Portable DIGITAL Television

[EmiLee]

I posted about this on another thread, but then realized this was probably the more appropriate forum.

I am interested in finding a small, portable TV (i.e., one that will run off batteries) with a digital tuner. We have been experiencing a lot of power outages this year, and I've really enjoyed using my old, 5" black-and-while battery-operated analog TV at those times. It's useful for finding out the weather forecast, traffic conditions, what progress is being made in restoring electrical service, etc. I keep this TV, with the batteries removed, in a box with other supplies that we regularly use when we have power outages, and I've put it to good use over the years. I see absolutely NOTHING out there to fill this void when all OTA broadcasting switches over to digital. I've even read some speculation that it is not possible to make a small, portable battery-operated TV with a digital (ATSC) tuner---although I certainly don't understand why. If one were available today at a reasonable price, I would buy it today.

I was excited to find that Overstock.com had a portable combination TV/DVD player advertised as having the ATSC tuner. I was ready to buy it until I read the reviews, which mentioned that, despite advertising, the TV tuner is NOT an ATSC tuner and, thus, the TV will be rendered useless in 2009.

Does anyone else perceive this as a product which would be well received, if only it were available? Better yet, does anyone know if a portable, battery-operated digital TV is on the horizon?

[westgate]

i was gonna suggest a coby 16x9 7"er but then i realized u want one w a digital tuner and its analog, i think.

so, i dont know.

[westgate]

Originally Posted by westgate

i was gonna suggest a coby 16x9 7"er but then i realized u want one w a digital tuner and its analog, i think.

so, i dont know.

after googling coby tvs, apparently some of their new portables do have atsc tuners. check out 7,8, and 10" models, they look way cool.

coby electronics

edit-just did some research- above mentioned cobys, apparently not brought to market yet. bummer, i wanted a couple of them also.

[EmiLee]

Thanks for the info about the Cobys. The one downside of these new TVs with the digital tuners and color LCD screen is the short battery life. My old black-and-white analog will go quite a long time on a set of 9 D batteries, which is important in the case of power outages lasting days or even weeks. I just keep the TV and the batteries (not in the TV) stored in a box with other emergency supplies and pull the TV out when needed and insert the batteries.

With the new portable TVs, the battery is a built-in rechargeable battery that, according to reviews, only provides about 2-2-1/2 hours viewing before needing to be recharged. Also, the TV obviously couldn't just be put away in a box until needed, it would have to be plugged in recharging at all times, in order to be ready when needed. The biggest drawback, however, is that, once needed, it wouldn't last long.

Better than nothing, I guess, but I may have to revert to getting my updates from an AM/FM radio instead. Maybe one day they will add an ATSC digital tuner to receive the audio from OTA TV broadcasts, too.

[qsoundrich]

I'm more than a little bit miffed that the government has decided that all of our old portable TVs shall be rendered useless after feb 2009. I hope I get a voucher to buy a new portable TV. I have a little RCA 2.5" color model. Of course it's unlikely that you'll be able to get nearly as good (or any) of reception in imperfect conditions.

[replayrob]

You can get an USB ATSC digital tuner for your laptop and use that in place of a TV.
The Autumnwave Onair-GT for example: http://www.autumnwave.com/

* Supports HDTV resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 (ATSC)
* Watch Digital (ATSC), Analog (NTSC) (Even if you are in an area where digital cable broadcasting is unavailable, you can still watch analog TV over-the-air (captured by antenna) and cable TV analog broadcasts.), or Digital Cable (unencrypted QAM) TV (The tuner processes unencrypted high resolution signals in both QAM64 and QAM 256.)
* The latest 5th-generation LG Electronics tuner/demodulator offers unsurpassed metro and fringe area reception (The fifth generation VSB chip manufactured by LG has enhanced features that improve reception of digital TV signals even in fringe areas. It supports Terrestrial Digital TV (VSB: Vestigial Side Band) and Digital Cable TV (QAM: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation)) with virtually no multi-path problems.

[bluevoter]

I found a couple of candidates online, but have not checked out either of them in person. One is the BestBuy Insignia (their house brand) NS-5HTV, a 5" Analog/Digital portable TV for $160. The reviews aren't very good, though, and the specifications don't include details about the antennas, so I would be skeptical about this one. The other is the 7" LCDDIGITAL LCD7ATSC, which sells for $225 on the lcddigital.com website. This appears to be the real deal, and there's an available car adapter in addition to the battery pack. Has anyone tried this model?

As for HDTV receivers that work with your laptop, I have been using the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid with my MacBook Pro. It receives over-the-air HDTV (ATSC), and the soon to be obsolete NTSC. The EyeTV Hybrid is basically the same device as the Hauppauge WinTV 950 for Windoze, but with different software. In fact, you can buy the Hauppauge device and the EyeTV software separately, then have an HDTV device that you can use in either any Windows machine or Mac with a USB port. You probably need processor speed of 1.5 GHz and memory of 1 Gb or more for this to work well, since HDTV reception is compute-intensive. As a bonus, the software includes DVR capability. That, plus your Slingbox, and you are set to watch TV just about anywhere.

[holl_ands]

Disaster preparedness is one more aspect of converter box usage....
Due to low power (typ. under 8W), they're ideally suited for use with
DC powered analog TV sets. [Which typically take less power than DTV.]
And with a power inverter, you can take it with you if you have to evacuate.

I posted the fol. in another forum back in Jan...still true today:

Small, portable ATSC TVs are out there. I searched for "atsc lcd ac dc",
"portable atsc" and "portable dvd player atsc":
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=12848906
http://www.bundlecity.com/Television.../?sck=15993502
http://www.plasma.com/lcdtv5to14inch.htm
Use 30-80W of 12 VDC, intended for car with AC/DC Adapter for home.
[You'll have to eliminate low-cost NTSC only units....aren't they illegal....]

Personally, I use a 400 watt DC/AC Inverter plugged into my car with GPS
plugged into Laptop's USB port for Navigation.

I could plug Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950 NTSC/ATSC Stick into other USB
port so my passenger could "watch" TV/DTV reports while creeping along
in the evac stream (as we had to do Oct2007 due to big fires in San Diego).

But since my wife isn't all that savvy to run a PC-based ATSC Stick, marginal
(whiny) reception via AM radio (with excruciatingly slow updates) was all
we had (FM band seems to be on auto-pilot).

Once we reached my son's house (75 miles away), we couldn't find very much
TV reporting re San Diego fires because L.A. had their own set of problems.

Luckily there was a KUSI-San Diego analog REPEATER a few miles away, but
we had to swap antenna coax from Dish HD-DVR (SAT doen't do NTSC) over
to his Sony HDTV. [Wonderful HD via SAT & OTA...but was useless for us...]
[SlingBox or SlingTuner could have fixed this problem...]

BTW: ATSC won't work at freeway speeds...hence the new enhancements
to ATSC now under test...with mobile/indoor/handheld devices to follow.

[Brown Radagast]

Hi holl_ands, sorry to hear your misfortune during the fires in San Diego. I hope all is coming out all right for your family now.

Have you looked into using an OnAir GT usb ATSC/NTSC/clear QAM tuner with your laptop? Has a real LG 5th dim tuner. (No, I'm not affiliated with the company.) Top-notch customer service too.

[holl_ands]

My WinTV-HVR-950 also uses LG/Zenith LGDT3333 5th Gen ATSC Decoder with
Xceive XC3028 Single Conversion RF Tuner chip. [I opened it up to check.]
My older model does ATSC/NTSC but not QAM for cable. Some new models do all three.

Later HVR-950Q model does ATSC/NTSC/QAM and uses 6th Gen Auvitek chip:
http://www.reuters.com/article/press...008+BW20080110
http://www.hauppauge.com/PDFs/Hauppa...V-HVR-950Q.pdf
http://www.auvitek.com/Products/AU8522.html

Since I can dump QAM via SA3250HD Firewire connection, my criteria was
ATSC/NTSC support...and compatibility with TSREADER (Lite) analysis program:
http://www.coolstf.com/tsreader/hardware.html
The new Autumwave OnAir GT apparently now supports NTSC plus ATSC/QAM...
and is also TSREADER compatible...but it's only 5th Gen.

If you're buying a new USB Tuner, why buy 5th Gen when 6th Gen is available....

=======================================
PS: Although we know people who lost their homes in 2007 and 2003 fires,
we were only affected by the heavy soot in the air....and then in the house...

[DjohnsonCB]

I am also looking for a good 7-inch digital tuner TV that operates on batteries. I want to know if the Accurian, with its built-in battery that works for 90-100 minutes, is more practical than the battery requirements for the LCD Digital or other brands that need 10 AAs which must be regularly replaced (Piva and Supersonic might not even offer battery power). Also, as great as the AutumnWave tuner sounds, it's not an option for me as I have no laptop.

[dmulvany]

Another person found this info but didn't get around to posting it here yet, so I'll do so:

Sansonic 7" portable ATSC Receiver(+7" LCD display):

http://www.sansonic.net/consumer/portable_atsc.asp

It's interesting to find that several of the portable digital TVs, including this one, do support closed captioning, which is terrific for emergency purposes for deaf and hard of hearing people (and anyone else who can't understand spoken English well, like non-native speakers of English).

[Malouff]

Originally Posted by holl_ands

BTW: ATSC won't work at freeway speeds...hence the new enhancements
to ATSC now under test...with mobile/indoor/handheld devices to follow.

I have a Van with a DC powered TV in it and we use it for all of our trips.
So none of the CECB Boxes would work in a vehicle using DC power input

I guess that they would however work in a Travel Trailer.

[Jim1348]

Actually, if you review the list of

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CECB_units

The boxes marked with an "E" might be used in a vehicle without using a power inverter.
E External Power Supply Powered by an external power supply. A box with this code might be used in a vehicle without using a power inverter.

http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Additiona...es_Matrix.html

Column "E" here shows the voltage for the various boxes:
http://octopus.freeyellow.com/CECB_list_wip.xls

It looks like it is mainly the Artec and Tatung models:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=T3APro

http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Tatung_TDB3000.html

[holl_ands]

Also Tivax STB-T9 and Kingbox K8V8.
See "CECB Features List" spread sheet re where to order:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...a#post13500190

Just because a converter box comes with a highly regulated 12 VDC wallwart,
doesn't mean it will work off a vehicle battery (12 to 15 VDC)...so call the manufacturer.

[rabbit73]

I have been looking for a battery operated digital TV to replace my 5-inch B&W NTSC for use during a power failure. I bought an Audiovox 8-inch LCD TV at Target, Model PLV16081. The ATSC tuner sensitivity is just as good as my Zenith DTT900 converter box. The TV has a 12 VDC input jack and comes with an AC adapter, but no car cord. Taking the hint from holl_ands in post #15, I measured the output of the AC adapter (which appears to be a switchmode PS) using my Fluke 25 DMM: OFF & STANDBY 12.02v @ 0.04A; ON 11.91v @ 0.76A. The DC jack is 5.5mm x 2.5mm (Radio Shack size N). I plan to order a small sinewave inverter, Exeltech XP125, to use like holl_ands in post #8. I have noticed an occasional "chirp" in the audio, but it is not as irritating to me as it is to D. Heatherington in his Amazon.com review. There is no chirp on the channels that would be important to me during a weather emergency. I have not yet experienced the turn-on problem that kenstrauss posted on the fixya.com/support site on the same page as the Audiovox FPE3000. I have asked Audiovox about the tolerance on the DC input voltage, but have not heard from them yet. When I ran the TV on pure battery DC the chirp was still there, which eliminates the switchmode AC adapter from suspicion.

Update: I bought a second PLV16081 for backup because I couldn't find another model that was better for my needs. It has a real type F antenna connector that is ideal for my location which requires an outdoor antenna. Also, the A/V input jacks are a perfect match for the cables supplied with the Zenith DTT900, so that I can use the TV as a monitor for the Zenith which eliminates the chirps, and gives me closed captioning. The DC input jack allows me to use a voltage regulated battery pack that gives me a longer running time than a TV with internal batteries. As an alternate power source, I have bought the inverter which I plug into a Century J900 jumper pack; this combo seems to work well.

There are two other quirks: The set is very tippy. I had it on a table too near the edge and it tipped over, but I caught it before it hit the concrete. Also the vertical viewing angle affects the screen brightness. Viewed from a higher angle the screen is lighter; viewed from a lower angle it is darker. The horizontal viewing angle is not as critical. Both of these quirks would be better controlled by clamping the set to a larger base that can be tilted. I really need to do that before I make any more bowtie antenna tests.

[Jim1348]

Rabbit73, thank you very much for the reply. Somewhere, maybe it was Amazon, I found only one review of the Audiovox, so it is good to read from someone that has this. I may have to buy it and check it out.

CNET has a post, "Don't buy a portable TV this year" http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-991...?tag=cnetfd.mt wish, of course, basically states to be careful and not get a portable TV with just an NTSC tuner.

[dmulvany]

Originally Posted by rabbit73

I bought an Audiovox 8-inch LCD TV at Target, Model PLV16081.

Does the Audiovox support closed captioning?

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by dmulvany

Does the Audiovox support closed captioning?

I hadn't considered the importance of closed captioning until you asked your question. It could be very important to the hearing impaired during an emergency. I studied the manual for the Audiovox PLV16081 and played with the remote control, but couldn't enable cc. You can download the manual at 1800customersupport.com/audiovox. (I'm too new to give the exact link.)

[dmulvany]

Originally Posted by rabbit73

I hadn't considered the importance of closed captioning until you asked your question. It could be very important to the hearing impaired during an emergency. I studied the manual for the Audiovox PLV16081 and played with the remote control, but couldn't enable cc. You can download the manual at 1800customersupport.com/audiovox. (I'm too new to give the exact link.)

Thanks for checking this out, Rabbit. Some of the other portable digital TVs *have* featured closed captioning, and as you point out, that's really important for access during emergencies since people with severe hearing loss can't understand radio announcements, and TV may be their best way of getting information at such times. I hope that other manufacturers will provide closed captioning for their portable TVs in recognition of that need.

[rabbit73]

There are now three reviews on Amazon.com for the Audiovox 8-inch TV Model PLV16081. The latest review by Lynn M describes a work-around fix for the chirp:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OQAL4K/

It seems that there is a design defect that gives too much gain somewhere in the audio chain, witness the fact that on some channels even volume level #2 is too loud. This excess gain allows low level audio processing artifacts to end up at the speakers. Lynn's fix uses external speakers adjusted for reduced volume so that the volume of the set can be increased. The result is an improved S/N ratio which reduces the audible artifacts. Result: no chirps! But, as Lynn said, you shouldn't have to use external speakers to eliminate the chirp.

Update: To test the idea I first connected a Cyber Acoustics CA2014 Amplified Speaker System to the headphone jack of the TV. When I inserted the plug into the jack, it seemed to make a bad connection. I had to move the plug around to get the signal and get rid of an AC hum. I don't think there is a problem with the TV jack because I have connected two other pieces of equipment to the TV that made a good connection. I next tried a Radio Shack Portable Folding Amplified Speaker System 40-1441 running on 3-AAs(you don't get AC hum from AAs). This worked very well to eliminate the chirp, and the price is right!

[musiclvr56]

I am new to this forum. I have a question that I couldn't find a category so I hope this is okay. I prefer a battery powered digital tv, but I am open to other small digital tvs. The only battery powered one that I found was LCDDIGITAL 7 " Digital ATSC LCD Portable TV that I am considering that is $250. I don't see any reviews on this tv. Does anyone have any information on this?

Secondly, I found an Audiovox 7" LCD VE705. Are all LCD tvs digital? I saw a review on this tv in 2006. I don't think this is digital but I believe that tvs that aren't digital are not supposed to be sold as of March 2008.

Thank you,
Karen

[musiclvr56]

I looked at this site and could not find any information, e.g. where to buy it, how much it costs.

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by musiclvr56

I am new to this forum. I have a question that I couldn't find a category so I hope this is okay. I prefer a battery powered digital tv, but I am open to other small digital tvs. The only battery powered one that I found was LCDDIGITAL 7 " Digital ATSC LCD Portable TV that I am considering that is $250. I don't see any reviews on this tv. Does anyone have any information on this?

Secondly, I found an Audiovox 7" LCD VE705. Are all LCD tvs digital? I saw a review on this tv in 2006. I don't think this is digital but I believe that tvs that aren't digital are not supposed to be sold as of March 2008.

Thank you,
Karen

Welcome to the forum, Karen. Many of us are having a hard time finding a good small portable digital TV, which is the reason for this thread. There is also another forum thread that covers the same topic, Smallest Digital TV:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=813288&page=5

I haven't seen any reviews yet for the LCDDIGITAL 7", except for a favorable comment by jhe (post #135) on the other thread. He bought one and gives a link to their site. Also, there is mention of the Radio Shack 7" portable, some comments about it, and mention that reviews of it are on the Radio Shack site.

The Audiovox VE705 is not digital, only NTSC. Not all LCD TVs are digital. You need to look for an ATSC (digital) tuner in the TV specifications; see the Audiovox website.

[musiclvr56]

Thank you for the info. I looked at that thread and didn't see post 135. Because I am new, I am not familiar how to do this. Also, I have a Sony tv sound walkman that I love that won't be working next year. I don't need a screen-I am fine with this. Do you think that it is possible to make a digital tv sound radio?

Thank you!
Karen

[holl_ands]

Click on the link in post #24 above to go to the other thread...post # is on the far right....can't miss it....

[rabbit73]

Thanks holl_ands. I thought my link had gone bad.

I should have given the link for the post instead of the page:
www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13619893#post13619893

I'm still learning.

[Mr.Funky69]

Hi everyone!
I am brand new to this fourm and i read everyones messages.
I thought i can help you out.
I found this website that has a portable ATSC LCD TV
it is on ebay

sorry i cant post the link yet b/c i need 3 post
this TV seems to be the real deal but it cost $200.00
ok let me know if it helps
thanks,
Mr.Funky69

[Mr.Funky69]

ok this TV is good but the only bad thing is the battery life.
It is short with only maby 2 hours. The seller has only 10 left and only 3 days left to buy it and once they are gone the price jumps back to $250.00

[Mr.Funky69]

ok this is the last message then i can post the link
i wish there wasn't that rule where u can only post a link after 3 posts