LED TV's for the Boat (vs. LCD TV's)

In the process of redoing the front stateroom's TV system, I have been looking at and researching various flat screen TV sets. You may have seen my posts complaining about the 15" high-def flatscreen TV market as the viewing angles on these things are horrible. If you go into Best Buy or any electronics store, they set the smaller TV's down low. If you actually raise the TV up to eye level, the picture fades out and if the TV is above you, the picture disappears. I've seen this on every smaller HD TV I've looked at. I won't go into that here but you can look at my older posts on it.

I actually went and bought an 19" LED 720p TV this past weekend. Instead of having using compact flourescent lighting as the backlight, these new LED TV's use LED's for the backlight. The difference is they draw much less power, are much thinner, and are lighter than a comparable LCD TV. In home use, this may not matter as much but for a boat, I think it's a big selling point.

I'm not real crazy about this brand but this is the unit I picked up from Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insigni...HDTV/9460754.p?skuId=9460754&id=1218108383305

This thing only draws 35 watts of power and has a 12v hookup on the back. There is a small power brick that can mount on the back to plug it into 120v. Here's a shot of the back of mine:



Close up of the specs... note the power consumption:



The nice thing is this thing has a screen that is only about 1/2" thick:



And the screen is 16x9 aspect ratio and has a thin bezel:



The down side to this unit is the speakers are in the back. I'm using an external sound system so it doesn't matter but if you were not, it might be an issue.

The other thing I liked about the back is the mounting geometry. I can build a bracket to mount the bottom of the set to the wall as well as the standard middle location. That'll keep the thing from wobbling (which I really hate).

Just an FYI... Don't know if anyone else has been following the LED vs. LCD push. Between the power draw reduction, lighter weight, thinner design and nice mounting options, this seems like a good TV for the boating market....

I probably don't know anymore about it than you, but from my readings, I would pick an LED, as well. I was following your TV mounting thread - lot's of good info in there.

Just wait until OLED becomes mainstream! :thumbsup::grin:

I'm sold on them. I installed a 32" Samsung LED TV in the salon this summer, and I couldn't be more impressed with the thing.

We were considering an HD satellite upgrade to go along with the TV, ($$$) :smt013, but the SD picture looks so good on the LED that for now, I've shelved the idea.

I just bought a blue ray player for it, but I haven't hooked it up yet. I'm eager to see how it performs.

An oddity about it, which I attribute to signal processing, is that it produces a slight delay in pic & sound compared to the other TV's on the boat. I have make a point to make sure that I can only hear sound from 1 TV at a time or I'd go a little crazy.

Gary,

Are you planning on using that TV for the front stateroom? I imagine you will have to modify the cabinet.

I still have to upgrade the salon TV, and mount the TV in the starboard stateroom. One of these days ...

LED is definately the way to go! Much thinner and lighter, a bit more expensive but more benefits than not.

You mentioned the problem with the viewing angles on the LCD tv's (particularly the cheaper ones) and I agree it's an issue. You never seem to able to mount one where it "should" go for optimal viewing.

I wasn't aware that LED screens solved that problem. Please post the results when you have it mounted to let us know if it's a significant improvement over an LCD.

Nice design being able to mount/secure the brick to the back of the set!

My take on LED backlighting is that is has lower power consumption than flourescent, much longer life, and has the ability to be individually turned on, off, and perhaps colored to match the pixel it's backlighting. That makes for a tremendous contrast improvement and richer colors, but I'm not sure about viewing angle improvements.
A trip to manufacturer's site for specs should clear that up.

The viewing angle for vertical is still not good. I don't think the LED lighting has anything to do with the traditional LCD electronics in front of these things. The TV's are LCD's with LED backlights instead of LCD's with compact florescent backlights. Saying they are LED and not LCD is a little deceiving but... that's marketing.

The vertical viewing angle is not good like I said... but the horizontal viewing angle is a lot better than the 15" 720p sets I looked at last year. These sets will have to be angled down a little on the mounts.

370Dancer said:

My take on LED backlighting is that is has lower power consumption than flourescent, much longer life, and has the ability to be individually turned on, off, and perhaps colored to match the pixel it's backlighting. That makes for a tremendous contrast improvement and richer colors, but I'm not sure about viewing angle improvements.
A trip to manufacturer's site for specs should clear that up.

Click to expand...

I don't believe these smaller LED sets offer much in terms of better contrast. I believe they are edge lit and don't have the "millions" LED array on the backlight. The letter box on a widescreen format is still a "dark gray" and not total black...

The big advantage I see here is power, size and weight...

The best LCD I have is that Panasonic in the salon... The HD picture and contrast on that thing is incredible... but it cost $1000 for a 29" screen...

but they are still not marine TV's. humidity, shock, mounting are still a concern. The mounting bracket on the back is my main concern. Will this TV still take 6' mess for hours and still not end up on the floor. 3 years in the humidity.. will the buttons still work, etc...

You could probably replace this tv one time in the lifespan of owning the boat and still come out spending less spent than paying for one comparable "marine" tv. I replaced the stereo on my boat with a non-marine one in the spring of 2005 and it works as well as it did day 1. Never even had to replace the watch battery in the remote yet. The stereo I took out was the original Panasonic non-marine model that came with the boat - it worked but didn't have aux inputs or a remote so it had to go. Oh, and the OEM Panasonic VCR that came with the boat in 1989 was also working fine when I ditched it.

Thanks for the posts on the TV upgrades. I'm planning to upgrade my Salon TV in the spring. Current TV is a 40" plasma which is a power hog. I was looking at the new Samsung LED's for the same power consumption benefit.

Paul,
I also am getting ready to redo my salon TV. I still have the original TV and the cabinet has not been modified. Do you have a picture of your setup? I was going to dismantle the whole cabinet and install a 42" flatscreen, slim DVD player and the Bose player. I just haven't figured out if I'm going to leave the sliding doors or not.

Jack

http://www.jensenmarinedirect.com/index.php?page=products&category=video

Is it really worth using marine TV's? I was thinking that in the cockpit one of these would be the way to go. The TV that Gary bought is 12v as well so does it really matter if it is marine grade if used in the cockpit area? I know the boards are coated and they are supposedly "tougher" construction.

2K WINGIN' IT said:

http://www.jensenmarinedirect.com/index.php?page=products&category=video

Is it really worth using marine TV's? I was thinking that in the cockpit one of these would be the way to go. The TV that Gary bought is 12v as well so does it really matter if it is marine grade if used in the cockpit area? I know the boards are coated and they are supposedly "tougher" construction.

Click to expand...

Biggest concern about any tv or video display outdoors is brightness or luminance (nits).

Unless specifically designed for outdoor use, it's not going to be daylight-viewable.

Jack,
Here's a picture of my current set-up:



The TV dimensions are 46" on the diagonal, 40" wide and 24" tall.

I'm sure the TV was brutally expensive when installed 8 or so years ago, however not so much today. I want to upgrade to a Samsung LED, principally due to the power draw diffferential. These old plasma TVs are brtual power pigs.

The sliding doors close and everything has the look of a professional install. I am planning to replace the Sony combo TV/DVD with a new slimline PS3. This photo hides the previous version PS3 sitting on the top of the starboard couch.

One source of frustration is trying to figure out how to get the TV off. :smt021 I've felt and hunted and pecked, however I can't find an easy access point, short of removing the couch portion near the TV.

Paul

2K WINGIN' IT said:

http://www.jensenmarinedirect.com/index.php?page=products&category=video

Is it really worth using marine TV's? I was thinking that in the cockpit one of these would be the way to go. The TV that Gary bought is 12v as well so does it really matter if it is marine grade if used in the cockpit area? I know the boards are coated and they are supposedly "tougher" construction.

Click to expand...

I have a Jensen JE1909 12V DC TV in the cockpit - it's marine. It is truly a beautiful tv, but not bright enough for the cockpit. It's mounted on the bar. When I walk by, I have to hunch over to view it.

The low power of led is a plus. The 12v ability is a nice touch too. I put in basic flourecent lcd's last year and havn't had an issue with viewing angles. Lets face it our boats aren't that large. If placed properly you shouldn't be viewing it from any drastic angles.
Even though we never boat in rough weather I too have wondered how the 4 bolt mount would hold up in heavy seas. I like to know that if and when it's encountered that the equipment can take it. But hell who am I kidding. We've all heard stories of the factory installed stuff falling off in heavy seas.
For people in humid, saltwater environments I guess time will tell for longevity. Do they even make "marine version" tv's? Im sure all they do is encase the circuit boards in some type of sealer and charge you $200 more. Oh and a "M" in front of the model number to designate it marine....

Skuza said:

The low power of led is a plus. The 12v ability is a nice touch too. I put in basic flourecent lcd's last year and havn't had an issue with viewing angles. Lets face it our boats aren't that large. If placed properly you shouldn't be viewing it from any drastic angles.
Even though we never boat in rough weather I too have wondered how the 4 bolt mount would hold up in heavy seas. I like to know that if and when it's encountered that the equipment can take it. But hell who am I kidding. We've all heard stories of the factory installed stuff falling off in heavy seas.
For people in humid, saltwater environments I guess time will tell for longevity. Do they even make "marine version" tv's? Im sure all they do is encase the circuit boards in some type of sealer and charge you $200 more. Oh and a "M" in front of the model number to designate it marine....

Click to expand...

Reference my post above. It has a link to marine TV's by Jensen...

Jackie J V said:

These old plasma TVs are brtual power pigs.

The sliding doors close and everything has the look of a professional install. I am planning to replace the Sony combo TV/DVD with a new slimline PS3.
Paul

Click to expand...

Paul,

I think Gary may have mentioned it in another post - watch the heat output of the PS3's. After Gary mentioned it, I checked the one here at home - you'll need to have plenty of ventilation for it.