LCD vs. LED Television.

[endoftheroad]

I found a Flat Screen 24" RCA LED HDTV with built in DVD player today at Sears for $229.
Wouldn't it make sense for me to buy a LED TV because of it's low power consumption?
The unit draws 48 Watts.


btw, I'm not interested in buying a 12 volt TV.

Thanks

[David M]

How many Watt-Hours is your DC system? Is it relatively easy or difficult to recharge your system?

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by David M

How many Watt-Hours is your DC system? Is it relatively easy or difficult to recharge your system?

I'm in the process of buying 2 Kyocera 140 watt panels and 4 Trojan 6 Volt T105's.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

I found a Flat Screen 24" RCA LED HDTV with built in DVD player today at Sears for $229.
Wouldn't it make sense for me to buy a LED TV because of it's low power consumption?
The unit draws 48 Watts.

btw, I'm not interested in buying a 12 volt TV.

Thanks

Anything with a block in the cable is actually a dc tv.

Mine draws 30w and 20w in energy saving mode... It runs on 18v through a 12v to 18v converter.

[noelex 77]

I have a 22 inch led monitor. With the AC power brick removed it runs at about 1.1A @12v.

You still need something to play any content. I have a dedicated 12v computer that takes 1A. A notebook would be similar. Their are also android boxes that will do the same thing, cheaper and with less power.

A hi effeciency T class amplifier handles the audio via some "hi fi" speakers. It uses about 0.2A

When playing a movie the total is under 2.5A.

The other option is a TV as you suggest, try to get one that will take a hard drive as so much content is now hard drive based. Its difficult to know the power consumption difference between a TV and monitor/computer. Untill recently the TV option tended to consume more power, but efficiencies are improving with the move towards greener electronic products and I suspect the two are now similar for the same sized screen.

Unfortunately the listed power consumption on the specifications often does not mean much, but in some cases they will quote a maximium, rather than average.

The TV option is cheaper and easier with fewer wires etc. One concern is loss of versatility with the possibility of new video formats that may not be comparable, but cruisers with modern TVs report they play nearly everything.

The other concern is that live streaming of movies and TV, while sitting at anchor, via the internet, is close to becoming a reality. This needs a monitor and computer, rather than a TV. However, we are not there yet in most parts of the world. I think a TV (or hybrid TV monitor) is probably the best option for most people

I would definitely go with the LED illumination option for boat use.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

I found a Flat Screen 24" RCA LED HDTV with built in DVD player today at Sears for $229.
Wouldn't it make sense for me to buy a LED TV because of it's low power consumption?
The unit draws 48 Watts.


btw, I'm not interested in buying a 12 volt TV.

Thanks

I bet it doesn't use 48 watts except for momentary peaks.

I have an El Cheapo Tesco 22" led tv which I pull out of a locker and set up on the salon table for movies sometimes. It's 230 volts and I run it off the inverter. I don't know how much power it uses -- too little to be measured by my analogue AC ammeter.

Like Noelex said, you might not really need the DVD player. Rip your DVD's to hard drive and use your laptop. Takes up a lot less space, uses less power, etc. Make sure the tv has an HDMI or DVI connection (I suppose they all do these days).

[Talbot]

I have a 12v led 22inch at my nav station.

I have a 240vAC 32in led for enjoyment of films etc - both have integral DVD drives

[gspeak]

Not sure why you say you're not interested in 12 volt TV's as they are more efficient power wise. I have a 12 volt 24" LED TV with DVD player, USB, HDMI & only cost AU$199. It draws an average consumption of 36W & standby 0.5W.

I got it from the biiggest Oz online discount electrical retailer. The inbuilt audio speakers are horrible but I hook it up to the boats sound system with a 3.5mm cable & it's great.

Dave
Seabreeze L380 #241

[noelex 77]

It does not necessarily need to be a TV/monitor that is specified for 12v.

If you can get a model with a AC brick power supply,unplug it and use a DC to DC converter, or even better, direct from 12v, which is possible (with a slight risk) on some models.

Unfortunately more TVs /monitors are putting their power supplies internally, which makes conversion not practical.

Driven via a (preferably small) inverter it will use about 20% more power than from a DC to DC supply. Direct from 12v will save another 10-15%.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

It does not necessarily need to be a TV/monitor that is specified for 12v.

If you can get a model with a AC brick power supply,unplug it and use a DC to DC converter, or even better, direct from 12v, which is possible (with a slight risk) on some models.

Unfortunatly more TVs /monitors are putting their power supplies internally, which makes conversion not practical.

Driven via a (preferably small) inverter it will use about 20% more power than from a DC to DC supply. Direct from 12v will save another 10-15%.

To put that into perspective, a 22" LED tv uses about 22 watts average. Powering it in the most efficient way might save you 8 watts, and that's only if it's native 12v. Otherwise, say 4.4 watts. For people on an extremely tight power budget and/or for those who run the television frequently, this might be worth spending some time thinking about, and performing surgery on the tv. For others, it's probably not worth even thinking about.

That's a no-brainer for me, since I rarely use the TV and have a fairly large battery bank. That being said, I did, however, find a DC-DC power supply for my laptop, which is constantly in use. What's more, I found a 24 volt one! At Maplin, made for truckers. So I don't even have to take the power from a 24-12 dropper. I hard wired it at the nav table and I'm glad to have it. The power supply is mounted behind the instrument panel, out of the way.

[goboatingnow]

The other concern is that live streaming of movies and TV, while sitting at anchor, via the internet, is close to becoming a reality. This needs a monitor and computer, rather than a TV. However, we are not there yet in most parts of the world. I think a TV (or hybrid TV monitor) is probably the best option for most people

Just buy a TV with a HDMI interface, thats essentually a monitor. The old distinctions really dont apply much these days, TV=monitor=TV really.

Dave

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Powering it in the most efficient way might save you 8 watts, and that's only if it's native 12v.

I don't watch any TV, but play a movie most nights.

As you say the power savings, in isolation, are not great, but if want to run the boat completely on solar over winter and still enjoy all the toys you need to consider the power consumption carefully. The consumption of larger appliances, such as watermakers and fridges is more critical, but savings across the board are beneficial.

An AHr saved is an AHr earned to corrupt a popular saying.

I prefer a boat set up on solar / wind power rather than generator based primarily for the greater reliability. I have seen too many boats waiting in out of the way places for generator repairs.

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Just buy a TV with a HDMI interface, thats essentually a monitor. The old distinctions really dont apply much these days, TV=monitor=TV really.

Dave

you know that starting to make a lot of sense. after starting this thread I'm starting to realize that I need a USB port as people want to loan me movies that are on memory sticks or hard drives.
any monitors you recommend?

[ranger58sb]

Relevant to the thread title... I think an "LED" TV is actually an LCD TV with picture augmented via LED backlighting. Brighter picture without huge additional power requirements. (Not at all sure about all that, though.)

-Chris

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Just buy a TV with a HDMI interface, thats essentually a monitor. The old distinctions really dont apply much these days, TV=monitor=TV really.

Dave

And then slap a $99 AppleTV module to the back of it and you're done. Now you can also stream music and video from your iPod, iPad, iPhone, MacBook, MacMini using AirPlay and even mirror the screen so that all can enjoy the navigation or read that email from home etc.
Heck, I think you can even stream from iTunes from a Windows PC.

This is all wireless. The only cables are power to TV and AppleTV and a short HDMI between TV and AppleTV. You do need your own wifi aboard of-course. Streaming from the Internet: radio works with most wifi service and movies with almost none, but this is all done with just that AppleTV module, no computer needed.