New Smart TVs - Specs

[SallyForth]

It’s my understanding that 2024 Airstream models are now outfitted with SMART Televisions.

What model TVs are being used? Are they AC or DC powered? What are the specs of these TVs?

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by SallyForth

It’s my understanding that 2024 Airstream models are now outfitted with SMART Televisions.

What model TVs are being used? Are they AC or DC powered? What are the specs of these TVs?

Says 27", 12V DC on the AS TT "Specs" on the website; Looks to be an LG, and also looks to be plugged into the AC socket. I had heard they were including AC/DC TV now...but I haven't been in a new model. I just replaced my Samsung 28' with a 4K Samsung 32" AC model. If I "needed" to use it while on DC, I would just turn on my inverter...but don't typically watch TV when boondocking...just me.

You can call your dealer to confirm of course...

[Tyler2you]

Interested as well. If anyone has a model number, that would be great.

[charlesk]

Was just at an AS dealer yesterday and looked at the 2024. The TV was Connexx 12v Smart TVs.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Connexx (make sure it has two x's at the end of the name ...) has been selling TV's to several RV outfits for a while now. It appears that they *only* sell to RV manufacturers. If you want one at retail, they don't seem to be out there. If you need a replacement remote control ... that's exciting as well ( = you buy another brand and hope it works). Even finding specs on these TV's in not at all easy.

I'm in the market for a TV, this one seems struggle to make the shopping list ....

Bob

[cazual6]

Just asking, which feature is more desired 12v or smart tv?

[emelaich01]

Be careful buying 12 volt TV's in general. There are a number of "never heard of that one before" brands out there as well as Jensen, many of whose TV's you see in SOB's. Why? Because they're cheap.


Your RV's inverter powering an AC TV may use little more if not the same current than a dedicated 12 volt TV, plus, you'll get a superior quality set by sticking to name brands. A 12V TV does nothing more than use its own internal inverter to supply a higher AC voltage for operation. Why don't the major brands do it? It's a niche product.



Not saying their time hasn't come but 12V TV's are currently the province of lower-grade components and poorer image quality.

[bcoffel]

I replaced my front TV with a. Samsung 32" M50C FHD Smart Monitor with Streaming TV . Used the existing brackets but had to move it up about an inch to center the TV in my 21 Classic. I do not watch broadcast TV only stream.

I also replaced my rear/bedroom TV with an Amazon Echo Show 15 that allows Fire TV streaming and the regular Echo features.

[jeffb831]

Originally Posted by emelaich01

A 12V TV does nothing more than use its own internal inverter to supply a higher AC voltage for operation.

Currently, many of the smaller TVs and computer monitors do the exact opposite. They are 12V systems and use an external power supply to convert the 120V to 12V.

For some, it is even possible with a little wiring to bypass the converter and connect them directly to the 12V system in the trailer.

[JohnTF]

It seems that it is not a smart TV .
But typical TV's - depending on size consume between 50 - 100 watts , then most consume over half of their rating when turned off - in order to be what is called " instant on " .

Or what spec's were you looking for .

I would avoid a rare TV , common & inverter - if no shore power available .

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by jeffb831

Currently, many of the smaller TVs and computer monitors do the exact opposite. They are 12V systems and use an external power supply to convert the 120V to 12V.

For some, it is even possible with a little wiring to bypass the converter and connect them directly to the 12V system in the trailer.

Hi

When you see a TV with a "wall wart" that supplies 12V, that's likely a well regulated 12V. Something like +/- 5% is not at all unusual. (Good luck finding that specified). The TV is happy within that +/- 0.6V range.

Fire up the solar panels on your RV and the batteries head up to 13.6V (or maybe higher). This is outside what the TV expects to see. Does it croak as a result? .... maybe ... does that involve smoke and flames? It might ....

The simple answer is to run a DC/DC converter to supply the sort of regulated supply the TV expects to see.

Bob

[RonJudi]

Originally Posted by SallyForth

It’s my understanding that 2024 Airstream models are now outfitted with SMART Televisions.

What model TVs are being used? Are they AC or DC powered? What are the specs of these TVs?

Modern Smart ( internet capable) TVs are almost always 120 Volt AC powered so they require an inverter of small capacity to operate. That means you must have the capability to run these when not plugged in to external power. That is really not a big penalty as the TVs draw minor amounts of power which is readily available from batteries on board using inverters. As an electrical engineer and a member of the SBE my assessment of the on board TVs is they continue to operate on much less power than past models. Any brand such as Sony, LG, and other store brands are all very efficient. I have 4 TVs on board my Coach and frequently operate them without plugging in. Being Smart does not add any additional power to these appliances. I also have 400 Watts of Solar panels so TVs are a minor draw and I recommend them for maintaining batteries when off grid.

[Dick tracy]

I upgraded the living room to a Samsung 32" smart TV to stream and moved that unit to the bedroom. When boondocks I unplug them when not in use.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The gotcha with running any low power load off the typical inverter is that the beast is very inefficient running like that. You burn off a lot of "extra" power in the inverter. You then burn off power in the wall wart to get it back to the DC the small TV may run on. If your TV actually uses 50W with the brightness turned up and the speakers doing their thing .... you may be pulling > 1.5X that off your batteries.

Is this the end of the world? Nope. However if you watch a *lot* of TV going from 4A to 6A while doing so might make a difference. With the stock lead acid setup, you have 25 hours of nothing but TV one way and 17 hours the other way.

Since there will always be other loads on the battery, budgeting is very much part of this. The numbers above are not specific to any one TV. It will very much matter just *what* TV you have and how you set it up. To budget properly, you would need the actual measured numbers for your TV as you use it.

Bob

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by emelaich01

Be careful buying 12 volt TV's in general. There are a number of "never heard of that one before" brands out there as well as Jensen, many of whose TV's you see in SOB's. Why? Because they're cheap.

Your RV's inverter powering an AC TV may use little more if not the same current than a dedicated 12 volt TV, plus, you'll get a superior quality set by sticking to name brands. A 12V TV does nothing more than use its own internal inverter to supply a higher AC voltage for operation. Why don't the major brands do it? It's a niche product.

Not saying their time hasn't come but 12V TV's are currently the province of lower-grade components and poorer image quality.

Actually, most small televisions actually operate on low-voltage DC systems. They used to be sold with external 120v ac-dc converters (wall wart) on the power cord, but now they include that inside the TV itself so you don't see it.

Like I said earlier (or in another thread) Best Buy used to sell Insignia TVs which came with an external 120vac-to-12vdc converters on the power cord and you could simply replace the power cord and just use a direct 12vdc power cord. Now most of the ones I see with the external converters are running on 18vdc and not 12vdc, so it's not so easy.

My suggestion is to find the smart TV you like, and then plug it into an outlet supplied by your inverter, or if there is not an outlet supplied by your inverter nearby just get a small inverter to plug into the 12vdc outlet near the TV mounting location and power it from there. There are many small inverters sold to plug into cigarette lighter outlets in cars which will easily power a smart TV.

[Pete B55]

The newer LG 24 and 27 inch smart tvs operate on a 19vdc output from the AC adapter that is supplied with the TV. I saw a youtube video where a guy was able to operate the unit at 12.5 vdc or higher. I have not tried it out but I did buy the model and plan to see if I can use it off my lithium batteries this winter

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Pete B55

The newer LG 24 and 27 inch smart tvs operate on a 19vdc output from the AC adapter that is supplied with the TV. I saw a youtube video where a guy was able to operate the unit at 12.5 vdc or higher. I have not tried it out but I did buy the model and plan to see if I can use it off my lithium batteries this winter

Hi

Since we don't really know what's inside the TV, there's no way to be sure of this or that.

On something like a TV, the expected voltage is not going to be very far off of that 19.5V target. The regulators inside will be operating *very* far from their design limits. There are things that go wrong "right now" and a much longer list of things that go wrong "sometime down the road".

Best cast when it fails, it just stops working. You throw it away and buy something else. Worst case, it catches fire. That's something you *very* much do not want happening in an RV.

I would not recommend running that TV without a DC/DC converter.

Bob

[kscherzi]

After a while everyone will probably have to replace the Airstream supplied TV. I recently did with a stock 32" LG smart TV from Costco with a great picture. The smart part of the TV wants Internet connectivity, but I don't care to supply it on the road so it's forced to work like a "regular" TV. It's plugged into the 120 volt wall outlet, usually powered by the inverter. Whatever juice it draws from the batteries is unnoticeable, especially since I replaced the lead acid with lithiums.

My buddy has a Lance where everything is 12 volt, even the TV, with no convenient 120 outlet. I get the thought of energy conservation but he's stuck with an unknown brand that has a lousy picture and quirky remote. What's worse is the replacement cost is much higher whenever it breaks which looks to be pretty soon.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by kscherzi

After a while everyone will probably have to replace the Airstream supplied TV. I recently did with a stock 32" LG smart TV from Costco with a great picture. The smart part of the TV wants Internet connectivity, but I don't care to supply it on the road so it's forced to work like a "regular" TV. It's plugged into the 120 volt wall outlet, usually powered by the inverter. Whatever juice it draws from the batteries is unnoticeable, especially since I replaced the lead acid with lithiums.

My buddy has a Lance where everything is 12 volt, even the TV, with no convenient 120 outlet. I get the thought of energy conservation but he's stuck with an unknown brand that has a lousy picture and quirky remote. What's worse is the replacement cost is much higher whenever it breaks which looks to be pretty soon.

I replaced mine in Aug. with a 32" Samsung 4K Smart TV also, but I "do" use internet with Sling TV, Prime, Netflix, etc while on the road. I use my ATT signal for wifi, and when needed, I put up my WeBoost RV set up with directional Yaggi paddle antenna. I had/have the Dish Network with the Wally receiver, and portable "Tailgatere" dish, but stopped using it this summer since I have the Weboost when needed. Both Dish and Sling have a month to month plan, but found the Sling is less expensive and I can use most everywhere I get a signal. The telescoping atena works great; takes a 1/2bar to 4-5 bars...used in Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier this year...

[ourRVstories]

I’m not near our RV so I cannot provide specs, but our 2024 has a Connexx smart TV which uses the LG software/platform.