New and Improved Cheap FPV Goggles

I have been using my original Cheap FPV Goggles for about a year and half. I still can't seem to justify the cost of buying a pair of fatsharks. But lately I have been really wanting better image quality. I noticed on the ECO goggles thread that there is a new LCD screen on the market that looks like a good candidate for a new goggle build. So here we go:

Here is the new 5" LCD screen I bought for $26 USD:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281206263906?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

You can also buy the same screen on DealExtreme and similar stores.

Compared to the one in my old goggles this screen is physically bigger: 5" vs 3.5". It also has about double the pixel resolution. Note that the 5" screen above also comes in a low res version. Be sure to get the one that is 800x480.

For the new and improved goggles I decided to make them as light as possible by removing the entire LCD case. The case came off without much trouble, just some plastic tabs for the front and 3 screws for the back. I then hot-glued the circuit board to the back of the display using globs of glue as stand-offs.

The goggle enclosure is very simple. I used the same dollar tree foam bending technique as my previous goggles. The enclosure is sized to just fit around the bare LCD screen.

And now time for the duct tape!

I hot-glued the screen to a foam piece, which became the rear panel of the goggles. Notice the snazzy vents and the holes for the three screen control buttons.

And finally I used a Fresnel lens cut from a full-page sheet for magnification.

The final product ended up being lighter than my original pair, which is awesome considering the screen is much larger.

If you don't feel like building the enclosure yourself, I have heard that this one will fit the same 5" screen:

http://www.flyingwings.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=411

So far, these goggles have tested well. The new screen is much clearer than the old one. But by far the biggest improvement is with blue-screen. The new screen actually goes to static before it loses the signal entirely. It will eventually lose the signal and go black, so it is not perfect. But it resets very quickly - less than a second.

The screen will show a LOT of static before it resets. In contrast, the old screen wouldn't show static at all. In range testing old vs new the difference is dramatic. Where the old screen would start blue-screening, the new one shows static but is still viewable. If you keep going there is a gradual increase in static. And that gives you a nice indication that it might be time to turn around and head home.

Thanks for reading!