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I'm working on a project with a touch 7 inch LCD and a Raspberry Pi. The 7 inch LCD came with a driver board and a flex connector for the LCD and the touch.

Are there any adapters that I can get to turn that flex connector into a normal connector so that I can keep my driver board at some distance (1m or so) from the LCD itself?

Why do LCDs use these connectors?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Cost and compactness. I would bet money that extending the cable that far destroys signal integrity. This isn't an HDMI cable. These are the last leg signals to directly drive the LCD. \$\endgroup\$
    – DKNguyen
    Commented Aug 20, 2021 at 20:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ Google for "LCD extension kit". You'll find some results and can try. But as DKNguyen alluded, signal integrity degrades as a function of distance, number of pixels, colors, update rate. It maybe better to keep this cable short and make the power and other input cables to the Raspberry PI longer so that you can interact at 1m distance ! \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 20, 2021 at 21:17
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    \$\begingroup\$ They make such things for laptop screens, which use round cables that snake through the hinge to connect the mobo to the LCD. 1m might be a bit much though. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 21, 2021 at 0:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ You could chop both ends off of a ribbon cable and then solder one side to your screen and the other side to your far-end equipment. I would only attempt this if you are very good at soldering and have a microscope handy. \$\endgroup\$
    – user4574
    Commented Aug 21, 2021 at 4:43

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These flat ribbons are used because they are extremely compact and flexible. They can fit into the tight designs used by products that use these screens.

The ribbons are all non-standard and are custom made much in the same way as PCBs are all custom for the product they are used in. This makes them very hard to replace.

The connectors are standard components. However I don't think there are any adapters to allow regular wires to be attached to such a connector, nor will you be able to connect regular wires to such a connector. Such an adapter might be created by someone if they were so inclined.

It is in theory possible to remove the connector and run wires between the pads. Such an arrangement would be delicate and impractical. The pads used for the connectors are tiny and would be easily ripped off.

In addition you may find issues running longer lengths of wire for these signals.

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