So you are looking to use an LCD to display information but you don't want to use a computer for it? You know things are much easier if you used a computer, lots of memory lots of software and what not. If you still insist, you should think about using a standalone LCD monitor, not a panel from a broken laptop. Finding how to talk to the panel will be impossible.
If you take a standalone monitor, then use a demo board, you can run some simple videos on the monitor and can possibly accept a few button pushes. This beagleboard may help:
http://beagleboard.org/