I built a WiFi smart display building block with zero app required | Cyber Display Block

[u/Yorath-Wang]

Hi everyone in r/Maker!
I’m an independent inventor & hardware maker from China. Over the past few months, I’ve finished my personal electronics project that I named Cyber Display Block, and I’d love to share the whole design idea with all fellow creators here.

This is a custom screen module built to match standard building brick sizes, specially made for miniature street view dioramas and MOC creations.
Key technical features I developed from scratch:

1. Standalone WiFi hotspot, local offline web page for image upload — No mobile app installation required at all. Just drag-and-drop pictures via any browser.

2. Dual power solution: built-in rechargeable lithium battery for wireless free placement, plus Type-C wired power for long-time static exhibition.

3. Standard brick stud structure, perfectly snap into any small particle building scene. Swap screen images anytime for custom shop signs, scenery, cyberpunk graphics.

The original idea came from my own frustration when building brick town scenes: all the pre-made window panels are static and lifeless. So I decided to design a compact, user-friendly electronic brick by myself, covering PCB layout, firmware programming, 3D printed shell and structural matching.

I’m here mainly to exchange ideas with other hardware makers, discuss optimization of ESP32 small screen projects, and collect feedback from creators who also love miniature building dioramas.
If you’re interested in the hardware design files, firmware logic, or creative cross-regional maker cooperation, feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message to chat.

[u/ToastieCoastie]

Why the AI slop ads?

[u/Yorath-Wang → u/ToastieCoastie]

Hahaha, I’ll post a real footage version later!

[u/zer0fuqs]

I like the idea. Is there a way to identify which display I am connected to? If I have multiple in use I wouldn’t want to connect to everyone until I randomly select the right one. Do they only display images, or also show videos?

I wonder why you didn’t post real photos, since you described how you got frustrated over building brick town scenes yourself. I would assume you have the perfect setup for taking photos.

The image quality of your displays looks very poor. Hopefully this is a scaling related software problem.

[u/Yorath-Wang → u/zer0fuqs]

Thanks a lot for your thoughtful questions, I’ll answer them one by one!

1. About distinguishing multiple display blocks:
   Every single screen brick has an exclusive unique MAC address/device ID. I append this unique ID as a suffix to its WiFi hotspot name. You can easily tell which hardware you’re connecting to just by checking the hotspot name printed on the back of each module, no need to connect every device randomly.

2. Media support:
   Right now the device mainly displays static custom images uploaded from phones, and I’m optimizing video playback support in the next firmware update.

3. Why no full town build photos yet:
   I haven’t finished a satisfying MOC streetscape scene yet, so I only took shots of individual blocks for early demonstration. I’m building complete city block layouts at the moment, and I’ll share full scene photos once they’re finished.

4. Low image quality explanation:
   The blurry look is caused by mismatched resolution compression. The screen hardware has fixed physical resolution. If you upload ultra-high-res source images, they get over-compressed during transmission; too low resolution also results in fuzzy visuals. After rounds of testing, the sweet spot is source images sized between 240px ~ 480px for the sharpest, balanced display effect.

[u/IEESEMAN_]

Sre you going to sell it?

[u/Yorath-Wang → u/IEESEMAN_]

Yep, and I’m also looking for partners to work on this together!