When I have a meeting at work, I usually go into one of our phone booths. The issue is: there is no extra monitor. The same issue arises when working in trains. So I built a USB-C powered secondary screen that can simply be attached on top of the laptop screen!
A broken laptop still lying around had a Full HD resolution and roughly the same size as my Thinkpad P15s. Luckily, I found a display driver board on AliExpress that not only supports that display type but also takes USB-C as an input and controls the display via the 30 edPin flat band cable. Next, the back panel and housing was made via laser cutting plywood and I removed some additional wood to embed the circuit board into the wooden back panel. The most trickiest part was to design and 3D print the snap-on adapter, since it should be easy to attach and remove it but also stiff enough to not wobble. Since I hadn’t flexible filament, I needed two tries and the help of a hot air gun to adjust dimensions. It also took me some time to find a suitable USB-C cable: I didn’t want to have one that’s too long and it should have angled plugs and it must support enough bandwidth to project the screen. Because not every USB-C cables are equally fast and most of them won’t support screen sharing if not explicitly mentioned! But finally, I found one!
Here my whole shopping list (last date of access of all links: January 22, 2025):
- LCD Controller Board
- EDP I-PEX 0,5 MM Band Kabel – 30 Pin, Same Direction, 20 cm
- AAOTOKK 90°Links und Rechts USB 3,1 C zu Typ C Männlich 4K
I love this self made screen extension, which already serves me since April 2024 with these advantages:
- Doubling the display size window -> reducing switching time -> increasing work efficiency
- Reducing neck stress as you don’t need to bend down your head too often
- More comfort working environments that lack an extra monitor
But to be honest, it also has these disadvantages:
- The screen that I salvaged from the broken laptop is glossy, which is harder to use in light environment.
- Your body covers less of the screen so people can peek your screen from the sides more easily.
- Of course the battery does not last as long as without. But with recent Thinkpads it’s possible to project and charge at the same time.