short lengths of wire which can then be bridged together and connected to the middle of the two resistors so that they both receive that 6vt signal voltage I mentioned earlier this is needed because the pwm pad is intended to receive a very rapid pulse from the laptop depending on the brightness requested if the request is solid like what we're giving it the backlight is also solid meaning that it's left at full brightness as for the LED pad that's essentially an onoff switch requiring a signal voltage in order for it to turn the backlight on the last pad we need to find is usually called V LED and it's often next to a fuse in my case marked TK again there are some variations so don't forget to check that FAQ if you can't find it again we need to solder a short length of wire to this pad and then hook it up to the positive side of the 12volt adapter which is in my case the red wire once that's done we can give it a test and it should light up as soon as it's connected to the 12vt adapter as you can see this particular screen has been pretty bashed up but that doesn't matter as the next step is to remove the LCD layer entirely to allow the backlight to shine through unobstructed to do this we need to first cut through the LCD ribbon cables on the back of the screen using a knife as the circuit board becomes loose after this it's a good idea to hold it in place with some electrical tape afterwards now we can remove any tape surrounding the bezel and pry it upwards all the way around until it comes free now we can lift off the LCD layer and we're left with just the backlight itself one thing to note is how bright it is now without the LCD layer in front of it impressive stuff now there are a few diffusion and frenal layers still over the backlight but I recommend leaving these in as they focus the light forwards and give the impression of a three-dimensional space behind the backlight itself which really helps it to look like a real window just for comparison here's a screen with all of the diffusion and frenal layers left in and one with them all taken out as you can see the one with all the layers left in appears to have shadows of space behind it almost as if you were looking through a very foggy window which really sells the effect the screen with all the layers removed appears flat and 2D in comparison so now the bezel can be put back on and once all of the screens have wired up to the 12volt power adapter and the resistors it's time to fix them all together you can be as elaborate as you like with this depending on your skill level but the simplest way is to just tape them together from the back using gaffet tape there's also an additional bonus to doing it this way which I'll get to in just a minute now we can use a cable tie to thread through the holes on the bezel to make a hook and use it to hang the whole thing in your chosen location now you can turn on your fake window and enjoy a refreshing Lively source of light that will boost your mood and give you a relaxing place to chill in the evenings it's also useful in areas with no windows at at all like this hallway and it is really effective especially considering that in many cases it can be built for barely any money at all recycling for the win another really awesome way to use these panels is as a floor standing light by simply folding it at 90° and letting it support itself so that's it for this video I hope you enjoyed it and if you did don't forget to hit that like button and if you're new to my channel maybe you can consider subscribing as well now on the topic of relaxation one of the things I personally really enjoy doing when I'm relaxing is listening to audiobooks so it's only fitting that I introduced today's sponsor on this video audible who are supporting this channel by providing you guys with one free audio book if you sign up using the link in the description now they've got hundred thousands of titles to choose from so I recommend having a look through and choosing something that you are personally interested in um but if you're stuck one book I read about 8 years ago is Hurricane gold which is basically a James Bond book set when he was a teenager I really enjoyed it then and I've lately had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook version and I enjoyed it just as much so if you're stuck I do recommend giving this one a try now um I'm hoping to do DIY perks full time soon so if you do sign up using that link it does support the channel so seriously thanks cuz you get free audio book plus you're supporting my channel so so yay uh it's a win-win situation um so that's it for this one guys I uh hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time bye for now\n"