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ada
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 12:41 pm: | 
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Is it possible to repair a broken display on an IXUS? If possible, how, and at what price? |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 11:30 pm: |
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By the IXUS I am assuming that you mean the camera Canon sold as the 'ELPH' in the USA... but this answer applies to many cameras that use small LCD displays for exposure, flash, winder, and other info.
Many small LCD's are connected to the remainder of the camera circuitry using what are called 'zebra' connectors. A 'zebra' connector is made of alternating stripes of conductive and non-conductive rubber. The 'zebra' in the name is obvious when you see one because the conductive rubber often is black while the non-conductive is white or clear.
The LCD has small conductive areas imprinted onto it that connect to the electrically active areas that change the liquid crystal (LC in LCD) from polar-aligned to non-aligned. The circuit board of the camera will also have electric pads laid out as a row of small squares or dots of gold (usually) in a row. The 'zebra' connector strip goes between the circuit board and the backside of the LCD panel, which is held in place with a metal frame usually screwed or soldered in place.
To replace an LCD panel mounted this way, first buy or source a replacement LCD panel. In the case of the IXUS you can probably still get this from Canon directly. Typically the small panels are surprisingly inexpensive... I bought one for a Ricoh point-and-shoot for about $6 I think. Next you have to expose the circuit board and have access to the frame holding down the LCD panel. Determine if it is held in place with screws or soldered, and release the frame and remove the old LCD panel... underneath you will find the 'zebra' stripes. Don't disturb them if you can help it, lay the new replacement LCD panel in place, and re-anchor it by screwing or soldering the frame back in place. This will slightly compress the 'zebra' connector strips, making contact between the circuit board and the LCD panel. Then reassemble the camera.
While I don't specifically know if the IXUS is fixable in this fashion many common cameras are, and a broken LCD panel might make the camera cheap... NOTE that the LCD panels commonly found in digital cameras, which display the pictures in full color, typically are NOT mounted this way, and replacing one of those is beyond my experience. |
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