My grand plan is to create a TV head with a functional LED face, hopefully, controlled by a Wii Nunchuk. The Nunchuk will allow me to have a vast array of faces using its joystick and two buttons.
The very first thing that I did was search for a TV or monitor using an app that allows people to sell items to others and allows local pickups. The tv or monitor was a CRT type. Many will recognize it for the glass screen and how boxy it is. I needed this specific type since I could comfortably wear it.
Before there were strict coronavirus-related rules, I was able to buy a CRT TV for 25$. I went home and quickly got to work with the screws. When I first opened it, I was surprised by the number of electronics in it as well as the screen itself. Most strangely and eyecatching was the tube and copper like fibers bellow it. I always thought it was just glass and some wire, never did I think there was a tube in it. However, the glass had a big backing, which took up most of the space. The actual board was big but flat and slid right underneath the screen. The actual tv buttons had long brown plastic pieces. Seeing this, I realized that there were variations of push-button switches. Overwhelmed with the electronics, I felt like I should do more research instead of working immediately. I also saw the warning stickers inside it and was deterred from working further. I learned how to discharge a CRT monitor via YouTube.
The next day came, and now with new knowledge, I collected some supplies; I used a screwdriver, doubled my work gloves, and used car jumper-cables in replacement for alligator clips. There's a red marked part of the TV and a suction cup on it; this was the part that needed to come off for safety. I connected one end of the cable to the screwdriver and grounded myself to the spring part of the TV. I slipped the screwdriver under the suction cup and discharged it. For safety measures, I took the suction cup, tube, and any wires off the TV and removed the screws using the screwdriver that was still grounded.
I then took the TV outside and hosed it down to rid of all the dust and cobwebs in it. I used the rest of the time to look and order the parts necessary for this to work. This included the LED matrix I needed and a product similar to the Arduino Uno board.
Below I included some images of the process as well, I didn't have an example of the suction cup thing so I included an image of someone else discharging their own tv.
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