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Model specific boards => Golf mk4 => Topic started by: Wazzzer on 30 June 2015, 22:29

Title: Instrument cluster LCD inversion - complete!
Post by: Wazzzer on 30 June 2015, 22:29
Anyone done it? Thinking about doing mine but smallest sheet of film I can buy is enough for a 10" tablet screen lol
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion
Post by: Technane on 07 July 2015, 15:11
id never heard of this, but a bit of googling gave me this?
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-convert-a-plain-G-Shock-DW-5600-to-a-negati/step1/Cutting-and-replacing-the-new-polarizing-film/

based on that alone it looks like he cuts the film? if its just a polarizing film then cutting it shouldn't be a problem. its just the orientation that's important.
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion
Post by: Wazzzer on 07 July 2015, 22:55
bitten the bullet and bought some film. Also had a play with a spare cluster I have in the shed

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/20150626_135049_zpsvrb2jrxu.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/20150626_135049_zpsvrb2jrxu.jpg.html)

Figured out how to do it properly though so watch this space...
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion
Post by: thai-wronghorse on 14 July 2015, 22:05
I've being considering this myself actually, look forward to more info.
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion - UPDATED
Post by: Wazzzer on 14 July 2015, 22:31
A little update for you, been in the man shed tinkering this evening

I first tried the new film on my spare cluster which still has the indigo backlighting and it looks like this...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/20150714_185041_zpsgoqda1pu.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/20150714_185041_zpsgoqda1pu.jpg.html)

Bear in mind this is a daytime pic with a bit of shading so the numbers actually showed up on my camera. Not sure what it will look like in the car but I'll get a pic when I try it

Now I had a bit of confidence I started with my Bora cluster that has had red/white LEDs fitted all round

This was the result...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/20150714_214301_zpsztednv2v.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/20150714_214301_zpsztednv2v.jpg.html)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/20150714_214318_zpszrqhsgxz.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/20150714_214318_zpszrqhsgxz.jpg.html)

Not entirely happy with the amount of bleed through the background has but tomorrow I'll be experimenting with a few filters to see if I can calm it down a bit. The camera does make it look brighter than it actually is though. One thing I have noticed is the white numbers on a black background don't look very easy to read when the lights are off but that could just be that it was dark. I have the VDO immo3 cluster anyway so I can have the displays come on with ignition if I want but it's something to keep in mind. More updates soon :smiley:
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion
Post by: Wazzzer on 15 July 2015, 21:57
Well here we are, the finished cluster...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/SDC14898_zpskga89m2d.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/SDC14898_zpskga89m2d.jpg.html)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/SDC14900_zpsijd4aaen.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/SDC14900_zpsijd4aaen.jpg.html)

I'm a lot happier with the displays now after adding a 120gsm bit of cream card to diffuse the LED brightness a bit. If I had to do them again I'd remove the front filter instead of the back and leave the silver filter that is on there as standard but these look good for now. If I find a set of clocks at the scrappy I'll maybe modify the displays from them. The displays aren't easy to see in the daytime as I thought so I'll be modifying the eeprom to have them lit all the time tomorrow :afro:
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion - complete!
Post by: benmanc on 16 July 2015, 07:18
... And I have two of my led's out on my clocks and thought I had a challenge ahead
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion - complete!
Post by: thai-wronghorse on 16 July 2015, 22:41
Looks good fella, the daytime visibility is something that has been on my mind recently what with the brighter sunlit days rendering the clock and odometer virtually impossible to see.
How much of a ballache is it to have them lit up constantly?
Title: Re: Instrument cluster LCD inversion - complete!
Post by: Wazzzer on 17 July 2015, 13:26
A quick night time pic...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/WesRS/20150716_221409_zps2gke2sii.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WesRS/media/20150716_221409_zps2gke2sii.jpg.html)

I still want to get the backgrounds darker...

It's only doable if you have the immo3 VDO cluster and change the eeprom in the same way as you do for the lit needles