Custom control board for TVs?

[bobbintb]

I've been disassembling a lot of televisions lately and thinking about how they have become more simplified over the years, mostly consisting of a PSU and 1 or 2 other boards, along with the display. I've also seem a project or two where a laptop screen was hooked up to a Raspberry Pi and I started wondering if it would be possible to replace the control board in a TV with a Raspberry Pi. Initially, I'd like to see if the display can be repurposed as a monitor, like with this laptop display:
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.co...-laptop-screen
Maybe in the future, even replace the control board entirely with a Pi Compute Module or something similar. Maybe make a more universal control board eventually. I realize this is no simple feat. Just more of a curiosity at the moment as to how feasible it would be. Thoughts or opinions?

[Curious.George]

Re: Custom control board for TVs?

Initially, I'd like to see if the display can be repurposed as a monitor, like with this laptop display:
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.co...-laptop-screen
Maybe in the future, even replace the control board entirely with a Pi Compute Module or something similar. Maybe make a more universal control board eventually. I realize this is no simple feat. Just more of a curiosity at the moment as to how feasible it would be. Thoughts or opinions?

The electronics inside the TV have to do a few things:
- receive cable/OTA broadcasts
- drive speakers with the associated audio
- decode the "video" into signals appropriate for the LCD panel in use
- interact with the user (buttons, remote control)

Beyond that, sets typically include:
- support various audio-video CODECs
- support on-line services
- support updates

Most (all?) TVs are unsupported in very short order. So, a particular A/V CODEC is likely to not be supported OR crash when invoked with a variant of the original code (which may be buggy!)

Most on-line services are crippled or gatewayed.

Whatever the manufacturer had in mind for you as a user is likely not what you, as THE user, want.

So, treat TVs as giant monitors. Connect one of their "unused" inputs (HDMI, DVI, composite, <whatever>) to the output of a PC and install AND SUPPORT whatever features you wwant on the PC instead of relying on the good graces (and competence!) of the manufacturer.

[This is a great "rescue" for TVs that are a year or two old and no longer "current"; you can always update the software on the PC long after the TV vendor has given up on the TV itself!]