I know I talk a LOT about light, but ... I guess it's one of my main interests now, and I really want to do the whole monitor backlight swap.  I want this to be really awesome though.
I recently found 1000bulbs.com antique bulbs section and founda few chandelier bulbs thati really like!
Here's what I'm talking about:
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/3526/DEC-LS4716.html
or
even cooler, but less diffused (and cheaper price)
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/7639/IN-L4089.html
has a nice swirl to it, and if you're wanting a bigger picture - click the picture to the right of the video,
below the big thumbnail for the video.
 
So what I want to do is get an older 4:3 or maybe 5:4 and flip it sideways so the bulbs stay vertical, and have a nice warm relaxing screen to look at, at night, without going to a CRT and having all that bulk. (end of edit)


How many bulbs can I put in the monitor?

Thank you all, you make theses forums great!
(third edit)  Obviously some uses for this monitor: night time use, of course, maybe to read the web, with a VERY low brightness, unachievable currently due to CCFL bulbs really being junk for dimming.  And really ... just to have something warm and different for a change, see how it goes.... maybe I could have a monitor shop set it up for me, but I don't know of any, if you do, let me know because that would be awesome!
 
Really want to do this!  Please, if you have knowledge of LCD monitor backlights, and maybe what kind of screw base it uses (HOPEFULLY E26 which is standard USA light socket, but I doubt it) go ahead and let me know because once I figure this out, I'll upload all the pictures you want.

Can you be a little more specific? Backlight as in the lighting of the screen itself or like those tv's that project a glow onto the wall behind them? 

Thank you for moving the thread!

I'm talking about the CCFL fluorescent light bulbs directly behind the monitor. LCD monitor TN panel backlight.

I'll format this with my favorite text size and font
12pt Georgia.

Well to start, I'll need a little more information about the monitor itself. Most monitors I've seen use a inverter to tube-type bulb which has vastly different power needs then a incandescent bulb. Meaning that you would have wire power to it yourself, which can be simple or hard depending on how fancy you want to be. I know you said you don't want to do to CRT but the link below is for the concept. 
 
LINKY
 
For power it depends on the monitor, if you have the full wall voltage available on the monitor, aka it does not have a power brick, you can do something simple like split off the wall line and mount a household dimmer from the hardware store the monitor to control the bulb. If you want it to follow the menu that's built into the monitor like the original its going to get a bit interesting, there will need to be some form of control circuit to interface the old CCFL to a triac/firing cap, would have to do more reading into how CCFL's are dimmed on the monitors but it could probably be done with something like Freescales KL25Z.

Well the thing is when you open it up pretty much all monitors use something like what you see below to mount the CCFL lights. 
 

 
Space will be your main concern, as you will be needing to mount a socket and bulb behind the panel, if you are a maker you can always built a new case for the monitor. If you don't build a case you'll have to use something like an old CRT monitor case in order to have enough space. The diffuser panel will most likely be pretty well attached to the back of the panel itself so it won't be much of a hassle. The actual putting the bulb in won't be to bad, all you need to do is split the power line coming in and run it to the bulb/dimmer and your good to go. 

Well you don't want to use any of that, CCFL inverters run anywhere from 500v-2Kv and some higher. Most of the time the wires are also permanently attached to the bulb. Your best bet is to just unplug whats powering the bulbs entirely, the inverter is normally a separate board so you just cut the 12v to it and all the CCFL's will go out. You can wrap electrical tape around the bare ends of wires with 12v(likely voltage powering the inverter) and it will be insulated, dealing with the possibly 2-5k volts of the inverters pre-ignition voltage will burn right though electrical tape. 
 
When it comes to installing the new bulb, your best bet is to look at things like how to install a lamp fixture / how to install a dimmer. If your not that good with electrical work you'll want to stick to the basic way which is wiring the bulb like if it was on a wall in your house, small dimmer and the smallest fixture you can find. Now matter what you do this is not going to fit in the current monitors case, you will need to make your own or find some other case that's deeper and can fit the panel and extra bulb properly.

Update. Would holiday lights on a string be bright enough to pass through the filter?


It seems much easier than using big bulbs.