Protecting LCD screen of my Rigol DS1054/74 scope

[fivefish]

I'm usually working with soldering iron, screwdrivers, cutter near my Rigol scope and prototype and I'm always afraid that I'll accidentally nick or damage my LCD screen. Not anymore! 

I had a few acrylic custom laser cut that is now in front of my Rigol LCD screen. Can't even tell it's there, unless you look sideways. 

I kept 2 for myself (spares, in case I scratched my acrylic protector, etc) and put the rest on eBay to recover my cost.

[JoeB83]

Nice. I wish I had thought of this idea! I have a nice big melted spot in the middle of the screen on one of my older scopes from dropping a soldering iron.

[alsetalokin4017]

Is it against the rules to provide a link to the ebay listing? Because I can't find it using google.

[fivefish]

I just posted the item on eBay tonight... Google probably doesnt know about it yet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Screen-Protector-for-Rigol-DS1054Z-DS1074Z-Oscilloscope-/281779424077?hash=item419b5ccb4d

[alsetalokin4017]

I just posted the item on eBay tonight... Google probably doesnt know about it yet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Screen-Protector-for-Rigol-DS1054Z-DS1074Z-Oscilloscope-/281779424077?hash=item419b5ccb4d

Thanks for the link. Google did know about this thread, though... it turned up when I searched for "ebay rigol screen protector".

A bit pricey for my blood, though.... I'm on what is commonly called a "fixed income"... that is, fixed at zero.

[pascal_sweden]

Siglent provides a factory screen protector on all their test equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators).
While it should be removed, it actually is very transparent, and you can leave it on there as an extra protection.

I wonder why Rigol actually has no screen protector at all in the factory.
How can they guarantee that the screen does not scratch during the production process?

I believe most manufacturers, and not only Siglent provide a factory screen protector.
So that's why I wonder why Rigol doesn't do it, and how they can handle the equipment without scratching the screen.

[Muttley Snickers]

Wow the OPs pictures are spectacular, I suck at taking pictures and have spent weeks watching indepth video tutorials on the subject, even with a fully automatic point and click Lumix the pictures are crap, tripods, lighting, delay timer, lux meter nothing helps, I've been cursed.

Anyway I'm fortunate to have a friend that imports screen protectors everything from 2 to 26 inch and I put them on every possible thing I can, multimeters, test gear, cameras, laptops, tablets, phones, the lcd on the coffee machine, even thought about doing my spectacles at one point.

I still have the originals on a couple of Fluke 189s and noticed that the ones that come nowadays on the 117s are just basically for initial protection, certainly not for long term anyway. Some people rip them straight off and thats ok but I have a 20 year old Metex meter in the truck and regret not protecting the screen years earlier.

Muttley

[tautech]

Siglent provides a factory screen protector on all their test equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators).
While it should be removed, it actually is very transparent, and you can leave it on there as an extra protection.

And I've never had need to remove them on my personal Siglent gear.

They aren't as good as protective screens that you might have on a smart phone though and only intended to provide scratch protection while in transit to the end user.

The OP's fix is a little over the top IMHO, especially the laser cut bit. 

Just done a mates drag car windscreen in 3/16" Lexan (polycarbonate) and was cut to fit with a jigsaw and a coarse sharp 8 tpi blade leaving a fine neat finish. Now that stuff is clear, Gin clear. 

[SeanB]

Try doing aircraft windscreens, where you get the replacement and spend 2 days removing the flexible epoxy sealer holding the old one in, along with removing the hundreds of screws and rivets holding the fairings on. Then place, trim and finally seal into place, then sit for a day with the big 1 gallon can of Acrylic polish to get it to disappear.

Or supersonic windows, where they are multiple layer armoured glass, and fit in a bed of sealer to ensure they will not disintegrate even with the impact of a 10kg turkey hitting at 500kph. Will crack, but must still have integrity.

[rf-loop]

Siglent provides a factory screen protector on all their test equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators).
While it should be removed, it actually is very transparent, and you can leave it on there as an extra protection.

And I've never had need to remove them on my personal Siglent gear.

They aren't as good as protective screens that you might have on a smart phone though and only intended to provide scratch protection while in transit to the end user.

The OP's fix is a little over the top IMHO, especially the laser cut bit. 

Just done a mates drag car windscreen in 3/16" Lexan (polycarbonate) and was cut to fit with a jigsaw and a coarse sharp 8 tpi blade leaving a fine neat finish. Now that stuff is clear, Gin clear. 

BTW it is very fun Siglent add this plastic film over real glass window for "protecting" it. But of course it keep display window clean.
What protection it need? In Siglent equipments there is  non glossy real glass window over the TFT soft surface.  It do not scratch easy in normal handling.  If there come dirty or fingerprint etc, just wash it.  And no problem if you are soldering and some tin drop is flying... 

[fivefish]

My 80s tek scope has a plastic/plexiglass protection screen in front of it's glass CRT!
But this Rigol has an exposed LCD screen. I don't know why they didn't even bother putting one.

The OP's fix is a little over the top IMHO, especially the laser cut bit. 

Just done a mates drag car windscreen in 3/16" Lexan (polycarbonate) and was cut to fit with a jigsaw and a coarse sharp 8 tpi blade leaving a fine neat finish. Now that stuff is clear, Gin clear. 

I don't have the accuracy and steady hands like you do to cut a 2mm corner radius.

[sync]

My 80s tek scope has a plastic/plexiglass protection screen in front of it's glass CRT!

That's the contrast filter/implosion protection. Not needed on an LCD.

But this Rigol has an exposed LCD screen. I don't know why they didn't even bother putting one.

The DS1052E has an extra glass screen over the LCD (I disassembled the LCD module). I think it's the same on the DS1000Z. You can press on the screen without the typical LCD discoloring effect.

[rf-loop]

My 80s tek scope has a plastic/plexiglass protection screen in front of it's glass CRT!

As @sync told. It is for contrast. Take it off and you know why.
Some Tektronix have two. First after CRT there is implosion protect and over it is without tools easy changeable gray or blue contrast filter.
(Example in 24xx series) 


It works like this:

[tautech]

My 80s tek scope has a plastic/plexiglass protection screen in front of it's glass CRT!
But this Rigol has an exposed LCD screen. I don't know why they didn't even bother putting one.

The OP's fix is a little over the top IMHO, especially the laser cut bit. 

Just done a mates drag car windscreen in 3/16" Lexan (polycarbonate) and was cut to fit with a jigsaw and a coarse sharp 8 tpi blade leaving a fine neat finish. Now that stuff is clear, Gin clear. 

I don't have the accuracy and steady hands like you do to cut a 2mm corner radius.

I'd just do that with a sharp engineering file. 

[Alex Eisenhut]

So how does it stick there? Canada balsam? Bulldog Grip around the edges?

[Tim F]

The DS1052E has an extra glass screen over the LCD (I disassembled the LCD module). I think it's the same on the DS1000Z. You can press on the screen without the typical LCD discoloring effect.

Yeah, pretty sure you're correct there. Both my DS1000Z and DG4000 pass the fingernail test*, so I assume they are glass.

*if they were plastic, they would scratch easily with a fingernail.

[miguelvp]

Wouldn't a tablet screen protector film do the job?

Of course you will have to cut it to size if the right size is not available.

[tooki]

Yeah, pretty sure you're correct there. Both my DS1000Z and DG4000 pass the fingernail test*, so I assume they are glass.

*if they were plastic, they would scratch easily with a fingernail.

Untrue. Good quality screen protectors, often made with 3M films, are awesome — they can handle being scraped with a sharp key, with nary a scratch — and they're flexible plastic. They come in both satin and gloss, with the gloss being somewhat more durable. You'd be amazed at the abuse they can take! (Just bear in mind that most screen protectors sold for smartphones and tablets are cheap junk that scratches when you look at it wrong.) In any case, plastic films readily exist that can handle a fingernail, and they might have chosen such a film on their LCD.

The frosted antiglare finish of the DS1000Z (I have one) is a dead giveaway that the front layer is plastic. Even on CRT computer monitors, antiglare finishes are actually a plastic film laminated to the glass. (In contrast, antireflective coatings are ultrathin multilayer coatings of various compounds, applied via sputtering/vacuum deposition.) I suppose it's cheaper to make frosted plastic than frosted glass.

[cncjerry]

How thick is that material?  I've made screen protectors for my old teak scopes out of a lightly blue tinted polycarb material.  I CNC cut the profile and they fit perfectly.  If that material is thick enough to not require a vacuum table, I could run a few dozen of them off pretty quickly, assuming there is interest.  I wouldn't charge for the work.  If it is very thin and highly flexible, then I couldn't do it as my vacuum table is out of order.

[tooki]

I'd be interested!

[0b01010011]

definitely interested too!  Have also had this fear of poking an iron into the LCD of my scope.

[Zeecue]

Im also interested in a screen protector for my DS1000Z scope.

Edit:
I have contacted Bedifoil in Germany, and they would gladly add the screen protector to their site if we can give them the precise screen size and corner radius.
I don't have any precision tools to measure with, so if anyone would spend 5 minutes and post the result here, I'll reply back to bedifoil so we can get our screens protected.

[Zeecue]

Bump, so people can see the updated reply I made.