Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

Hi group,

I've uploaded some pix showing my LCD mod for my CZ1. 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/photos/album/1481989801/pic/list

Basically, I picked up 5v from pins 1 and 2 of the LCD. Got 4 5mm LEDs 
and a resistor (55 ohm; I figured the value using an online LED 
calculator [thanks, fran!]).

In order to have the light evenly spread below the LCD glass, I got a 
small piece of acrylic which I sanded with a fine grain sandpaper so as 
to be able to fit it under the LCD and also to refract the light. I 
wanted a colored acrylic, like yellow or green, but only found 
transparent. I placed a strip of white paper below the acrylic so that 
light would be reflected upwards. Smooth side of the acrylic went on the 
bottom side (in contact with the paper) while sanded side faced top 
(right below the LCD glass).

The LEDs are blue (yellow looked good but didn't seem to be strong, so...)

Display has a "violeter" hue than in the first pix. In total darkness, 
it is hard to read the characters if you look from above the keyboard. 
If you look from a normal playing angle, though, it is readable indeed. 
I set contrast to the max. If I get tired of blue I will try yellow next 
time :)

There is some light leakage from the LEDs that you can see in the pix. I 
fixed that later by sealing the space between LCD and plastic chassis in 
the top panel of the CZ1.

Thanks Gordon and Fran for your input and hope you guys like it!

Dave

On 08/12/2010 08:01, narfman96 wrote:
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> My microKORG XL uses little tiny yellow LED's and acrylic so this 
> should work. Go here to this site for all the details for driving 
> bright LED's from a power supply voltage ->
>
> http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fled_info.htm 
> <http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fled_info.htm>
>
> Don't forget to disconnect the inverter so nothing gets zapped. Some 
> of them have 400 vac outputs. Let us know how it goes....
>
> Good luck, Fran
> --- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com <mailto:CZsynth%40yahoogroups.com>, 
> "davidmochen" <davidmochen@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I own a CZ1 with an almost dead EL backlight.
> >
> > What I would like to know is:
> >
> > 1) is there any chance to hack the inverter circuit/transformer so 
> that it could feed a couple LEDs which I plan to place besides the 
> LCD? (more details on that below). AFAIK the input to the inverter is 
> VDC, so maybe disabling the transformer and doing some extra stuff 
> would get the point.
> >
> > 2) if 1 above is a no-no, where can I get appropriate current from 
> for driving a couple bright LEDs? I've seen some posts where a brand 
> new display with built-in LED backlight was retrofitted into 
> non-backlit models like CZ1000. The on switch was mentioned, but I 
> also saw that also pins 1 and 2 of the LCD can be used for that. Also, 
> could I disable the inverter circuit so as to save some power?
> >
> > My idea is to keep the existing LCD and fit it with a custom 
> backlight. I've been doing some tests with a tiny rectangular piece of 
> acrylic sanded on one side so as to diffuse light. I placed it where 
> the EL foil used to be and lit it with a small LED lantern. Light gets 
> effectively across it and the LCD gets softly lit so I think if I 
> placed two strong-enough LEDs at both sides of the acrylic I would get 
> a nice backlight.
> >
> > I have only very basic electronics knowledge but am not afraid of 
> soldering stuff. :)
> >
> > Thanks very much in advance for any help.
> >
> > Dave
> >
>
> 


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