SO;

with components neatly stashed in a closet, and a projector my only display, i have no way to view the osd without turning on the projector or leaving the room to look ay the osd on my 970. even with the projector on, i have to switch out of hdmi to view the osd,

so i am wondering if anyone out there knows of a small screen display, such as an LCD photo display, that can be used solely to suit this need. i'm looking for a small device that could sit on a shelf, not a video monitor or an old crt.

any ideas?

I've got a device attached to the 980H in my two-channel system in the living room. It is a Sonic Impact V55 iPod dock - they had to cut the price on it pretty drastically last year because Apple released a new generation of iPods that weren't compatible with it. I picked it up early last summer for about $35, and use its video line input to give me a view of the 980H's composite video output. I think they've updated it to fix the support issue, so the price has gone back up. Here are a link: Sonic Impact Video55

Memorex also makes a similar dock, but it lacks a video input so wouldn't work for your purposes. Likewise, all the LCD photo displays I've seen lack a video input.

thanks for the quick reply, gonk.
good steer.
i'll check out the cheapo ipod dock selection next time i'm at fry's. another economical tweak for the closet arrangement: i used a couple of $15.- dual-fan laptop cooling "placemat" thingeys switched with a relay fed by splitting the 12v trigger switch from the 970. things were getting a little warm in there and the preamp seemed to be malfunctioning from remote commands. a fiber optic cable from the optical output fished thru the wall and placed discreetly below a side speaker serves as a power on indicator.

the next challenge is to find a diy/inexpensive way to get the remote population under control. i'm now running sixteen speakers throughout my apartment via three receivers all sourced from an
apple laptop and airport express units(2). including the laptop itself, wireless mouse and keyboard, there are now NINE remotes attendant to audio/video equipment. i know crestron, et. al. make control systems, but these can cost as much as a laptop. seems it should be possible with software, a central IR transmitter and IR repeaters...

having fun. i'll keep you posted.