For Your Eyes Only: Polarizing Privacy Monitor Mod

If you are currently staring at an old LCD monitor and a pair of discarded spectacles, and are wondering if there’s something you can do with them in the next couple of hours, then good news! We have just the project for you. So go grab yourself a coffee, some paint thinners and an X-acto […]
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Mod your monitor so that only you can see it

If you are currently staring at an old LCD monitor and a pair of discarded spectacles, and are wondering if there's something you can do with them in the next couple of hours, then good news! We have just the project for you. So go grab yourself a coffee, some paint thinners and an X-acto knife (do not mix these together) and I'll finish writing this post.

The project is this rather excellent "privacy" monitor, a display which can only be seen by you when wearing a pair of magic glasses, as built by Instructables member Dimovi.

The theory is simple: Remove the polarized film from the monitor so that you only see a white backlit screen. Then take this film, cut to fit your spare specs and you can see the screen only when you wear them.

The practice isn't much more complicated. Once you have removed the monitor's bezel, you slice the film like an art thief would slice an etching from its frame. Use the thinners (which you hopefully still haven't mixed with the coffee) to remove any glue still stuck to the glass screen and reassemble.

Now, using the old glasses lenses as templates, cut yourself some new polarized lenses and pop them into the frames. You're done. This is, of course, completely impractical for everyday use, but for secure computer use, or just watching porn whilst sitting comfortably amongst your coworkers, it's ideal.

Privacy monitor hacked from an old LCD Monitor [Instructables]