Converting a sony vaio slimtop lcd for use with standard analog input.
Not long ago I rather foolishly purchased a vaio pcva-141lap slim top PC LCD monitor without making a thorough inspection of the unit. Noticing that it was made by Sony I expected that it would be held to the same impeccable standards that all other Sony monitors are (its a shame that they seem to intentionaly make their game machines a crapy as posible).
Needless to say I was disappointed to find that the monitor featured a rather odd whip, not in the least similar to the standard DB-15 connector that most PC monitors use. Upon closer inspection I noticed that it looked like a miniature version of a centronix SCSI cable.
Armed with this description I went hunting for an adapter. I thought my problems where solved when a salesman at my local frys told me that some of the LCD digital output ATI video cards used a connector that fit my description. This made sense as the L600, the computer with which this monitor was shipped, used an ATI 3d rage lt pro chipset. I figured all I needed to do was buy an ati video card with support for digital LCD monitors.
Unfortunately, after bringing the monitor to several Sony retailers in search of a compatible video card I discovered that in actuality the monitor used a proprietary Sony connector. So I broke down and resigned my self to the fact that it was going to be necessary for me to fabricate an adapter myself. Which I figured shouldn’t be too difficult.
I knew all ati chipsets would have standard signal outputs even if the OEM decided not to use a standard connector. I would just track down the technical specs for the pin out and a female version of the physical connector, then wire myself up an adapter. I assumed that since Sony keeps such thorough documentation on all its products, the pin out would be easy to track down.
After once again going from electronics store to electronics store I found out that the connector was more proprietary than I had though. It seems that Sony had actually fabricated the connector themselves. If I didn’t want to simply lop the end off of the whip and use my own connector, the only place I was going to get the female version was either directly from Sony, or from ripping one out of a vaio slim top computer.
I finally broke down and called Sony technical support, (which I probably should have done in the first place), then asked them how I might go about procuring one of these female connectors and the pin out I would need to wire an adapter. The tech was very courteous and helped me as much as he could. He told me that because of the video chipset the L600 used, the pcva-141lap monitor actually took an analog signal rather than digital(Im not so sure he was right about that, the rage pro lt cards do support a digital interface), and that I could probably adapt it to a standard DB-15 connector, but could only get the parts and diagrams I needed from a Sony repair center.
I called the Sony repair center on Zanker road in San Jose, but they had an automated line that would only give me their hours and address. So I drove about an hour to get to this repair center, where the employees were polite, but told me in no uncertain terms that they would not get the parts for me.
Now I’m just stumped, and exhausted, so I was hoping I could find some one that could give me a few pointers on how to proceed from this point. If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
-Thanks
-Orochi
