OT: Another Telly Query

[Roger Chapman]

My 14" kitchen telly is so old it doesn't have a scart socket so come September it will be just another bit of useless junk without one of those expensive set top boxes that don't rely on a scart connection.

So what to replace it with?

ISTR that there was a thread a while back that discussed the comparative merits of plasma and LCD and what were the more reliable makes but as per usual I can't now find any trace of it.

The current TV sits on a swivel bracket kept in place by its own weight. Would a flat screen model be safe on such a device or do I need to invest in a modern wall mounting bracket and shift the swivel bracket to the ever expanding junk pile as well?

Thanks in anticipation for any useful suggestions of makes, models and suppliers.

[Alan]

In message , Roger Chapman wrote

Do Plasma TVs have screen sizes as low as 14 inch?

I suspect that unless you are going to put a 40 inch TV in your kitchen then your choice will be limited to LCD..

No - flat screen TVs are bolted to brackets.

[Lee]

If you have a sentimental attachment to the telly, you could use a cheapo Freeview box, at about a tenner and a scart-to-RF modulator at about twenty. Usual caveat of somewhat reduced picture quality ;)

You know you want a new telly though ;)

Lee

[jgharston]

All the cheapo FreeView boxes I've seen (limited, admittedly) have RF out. eg, Ken's Goodmans box is =A324.

JGH

[Andy Burns]

RF-out from the current cheapo STBs tends to be just a loop out of the RF-in, they don't have an internal modulator to send the decoded digital programme to a non-scart TV.

[airsmoothed]

The Icecrypt T5000 has RF modulator and is 18 quid at Amazon.

[therustyone]

if you and your telly are lucky to be old enough, the government assistance scheme will provide an STB box with RF output for free (AIUI).

luggsie.

[John Rumm]

There are set top boxes that include a modulator... there are also discrete modulators that will convert scart to RF, so while its not as straight forward, there is nothing actually stopping continued use of it.

[Lobster]

I suppose a modern flatscreen jobbie would sit on one of those but it would bo a bit... odd. I've just replaced our kitchen TV with a flatscreen and used on of these:

(or

- at £12.40 delivered, really not worth messing about; and I'm very pleased with it - very sturdy, and goes flat against the wall when required, or pulls out and faces any direction if you need it to. Can't imagine having the TV sat on a CRT platform instead!

David

[Alan (BigAl)]

cant cope with the idea of watching TV in the kitchen as well, but these flip down devices look cool.

Alan

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You can get FreeView boxes with an RF output - rather like early VCRs. For not much money.

However, most things are 16:9 aspect ratio so you'll have to put up with a distorted picture on an old set.

[Frank Erskine]

So my 30-line Nipkow disk telly won't work very well then, I assume?

[chrisj.doran%proemail.co.uk]

If you have a spare VCR with a scart socket, you can feed through its modulator (the tape mechanism doesn't have to work). But the setup will obviously look bulky and ugly.

Chris

[Andy Burns]

Even the cheapest/nastiest STB I've seen allows you to configure the TV as 4:3, so it will crop the picture, rather than stretch it.

[Alan]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote

A Freeview box with it's own modulator is a rare beast these days, and usually not at the cheap end of the range.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As I said a distorted picture. Some of it missing. Or squashed.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I believe not. There was a mention of a cheap one on one of the TV groups recently. I don't remember what it was as it's of little interest to me. Small CRT sets with SCART sockets come up for free just about every day on the local FreeCycle group - as do ones of just about every size - so if I were short of cash I'd go down that route, and get a more modern set capable of displaying a FreeView picture in the correct aspect ratio.

[Andy Burns]

OK, I thought you meant the usual stretchyvision, beloved of people who bought newfangled 16:9 TVs and couldn't bear to have black pillars down the side ... less common nowadays of course.

[Roger Chapman]

Thanks. I tried that with an old set top box and an even older VCR but I couldn't even get the menu to appear on the screen. So it looks like an LCD TV for me, but what make and where is the best buy?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It depends. If you must have the very latest HD and 3D etc you'll be looking at different makes from a more basic set.

Older models now superceeded often come up at bargain prices on CPC etc.

Also, what size to you want? Smaller ones tend to be less common.