Small TV's

[ericmark]

I am at the moment watching TV on a Sony watchman FD-210BE not an ideal size, but enough to watch the odd program while away from home. However one large draw back is it needs a massive set top box to work.

This prompted me to look for a smaller set top box, some where I have an SL 65/12 think it was SilverCrest so assume Lidi but the dish is long gone, was used on a narrow boat, handy being 12 volt.

This then started me thinking, does not really need to be a TV once using a set top box, reverse camera for car uses a very small screen with a phono plug input.

We already have tablets which have screens and speakers, and with caravan sites with broad band access we can watch TV, but when there is no internet then looking at some little box, looked at August TV Tuner for Android Phones DVB-T305 that seems reasonable, but it needs a TV aerial which not sure if the sites where there is no internet would in fact have terrestrial TV through a small aerial which one could mount on a caravan, so maybe better option would be satellite and a portable dish which can sit on the floor in use, no need for poles strapped to side of caravan.

I can find sticks for laptops, but not for tablets, is it possible? or am I better giving up and just take some DVD's with me? Already have a car DVD player think called Nextbase cheap one from Halfords has USB but assume no good to watch TV as one would need to load in software.

 

[Lucid]

You're right about needing software and drivers and, of course, the functionality and processing power of a host PC to make those USB PC tuner dongles work. They're a non-starter.

It is possible to get video monitors in small sizes. Being a video monitor means that the screen should have in-built scaling to handle a wider range of resolutions than just the screen's pixel resolution. That's more flexible than just a PC monitor. Some of these monitors also have a 12v DC input, so they're useful in caravans and boats where 240V might not always be available. Have a look at the £70 7" Zoter screen on Ebay as an example.

Screens with a built-in Freeview tuner start at 10" or so and around the £100.

 

[ericmark]

Seems Sony watchman FD-210BE is going in the bin then, I'll show grand children first, cheating I will fit a small aerial to the RF output of one of our devices so it seems as if it still works, but can't see any real use for it any more.

 

[Lucid]

Don't bin it. Stuff like this Watchman can sell on Ebay to Film & TV props companies. There were never huge amounts of these sold new, so finding working examples is a bonus.