UPDATE: The touchscreen model I'm using is a 15" 3M MicroTouch ChassisTouch LCD Monitor.

In Part 1 of the DIY: Inwall 15" LCD touchscreen, I talked about the parts I'm using. I ended up going with a commercial 15" touchscreen chassis instead of the NEC display I initially posted about. I didn't want to mess around with taking apart the NEC monitor and trying to figure out how to mount it. So I bought one that was made specifically for custom installations. For the frame, I ended up using solid Alder and created a profile I wanted using a Delta Unisaw.

I stained the frame a dark merlot to match my front door. I painted the back of the frame a flat black to act as a shadow. If you look at the following photo, you can see how I'm going to mount the frame to the wall.

The "mounts" hang on the "rails" and two small screws on the top and bottom hold it tight to the wall and in place. The area where the touch screen is being mounted has all the nessessary connections (i.e. power, VGA, audio) inside of the wall. I will be posting more photos with the LCD mounted in the frame as soon as the finish dries.

Based on your emails, you guys are probably wondering where I have been for the past few weeks... I've been working in the Mavromatic labs finishing up a bunch of things. Remember the Walk of Fame star I posted about back in August? I finally got around to taking a couple photos of the finished product (but please excuse the dust). I still need to apply some floor wax over it and give it a good polish. At the very least, you can see what the finish product looks like. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. But to be honest it was one heck of an undertaking! Terrazzo is a beautiful thing with it's all done... the drawback is the amount of work it takes to get it there. Grinding and polishing is VERY messy! I tried both the dry and wet grinding/polish methods... with the dry method you get black fine dust everywhere and with the wet method, get ready to clean all the black muddy paste off of everything up to twelve feet away. Don't say I didn't warn you!

As for the two questions I always get asked, 1) the whole process took a few months and 2) it cost me a grand total of $326.05 (solid brass medalian, solid brass letters, brass outline, terrazzo chips, concrete coloring, 5000psi cement) less labor. And for those of you wondering what the heck "The Grouse" is/means... it's The GReek house. I'm Greek, it's the house I built and it deserves it's own star!

Here is a far shot leading into the theater (not finished yet):

So a few posts back I wrote about how I was getting into NIXIE's (Numeric Indicator eXperimental-1). Well, I took the easy way out and bought a CHRONOTRONIX IN-18 NIXIE Clock. My friend Stephen Lodefink, or as I like to call him, "Lode Fizzle Televissle", has designed and built his own NIXIE clock case (pictured above). He made the beautiful case out of Cocobolo rosewood, plywood, and aluminum. NIXIE tubes come in all different sizes and styles, but for this clock (still not named), he used the end lit Z560M tubes. I wish you guys could see this clock in person, the wood and craftsmanship is amazing!

- More Lodefink NIXIE Clock Photos

Oh, and here is a photo of the clock I ended up buying... It uses the big IN-18 tubes. Enjoy.

I've made some progress on the second prototype of the screen masking controller during Thanksgiving break. The first prototype was a proof-of-concept but it was missing something, a curtain controller. Check out the photo above, you'll see a few devices I'm using to create the controller, a Tini board (runs JAVA VM and has full TCP/IP stack and serial IO which connects to a PIC microprocessor). I wrote a custom webserver for the Tini which interfaces to the PIC via serial and the communication works great. So you can either trigger the masking via an IP based API or via an RF transmitter. I'm holding off on the video input detection method because it would make the system too costly and it would require a lot of work to make it 100% reliable... I may add it in a future version but for now it will stay in the lab. As for the curtain controller, I became a BTX Window Automation Dealer (look for the Mavromatic Store soon) which will interface with the controller nicely.

Imagine a cost effective system that controls your screen masking and curtain with one API. I'll post more info as I get closer to producing some prototype boards... if you have any feedback or ideas please email me.

Well, kind of... the guys over at Tomshardware.com are always up to something... this time they took a 1024x768 LCD panel from a cheap LCD monitor and placed it over a 350 watt overhead projector. It's not pretty, but if you only have a few hundred dollars and some time on your hands, you too could have your very own HD overhead projector display. This brings back memories... I remember there actually being a product like this, you would plug your computer into the panel and when placed over an overhead projector the image would be projected. Of course, those panels weren't anything close to the resolution available today.

- Tom Hardware: Supersize Your TV for $300: Build Your Own XGA Projector!

I sometimes go overboard on things, heck, I installed my very own Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star in my lobby (final photos to be posted soon). It's great to see there are others going to great lengths to bring the local cineplex decor to their home. Jason over at MAX-HEADROOM.COM bought an old ATM LED Sign, wrote some custom software and created a pretty impressive Mylar Sign holder with a custom LED messages. The How To and software are free and he provides links to Sam's Club and eBay for the LED sign itself. This is a bit extreme for even my tastes, but if you want to treat your family and friends to a realistic theater environment, then this DIY project may be for you.

- AVS FORUM: mylar Backlit Sign with LED Display
- MAX-HEADROOM.COM: ATM Sign Conversion