What is a home automation system without a 15″ inwall LCD touchscreen? Exactly! I don’t understand why a raw touchscreen monitor without the base and plastic costs more than a standard 15″ LCD monitor? Solution, take a 15″ LCD touchscreen monitor bought off of ebay and turn it into a custom inwall touchscreen… I choose a 15″ NEC 1560v+ with integrated touchscreen because the viewing angles on NEC LCD displays are excellent. The screen will act as a digital picture frame when not in use and will also have built-in microphone and speakers via a 1 watt Canakit CK122.:

In order to send the VGA video (1024×768) and serial to the machine, which will live in an equipment room about 30′ away, I chose a Minicom VGA Data Transmitter.
The VGA Data Transmitter thus far has made the video look a little soft. I don’t know if this is because the cat5e cable is not shielded like recommended from the manufacturer or because the device limits the bandwidth because it shares it with the serial data. The serial transmitter is working great. I will call Minicom this week to see what they say. I also ordered a 50′ tripled shielded VGA cable so I can run to the computer before the walls go up.
I plan to create a custom frame for the monitor in Brazilian Cherry, the same wood that will be used for the flooring. I will post updates to this thread as I get further along with this project.
My plan is that this will be done in 3 parts:
– Part 1: The Parts (figuring out what I need)
– Part 2: The Frame (mounting the LCD display and parts)
– Part 3: Wiring/Installing Panel (making it look pretty)