In the past few years I have salvaged 4 LCD screens from curbs. All of them function without defect. I have no idea why people are tossing them out. One of the 4 was perhaps tossed due to size (it was about the size of a laptop screen). But the other 3 are a decent size. Most of them even have DVI connectors. I think one of the three only has a VGA connector, so perhaps the owner did not know that could be adapted.
If you notice a dumped LCD, grab it. Don’t assume it’s broken.
I also often see flat screen TVs being dumped. They are too big to easily carry on my bicycle so I’ve not made the effort to collect them and test them. Has anyone? I just wonder if I should make the effort. Why are people tossing them? Is it because ”smart” (read: cloud dependent) TVs are becoming obsolete and owners are not smart enough to use the HDMI inputs? Or is it more commonly a case of broken hardware?
(update)
Saw ~4 or so big flat TVs in the “proper” city e-waste collection. The city provides a pallet with walls (a big box) where people dump their electronics. Then the city goes through it and gives anything that works to 2nd-hand shops. They also try to repair some things. In principle, it’s a good idea to have a process like this. But I’m somewhat gutted by this:
- no one labels the waste as working or not
- the designated middleman who sorts through it does not bother testing most things… e.g. printers are categorically destroyed.
- the public gets no access to the waste in the step between salvage and dump (I need a spare part for a particular device and have no hope of getting it)
- the stuff is just dumped unprotected in this big box. So other appliances get tossed on top LCDs and edges of those things damage screens in transport
It’s illegal to dump e-waste on the street or in landfills in my area. They must follow the above process because persnickety neighborhood cleanliness people have pressured the gov to enforced the ban on curbside dumping. But curbside dumping is actually more environmentally sound because locals have a chance to grab something in a less damage-prone way.
(Luckily?) most of the ones I see out on the curb are usually physically broken (usually the panel is smashed). I have an inverter in my car and will just plug them in right there to test them out, lol. I think I’ve only successfully rescued one good one recently.
I wouldn’t say it’s a valid reason to throw them out, but the 32" LCD TV I found and brought home was pretty energy inefficient (110 watts) compared to the 32" LCD I got a couple years ago (17 watts). It’s an older model Samsung and has all the input type you could ever want, so I set it up in my basement with all my retro game systems hooked to it.
I would say roughly ~40% of the TVs I see are visibly damaged, and I wonder if kids had destructive fun with it after it was set on the curb. If it’s damaged but the backlight works, one option might be to remove the LCD and leave the light diffuser in place, then use it as a light table (e.g. for stained glass work).
A portable testbed sounds like a good idea. Since you found a good one, I get the impression it might make sense for me to go grab battery + invertor and a laptop and test it before carrying it.
Good point. Honestly not sure, and probably have no way to tell, how many might have been fine before they were set out. I just know that by the time I come across them, most have seen better days.
The inverter has definitely come in handy. Testing roadside appliances wasn’t its original purpose, lol, but it definitely does a good job of it. I usually just check if they power up and, in the case of TVs/monitors, that the screen isn’t cracked or horribly glitching. If it gets that far, I’ll load it up and take my chances with it.
The main reasons will be:
- It’s actually broken or on its way to broken (panels often degrade in various ways over time)
- Upgrading based on technical specs (e.g from HD to 4K or to a higher refresh rate)
- Connectors as you’ve highlighted, particularly if someone is using it with a laptop as some modern displays can power the laptop over the same cable the display signal is going down
- (As highlighted by the other commenter) Efficiency. Modern panels can be magnitudes cheaper to run (and of course it’s therefore better for the planet) than older ones
That’s interesting indeed because only the 1st bullet would impede me from rescuing one. I avoid buying new electronics to large extent to mitigate excessive production and then disposal of e-waste.
Yeah that’s entirely fair, was just giving some of the reasons why they’d end up on the street.
I suppose it depends on your motivations for wanting to decrease waste, but if it has anything to do with the environment, I would say keep an eye on the last point. IMO if something is particularly inefficient, it’s better off not being used if there’s a substantially more efficient alternative to do the same thing. You should be able to look up the model number pretty quickly to see its power consumption though.
IMO if something is particularly inefficient, it’s better off not being used if there’s a substantially more efficient alternative to do the same thing.
It’s hard to get a clear-cut measurement and compare the different kinds of eco impacts like that.
But also consider this: the avg. age of a car bought in Africa at the time of purchase is 21 years old. All these people buying EVs think they are taking a gas-burner off the road, but who destroys their car? They sell it. Then it goes to Africa where it continues to pollute for decades more.
If you dump your e-waste in a reckless manner, it ends up in a landfill where the toxins pollute ground water. Or it goes to a trash heap in a poverty-stricken part of India where someone salvages it.
If you dump your e-waste in a responsible manner, the chain of handlers will repair if needed, and ultimately get the working products on the shelves of charity-operated 2nd-hand shops.
In my particular case, I have no TV and don’t watch TV. If I salvage a TV, I would likely watch it occasionally. So I think it’s clear cut in my situation the usage harm would be shadowed by production harm. But note as well my ethical values are not limited to ecology. There is an enshitification of products and digital rights at hand as well. Buying a new electronic appliance supports the makers of shitty cloud-dependent “smart” devices that have supercharged designed obsolecence. So even in neglecting the environment, it’s an injustice to support the makers of electronic goods today.
I had one of those great Iiyama CRTs – and still do, in storage. I heard when LCDs emerged that LCDs cannot achieve the refresh speeds and color richness of CRTs and that CRTs were still the best for gaming. Not sure if that still holds true. But as a kid, I embraced the Iiyama.
Anyway, I do not imagine desk space can be a reason people are tossing out LCDs.
Next door neighbour threw out a Sonos playbar 1, it worked after a couple of resets… next minute he throws out a 55” LCD, I grab it and it worked too… he must have just upgraded and decided to chuck the old equipment. Either way, my bedroom is now decked out
