Media Center Remote Control LCD Display

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.fstop-blues.com/2005/06/media-center-remote-control-lcd.html' target='_blank'>http://www.fstop-blues.com/2005/06/media-center-remote-control-lcd.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"ACS is selling a graphical Media Center remote front panel for $99. The text LCD display connects to the serial port of your Media Center PC and then you can not only see what is playing on your Media Center but also control it with the included functions of the front panel. This could be a great secondary display by the couch or on a wall to run your Media Center PC."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/media_2Dcenter_2Dlcd_2Dfront_2Dpanel_2Dremote_small.jpg" /> <br /><br />Serial port? Yeah right. Other than that, very cool. Might be a nice addition to one of those $599 Media Center PC's I am thinking about picking up when they hit local stores.

[Neil Enns]

For those of us that don't mind messing around with a bit of code it isn't too hard to build one of these that connects via USB. There's an article on MSDN with instructions on how to do it:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/coding4fun/someassemblyrequired/External_LED/default.aspx

The part is about $60.

Neil