Here is a short version of the Nimrod MRA4 cockpit LCD display video which shows the circuit boards and a brief overview. The full teardown and reverse engineering is cut and can be found in the full version, link below. I have also ran the audio through an AI enhancer to try and make it clearer; it has made... Some differences. But I think it's clear enough without having to re-record the video. If you find it hard to understand try the original video. As for the video quality itself, it was recorded on my old phone and I have since got a better one.
The display unit measures 9" square and has a resolution of 768x768 (later confirmed to be 512x512) and there were six of them inside the cockpit. This unit at first appeared to be brand new but it has had significant use so it must have come out of a decommissioned aircraft. There was also liquid damage inside which I believe happened later - I did actually manage to power this display up - it takes 28V at 9A but it fails the power on self test and I was not able to get it to display any video nor get any data in and out of the four RS485 interfaces found on the main board. Three are broken out onto the rear plug; the fourth appears to be for service centre use only.
Inside is some really complex and interesting electronics that is very well engineered mostly consisting of custom silicon but some recognisable chips which led me to determine that this accepts RGB analog video input. This is likely to be a secondary video mode though as this display is a multifunction unit and could be connected to different parts of the aircraft's systems.
It is not the same unit as used in the Airbus A320/330/340 aircraft - these EFIS displays are completely different although they are made by the same manufacturer. The workshop service manual for the Airbus displays shows that the connections etc are completely different. This unit does not appear to have any ARINC or MIL-STD interfaces; rather 3 analog video inputs and several RS485 interfaces. No MIL-STD or ARINC transceiver interface chips were found on any of the boards. The Airbus displays do have an *optional* analog video input (used for the video feed for external cameras) but it's primary interface is ARINC of which several standards are supported.
In this video I take it apart and look at all the circuit boards, the components on them and what their function is. This is the short version which skips me taking the screws out and the reverse engineering of the PSU board.
Full video which includes reverse engineering and me chatting about the history of the RAF Nimrod and the electronics used in the cockpit as I take it apart here [ Ссылка ]
Powering it up [ Ссылка ]
I later confirmed this unit to be indeed faulty once it was powered on - as indicated by the failed power on self test. There is visible liquid damage inside the unit.
#teardowns
#avionics
#teardown
