Why have kitchen sized TVs vanished? - Page 3

Thanks Peter. I've already been using a Key Digital high quality component to VGA converter (costs more than the monitor!) up until now and that does indeed work.

I saw the Viewsonic once at a store and wasn't impressed but that could be because they hadn't adjusted it well. It also is generally $100 more dollars.

The Toshiba I saw once and liked the image. I wasn't thrilled that it had a DVD
drive in it I'd never use and it didn't have both component and HDMI inputs so a no go for me.

That Auria unit may be the exact same guts as the Craig unit I just bought at CVS but costs about $20 more and I'm content for now.

Yes, I have. Almost all of them are low resolution, not even reaching SD quality resolution, but that may change when automotive Bluray drives and ATSC M/H HDTV gets released hopefully next year.

If 8.9" were large enough I probably would have been content with this one.

Anyone still reading this thread and need a little TV with component inputs? I just bought a killer 13" one at CVS, on sale for $99 this week (so act fast). It is an RCA DECK133R.

Cons:

- Extreme viewing angle sensitivity. [must be TN technology] If you need to view from more than one fixed position, this TV isn't for you. Thankfully it comes with a tilting base and "swivel" is by rotating the whole product. VESA 100 holes allow professional mounts too.
- Sound is tinny, but what do you expect for a 13in TV? (I use outboard sound so I don't care)
- Very simplistic manual image controls and presets (warm, cool, standard, personal) have limited use. You can control the levels of R,G,B from 1 to 255 ,but other than that there are no controls for sharpness*, brightness*, contrast*, or overscan.
- On the component input I tested, there are 5 pixels cropped off each side edge, and 2 off both the top and bottom with a 1080i signal. Not too bad.
- Non-defeatable electronic edge enhancement, but not over the top in its level.
- Mild black crush but I've never seen an LCD that had none
- Mild red push but you can correct for it.
- No way to hide component input wires on the side since they aren't recessed

Pros:

-The aspect ratio is correct, unlike the stupid 13 inch Coby I tried and returned immediately from CVS a few years ago. Circles are circles.
-Sharp image , I suspect a 768x1368 panel. The horizontal resolution is around 700-720 lines per picture height using a cable TV HDNET/Zenith test pattern.
-On axis viewing is generally good
- LCD motion blur seems quite mild, and acceptable to me, compared to most 32 to 40 inch LCDs I see at Best Buy that I can't stand, yet I suspect the claimed response time is rather poor, based on the earlier version I can find specs for (16ms?! YUCK!) I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though!
-LED (and quite low power consumption) with little edge bleeding, but that may vary set to set.
-DC 12 V input for car (no car cord supplied)
-DVD player built in [ almost a con for me since I hardly ever use them since they aren't HD, and it makes the TV thicker, heavier, and more expensive. There's no digital audio out though.]
-Lots of connectivity. RF, QAM tuner, fast scanning, best OTA sensitivity I've seen (since it is the newest chip I own), fancy GUI, VGA in, HDMI, composite, USB, everything but S-video really.
- You can defeat "auto" DLC and 3DNR circuits

It's a keeper.

*DOH! It does have these, as well as "Color". I must have missed them. They only show/engage if you select "personal" mode. The edge enhancement can be backed down with the sharpness, too. Hurray!
Edited by m. zillch - 11/23/12 at 11:26am

Like all TVs it needs an antenna to receive OTA transmissions, however they don't supply any for you.[It has a standard RF "F pin" coax connector for an antenna or cable feed, as would be expected.

Based on your location, terrain, elevation, etc one can learn about what style of antenna will work best in a particular situation at antennaweb.org. If you require a directional one, which helps pick up weaker and more distant broadcasts, you may need to re-aim it per channel if all the transmitters aren't from the same direction.

I have good results with the "silver sensor" antenna design made by Philips and other companies.

Yes, poor sales must be why Sony no longer even makes the 26 inch TVs . Of their current 2012-2013 line up, the smallest is now 32 inch. Thanks for explaining that whole "supply vs. demand" thing to me. Very interesting.

I guess maybe the real problem is me thinking a 32 inch won't fit in my kitchen, say sitting on my counter top, mounted to the frig door, or tucking under a shelf, rather than Sony simply not catering to my particular "esoteric" needs.
Edited by m. zillch - 11/28/12 at 2:10pm

I sure am glad RCA doesn't agree there's no market for TV's smaller than 32 inch. I really dig mine and recommend anyone needing such a set to try to nab one, today, black Friday, at that $88 price zero_x3 pointed out.

I almost never use the tuner built in, I more typically use this set as a monitor for my cable box, however I have an antenna attached [Philips brand Silver Sensor indoor style] and have examined it briefly in order to answer your questions.

The signal strength meter is a 3 segment, multi-color bar graph with an accompanying word description to its side. Red=Bad, yellow=normal, and green=good. Not ideal for antenna aiming, no, but the great sensitivity is far better than I've ever seen [most likely because this is the most modern tuner chip of any set I've owned, meaning all 2012 designed TVs would most likely be similar] . It is dynamic in that I have seen it change from "bad" to "normal" while staying on the same station, however I don't know how frequently it updates its status. The "Autoscan" also isn't painstakingly slow as it was on some of my older, pre-2012 sets.

The EPG will give a detailed description of the show if the provider has included one. It seems to extend to the rest of the day, until midnight, and then stops. [or maybe what I am experiencing is it showing what occurs in the next 12 hours, or so?, considering it is now 11:15 AM]
Edited by m. zillch - 12/4/12 at 8:21am

Yes, I guessed as much. I would recommend consulting detailed maps which show the exact direction the transmitters are from your location and using a compass [correcting for the deviation from true north known to exist where you live]. Detailed maps can be obtained at antennaweb.org, at least for US stations, not sure about where you live:

http://antennaweb.org/

The program guide shows detailed info, even a few sentences long in some circumstances after you hit "enter", for shows coming up within the next 12 hours or so. I now, having left my set on for the past 2 hrs, see show listings, complete with detailed descriptions (where provided) even into tomorrow.
Edited by m. zillch - 12/4/12 at 10:40am

Sorry, it looks like postal codes don't work at that site and I don't know what organization you can turn to for the same sort of info, but here:



http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/bigmap.htm
" Big map"

As best as I can tell, you can't enter in a channel manually that wasn't found in the last autoscan, sorry.