LCD TV or Monitor

[lawrence_craig]

Hi guys,

Just trying to work out how to get a lcd or monitor on my boat and wanted the experience of you guys out there.

The display unit will be mounted and be used for a mixture of computer work and playing movies. It will be mounted on the nav station with a swivel mount. A tuner isn’t necessary, just an HDMI connection.

What would be the best solution? Ideally could wire it directly into 12v system via a DC-DC regulator but also understand an inverter might be needed.

Many thanks for your input!

[Davy J]

Check out some of the smaller Insignia line of TV's at Best Buy. Many of these are actually 12v TV's. You then find the correct 12V adapter and you can run the TV on 12v or 110v.

This is the one we have, it has a DVD player built in, but it looks the model has been discontinued:
https://www.insigniaproducts.com/pdp...20NA16/1053086

[ohgary]

IF your not looking for a tuner then you LCD TV is just a monitor.. Assuming your not a gamer who needs fast refresh, a LCD TV even if just used for HDMI is a good option as you get multiple HDMI inputs on the TV where the monitor would just give you one.

[Reefmagnet]

Any 12VDC monitor should work fine off the 12v house bank. I know my 12vdc telly has never had a problem, other than a couple of pixels dropping out if the voltage drops too low (now fixed with new wiring).


At the nav station, I have a 13" USB powered monitor. It's IPS which has about the widest range of viewing angles, on the subject of which I've found a fairly important specification for a boat monitor that needs to be viewed from multiple positions.

[stormalong]

When I was in Prince Rupert BC a few years ago my computer monitor quit. There were no good computer store options there so I bought an LED LCD TV from Walmart. It works great. Less that $100 Canadian and low power consumption. Has both SVGA and HDMI inputs. I also have a second, larger TV for watching videos that acts as a backup if the computer monitor/TV quits. They are so cheap these days I wouldn't bother with a dedicated monitor.

[singlespeed]

At least in Grenada, importing a monitor has a distinct import tax advantage. In 2016, monitor duty at 12%, TV at 33%. Some monitors will require a better set of external speakers for movie watching.

[pitlaw]

Google a Supersonic TV. They come with 12 V connections and USB and the connection to use as a monitor. I bought one with a built in DVD. Cheap too. I am mounting mine on an arm over the nav desk so it can swivel out to be seen from the settee.

[sailjumanji]

We have a Dell monitor. You have to go thru the owners manuals of their various monitors, and find the ones that have a brick converting 110 colt to 12 volt DC. Then you can either cut the cord, or buy a cord with a cigarette lighter plug on the end (what we did). We use the monitor to watch dvds at night at anchor, and then it gets stowed while sailing.

[tarian]

24 inch monitor on swivel arm connected to inverter and desktop computer
via HDMI draws all in 3 Amps or 6 Amps on 12 volt
Use internet for TV or downloads or Netflix also computer used for main Nav
Station and for keeping all documents and manuals and logs etc backed up by small harddrive

[W32PAMELA]

I just purchased this Monitor for my boat. I've been running it at home and am happy with it. It uses a 12volt AC/DC brick

I will be using this DCDC converter to supply a stable 12 volts for it and any other electronics that I think might benefit.

[Hunky Dory]

Check out Majestic TV's they are true 12 Volt. If you check deeper you will find that they set up for the closest station and will adjust automatically as the boat swings.

[lawrence_craig]

Originally Posted by W32PAMELA

I just purchased this Monitor for my boat. I've been running it at home and am happy with it. It uses a 12volt AC/DC brick



I will be using this DCDC converter to supply a stable 12 volts for it and any other electronics that I think might benefit.

Really appreciate the input from everybody

I have gone ahead and purchased a monitor with a 12v->230 volt transformer which I’ll just cut off.

I saw some people recommended some sort of voltage regulator or stabilisation. Could you point me in the right direction? Is it just that Mini Box or are there others? My battery bank is 12V.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by lawrence_craig

Really appreciate the input from everybody

I have gone ahead and purchased a monitor with a 12v->230 volt transformer which I’ll just cut off.

I saw some people recommended some sort of voltage regulator or stabilisation. Could you point me in the right direction? Is it just that Mini Box or are there others? My battery bank is 12V.

How much did the TV cost? if cheap, why bother. I doubt unregulated house voltage will worry it too much, even with the charger connected. It certainly hasn't caused any problems with my LG TV that the shop sales guy kept insisting couldn't run directly off a 12 volt battery when I purchased it 6 years ago.

[lawrence_craig]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

How much did the TV cost? if cheap, why bother. I doubt unregulated house voltage will worry it too much, even with the charger connected. It certainly hasn't caused any problems with my LG TV that the shop sales guy kept insisting couldn't run directly off a 12 volt battery when I purchased it 6 years ago.

Ah fair enough, sounds good, it wasn’t too expensive

So I just cut the plug off and wire it to the battery supply? Even though the plug says 19v?

[pcmm]

All the suggestions here are good.

1. try to find some thing with a "brick" that allows you to more easily convert to direct DC connections and avoid the losses with DC->AC AC-> DC conversion

2. keep in mind most monitors don't have either speakers OR a remote

3. Most TV's are less expensive than their "monitor" counterparts