When I decided to play with polarized light photography, I knew I would need a source for polarized light in addition to buying a polarizer filter for my camera. And I had just the thing: an old and strangely malfunctioning Monoprice monitor (10734) that has been converted to become a lighting panel for diffuse white light by feeding it a pure white VGA video signal. I didn't originally have polarization in mind when I started that project, but I knew LCD displays work via light polarization. As soon as I started thinking about a polarized light source, it was an obvious fit. This was once an expensive and capable computer monitor and I hoped I could put it to work again.

Using a monitor as a light panel means installing the monitor facing downwards. This isn't something the stock monitor stand could handle, neither could most aftermarket monitor mounting solutions. I found a few that can possibly work and handle the weight (it's a pretty heavy monitor) but they cost more than I wanted to spend for an experiment. So I'm going to mount it to the bottom of an old beat up IKEA Lack coffee table.

Since LACK furniture is mostly hollow, I didn't expect to be able to handle the weight concentrated on a few bolt heads. Fortunately, the stock monitor stand has a metal plate I could use to spread the weight across a larger area.

The plate was useful as a drilling template as well. I drilled four holes for M4 x 60mm hex bolts then mounted the plate on the table top.

I then threaded those four bolts into the monitor's mounting holes, making for a secure fit. I lifted this coffee table over my workbench, now it is illuminated by a 30" polarized light panel! I'm glad I didn't spend too much money on a fancy stand for this experiment, because a few problems quickly became apparent.