> First; If I read it right the TP 755CS and TP 755CSE did not actually come with TFT screens but rather DSTN screens. i.e. the screens pulled from TP 755CSE's and posted on e-bay are most likely DSTN screens and thus not of any real use to this community.
Yes, the original screens on the 750Cs, 755Cs, 355Cs, 360Cs, 360Cse and 755CSe are all the same 640x480 9.5" 256-color DSTN screen. There appears to be a fair amount of EBay supply of new, factory-original screens of this type, complete with test and calibration charts. I have bought a few new screens of this type off E-Bay for less than $10 each mainly to keep as 'universal replacement' spares to take care of future breakages. These are 640x480, and therefore of not much use as an I-Opener replacement. I may add that these screens are some of the most visually-striking DSTN screeens I have seen: with deep, saturated reds, good contrast, good edge-to-edge uniformity and minimal flickering (with the right drivers and color schemes). They have a very visible "warmth", which is easy on the eyes for extended use.
> Putting that aside for a moment, If I follow the swap out constraints above, the TP 755CS is capable of driving an 8 bit TFT taken from ANY TP as long as the correct cable is used. i.e. to identify the pinouts of one of the TP 8 bit TFT's I not only need to identify the pinouts at the connector on the mother board but also positively identify the correct cable and follow it through to the TFT.
Yes, I believe the 755Cs can drive any TFT screen from any 750c/750ce/755c, and in fact the system board is identical to the 755c. However, the BIOS may have different defaults for the CRT controller initialization. It appears to be smart enough to recognize the TFT screen and adjust accordingly (this is most probably done with some loopback-sense signals on the flex-cable assembly from the system board to the display).
> The pedigree of the screen that I have is a little vague. I was told it came from a TP 755C. Which, from your list above, could be one of two flavors, one of which is a potential DTI and thus the cable issue is now a concern, especially since I do not have a cable.
The screens can be readily distinguished when seen side by side, or even individually.
1) The DSTN screens are all 9.5".
2) The earlier TFT screens are all 10.4" and have two backlight tubes, one each at top and bottom. When seen face-on with the unit switched off, the gold metalization for the pixels is individually visible, with non-reflective gaps between pixels. The screen surface is more shiny and relective.
3) The DTI screens are 10.4"/10.5" and have one backlight tube at the top. When seen face-on with the unit switched off, individual pixels are not readily visible, since reflective gold metalization is not used. It is not easy to distinguish the gaps between individual pixels. The screen surface is dull, due to a special anti-reflective coating that is used to cut ambient light and increase the contrast.
The thing to note is that the 800x600 DTI TFT screen (the most desirable as an I-Opener replacement) is a fairly rare bird, and not all 755Cx units had this screen. I do, however, have one or two working units with this screen, but I'd need to disassemble them to get to the part number - I'll get to it when time allows.
All the TFT screens from 755C/CE/CD/CDV machines are 640x480 only, so there will be reduced resolution on an I-Opener.
> Can you identify by part number which flavor I have? Any chance your collection would include the correct cable as well?
I'll try to match your part numbers with identified types in my collection and post in a day or two; there may be some partial disassembly to perform. I'll try to locate the appropriate cable as well.
I'll also put together a carton of relevant parts (may include a few dead displays, representative of each type, at least one 755Cs system unit, and maybe a couple of flex cables) as soon as I can, which will probably be by the end of the week.
