I'm thinking about putting an LCD screen in my T/A. I'm curious to know how to link it to a stereo. Could I just get a player that is capable of playing DVD's and all CD-R/RW/VCD's and just link it to a separate LCD screen? I'd prefer to do this, but I don't know exactly how to go about doing it. I'd appreciate ANY input on this. I found this on ebay.......could it work for my proposed application?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=48609

 

this screen would work exellent for the application u are proposing, the screen is meant for cars, which means it probably has the cig light adapter on it, and it accepts RCA input, which all vcrs/dvd players have, so u are set.

 

All car screens are designed to operate on a 12 volt power input, and have an RCA-style video input plug. To run the audio through your existing stereo, you need to either have a deck with auxiliary inputs, or buy an FM modulator. When I did mine I bought a matching DVD and head unit. They look the same, and the same remote control can work both. I like the little things like having the head unit automatically switch to the aux input when I put in the DVD.

 

Wow, Jim..that's a CLEAN lookin' setup ya got there! Very nice! I've got a couple questions....How did you power your screen? Is there a combo where I can have the DVD player and CD/MP3?CD-R/RW and a radio? Where I can just hook the whole thing up to the LCD screen? Also....is there a way to have animations play when I'm just listening to the radio or a CD? Similar to Window Media Player....the effects...is there a way to have that play when I'm not watching a DVD? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm just doing some research into the idea now..Thanks!!

 

what i did in my old car is i had an alpine HU and got a special cable that converted the cd changer output into an auxillary input. I hooked that up to a ps2 which plays dvds and then from that i went to a roof mounted tv screen. That way the tv plays through all your speakers/subs in your system and i think its quite a bit cheaper aswell

 

Also, there is a reason why some screens are $400+ and that one is $80... Quality Quality Quality!!

 

just remember matt, here in texas, mounting the LCD there is illegal.

As far as how it all works, its pretty simple. You buy an LCD, that LCD will have an input wire (most likely RCA) and power wires. You hook up the power wires to an ACC wire on the fuse box (so its only on when the car is on) and then you take the input wire and hook it up to your device of choice. You can buy a DVD player and mount it under a seat, or in the dash vent like above, or you can put a PS1/PS2/XBox, whatever if you want gaming. As far as having a media player like visual effect......that would pretty much require a PC or some sort of special box designed for that. If your just listening to a CD on your head unit, then the LCD would basically just be sitting there doing nothing.

 

Hey Jim, is that your setup? If it is, do you have anymore pics? Looks great! Oh yeah, to keep this related to the thread, don't buy those screens off of ebay. I do not think i have ever heard of them before-"Road Rage"!?!? WTF? Anyway, get a magazine like mobile audio/video, something like that to give you ideas. Sure, you don't have to stick with name brands, but c'mon, a "LCD" screen for under $100 that works great, never heard of one brand new. Something like that needs to work great, otherwise, why get it, just for the ohh and ahh factor. No big deal now a days to have a tv in your car.

 

You may want to investigate that law further. In most states that I'm aware of, the law is written in a way that makes it legal if you have it set up to only operate with the emergency brake on. This prevents it from being used in any situations other than when you're parked. In most cases it's only illegal if it's ON while you're driving. If you don't have it turned on, you're not breaking laws.

 

If you do a search for "stereo upgrade" in this forum with my username selected, you should see my 4 threads that highlight every step of the installation.

 

Thanks for the tip! I looked on your site but there were no pics or info. So i figured i would ask. Now i'll just find the threads. thanks

 

on the topic: So basically you want a head unit and a serperate screen? alpine has a setup like this, the dvd and everything is in the head unit and then you hook up a screen seperately. last time i checked it was like $800.
off the topic:
sorry to bother, but Jim could you (or did you) give brands and prices(if you dont mind me asking)?
Later, and good luck
Jared(84'fxrupr)

 

brands & prices:

My monitor is a Nesa 7". It sold for somewhere around $500 or more when I bought it, but you can get them for $300 or so on Ebay now.

My dvd player is a JVC DV7, which sells for around $300 or so.

Installation didn't really cost me anything, but if you had to pay for an equivalent install, expect to pay $1500 or more.

 

So does your DVD player play CD-R/RW's too? I'd basically like one player hooked up to an LCD screen. So a DVD/CD-R/RW/V-CD/MP3 player would be what I'm looking for....

 

it plays cd-r/rw/v-cd. I'm not sure about MP3. It may.

 

So you basically have your other player as a radio? You use your DVD player to play all your discs?

 

no. DVDs go in the dvd player, cds go in the cd player. Usually whatever dvd goes into the player stays there for a while, so I still use the cd player for daily changes.

 

Damn, is there a player that will play all kinda of discs? I'm basically looking for one unit to put my discs into, and when I put a DVD in, It'll automatically show up on the LCD screen.

 

Well I know there are head units that play dvd's and (music) cd's, but I'm not sure if there are any that don't have the built in fold-out screen. But then again, that saves space so that's what you may want to do....

 

I was thinking of putting a touch screen lcd panel in and have it display the batter, oil, temp, and gas gauges digitally, but dont know how, plus i want it to display the stereo to. Like windows media player. It would rock if I could do that. Anybody know how to do that?

 

Hey tammat if you havent purchased a reciever yet check pioneer
Model # DVH-P5000MP, it plays cd/cdrs/cdrws/vcds/mp3/&dvds. I just purhcased one from crutchfield.com for about $500 or so, Im very pleased with it. I also bought a pioneer 8" wide screen to go with it. Ill try and post some pics once I take one and find out how to post them, lol

 

Hey if you can't post them here try cardomain.com... it's free. Yes i would be very intrested in pictures! Thanks,