33"-39" HDTVs - What are the options?

[Beartracks]

I'm looking to replace an LED HDTV in a bedroom, and would like it to fit snugly in a particular cabinet. 32"-screen TVs are a bit small these days, as the frames have gotten skinnier and they don't fill the space like they used to, but the 39"-screen TVs are just a bit too big to fit into the cabinet (the TV can't be physically wider than 34" ). I thought there used to be 33"-screen TVs, or maybe 36"-screen....

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[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. A size that small, don't they give them away in CrackerJack boxes now?

Are they even making sets that small anymore? I think that's about the size of my biggest flatscreen TVs, and they are getting up in years.

I'm not trying to be snarky. I should explain that I am just about the cheapest person on the planet. Around here, I see working 32" sets thrown out in the trash. Which explains where my 32" TVs came from.

To answer your question ... well, I can't, but I expect smart TVs are pretty much standard anymore.

I confess to being stunned at how much TV you can get for so little money these days. I'm not complaining.

My big gripe is that I haven't found one optimized for OTA (over-the-air) viewing. The FCC requires, by regulation, that every TV set sold in the US be equipped with an ATSC (digital) tuner. What the FCC does not specify is how good that tuner has to be. The manufacturers stuff the cheapest tuner chip money can buy in their sets. The sets meet FCC regulations, but good luck picking anything up. I use outboard CECBs (coupon-eligible converter boxes) as my tuners. They are far superior to the tuners built into my flatscreen TVs. I take the output signal from one of those and plug them into a composite (red-white-yellow) input on the back of the flatscreen TV.

If you don't watch TV over the air, none of that matters to you. My cable-cutting neighbors are pretty much exclusively viewers of Netflix or Hulu or whatever service it is that they have.

If you do intend to watch TV over the air, you should find some forum where that ability is discussed. AVSForum is where I would start. For example:

Listing of Digital stations in the Washington / Baltimore Region: (Revised May 18, 2018)

They review individual TVs too: Sub-Forums : HDTV

ETA; Cracker Jack, not CrackerJack.

[Betty88]

9. may I suggest a digital antenna?

If you live anywhere near a city the picture is often better than cable

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. The whole concept of a "digital" antenna is sort of a hoax.

Last edited Sun Jun 10, 2018, 06:01 AM - Edit history (1)

The frequencies in use in the DC area now occupy physical channel 7 through physical channel 48. Before the transition from analog to digital encoding, the frequencies in use occupied physical channel 2 through physical channel 69, IIRC. So the current frequencies are a subset of the earlier channels. In other words, if your antenna picked up signals before, it will pick up signals now. This is regardless of the method of transmission.

I can demonstrate that it's not the antenna. Suppose I attach an antenna to a flatscreen TV. I don't get a signal. I take the same antenna and attach it to a CECB. I ake the output signal from that device and feed it to the TV. The station shows up. I conclude that the TV manufacturers are cutting corners and putting in the bare minimum tuner chip that they can and still meet FCC regulations.

Yes, an antenna with more gain, aka a longer usable range, will bring in more stations. But that has nothing to do with whether the signal is analog or digital. The antenna's location counts too. I could much better if I mounted a rooftop antenna in the attic. But then I'd have to fish coaxial cable through the walls and down to the TV sets. And that's more trouble than I'm willing to put up with.

Those CECBs (set-top converter boxes) were designed to drag in a signal. Only 17 or 18 percent of current TV viewing is done over the air, so the manufacturers of TV sets know there is no need for them to put a costlier chip in their sets than they do now. No one cares.

Thanks for writing.

[Beartracks]

12. There are still non-smart TVs in the marketplace...

... and some are as small as 16".

The TV I'm replacing is a 32" 720p LED tv, with a Roku dongle to get it connected to the home network. It's over 10 yrs old now, but I was surprised to see that there are still TVs for sale that are spec'd out the same way. It's just that, now, their dimensions are narrower, and even though the screen is still 32" the TV itself wouldn't fill the space like the old one did -- it looks smaller because it *is* smaller, and you can see dangling cords, etc.

We're thinking now of switching furniture around and hanging the new TV (prob a 40&quot on the wall, converting the old cabinet for clothes storage. I'm finding some 40-inchers that also don't have WiFi already, so I can still use my Roku. And wall-mounting will also allow the OTA antenna to actually be a little higher up while still hidden.

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[StTimofEdenRoc]

2. Get rid of the cabinet. You know you want to.

[Iggo]

4. That's what I did.

Everything I couldn't do in my room was because of the goddam 16-ton corner unit.

Couldn't even rearrange the furniture without a hefty friend about.

Beautiful piece of furniture, but life's easier without it.

[Beartracks]

6. LOL This reply made my wife laugh. AND then go "Hmmm..."

[samnsara]

3. i got rid of my entertainment center and bought one that holds a huge flat screen...

..the one I got rid of ( well its stored in my garage) was huge and gorgeous but only held a tiny tv! im so happy I did!

[Lochloosa]

5. This may help.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1316299-tv-size-chart-screen-height-width-16-9-4-3-a.html#/topics/1316299

[MiniMe]

7. That's why you can wall mount these days

Makes things much easier

[hibbing]

8. I don't have a size suggestion, but get a Smart TV

If you do any streaming they are fantastic. I got a small one for the bedroom when I cut the cable.

Peace

[Beartracks]

11. We have a Roku. So we have the "smarts" already; just need the TV.

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