Recycling LCD TV

[cappy]

I'm an artist that uses technology quite frequently in my work, mostly TV's, camera's and such, and let me state that I have a very basic knowledge of electronics. I recently made a video projector from an old overhead projector and the screen from an old LCD TV I had from a sculpture. When I dismantled the TV, I removed the light source with the hope of using it in another project. However I have been unsuccessful in getting it to work. The light source was attached to the circuit board by a red and a white wire coming from the light, next to their connection on the circuit board was a ground wire. Now the power range is DC 9-12V, I have the proper AC DC adaptor but it a two prong and thus no ground, how can I replicate the original connection to get the light to work.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The light source in an LCD TV is a number of CCFL's fed from an inverter. As well as power, the inverter normally both receives data from the processor in the TV, and sends data back to it. If the inverter doesn't supply the correct signal back, the processor will usually shut it down completely.

 

[cappy]

In the past I've programed a logo chip to run various sensors and electronics, is this something that can be achieved through a logo chip, or is it possible to use these lights by some other means not quite so elaborate?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

In the past I've programed a logo chip to run various sensors and electronics, is this something that can be achieved through a logo chip, or is it possible to use these lights by some other means not quite so elaborate?

It depends entirely on the specific inverter, hopefully it will just want specific voltages and logic levels, rather than any digital data. Once you've found out what it needs, you can just supply those voltages.

 

[cappy]

Thanks for your help, I'll see what I can figure out.