Why is it so hard to find a decent TV??

[PippaB]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The time about that is: a small 300W pure sine inverter running a TV is very efficient DC-AC and is so close to just the DC power as to be meaningless. Before I started using the small inverter and instead used my main inverter I would use 20+ AH more than I do now. The things are like $30.

But really it is like all power equipment choices, if you want the equipment you will find the power

Originally Posted by GILow

I gave up on 12 volt TV's ages back and just put in a very small, pure sine wave inverter dedicated to the task. (Though it now also charges my electric toothbrush when the TV is on).

I still switch the TV off at the main panel to avoid parasitic power loss. Four years now, no regrets.

+1 more.

Have given up on lots of DC charging options. Is it the absolute most efficient - no. But it is certainly the easiest. Our 300W inverter stays on 24/7 because it runs our fridge, our freezer, and when we are using them the monitor/computer systems. No load draw on the inverter is 4W or 0.35A@12V, small enough that I can ignore it. Efficiency under most conditions is about 90%, so yes, you can lose power that way, but the ease of use has made it a winner for us (our current inverter in that role is going on 6 years of continuous use). Philosophically I'm opposed to taking my DC, converting it to AC, then having the consuming appliance turn it back to DC, but convenience won over philosophy long ago.

It also charges out toothbrushes when they need it

[Dr. D]

Get a tablet and sit close to it.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by PippaB

+1 more.

Have given up on lots of DC charging options. Is it the absolute most efficient - no. But it is certainly the easiest. Our 300W inverter stays on 24/7 because it runs our fridge, our freezer, and when we are using them the monitor/computer systems. No load draw on the inverter is 4W or 0.35A@12V, small enough that I can ignore it. Efficiency under most conditions is about 90%, so yes, you can lose power that way, but the ease of use has made it a winner for us (our current inverter in that role is going on 6 years of continuous use). Philosophically I'm opposed to taking my DC, converting it to AC, then having the consuming appliance turn it back to DC, but convenience won over philosophy long ago.

It also charges out toothbrushes when they need it

Yeah, the toothbrush is a real challenge. [emoji28]

More importantly, I was pretty unsuccessful running a household fridge from the inverter. It seemed to trip even the much bigger 1.5 kW inverter at startup. It wasn’t a major problem as the fridge was just a temporary item while I was doing the fitout, but it would good to know which fridge you have that doesn’t cause this problem. I like the idea of a conventional fridge even though I am very happy with my Ozefridge now.

[Idaho]

You have Best-itis.

Switch to Goodenoughus.

Your TV life will be much more serene.

[AKA-None]

I would look for a monitor rather than a tv
You can add a tuner for tv as long as everything uses an external power supply

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The time about that is: a small 300W pure sine inverter running a TV is very efficient DC-AC and is so close to just the DC power as to be meaningless. Before I started using the small inverter and instead used my main inverter I would use 20+ AH more than I do now. The things are like $30.

But really it is like all power equipment choices, if you want the equipment you will find the power

Yup...that's what I did on my last boat...worked well. I think my TV was 20" or so, Samsung. After owning it for almost a year, it developed a line or two that looked something running down the picture. I did notice the AC-DC adapter was 12volt but the mini inverter had 2 outlets.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

Get a tablet and sit close to it.

Dr.D...I hope you're not an Optometrist...

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

I would look for a monitor rather than a tv
You can add a tuner for tv as long as everything uses an external power supply

That is the solution we have adopted. There is a wider range of high quality monitors in the smaller sizes. Running a monitor from a PC means there is no issue playing movies with different file formats, connecting to a tablet or even using the monitor to view Open CPN etc. We don’t actually watch TV, so a monitor was an obvious choice in our case, but many boats use a monitor to watch TV.

It is powered by two DC to DC converters, one outputting 19v for the monitor and one 12v for the PC. No inverter needed which improves efficiency and reduces bulk.

The PC and two voltage converters are mounted to the back of the monitor so everything is self contained.

[Rumrace]

Bang and Olufsen 55” 4K on a pedestal. I’m a serious B&O addict. I need help.
I have a pair of B&O speakers BeoLab 3 in the boat with exterior Wisa ports and 12V processor running the twin ice amps. The Samsung TV in the boat has a Wisa adaptor so it thinks it’s a Bang and Olufsen TV. They pair up nice with an iPad to run them.
B&O TVs are too heavy for boats. Go see them they will end your thinking on blue tooth wifi , 2 wire speakers, colour. They are nuts.
I have their speakers in my car too.
Samsung make their screens and B&O make the rest in Denmark

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Rohan

Not bad, but $484?? I could buy like three off the shelf TVs for that much.

Get an HDTV then you can use it as a TV or a Monitor for your Computer.

I think mine was $65.00. Mine runs on a $40 inverter that was already on the boat.

Fan is on 12 volts, TV and RPi hooked to inverter

Plus there are lots of weird TV Channels you can pickup on your HDTV with an antenna if you are in close enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TOdSCDHb2s

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

I would look for a monitor rather than a tv
You can add a tuner for tv as long as everything uses an external power supply

Good suggestion. I'm going to look into that.

[SV__Grace]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Close: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp...706&id=7837498

We've been using this exact TV, the Majestic 22", every day without problems, since becoming full time liveaboard cruisers more than 5 years ago.

Don't whine about the price, some TVs are less expensive, some are more, and what matters is that you are happy with the one you have and it works well for you.

It's mounted securely on a bulkhead with a wall mount AND earthquake straps so it doesn't move at all while underway. We have it hooked up to a switch to cut the power off when not in use so we don't waste battery power in standby mode, which might extend it's life as well.

Couple of related mods we have made for this TV-

- Mounted a small USB hub behind the screen to the single USB port to power the Apple TV, use thumb drives of videos and movies, etc.

- Converted our Apple TV to 12v, USB powered. Lots of instructions online for doing so, here's a good one.

[CarinaPDX]

I sympathize. The great majority of TVs under 32" are HD, not FHD (1080). Just filtering on FHD cuts down the field a lot. There are only a very few that are between 24" and 32", and the ones I have found are lacking other features I want. So in practice it is something between 21" and 24" with FHD and some minimum interfacing for the stereo and HDMI inputs, plus maybe a headphone jack. After winnowing down the field there aren't a lot of options and it may be that none of them use a 120V power brick that outputs 12V. A small inverter is inexpensive and a very good and efficient answer so that shouldn't be a deal breaker.

About 10 years ago I bought a Haier that met all of the criteria: 22", 1080P, 12V power. It is not a smart tv so I use my computer to play video, occasionally through the HDMI to the tv. It even has timeshifting using a USB flash drive. The sound is weak but I use my car stereo and that works well. The problem is that it is cheap crap. The USB interface quickly became flaky and failed, taking with it timeshifting (very disappointing), and the warranty service was basically MIA. More recently the remote control failed so I bought a universal remote and soldiered on. Now the tv sometimes decides to not see the remote commands (the remote works fine with the stereo). It is nearing time to rediscover the joys of Korean and Japanese quality.

Greg

[jamhass]

If you pay close attention to many (most?) of your less expensive LED Tvs (at least under 40 inches) you may find that they are actually 12v DC, powered by a "wall-wart" transfomer. We installed a 32-inch inexpensive LED tv some 10 years ago and it has never failed us. To be clear, I did use a 12v-12v constant voltage power supply in order to avoid the TV seeing the voltage extremes common in boat electrical systems which can commonly run between 11 and 14+ volts.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The time about that is: a small 300W pure sine inverter running a TV is very efficient DC-AC and is so close to just the DC power as to be meaningless. Before I started using the small inverter and instead used my main inverter I would use 20+ AH more than I do now. The things are like $30

This! Our main inverter burns about 5 amps whenever it's on. I turn it off a lot. But we have a tropical fish that needs to be kept warm, so we have a 30 watt inverter that handles the heater just fine.

Our TV is about 10 years old, an Insignia that runs natively on 12 volts DC. I cut the wire off the adapter and it goes straight to the 12 volt system.