Question Repurpose UHD TV components

[benbazz]

Hi all,

I'm a longtime fan of Tom's Guides but this is my first post in this forum as I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some guidance please.

My 14 year old son has taken apart a Samsung 50” Crystal UHD DU7100 4K Smart TV (2024).
He has kept the speakers, motherboard, and LEDs.
He wants to set these up in his bedroom, either combined or separate, in a manner that will be visibly pleasing, safe from electric shocks and fire, and usable.
He has a limited budget but needs guidance on what materials to buy (and preferably from where in the UK) and how to set it up.
(He has a TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad onto which he considered mounting the motherboard, either as a solely aesthetic tool or as a practical way to keep the motherboard cool, if necessary.)

If anyone is able to give some advice please then he and I would be very grateful.

 

[Eximo]

For use as a speaker system? How will he interact with the interface?

Aside from normal safety of making sure any active AC line in and the high voltage power stage capacitors are kept away from people it should be safe to mount it to things. If you are using that laptop cooling pad, make sure the ground plane is connected to the plastic just in case the plastic is metal bearing (common with electronics) it will add a little bit of extra safety.

Not sure how you could secure it from fire except using fire resistance plastics. Various electronics project boxes might be worth a look. Maybe metal plate separated and above the large capacitors in case they blow out. That would keep any small fireballs from igniting nearby things.

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/...MI1Yu4n4XyjgMV-TMIBR29WwS4EAQYAiABEgJve_D_BwE

https://www.polycase.com/lp-35p?gad...MI1Yu4n4XyjgMV-TMIBR29WwS4EAQYBCABEgJeOvD_BwE

Just some ideas, not specific recommendations.

 

[benbazz]

Many thanks for your reply, Eximo.

I think his main intentions are to have a project to get stuck into and fit the motherboard to be aesthetically pleasing as a working display piece at the end.

The lights and the speakers will be attached to the motherboard, either directly or, if we can find the right connectors, via Bluetooth. We will then be able to do some basic set up of this using the remote and Smartthings. The lights would then be easily set up to switch on when the 'TV' is switched on using Google Home, and he could cast to the speakers.

My thinking is encasing the motherboard in perspex of some sort, a bit like a DIY desktop case. Not sure if this is the right (safe) material and whether the whole perspex box should be mounted on the cooling fan or whether the motherboard should be on the cooling fan inside the perspex. Also not sure how to connect the motherboard to the perspex (or cooling fan) as it has components on both sides and whether two separate perspex sheets would be better, joined together by little pillars, or metal sheets or what. And where does one buy all this stuff? I know this new internet thing is catching on but wondered if there were specific, cheap sites that electronic DIY enthusiasts used, or whether hardware stores in the local town were the best option, and whether our friends in T.emu and A.liExpress, etc were best avoided.

 

[benbazz]

Then, if we try to go down the Bluetooth route for connection, how I would research the right connectors and how I would connect this up to the motherboard and to the speakers or lights.

Then there's the casing for the lights. Something simple would be, well quite simple. But wondering if there's casing that would refract the light or add a little more wow-factor.

It's the sort of project that 12 months ago would have been great fun to do together but I'm keen to try to catch his attention with it as he is sadly becoming a 15 year old who is forgetting all of his old interests as he spends his life starting at social media 🙁