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Portable handheld digital tv -- Watchmans?

H

HoustonListener

I know that my Sony Watchman portable handheld TV will become useless when the analog signals are turned off... unless there is some plan for a converter small enough to fit a hand held TV, and I doubt that.
Is any company developing handheld TVs with digital tuners...or is anyone selling this now? or a digital converter small enough for a hand held TV?

And are people still buying these handheld TVs unaware that if they only have an analog tuner they will soon be obsolete (at least in the U.S. and other areas that end analog broadcasting)?
 
I say no. The way digital TV is set up, Watchmans of this type will be impractical. What I'd also love to know is what will be the smallest screen size available at the time of the analog shut-off, whether the TV is HD or a digital simulcast?
 
The smallest TVs I've seen with a digital tuner so far are two Insignia models from Best Buy. One has a 5" screen and the other has a 7" screen. They both have the same exterior size. I bought the 7" version and was very disappointed. The analog TV reception was very poor compared to the Radio Shack Optimus pocket TV I currently own. Digital was worse. I returned the TV.

I understand that next year, digital signals are going to modified for special digital TVs that can be used in a moving vehicle.
 
I hope so. The current cut-off date is still supposed to be February 17, 2009.
 
I have a funny feeling that the watchman type TV (I call mine my Forrest Gump TV) and other analog sets.will still have limited value/use in remote areas of the country that still rely on the use of translators. There are a lot of small, remote towns, mostly out West that have translators and I find it difficult to believe that these stations/ frequencies will go blank. So a watchman may still be of use as a "camping TV". For one thing, tourists that are camping still need to be kept abreast of local news/weather. I just don't see these translators going dark; the folks out there have a lot of political pull and won't take this lying down. Even a 5" old B and W but hooked up to a rat shack 2 bay bow might do the trick in some of these remote areas.
 
I read a couple of stores already got warnings for failure to put notice that the sets they are selling are analog only (especially the online versions of the stores).

I wonder has anyone started making the "sound only" version of digital TV? Like right now I got an old Sony walkman with casette (I use it for books on tape), AM / FM / Weather / TV (Ch 2-13)
 
I've been in and out of different Wal Marts in my area and there is definite confusion with the 20 inch and smaller TVs that are out. The warning cards are on almost all smaller sets whether they are analog or not, probably just to be safe, but there are price cards on sets that say they are SDTVs when they aren't. I've only seen a couple of 20 inch sets and a 14 inch set that actually are SDTVs going by the logo being on the set or the box.

I'm assuming that as time goes on there will be more SDTV models available, but the people at Wal Mart who do their pricing cards apparently have no idea what an SDTV actually is. It looks to me like this could get them in trouble with the FCC if they don't fix it.
 
Tell me about it! I sell some of those very same TVs and had to make a few changes on them myself! :(
 
It looks like the safest thing would be to at least mark out SDTV on the price card when the set isn't one, or would they allow you to do that?
 
HoustonListener said:
I know that my Sony Watchman portable handheld TV will become useless when the analog signals are turned off... unless there is some plan for a converter small enough to fit a hand held TV, and I doubt that.
Is any company developing handheld TVs with digital tuners...or is anyone selling this now? or a digital converter small enough for a hand held TV?

And are people still buying these handheld TVs unaware that if they only have an analog tuner they will soon be obsolete (at least in the U.S. and other areas that end analog broadcasting)?
Click to expand...

Why would you need one? With Verizon pimping V-Cast and Sprint having "Sprint TV", the mobile phone industry will more than compensate for any Watchman by that time. I've got Sprint TV on my Samsung M900, and it's pretty good. It's streaming right now, but I saw a commercial for Verizon that they're supposed to be "Live" TV, if not now, then very soon. The iPhone is supposed to have that capability and more. So, you add two years more of R&D into it, and the mobile phone industry will have TV down to a science by the time your Watchman goes black.
 
But can't you utilize a watchman in extremely remote areas where there are translators but no cell service?Signed, technologically impaired.
 
Hi everyone:
Kevin Lagasse said:
I say no. The way digital TV is set up, Watchmans of this type will be impractical.
Click to expand...
If this was the case, then why are iPods and PSPs flying off the shelves like hot cakes?
What I'd also love to know is what will be the smallest screen size available at the time of the analog shut-off, whether the TV is HD or a digital simulcast?
Click to expand...
This would be interesting to know.

Cheers :D
 
Pat, people aren't watching terrestrial TV signals on thier I-Pods. There IS a difference.
 
Kevin Lagasse said:
Pat, people aren't watching terrestrial TV signals on thier I-Pods. There IS a difference.
Click to expand...
But still, it just goes to show that digital video is practical at such a small screen resolution though. As such, the difference is that much.

Cheers :D
 
I know that the cell phone companies are hard at work developing and marketing TV on the cell phones. But....unlike a portable "Watchman" type of TV, the cell companies of course want you to pay to receive the TV shows. I could watch TV on my Watchman for free....
 
FloydB said:
Why would you need one? With Verizon pimping V-Cast and Sprint having "Sprint TV", the mobile phone industry will more than compensate for any Watchman by that time. I've got Sprint TV on my Samsung M900, and it's pretty good. It's streaming right now, but I saw a commercial for Verizon that they're supposed to be "Live" TV, if not now, then very soon. The iPhone is supposed to have that capability and more. So, you add two years more of R&D into it, and the mobile phone industry will have TV down to a science by the time your Watchman goes black.
Click to expand...

As someone else has already commented, the difference is that the Watchman pulls in free TV broadcasts, whereas the "TV over cellphone" services cost $10 to $15 per month. At that rate, the portable TV will pay for itself in just a few months, even assuming that the cellphone TV rates don't go up if the service succeeds.

I expect that we probably will see smaller portable digital TVs appear in the next couple years to give competition to the two Insignia portables now being sold at Best Buy. Regarding those two sets -- I've seen some mixed reviews at "TVtechnology.com". Some folks have gotten excellent results with this television, others have reported poor reception. There's been some speculation that this may reflect the use of more than one tuner chip in these sets, with performance varying depending on which tuner chip is contained in the set you happen to buy.
 
Just a thought--

Can anyone imagine what it would be like had Sega decided to continue supporting the Game Gear system, and introduced an ATSC tuner cartridge for it that might have become a hit in the United States the way the old-skool Analogue TV carts did?

Needless to say Someone In Japan could possibly be sitting on a fortune had this been the case...........

(Incidentally I still have my original, vintage 1994 Analogue TV tuner cart for my Game Gear.......only had to replace the antenna on it once but it still works beautifully. ;o)
 
Yeah, I know it costs extra. And, no, I'm not paying the 10-15 bucks a month for TV on my cell phone. The two-three channels I get are included because I've got internet on my phone, and they use them to promote the MobiTV from Sprint. Granted, the channels you get are pretty good, but I can't justify paying for it on my cell phone. Same thing goes for satellite radio. I can justify paying for that, either, but people do, and they're loving it.

Chances are, I'm sure somebody'll come out with the portable digital TV technology when the market calls for it. Right now, they're focused on home-based systems. Once the analog signal goes permantly dark, the need for portables will come available.
 
But from all accounts digital is "hit or miss" and one would have to make an exceptional tuner to pull in the weaker digitals. It seems like all this technology is an excuse to separate the consumer from his/her hard earned $$. $10-15 mo for TV on your cellphone?, priceless for some, ridiculous for others.
 
I also want to mention that the handheld TVs are very useful for hurricane season to continue to watch the broadcasts (as long as the TV stations are capable) after the power goes out in the storm.

Also, I read with interest the Pinnacle PCTV USB ATSC tuner for computers, and saw in this Sunday's ad they have been on sale at Best Buy at significant discounts to the list price. But I note that the info on the Pinnacle site states that ATSC cannot be received while in motion? Is this true--is this a current technical limitation of the ATSC signal, that a signal cannot be received in a moving vehicle like an analog signal?
 
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