Any small digital cable ready HDTV's?

[haysdb]

I have a need for a couple of smallish flat panel TV's (one 16" to 17", the other a bit larger) that are capable of displaying digital cable channels (including HD channels) without the need of a cable box. In both situations I don't have a good place for a set-top box because the TV's will be mounted on walls (one in a bathroom, one in a bar) without any convenient space for an STB.

Does such a thing exist? All I have seen in DCR (Digital Cable Ready) TV's are in the larger sizes, and they are premium priced.

I'm going to be in a pickle if there isn't such a thing. I might have to put up an antenna and pipe that through the coax to the TV's since most HDTV's come with ATSC tuners. But that will limit me to local channels, so no ESPN-HD. Or FIND a place to put a cable box, possibly hidden away somewhere, and use an IR repeater to control it. It'd sure be easier to just hang the TV, plug it in to power and cable, and be done with it.

[RandyWalters]

[QUOTE=haysdb]I have a need for a couple of smallish flat panel TV's (one 16" to 17", the other a bit larger) that are capable of displaying digital cable channels (including HD channels) without the need of a cable box. In both situations I don't have a good place for a set-top box because the TV's will be mounted on walls (one in a bathroom, one in a bar) without any convenient space for an STB.

Does such a thing exist? All I have seen in DCR (Digital Cable Ready) TV's are in the larger sizes, and they are premium priced.

I'm going to be in a pickle if there isn't such a thing. I might have to put up an antenna and pipe that through the coax to the TV's since most HDTV's come with ATSC tuners. But that will limit me to local channels, so no ESPN-HD. Or FIND a place to put a cable box, possibly hidden away somewhere, and use an IR repeater to control it. It'd sure be easier to just hang the TV, plug it in to power and cable, and be done with it.[/QUOTE]You'll have to find a TV that has a CableCard slot, and you have to make sure you cable company offers Cablecards to their customers.

As far as i know, right now the smallest LCD TVs that have a CableCard slot are 26 inchers. My discontinued 26" HP has one, and LG had a few 26" models when i was shopping earlier this year.

However it seems that manufacturers are dropping CableCard slots from larger TVs to save manufacturing costs and this trend might be trickling down to the smaller sets.

[martyj19]

[QUOTE=RandyWalters]and you have to make sure you cable company offers Cablecards to their customers.[/QUOTE]

By FCC Order, cable companies must offer CableCards. That said, there are still reports of problems getting them working, and resistance from the companies, so you may encounter problems with compliance.

26 is the smallest I know of.

[haysdb]

I've started taking HD for granted. I had an antenna up and waiting for the first OTA HD broadcasts in my city in May 2002. So it's a rude shock to discover that it can still be really really HARD to do under certain circumstances, e.g. anytime you just can't conveniently accomodate an external HD tuner.

This is wondering off-topic, but is it possible to use coax to connect an IR repeater? More specifically, could I put a cable box at "the other end" of the coax that feeds the TV, say downstairs in the wiring closet, and control it with an IR repeater which uses that same coax to transmit the signal?

[haysdb]

Answered my own question.

Channel Vision makes devices which allow IR distribution over coax, the IR-4100 IR Coax Adapter for the IR receiver end, and the IR-4000 IR Engine for the emitter end.

HOWEVER, I don't think this actually does me any good since I would have to transmit the "tuned channel" over the coax to the TV. Can an HD signal be transmitted as an RF "channel"? Obviously it can be trasmitted over coax (duh), but how would the TV "tune" to the HD signal without a tuner? Answer, if it came over the wire like an OTA signal and the TV has an ATSC (OTA) tuner built-in. I haven't a clue how that would be done, and if it CAN be done, it's probably expensive.

What's the right forum for this question? It's obviously not the flat panel displays forum. Sorry, it just sort of evolved from the original question.

[STEELERSRULE]

I know the LG 26LX1D has a Cablecard in it.

It is 26" model, as this may be the only one left with a Cablecard.

It is available at Circuit City, and you can only get them if they are in stock at the store.

You can't order them online.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/LG-26-LCD-HDTV-26LX1D-/sem/rpsm/oid/118409/catOid/-12869/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

[Mike53]

Federal law requires an ATSC tuner in screen sizes 25" and over. However that does nothing for cable. You need either a QAM and or cable card for it to work. QAM sometimes works on unscrambled HD cable channels but there is a channel ID problem They all come up with channel number 0.

Next year, ALL TV's are required to have HD tuning. The ATSC chip seems to be economical to produce with QAM as well.

On the cablecard issue - there is an all out war of words going on between the CE manufacturers and the cable industry. They each blame each other. In the meantime, cable is down playing cablecard and putting engineering resources behind OCAP (Open Cable Application Program) (I think). It is a means of downloading security tags to play encoded programs.

[haysdb]

Completely OT...

Finding space for the cable box was a major problem in the master bedroom as well. I could only fit a 37" TV in the "hole" above the fireplace, and it completely fills the opening, with just 1/2" to spare at the top and bottom. Where to put the cable box and a DVD player? I'm putting them BEHIND the TV, with an IR repeater to make sure my remote control works. The TV will be on a cantilever arm so (in theory) can be swung out of the way to access the DVD tray. It's going to be a hassle, but I didn't want to step all the way down to a 32" TV. It's a big bedroom.

[eric102]

Its probably to small for you, but Sony makes a wireless TV that you can put anywhere in the house while the base station remains fixed. I think its kind of pricey and only about 12".

There are a lot of smaller TV's that have HDMI inputs now and those cables are pretty easy to snake through walls, so you could have your cable box just about anywhere and use an RF remote to control it.

[robyn55]

[QUOTE=martyj19]By FCC Order, cable companies must offer CableCards. That said, there are still reports of problems getting them working, and resistance from the companies, so you may encounter problems with compliance.

26 is the smallest I know of.[/QUOTE]

But TV manufacturers don't have to make sets that accept cable cards. This is one area I actually know something about :) - because I hate cable boxes. 2006 is the last year that it will be relatively (and I stress the word relatively) easy to find sets with cablecard slots. The cablecard slot costs about $40 - and TV manufacturers have found that it isn't a feature that the vast majority of customers are willing to pay for. So - based on what I've read - next year's models will - for the most part - not have cable cards. I therefore urge the OP to buy a TV now before this year's models disappear if a cablecard slot is important to him.


The smallest set that I know of is 26" - and I own one - a 26" Sony Bravia XBR (which I like very much). Robyn

[haysdb]

I think set-top boxes have become so much a fact of life that people are willing to live with them. And for the most part they are no big deal. Most people are going to have a DVD player, or (shudder) a VCR, so one more box is not even an issue. Something else that's becoming pervasive are DVR's. I know I will never be without that functionality again. Some TV's are even being made with DVR's built-in.