Hack30.Supersize Your Fold-Down LCD Screen

Hack 30. Supersize Your Fold-Down LCD Screen

A lower-cost, higher-quality fold-down screen awaits you with standard ceiling- and wall-mounting approaches.

If you want a big screen in your car, you can go to your local car stereo shop and spend $1,000 on a 14" fold-down monitor. While flashy and large, the quality of this monitor will leave much to be desired because of its composite-only video inputs and its low TV resolution.

Alternatively, you can go to your local computer shop and spend $199 on a 15" LCD flat-screen monitor. The lowest-end flat-screen computer monitor, with a VGA input and at least 1024 x 768 resolution, has far better quality than a high-end car screen.

The difference, of course, is that the car screen has a custom molded fold-down enclosure, whereas the desktop LCD has a stand. But fortunately the Video Electronics Standards Organization (VESA) has standardized a mounting system for flat-screen monitors. As a result, most LCD monitors use either a 100-mm or 75-mm square bolt pattern on the back, and companies such as OmniMount (http://www.omnimount.com) and AVF Vector (http://usen.avfgroup.com) offer a large array of inexpensive mounting solutions that can be adapted for in-car use.

If your seats are big enough, you could mount a 15" flat screen for each passenger! Instead of headrest screens, you can use OmniMount's QM-100F (a $50 flat-screen wall mount) to give each passenger an in-car theatre experiencefor under $250 per seat!

In my own installation, I tried using the OmniMount first. It installed fairly easily and looked great, but each time I folded down the screen it torqued the wood block I had glued to my ceiling, which eventually broke loose. I kept shopping, and finally at Home Depot I found the AVF Vector LCD005 (Figure 3-11). This unit, also designed for mounting an LCD screen under a cabinet, worked great, because it folds down with no tension and stays up by sliding and locking into placea lower-tech solution than the OmniMount, but better suited for the vehicle. In my 2005 Dodge Caravan, the crossmember over the front seats had a fortuitously located metal bracket with a small hole in it. I simply widened the hole with a drill bit, put a nut above it, and bolted the unit into the ceiling. (You can see other pictures from this installation in "Install a Mac Mini in Your Car" [Hack #54]).

Figure 3-11. A 15" fold-down LCD screen

These VESA screen mounts are generally attractive, but they won't be mistaken for a factory install. Still, mounting a high-resolution 15" LCD screen in your vehicle for the street price of an 8" car screen is a much better upgrade, in my opinion.