Portable DIGITAL Television - Page 13

That is impressive finding that manual. I'm pretty resourceful myself when looking for stuff but was unable to find that one or the one for the 501. How about the manual for the 501? Is it the same?

By the way, I mentioned this 13" 503 to one of my friends and they also had the 15" 501's on the shelf that he got for same price.

Craig CLC501 15 inch LCD TV/monitor owner's manual.

Warning: Although operationally the manuals may be nearly identical, these two TVs [Craig CLC501 vs CLC503] are extremely different from one another because they use entirely different LCD screens, aspect ratios, and backing electronics (e.g. the "scaler"). As I feared earlier in the thread, the 13 inch model I have now verified suffers from a fatal flaw (in my book at least) that elongates a standard incoming 16x9 video signal (Aspect Ratio, or AR, 1.78) to fully fit its taller than standard 16x10 screen (AR 1.6) instead of placing thin black bars above and below the image as some AR 1.6 displays do. The net result is that images look as if distorted in a fun house mirror and people appear too tall and thin. [And no, none of the aspect ratio modes selectable from the remote or in the deeper menus can fix this either.] The distortion is subtle and a cursory inspection of material one is not familiar with may fail to reveal this distortion initially, but as soon as the video signal shows an image containing a circle, its incorrect depiction as an oval instead is the surefire giveaway that the TV suffers from this design flaw. [I've seen this exact same problem on multi-thousand dollar, widescreen, 16x10 and 15x9 TVs as well, but that was a decade ago when HDTV and its new AR were new things to designers. Many viewers won't even notice it unless it is pointed out to them so I guess the TV makers figure they can get away with it.]

Do you mean the 15" model you have?

Also, did you happen to notice what the tuner chip was in your model when you took it apart? OTA reception might be more of a factor for me than the difference in screen size. Maybe I'll just by both if I can return one and see.

The 15 inch I bought months ago I still have and like very much. The 13 inch I bought and returned today after less than 5 minutes of use. Only the 13 inch model suffers from the squished image problem I warned about above. The 15 inch unit acts normally as any 1.78 AR (16 by 9) widescreen TV should.

I don't think the tuner chip is visible from a simple chassis dis-assembly as I showed photos of earlier in this thread. The tuner is probably encased inside a metal shielded Farady cage and would have necessitated a more thorough and intrusive surgery to inspect that I'd rather not undertake.

Differences in different tuner chips' reception capabilities (within the same year of production) pale in comparison to differences in reception between one room of your house to another or from one antenna design (and orientation) to another. If, for example, you have poor reception in one room of your house with a given antenna pointing in a given direction, changing only the TV tuner from one 2009/2010 year of production brand to an alternative brand made in the same year wont amount to much. What matters most is your location, [like in real estate: "Location, location, location!"] followed by your particular antenna selection and its proper aiming.

Thanks for the clarification.

I've been to several CVS stores and can't find the 15" model anywhere. I think my bud got the last one! He's actually looking around for a second one. I can find the 13" ones(but not very many) - just not the 15" ones.

He did hookup his to his antenna set and found the tuner better that his DISH box (I think the tuner in his SAT box), but not as sensitive as the Zinwell CECB.

Gonna check some stores near work today.

So finally you got what? 13" or 15"

I was able to track down a 15" ! Haven't had a chance to play with it much. Did hook it up to rabbit ears and got all the main networks except NBC. WIll play it more this Friday to and compare its tuner with my other CECB boxes for chagrins (time permitting while I wait for the carpet guys to install some carpet).
May end up piggy backing some A/V transceivers I have to remote a satellite receiver out to it.

Didn't think of it, but those who were looking should have picked up a rain check. they may never get them back in, but if so.. your covered.

looks like they are on sale again at CVS.
Interesting thing is my buddy had a rain check for the 15" one and they had it in (but not before..) and honered it. Also said they had the 13" for $80.

I bought an Auvio 3.5" DTV from RadioShack. It doesn't pick up a single station inside my house using the telescoping antenna, but I have 14 days to return it. Since it has an MCX external antenna connector, can I use a Garmin GPS antenna as sold, or will I have to make my own external antenna?

Thanks,

poormxdad

It would be very unlikely a GPS antenna would give you better results; it is a completely different animal.

To learn about what kind of antenna is best for where you live and what direction it should be aimed visit www.antennaweb.org

Although sometimes an antenna absolutely has to be mounted on the roof and be larger than the size of a person for some locals, one of the most popular and smallest antennas that seems to give good results for many, at least in semi- urban environments, is the "silver sensor" design cloned by Terk, Philips, Magnavox and many other companies. If Antenna Web says all the stations you might want to pick up are UHF frequencies you wont have to worry about the larger VHF also designs and can buy a more compact UHF only design.

zillch,

Antennaweb indicates all the stations are UHF. So how do I proceed? MCX to BCN adapter to silver sensor or is there something else in between? I thought if the GPS antenna plug fit, it might be enough to prove to me the little TV is a keeper. If I then needed to cut the wire and just use the GPS MCX antenna plug like a pigtail, I'd be okay with that, as long as I COULD use it for something.

Thanks,

poormxdad

First off, I cant guarantee you will receive anything at all. What color series antenna does antennaweb say you need? If they say you need a high gain directional antenna a silver sensor won't cut it.

Most commercial brands of the silver sensor (or other indoor antennas you will easily find) use a typical F connection, either push on or the better more secure screw on variety, as found on the back of standard TVs, VCRs, and cable boxes. If you can't find a direct 75 Ohm F connection to MCX adapter you may need to go through an intermediate adaption to BNC connection first, as post #343 in this thread suggests.

Sorry, I don't think your unused GPS antenna or its lead serves any purpose in getting the Radio Shack TV up and running. Even if you have the skills to solder on a female F connection to a pigtail (you were to try to fabricate yourself), there may be an impedance mismatch which you couldn't correct on your own.

Thanks for your help so far. This little DTV is to replace my old B&W emergency TV/radio. I don't want the $80 TV to need twice that in antenna, but I understand the antenna is key no matter what the size of the screen. If I can't get this to work at a reasonable price, I will simply resort to radio in an emergency.

Antennaweb indicates there is one station that needs a medium directional, then a handful of others that need a med directional with amp.

Thanks again,

poormxdad

B/W analog TV is easier to receive than analog color and analog TV is easier to receive, albeit with some static and ghost images, than digital. Analog transmissions have been turned off completely for most of the US. [antennaweb would indicate what's up where you live.]

As a last ditch effort, I'd try going to the highest floor of your building or even your roof or attic and go right up to an open window (no screens allowed) that faces the direction the strongest TV station transmits from (or at least has a clear shot of that direction). If under these conditions the Radio Shack TV alone still gives no indication that it might possibly give even an intermittent or blocky/freezing image on that station's channel number, I'd say I'm afraid it is time to throw in the towel. The combined price of antenna, adapters, and amps could easily exceed the price of the TV itself...Long live radio!

zillch,

The TV DOES pick up a few channels and shows a fantastic picture for a few seconds, but nothing useable or consistent. I wouldn't want to count on seeing some important emergency information, but I do believe the potential is there.

poormxdad

I was at a Target Store earlier today and I saw portable devices from Jensen in the Electronics section. At first when I saw screen sizes of 3.5 inches and 4.3 inches I thought they were GPS receivers!

http://www.spectraintl.com/jn/jdtv-350.htm

http://www.spectraintl.com/jn/jdtv-350.htm

^A 240x320 pixel resolution screen in a 4:3 aspect ratio when showing widescreen HD broadcasts in their correct aspect ratio [the only thing that is actually still transmitted over the air anymore for the vast majority of the US] would be a whopping 180x320 dots. It is hard for me to imagine how crappy a 1080x1920 true HD image would look when utilizing only 2.8% of the correct amount of area pixels. In an emergency situation like 9/11 where they scroll important text along the bottom of the screen as to what's going on or evacuation info, would it even be legible? I doubt it. Maybe the makers figure if they give the TV a zoom button all is well.

edit to add: I notice they say 320 RGB pixels. For some TV makers this is a sneaky way to triple the resolution spec since instead of counting the number of white pixels they are counting the individual sub-pixels which makeup each white one: red, green, and blue. That would be even worse.

I find it interesting that there are still new models of very small portable ATSC devices coming out since Mobile DTV is upon us, but on the other hand there might be many broadcasters that never add ATSC-M/H.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365480,00.asp

Check this out: it's free, live mobile TV on the iPad, enabled by a little box called the Tivizen. We previously saw the Tivizen back in January when it was called the Valups Tivit. It receives a new form of over-the-air TV broadcasting called Mobile DTV, and sends it out over a Wi-Fi network so gadgets live iPads can watch through their Web browsers.
tivizen-ipad.JPG

Here at the CEA Line Shows, the Open Mobile Video Coalition is showing off a bunch of Mobile Digital TV devices, including Samsung and LG phones, portable DVD players and a potential in-car system. And they have a list of dozens of channels planning to broadcast Mobile Digital TV or running channels for testing right now, from WNUV in Baltimore to KAIL in Fresno, CA.

Unfortunately, the march to mobile TV has temporarily stalled because of a 1964 law which apparently mandates that all TV receivers get analog channels, the OMVC's Dave Arland said here at the show. (Mobile TV receivers are digital only.) So the OMVC has asked the FCC to give an official thumbs-up to digital-only receivers. With the government's blessing, MDTV receivers should start appearing on shelves in July, Arland said.

Originally posted to Gearlog.

http://www.gearlog.com/2010/06/mobil...layed_by_1.php

Check this out: it's free, live mobile TV on the iPad, enabled by a little box called the Tivizen. We previously saw the Tivizen back in January when it was called the Valups Tivit. It receives a new form of over-the-air TV broadcasting called Mobile DTV, and sends it out over a Wi-Fi network so gadgets live iPads can watch through their Web browsers.

Here at the CEA Line Shows, the Open Mobile Video Coalition is showing off a bunch of Mobile Digital TV devices, including Samsung and LG phones, portable DVD players and a potential in-car system. And they have a list of dozens of channels planning to broadcast Mobile Digital TV or running channels for testing right now, from WNUV in Baltimore to KAIL in Fresno, CA.

Unfortunately, the march to mobile TV has temporarily stalled because of a 1964 law which apparently mandates that all TV receivers get analog channels, the OMVC's Dave Arland said here at the show. (Mobile TV receivers are digital only.) So the OMVC has asked the FCC to give an official thumbs-up to digital-only receivers. With the government's blessing, MDTV receivers should start appearing on shelves in July, Arland said.

Hurricane season has started. Posting again this year for my friend near the Gulf. Are there yet any good options for disposable battery powered digital TVs?

The auvio 3.5 at radio-shack is the only disposable battery tv ive found so far. I have one and it works great. Its in my hurricane prep kit.

Thanks. I've got one of the bigger portable TVs but you can only recharge the battery in that one. I'd like one for emergencies that I can replace the batteries in easily, and this one would be perfect.

DGK

Further posts on this topic, including how to increase viewing time on battery, can be found on this thread:
Portable LCD TVs with ATSC tuners

^Welcome to the forum.

There is no immediate plan to terminate the transmission of TV over the air (OTA). What has changed is that the majority of TV markets across the US have transitioned to be exclusively digital transmissions OTA. These can be picked up by an antenna with any modern TV that uses a digital tuner, aka "ATSC tuner". Digital US transmissions aren't new and have co-existed with analog transmissions since 1998. Analog has now (post 2009) been phased out for most of the US.

Almost all new stock, portable TVs on the market, available at stores like CVS, Radio Shack, Target, Sears, Best Buy, etc, will be able to pick up these new digital transmissions as long as reception is adequate where you live and depending on the type and size of antenna you use. Indoor antennas and the small, simple ones they through in for free aren't always adequate, depending on where you are. Some areas of the country, especially rural, need larger antennas that are typically mounted on the roof and are several feet in length, maybe even 5-6 or so. These types of roof top TV antennas aren't new and have existed for a half century or so.

To learn more about what transmissions exist where you live and what type and size antenna you will need visit www.antennaweb.org .

edit to add:


Adapting older, analog only portable TVs to work with the newer digital transmissions is not impossible, however it may exceed the price of simply buying a new digital portable TV, if you insist in must also be portable. If you want to go that route you would need:

A) An older analog only TV with either an antenna in jack or an audio/video input jack
B) A digital to analog TV converter box, about the size of a small, flattened VCR.
C) Some means to power it since most are designed for AC operation. You would need a battery pack for portable applications.

Today at CVS I spotted a 7" TV and DVD portable combo. Since it doesn't have component-in it doesn't fit my needs, but I thought others in this thread might be interested. It had a typical laptop-like design.

CVS link $99.99

There's almost nothing on the net about this unit but using the same deductive reasoning as to what its manual's URL should be based on the other products in this thread from Craig I indeed found it:

Craig CTV-1703 TV/VCR Owner's manual PDF

Don't hold me to it, but a brief rundown from my quick perusal:

- AC and cig. lighter cords supplied
- pivoting screen, may also fold down flat with screen exposed (I would think) for "tablet" design or wall mounting like a painting with optional mounting hardware from a third party
- USB 2.0 for reading thumb drives
- SD card slot for memory cards
- probably reads MP3, WMA, JPEG, AVI, MPEG4, through all means but only states so for DVD
- A/V composite mini jack to three RCA (1 x supplied ?) for in and out
- $100
- "extended cable range" I think means clear QAM cable tuner
- ATSC, I think also NTSC VHF/UHF

One more:

- full size, standard cable connection already on unit ("F-pin"), no adapter necessary (?), once rinky-dink, whip antenna is removed .

The link to the manual appears broken, can you fix it? Thanks!

Oops. Fixed here and corrected in original post.

I got this today and was excited aibout the digital tv. I tried it and it shows no signal, even after a scan. I live in the Boston area and I know there should be a signal. Anybody know what the deal is?

Do we know that other digital TVs in that same room using that same antenna successfully receive digital stations? If not then you may need to try a better antenna, and sorry, but indoor ones may not be adequate for where you live, even though I know you don't want to hear that.


Antenna web will help tell you what color series antenna you need to consider.