Getting rid of your "head knocker" will have more to do with a possibly difficult cabinet mod than a TV replacement, per se. That's because all TV upgrades I've seen or read about in other RVnet posts, including the one I did myself, involve adapting a new TV to existing cabinetry -- which does not address headroom issues.
If this will work in your cabinet, I found an LG 32 inch model LG 32LG30 that the back of the TV is shaped to fit inside of a 26 inch cabinet. All that will be protruding from the cabinet will be the screen and frame. All of the other models I looked at the entire HDTV will protrude from the cabinet. My current CRT is a 24 inch, but the cabinet is 26 inch and the LG is going to fit nicely.
Chuck
02 Travel Supreme, 2 street side slides
02 Jeep Liberty Toad
I have converted to LCD High Def in my stick house, but here is a couple of thoughts on it when it comes to the RV.
I am assuming here when someone says Flat Screen they are really meaning the new HDTVs. I have yet to see a LCD TV for sale that was not an HDTV. So here goes:
My experience has been that an HDTV receiving HD signals is great and looks wonderful, but HDTVs receiving non-HD sources (like standard cable) looks absolutely terrible. I am thinking alot of campgrounds are equipped with cable .... non-HD cable. So if you convert your RV to HDTV and you get to campground with cable, it will work, but it will look crummy, in fact worse than standard cable on the CRT TV. My CRT TV looks better with standard cable than my HDTV does on the same standard cable. HD only looks good with HD source.
Given the fact that the analog signal is going away in Feb 08, alot of campgrounds may go ahead and equip themselves with cable (if not already), but I doubt HD cable will be in many RV campgrounds soon.
kmb1966 wrote: I have converted to LCD High Def in my stick house, but here is a couple of thoughts on it when it comes to the RV.
I am assuming here when someone says Flat Screen they are really meaning the new HDTVs. I have yet to see a LCD TV for sale that was not an HDTV. So here goes:
My experience has been that an HDTV receiving HD signals is great and looks wonderful, but HDTVs receiving non-HD sources (like standard cable) looks absolutely terrible. I am thinking alot of campgrounds are equipped with cable .... non-HD cable. So if you convert your RV to HDTV and you get to campground with cable, it will work, but it will look crummy, in fact worse than standard cable on the CRT TV. My CRT TV looks better with standard cable than my HDTV does on the same standard cable. HD only looks good with HD source.
Given the fact that the analog signal is going away in Feb 08, alot of campgrounds may go ahead and equip themselves with cable (if not already), but I doubt HD cable will be in many RV campgrounds soon.
Back to the OP: Head room is about cabinetry, not TVs. And I could not disagree more with the above: My LG digital HDTV 'capable' TV has a better pic on analog than the old CRT. To say "HD" only looks good on an "HD" source belies the fact that digital looks better than analog anytime, reception being equal, and Feb 09 has nothing to do with cable or satellite, which will remain the same.
As for HD cable being available in CGs, if you have a digital TV with a QAM tuner, you'll get ABC, PBS, NBC, and CBS in digital (the upper numbers) and when broadcast, in HD, too. I do. And have across this country. Sure be nice when Feb 19, 2009 comes and goes. Kind of like Y2K.
kmb1966 wrote: I have converted to LCD High Def in my stick house, but here is a couple of thoughts on it when it comes to the RV.
I am assuming here when someone says Flat Screen they are really meaning the new HDTVs. I have yet to see a LCD TV for sale that was not an HDTV. So here goes:
My experience has been that an HDTV receiving HD signals is great and looks wonderful, but HDTVs receiving non-HD sources (like standard cable) looks absolutely terrible. I am thinking alot of campgrounds are equipped with cable .... non-HD cable. So if you convert your RV to HDTV and you get to campground with cable, it will work, but it will look crummy, in fact worse than standard cable on the CRT TV. My CRT TV looks better with standard cable than my HDTV does on the same standard cable. HD only looks good with HD source.
Given the fact that the analog signal is going away in Feb 08, alot of campgrounds may go ahead and equip themselves with cable (if not already), but I doubt HD cable will be in many RV campgrounds soon.
Back to the OP: Head room is about cabinetry, not TVs. And I could not disagree more with the above: My LG digital HDTV 'capable' TV has a better pic on analog than the old CRT. To say "HD" only looks good on an "HD" source belies the fact that digital looks better than analog anytime, reception being equal, and Feb 09 has nothing to do with cable or satellite, which will remain the same.
As for HD cable being available in CGs, if you have a digital TV with a QAM tuner, you'll get ABC, PBS, NBC, and CBS in digital (the upper numbers) and when broadcast, in HD, too. I do. And have across this country. Sure be nice when Feb 19, 2009 comes and goes. Kind of like Y2K.
Understood regarding the Feb digital signal. My experience with side by side my Samsung HDTV look awesome with HD Cable, but with non-HD cable, my Mitsubishi SDTV CRT is hands down a clearer picture, no question. Possibly different sets, but even Home Theater store reps will tell you that HDTV connected to analog cable looks worse than a quality CRT SDTV on SDCable.
Another example is with DishNetwork HD. Some stations are HD some are not. The stations that are not HD look terrible, and much worse on my HDTV than on the SDTV. No question.
Perhaps we are discussing different things here. My only point is that I would hate to change out my SD CRT with an HDTV LCD, and then get to a campground and see a worser picture.
* This post was
edited 07/22/08 08:20pm by kmb1966 *
kmb1966 wrote: My experience has been that an HDTV receiving HD signals is great and looks wonderful, but HDTVs receiving non-HD sources (like standard cable) looks absolutely terrible.
I think you are missing something here. I agree that an analog SD signal displayed on a HDTV doesn't look as good as on a SD CRT 4:3 TV. But most folks are taking an SD signal (4:3) and making it fit the screen size of the HDTV (16:9). To do this you have to magnify the analog image, which will make an analog SD image even grainier. Then on top of that, the HDTV is typically much larger in screen size the the old analog SD CRT TV, which means all the deficiencies of the old analog signal are even more pronounced. It's not that an HDTV doesn't display good analog images, it just means it brings out all the deficiencies of the analog signal. Don't blame your HDTV for displaying a poor analog image. Remember garbage in - garbage out.
Unless your old CRT TV is capable of receiving the newer digital signals OTA signals you will be needing a converter. But the good news is that the converted digital signal (converted to analog) will be a vast improvement over today's OTA analog signal. Which means every analog TV working today will have better picture quality come Feb 2009.
Of course if you have satellite in your RV then all of this is a mute point.
BTW - not only did I convert my old CRT analog TV to a larger HDTV (see previous post), I also converted to a HD satellite receiver. Feb will not come soon enough for me. Not having to deal with the analog signals is an awesome concept.
One more thing. Feb 2009 is the deadline for starting to broadcast digital, but that does not mean digital HDTV signals are required at that time. It just means that your standard 4:3 aspect ratio must be broadcast in digital.
I replaced our headknocker in our Ambassador with an LCD last year. It was a rather tricky deal that some have already mentioned. I had to be creative in that the old mounting bracket in no way would work with the LCD so I had to fabricate a new one from a piece of 1/4" X 4" plate steel I got from Lowe's. No cutting was needed to make it work, just drilling some holes, which was good because I have little to no metal working experience.
The cabinet was another matter. I wanted the cabinet for the tv and the tv itself to be flush with the other cabinets around it, instead of sticking 7" our further, thus the headknocker. This required extensive reworking of the oak cabinet, including a new frame around the tv and bottom. I have a rather complete woodworking shop and a lot of experience building furniture so I was able to do it myself. If you have no desire to mess with the wood part of the deal you may need to see if there is a wood shop in your area that would be willing to help.
In general, most of the current generation LCDs are just about as wide as their screen size. (Assuming the speakers are on the bottom and not the sides. For overhead conversions you really don't want the speakers on the sides anyway!) For example a 23" TV will measure approx. 23" across. This dimension, in most conversion situations, will be the limiting factor.
However you mount it, whether fixed or articulating, use Locktite (or equivelant) on the mounting screws and any threaded joint on the mount.
If you use an articulating mount, you must develope a way to secure the TV in a travel position for road travel. It needs to provide some vertical support and prevent it from vibrating out of position.
You will most likely have at least some "cabinet work" to do, at least the outer trim frame.
Another option is to use a "2 piece" mount like the Bello 8165 or others in that series, that allow you to lift the TV and it's attached socket, off of the mount arm. Then just put the TV on the bed or couch for travel.
Me, the DW, 2 dogs and more.
1998 Overland Larado, 41', one slide, 325 Cummins, '02 Jeep Liberty with SMI-Air Force 1.....
kmb1966 wrote: My experience has been that an HDTV receiving HD signals is great and looks wonderful, but HDTVs receiving non-HD sources (like standard cable) looks absolutely terrible.
I think you are missing something here. I agree that an analog SD signal displayed on a HDTV doesn't look as good as on a SD CRT 4:3 TV. But most folks are taking an SD signal (4:3) and making it fit the screen size of the HDTV (16:9). To do this you have to magnify the analog image, which will make an analog SD image even grainier. Then on top of that, the HDTV is typically much larger in screen size the the old analog SD CRT TV, which means all the deficiencies of the old analog signal are even more pronounced. It's not that an HDTV doesn't display good analog images, it just means it brings out all the deficiencies of the analog signal. Don't blame your HDTV for displaying a poor analog image. Remember garbage in - garbage out.
Unless your old CRT TV is capable of receiving the newer digital signals OTA signals you will be needing a converter. But the good news is that the converted digital signal (converted to analog) will be a vast improvement over today's OTA analog signal. Which means every analog TV working today will have better picture quality come Feb 2009.
Of course if you have satellite in your RV then all of this is a mute point.
BTW - not only did I convert my old CRT analog TV to a larger HDTV (see previous post), I also converted to a HD satellite receiver. Feb will not come soon enough for me. Not having to deal with the analog signals is an awesome concept.
One more thing. Feb 2009 is the deadline for starting to broadcast digital, but that does not mean digital HDTV signals are required at that time. It just means that your standard 4:3 aspect ratio must be broadcast in digital.
Correct. The end result for me is that viewing my 35" SD CRT TV looks much much better than viewing my 32" LCD TV HDTV when plugged into a SD signal (either cable, sat, or ota).
Last week I installed the "digital stream" converter box on the CRT TV in the RV. It looks better than ever. I just wanted to point out to everyone that installing an HDTV in your RV (usually a LCD) can be a cabinet challenge and if you plug into the campgrounds standard definition cable source, the new LCD HDTV that you worked so hard to install may not look quite as good as the old heavy CRT did on that same cable source. Regardless of the real reason (size, aspect ratio, etc). Not looking as good as the old is a bummer no matter the real actual reason.
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