Any idea what the covers for LCD screens are made out of?

[Grease]

Not talking about the actual glass that lights up - I know that's just glass covered in the liquid crustal stuff. I'm talking about the glass or plastic or something that goes over the LCD glass to protect it.

I have an older LCD TV that poo'd itself and stopped working, so I decided to have a little fun with some glass breakers. Only problem is, I can't break it. I blunted the glassbreaker tip on my Esee 5 and gouged deep scratches in it with a tomahawk, but I can't break the stuff. I even tried drilling through it with one of the cobalt bits I use on steel, and it won't bite deep enough to get through.

It's like plexiglass, only way tougher. (I've damaged thicker plexi with all of the above methods.) I thought it might be just really tough tempered glass, until I gouged it with my hawk. Glass doesn't scratch like that, does it?

 

[plumberroy]

could be lexan it is plexiglass on steroids

 

[SPNKr]

I think it differs depending on where the screen came from. Maybe if you look up at the technical specs of your TV you could find it? Or do a little google search with the specific model. I would expect it to be some kind of plastic, but I doubt that'll be of any use to you.

If it really is that tough maybe you could disassemble the TV, extract that cover and use it for something

 

[laur]

How about Corning's "Gorilla Glass". It is pretty tough stuff -- Special mixture of metals and glass. It is used on most TV sets and Apple phones and IPads.

laur

 

[Grease]

If it really is that tough maybe you could disassemble the TV, extract that cover and use it for something

Great minds think alike... I've actually got it torn out with a frame put back around it to stiffen it. Working on putting a handle on it again for airsoft/paintball use.

How about Corning's "Gorilla Glass". It is pretty tough stuff -- Special mixture of metals and glass. It is used on most TV sets and Apple phones and IPads.

laur

I doubt it's that stuff. I've seen plenty of broken Iphone screens, and this stuff is far tougher.

Lexan sounds like a likely suspect, though I'll probably never know for sure without looking up the TV (which I can't do now that I smashed it to pieces getting the glass/plastic off, and threw it away. )

 

[pialia]

How about Corning's "Gorilla Glass". It is pretty tough stuff -- Special mixture of metals and glass. It is used on most TV sets and Apple phones and IPads.

laur

Aren't apple phones getting grief for breaking all the time?

 

[Planterz]

Gorilla Glass' main advantage is scratch resistance. It's strong too, but it's still glass, and can crack or shatter like other glass. As far as iPhones go, the reason they break so frequently is the glass goes so close to the edge of the phone, with little to protect it unless you have a case. The solid construction of iPhones don't offer much shock absorption either.

 

[CWL]

could be lexan it is plexiglass on steroids

Lexan is just a brand name for polycarbonate (PC).

PC is what bullet resistant glass is made from. You can cut it and drill it, but it won't shatter.

 

[russianpolander]

I think it is Gorilla Glass. They have been refining it for a while.

 

[CWL]

Gorilla Glass' main advantage is scratch resistance. It's strong too, but it's still glass, and can crack or shatter like other glass. As far as iPhones go, the reason they break so frequently is the glass goes so close to the edge of the phone, with little to protect it unless you have a case. The solid construction of iPhones don't offer much shock absorption either.

The main reason why Gorilla Glass is used in smart phones and tablets is that it is 1/4 the thickness of regular treated/tempered glass. This means a lot when designing thinner & thinner devices. It will crack & shatter just as easily as a glass pane of 4X thickness.

 

[Gollnick]

I suspect that the reason why you hear a lot more about broken displays on iPhones than any other make is simple that there are a lot more iPhones out there than any other single model (over half of all "smart phones" in the US are iPhones).