looking for digital mini TV

Archived from groups: alt.video.digital-tv (More info?)

"Jürgen Schmitz" <juergen.schmitz@t-online.de> wrote in message
news:cbmdpp$54e$07$1@news.t-online.com...
> i would like to replace my Casio Mini TV ( handheld, 3" display) by
another
> TV ( same size ) with integrated digital tuner ready to receive
terrestrial
> digital programs in Germany.
> Surprisingly i did not find any product matching the requirements. What
did
> go wrong? Did i miss appropriate key words when searching by google or is
no
> product available at all?

Haven't seen any DTT pocket, or even portable, integrated TVs yet. I suspect
that a DTT tuner still consumes quite a lot of power - meaning running it on
AA batteries might not be great for batter life... I also suspect the
market is still quite small, Germany, the UK and Australia (with some other
Scandinavian countries?) at the moment.

Might be wrong - but I haven't seen many small IDTVs available. In fact the
smallest is a 17" LCD based TV that definitely looks like it needs mains
power.

Steve

Archived from groups: alt.video.digital-tv (More info?)

"Tony Stanley" <t@not1spam.co.uk> a écrit dans le message de news:
cbmql9$39t$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
>
> Also needs large silicon area, although a thick PDA sized one might just
be
> possible and signal levels are not that suitable for such simple aerials.
> DC power consumption of a STB is about 4w, means a tyical 2xAA rechargable
> would last about 1 hour. I think the main problem would be the signal
> level, which will remain too low until analogue switch-off.
>
In Germany, analog is switched-off in areas where DTT is launched
commercially (Berlin since aug. last year and one or two other metropolitan
areas), so the signal level should not be a problem.
However, very few IDTVs exist (even standard sizes) because they in fact are
more expensive than an anolg TV + a FTA DTT box.
Regarding pocket size TV, it's mainly a matter of power consumption and
market size.
Since this market in Europe is mainly going to be addressed by DVB-H (an
extension of DVB-T allowing low power digital TV at lower resolution and
very low power consumption for handheld devices lilke PDAs and mobile
phones), I am not sure that handheld digital TVs will be very common
before...
Before this, medium size DVB-T products (6 to 7'' screen) will exist mainly
for in-car use, where the power consumption is much less critical.
Hervé
>

Archived from groups: alt.video.digital-tv (More info?)

"ivan" <Ivan'H'older@yahoo.co.uk> a écrit dans le message de news:
2k8lhnF18bapoU1@uni-berlin.de...
>
> > However, very few IDTVs exist (even standard sizes) because they in fact
> > are more expensive than an anolg TV + a FTA DTT box.
>
> I've often wondered why this should be, especially when taking into
> consideration that the digital receiver built into an existing TV would
> eliminate the need for an individual Case, Remote Control, SCART
Connectors,
> and Power Supply.
> In theory anyway, the whole thing should be a darn sight cheaper than an
> analogue TV and separate digibox.
>
Of course, this sounds very logical, however for the time being the volume
of IDTVs is very small compared to the volume of basic DTT set-top boxes (of
which the price has dropped below 100?), that's the situation...
Also people are less worried to buy a cheap DTT box than an IDTV, because
they fear that it might become obsolete much before it is out of order
(average life of TV sets is in the order of 10 years).
>

Archived from groups: alt.video.digital-tv (More info?)

"ivan" <Ivan'H'older@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2k8s7cF19213rU1@uni-berlin.de...
>
> "Hervé Benoit" <herve.benoit1@free.fr> wrote in message
> news:40df2822$0$30923$626a14ce@news.free.fr...
> > "ivan" <Ivan'H'older@yahoo.co.uk> a écrit dans le message de news:
> > 2k8lhnF18bapoU1@uni-berlin.de...
> > >
> > > > However, very few IDTVs exist (even standard sizes) because they in
> fact
> > > > are more expensive than an anolg TV + a FTA DTT box.
> > >
> > > I've often wondered why this should be, especially when taking into
> > > consideration that the digital receiver built into an existing TV
would
> > > eliminate the need for an individual Case, Remote Control, SCART
> > Connectors,
> > > and Power Supply.
> > > In theory anyway, the whole thing should be a darn sight cheaper than
an
> > > analogue TV and separate digibox.
> > >
> > Of course, this sounds very logical, however for the time being the
volume
> > of IDTVs is very small compared to the volume of basic DTT set-top boxes
> (of
> > which the price has dropped below 100?), that's the situation...
> > Also people are less worried to buy a cheap DTT box than an IDTV,
because
> > they fear that it might become obsolete much before it is out of order
> > (average life of TV sets is in the order of 10 years).
> > >
> >
>
> A DTT receiver can be purchased for around £50 here in the UK.
>
> Remember that at one time people had to pay a lot extra for Teletext,
NICAM
> and SCARTs, all of which now come as 'standard fare', even on the cheapest
> (sub £200) 28" w/s TV.
>
> IMO the addition of a tiny tuner module with a couple of flat-pack ICs
would
> add very little to the total cost of a mass produced receiver, yet would
be
> a very strong selling point.
>
> As for obsolescence, I find that the average punter now purchasing
> 'low-cost'
> A/V equipment is quite prepared to dump it into the nearest landfill after
> two or three years, if it starts to give trouble.
>
> As Homer Simpson would say, "It's the American way!" )
>

Hopefully the attitudes on disposability will change a bit with the WEEE
regulations, but at the moment most are just considering it a financial tax
rather than opportunity to recycle, but back on topic..

The reason iDTV, or iDVCR for that matter, are more expensive is to do with
total volume from a product line. The main cost in TV development is the
mechanical tooling, and this has been a huge obstacle in persuading TV mfrs
to convert to chassis capable of DTV. Appart from mounting points and
physical space, iDTVs must have CI sockets which makes them especially
different from their analogue chassis.

Gradually the price will come down as investments are paid off, and markets
are big enough to risk spreading the cost over larger volumes.

The truth is that the public are still mostly buying analogue TV products
(VCRs, TV, DVDR) and are going to keep doing it until the Gov't does
something about it. I know that many big companies are still embarking on
analogue receiver only product design. There maybe a sudden change when/if
the Gov't announce publicly the switch-off plan later this year. I also
think they will need to do some form of mandating very soon otherwise people
just ain't going to bother.

--
Tony Stanley ++Always Learning++