Hi there community!
This topic is another follow-up to the topic I shared last week about ES07DC9’s 1st mass production run. This time, I would like to share how a fusion of different parts can form one beautiful piece of hardware.
To do this, I will be covering the process step-by-step. There were a few points that were not mentioned in the previous topic, so I will add them here. Think of this as a journey we like you to indulge in by learning about how the assembly goes for ES07DC9, from start to finish!
Let’s begin…
Assembling the unit
We start with the star of it all, our glossy panel, already fitted with its casing and circuitry. This whole set is what we call a liquid crystal module (LCM). This is the first part that goes into the assembly line.
Glossy LCM unboxing.
Then, we have prepared the metal boxes that house ES07DC9’s mainboard. The mainboard has been pre-fitted in the box as part of a separate assembly process, meaning that we will no longer assemble the mainboard as part of the mass production. This was done for the sake of efficiency.
ES07DC9 metal boxes on standby. The chassis is placed upside-down, exposing the ports.
The metal box comes next to join the assembly line. It is placed to the left of the LCM it will be paired with, then its serial number is scanned to identify and record the pairing. The purpose of identification is to help us track the complete history of the units as a whole in case we encounter issues or bugs. We can track the production batch and its base firmware for troubleshooting with the serial number.
This pairing will stay during the entire mass production and after it becomes a final product. Talking about commitment!
Each metal box is paired with its LCM to the left. Here, the barcode on the mainboard is scanned as part of the recording process.
Even though they are placed side-by-side at this stage, the actual physical pairing between the box and LCM will not happen yet, as we will start with assembling other parts first. Namely, the LCM and the middle frame:
Preparing and attaching the middle frame to the LCM.
Then, we attach the wirings to the assembled unit. These wirings are responsible for connecting the panel with the mainboard. A precisely cut insulated rubber tape is used to secure the wires.
Tape dispenser used to cut the tapes into size, then applied carefully to fix the position of the wires.
Then, we attach the metal box with the LCM.
Wires connecting LCM and mainboard are plugged in, then carefully fixed inside so as to not interfere with the frame, which will be installed later on.
Finally, we prepare the back frame. The back frame is fitted with a small board responsible for joystick input on the back of the monitor and the power button. This small board comes with a thin connector wire which connects to the mainboard. It is also the final wire to be connected before finally closing the body with the back frame!
Small board is attached to the back frame, and the wiring is connected to the mainboard. Once the back frame is installed, screws are put in place to secure the back frame with the rest of the body.
Once the back panel is well secured, a sticker with the unit’s serial number is applied to the back of the unit.
Sticker application. The part is cleaned, then the sticker is put carefully onto the back frame.
As the last part of the assembly, the monitors are plugged in to run a preliminary video input test to see if it can display video input. If not, it will be taken out of the line and handled separately. To be reassembled if necessary.
Preliminary video test to check the monitor’s basic function before entering the next testing phase.
Screen calibration and testing
After the assembly, the monitors are transported to the burn-in room, where they will undergo a burn-in test, followed by a trip to the dark room to individually calibrate their screens (Delta E & white point calibration).
ES07DC9s are taken to the burn-in room.
ES07DC9s under Delta E calibration in the dark room.
Final touches
Once they are done with their treatment in the dark room, the monitors are then transported back outside for packing! But before going into the box, the units are thoroughly cleaned with pure water to get rid of any dust and grimes. We use pure water instead of alcohol to ensure that the monitors arrive in the best condition possible.
After cleaning, each unit is packed carefully and protected in a sleeve before being securely placed inside the packaging.
Putting the assembled monitor into a non-woven fabric sleeve to avoid scratches during transport.
Carton label put neatly to the side of the box.
Road test
As mentioned a couple of times before, as part of the first mass production run, we did a road test for the ES07DC9 units produced during this 1st mass production run. This checks the device’s integrity when subjected to typical shipping conditions. We have put together a video for you to watch and hopefully it can give you a general idea of how we prepare for the road test.
Closing thoughts
That concludes the update for this week! We hope you guys are as excited as we are and get some knowledge of how the production goes for ES07DC9. For the next topic, we will talk about quality control (QC) for the units post-road test. If we receive a positive outcome on the QC, then we will proceed soon with the next, even bigger mass production. We will let you guys know once we have more news on this.
Sidenote: topics moving forward
With the possibility for one of our team members, Grant (@Lore_Wonder) to visit the factory, we had the luxury of getting as many images and videos as we could for this topic. For this mass production run, we ended up with over 900 images and over 23 gigabytes worth of videos!
For this topic, we have put a lot of images to guide you from start to finish. We have also put a few GIFs in here (which has not been done in a long while) to provide a more interactive way to explain how things happen! However, with so many details to show, we ended up in a dilemma, as we were unsure if having so many images on a topic was attractive for our readers or in other words, should we go for the “less is more” approach.
Therefore, we would like to hear directly from you, our readers, to give us a general idea of how we should continue regarding our visuals (i.e., images and videos), in case we have plenty to show to our readers. Should we go all-in with the images? or is it better to set a certain limit?
Feel free to fill in the polls below, and of course, feel free to drop a comment as well. Any feedback will be much appreciated!
Fun facts
- We have a total of 21 visuals on this topic (16 still images, 4 GIFs, and 1 video). We could’ve cut it down to about half the amount of visuals by removing multiple images in each action.
- The GIFs were made from 5.8K resolution video footage! We had to reduce it to sub 350x260 due to file size restrictions. This is where we had to make sacrifices: we think GIFs are an excellent way to engage readers, but it lacks details and visual quality due to extreme downsampling. On the other hand, using only images provide great detail but may be less interactive. To get the best of both worlds, we try to use GIF accompanied by a still image wherever possible.
- More is better! (having more than one visual per action point)
- Less is more! (just one visual per action point is enough)
- I like text more than visuals!
0 voters
- More GIFs please!
- I prefer static images over GIFs
0 voters
can’t wait for it!
GIFs for sure!