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Oct. 4th, 2017 05:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsy-Channel 2: Finally bought a TV newer than the CRT I got back in 2003. It's a smart TV but I'm keeping it offline. To me, a TV has only one job: Take the video signal of my choosing and put it on the screen. That's all it has to do.
-Channel 3: The new TV in question is a 4K set (2160 lines of resolution) and cost me $400. My old TV cost me a similar amount back in 2003. There's also the size-to-weight. My old TV has a 24" screen and weighs about 80 lbs because that's how CRTs are. The new TV has a 43" screen and weighs about 18 lbs. I have a VCR that weighs almost as much.
-Channel 5: I would have gotten a larger one but I was somewhat limited by what I could put in the backseat of my car. It is said to not lay them flat because there's not enough internal support for the screen glass itself; the strongest part is along the bottom. When a 43" TV weighs 18 lbs, I can believe it. Well so much for that hatchback cheat. If laying flat was an option, I could have easily brought home a 55" set, maybe 60". If I was patient enough, I could have gone for something closer to 70" and had it delivered.
-Channel 7: Computer monitors are a surprisingly different creature altogether, despite being built with the same technology and methods. They take the "doing one job" bit and push that into specialist range. The picture quality is different, and inch-for-inch, are more expensive than TVs. For example, the 4K monitor I got last year was $500, despite it being a smaller size and lacking a tuner and any content abilities. And despite having a screen 15" smaller, it weighs about the same as the TV. They're also sturdier than their big-screen brethren and can be laid flat for transport.
-Channel 11: It's easy to connect the TV to my computer, what with HDMI being everywhere, but behavior is different from a monitor. For example, when my computer goes into idle, it'll tell a normal monitor to go into sleep mode and virtually shut off. Then it comes back on when the computer tells it to. This way, the computer can do long automated tasks (downloading, rendering, etc) without having the screen lit up all the time. A TV however, acts differently. They're designed to stay on as long as the viewer wants. I haven't yet found the setting for the TV to idle itself when it loses a signal, so I'm manually turning it off in the meantime.
-Channel 13: No, I didn't necessarily need a TV that can do 4K video. Most of the videos I'm watching now are still in 1080p at most, so I'm not really gaining anything. The flip side of that is, most of the TVs currently available are 4K anyway, and the GTX 760 video card in the computer I have connected to it knows what to do with that resolution, and is more than able to push the 8M pixels at once, so I'm not really losing anything either.
-Channel 17: TVs up to about 85" are readily available at retail, although the price curve gets much steeper after 70". (Sony makes a 100" model but I've not considered that as feasible because the price jumps to a stratospheric $60k.) The weight on those also starts to climb but is still within a manageable range, and can be handled by two average adults (or one particularly strong adult). Meanwhile, I have heard legends that the largest direct CRT (not rear-screen projection) topped out around 43" and required 4-6 people to move, so I imagine if an 85" CRT existed, it would weigh as much as a large pickup truck, and cost more than the house it sits in.
-Channel 19: The built-in mini-stands on the new set are just a little too far apart to properly sit on my TV stand. One inch too far! So I slid in a piece of scrap plywood. It works for now. For how much it weighs, the plywood is overkill. I have a proper table stand at the ready to put on the TV.
-Channel 23: While they're not as susceptible to image burn-in as CRTs are, it can and does happen on modern flat-panels. Also new TVs and monitors use LEDs for the backlights, as opposed to the older models that use fluorescent lamps and HV power supplies (that eventually burn out). That said, TVs are designed for a more dynamic picture, while standard monitors are more robust when it comes to static images or backgrounds. By the time an LCD flat-panel monitor starts showing signs of burn-in, it's already been on for several years non-stop, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, 367 days a year.
-Channel 29: All told, no, I don't recommend using a TV as a computer monitor. As a secondary display perhaps, but not as a main. I'm not saying it won't work at all, because obviously I've said it does work, I'm just saying it's not going to work as well as a proper monitor will for a computer.
-Channel 31: Can a computer monitor be used as a TV? If it's just to watch DVDs or BDs, then yes. In order to watch standard TV channels, then an external tuner is required.
-Channel 37: I didn't buy mine at W*mart, even though I could have. The only thing I would have gained from buying it there was the ability to buy it at any hour, and it's much closer to home. Funny about that, if I went back 20-30 years in time and told someone that I could buy a big-screen TV at 2am in the morning for $400, they would assume it was stolen. Or broken. Or both.
-Channel 41: My beloved 3D Custom Girl program/game doesn't work with the higher resolution of a 4K display. Then again it's been around since 2008 and hasn't been updated in recent years. Hell, the initial minimum requirements included Windows 2000.
-Channel 43: So far I haven't connected the TV to the antenna in the attic. And when I had the cable turned on, I went with the internet-only package.
-DIY 1: I have begun buying car parts for both girls. For example, I already have a full set of brake pads and rotors for Nozomi at the ready. There will be more soon, and from various sources. It'll be nice to be able to do the work in an environment independent of the weather.
-DIY 2: As my current collection of tools are scattered about in various boxes, plastic tubs, and small hand-held toolboxes, a proper tool chest is on the horizon. The one I'd like to get requires a truck for delivery. I also need to get an engine crane. I can get one for a bit over $200 which sounds like a lot, until I point out I spent twice that on my TV. And there's no comparison between that and what I've spent on computer parts/photography equipment.
-DIY 3: Furniture from Ikea works well for me. What's great about it is it's sturdy enough to do the job, but cheap enough that if it gets a little roughed up over time, it's nothing to worry about. When instructions for their furniture say the item can be recycled or "reclaimed for energy" (burned), it's ok to not be serious about it. Yes, Ikea furniture also requires assembly, and there are some people who have trouble with that. I, on the other hand, have had no problems with that because I have extensive experience with another famous four-letter-name Scandinavian product where assembly by the end-user is considered a selling point. Maybe that's cheating.
-One quest ends, another begins: Unpacking is turning out to be a bigger task than I thought. Despite having 3x as much space, everything is scattered about, as if it's on a mission to fill the vacuum. Things that should be upstairs are currently in the basement, things that are in the dining room need to be in the living room, and other variations and permutations. In cleaning up one mess, I've made another for myself. And then there's what I've lobbed into storage.
-Continue quest?: The good news about the things in storage is that it's taken fewer trips to get everything out than it took to put it all in there. That's because over the past few years, I'd take one or two things at a time. But now, when I took stuff out, I was loading up with as much as I can. I could have just slayed the dragon with a sword and rented a van and had most of it out in one go, but I would have just overwhelmed myself when I got all that home. The incremental approach was the best for this. Besides, I'm about done with it anyway. All that's left now is to do the final cleanout and drop the keys off.
-Silver lining: Since I'm moving boxes and tubs and other furniture around, and taking things up and down multiple flights of stairs, it's giving me a bit of a workout. I'm finding boxes feel lighter than when I initially packed them, despite the contents being the same. Plus my stamina is up. It took me over an hour to mow my lawn but I felt fine (if a bit sweaty) afterwards. Plus I'm losing weight. My pants are getting loose.
-Facts and figures: Much of my DVD/BD collection is still in boxes, and all in one place. I have calculated that I have approximately 14.5 cubic feet, mostly anime. This does not include what I have on VHS or Laserdisc.
-Magical ingredients: I now have 65% molybdenum disulfide paste and it's very thick and goopy. It is thick and goopy so it stays where it should, wherever that may be. Some procedures in my repair manuals call for high-moly paste. An 8 ounce can of the stuff is a salty $35 but this is for repairs I don't want to do more than once, so I might as well go balls deep. You know how in fantasy lore, it's a common trope for witches and wizards and other magic-using folk to use rare and exotic ingredients for some of their potions and spells? This is a lot like that.
-More magical ingredients: Other things I got from the latest shipment from McMaster are a can of Kroil, some Tap Magic, and some Hysol industrial 2-part epoxy. When fully cured, Hysol 1C has a color and feel similar to ceramic, and being industrial epoxy, whatever it bonds to is not going anywhere. For repairing chipped and broken dishes, it is the shiznit.
-"Think outside the box." I do that all the time out of necessity because I don't know where the damn box is. I haven't seen it in years so it probably got tossed at some point anyway. And if I did find it, I know I wouldn't fit in it.
-That's some bad juju there: While cleaning up at the old place, I started vacuuming. I got about 2 or 3 minutes in when my vacuum cleaner started to give off a burning plastic smell and lots of smoke. Shut it off and unplugged and ejected outside before any flames appeared. That one's done. So I got a new vacuum cleaner. That one was able to finish the job. Had that one had died from the same task, I'd have to call in the pros.
-More bad juju: Right after the first attempt at vacuuming, I think I came down with the flu. Not sure if I picked it up while I was out and about earlier in the week or if I stirred up some ancient preternatural evil while vacuuming. I ended up power-sleeping through all of Saturday and a lot of Sunday, somewhere around 36 hours. That seems to have worked and I was able to go to work on Monday. Between the flu and the combustible vacuum cleaner, a perfectly good weekend was mostly wasted and generally put me behind schedule. So much for being completely out by the end of September. End of October, then?
-To be continued!
-Channel 3: The new TV in question is a 4K set (2160 lines of resolution) and cost me $400. My old TV cost me a similar amount back in 2003. There's also the size-to-weight. My old TV has a 24" screen and weighs about 80 lbs because that's how CRTs are. The new TV has a 43" screen and weighs about 18 lbs. I have a VCR that weighs almost as much.
-Channel 5: I would have gotten a larger one but I was somewhat limited by what I could put in the backseat of my car. It is said to not lay them flat because there's not enough internal support for the screen glass itself; the strongest part is along the bottom. When a 43" TV weighs 18 lbs, I can believe it. Well so much for that hatchback cheat. If laying flat was an option, I could have easily brought home a 55" set, maybe 60". If I was patient enough, I could have gone for something closer to 70" and had it delivered.
-Channel 7: Computer monitors are a surprisingly different creature altogether, despite being built with the same technology and methods. They take the "doing one job" bit and push that into specialist range. The picture quality is different, and inch-for-inch, are more expensive than TVs. For example, the 4K monitor I got last year was $500, despite it being a smaller size and lacking a tuner and any content abilities. And despite having a screen 15" smaller, it weighs about the same as the TV. They're also sturdier than their big-screen brethren and can be laid flat for transport.
-Channel 11: It's easy to connect the TV to my computer, what with HDMI being everywhere, but behavior is different from a monitor. For example, when my computer goes into idle, it'll tell a normal monitor to go into sleep mode and virtually shut off. Then it comes back on when the computer tells it to. This way, the computer can do long automated tasks (downloading, rendering, etc) without having the screen lit up all the time. A TV however, acts differently. They're designed to stay on as long as the viewer wants. I haven't yet found the setting for the TV to idle itself when it loses a signal, so I'm manually turning it off in the meantime.
-Channel 13: No, I didn't necessarily need a TV that can do 4K video. Most of the videos I'm watching now are still in 1080p at most, so I'm not really gaining anything. The flip side of that is, most of the TVs currently available are 4K anyway, and the GTX 760 video card in the computer I have connected to it knows what to do with that resolution, and is more than able to push the 8M pixels at once, so I'm not really losing anything either.
-Channel 17: TVs up to about 85" are readily available at retail, although the price curve gets much steeper after 70". (Sony makes a 100" model but I've not considered that as feasible because the price jumps to a stratospheric $60k.) The weight on those also starts to climb but is still within a manageable range, and can be handled by two average adults (or one particularly strong adult). Meanwhile, I have heard legends that the largest direct CRT (not rear-screen projection) topped out around 43" and required 4-6 people to move, so I imagine if an 85" CRT existed, it would weigh as much as a large pickup truck, and cost more than the house it sits in.
-Channel 19: The built-in mini-stands on the new set are just a little too far apart to properly sit on my TV stand. One inch too far! So I slid in a piece of scrap plywood. It works for now. For how much it weighs, the plywood is overkill. I have a proper table stand at the ready to put on the TV.
-Channel 23: While they're not as susceptible to image burn-in as CRTs are, it can and does happen on modern flat-panels. Also new TVs and monitors use LEDs for the backlights, as opposed to the older models that use fluorescent lamps and HV power supplies (that eventually burn out). That said, TVs are designed for a more dynamic picture, while standard monitors are more robust when it comes to static images or backgrounds. By the time an LCD flat-panel monitor starts showing signs of burn-in, it's already been on for several years non-stop, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, 367 days a year.
-Channel 29: All told, no, I don't recommend using a TV as a computer monitor. As a secondary display perhaps, but not as a main. I'm not saying it won't work at all, because obviously I've said it does work, I'm just saying it's not going to work as well as a proper monitor will for a computer.
-Channel 31: Can a computer monitor be used as a TV? If it's just to watch DVDs or BDs, then yes. In order to watch standard TV channels, then an external tuner is required.
-Channel 37: I didn't buy mine at W*mart, even though I could have. The only thing I would have gained from buying it there was the ability to buy it at any hour, and it's much closer to home. Funny about that, if I went back 20-30 years in time and told someone that I could buy a big-screen TV at 2am in the morning for $400, they would assume it was stolen. Or broken. Or both.
-Channel 41: My beloved 3D Custom Girl program/game doesn't work with the higher resolution of a 4K display. Then again it's been around since 2008 and hasn't been updated in recent years. Hell, the initial minimum requirements included Windows 2000.
-Channel 43: So far I haven't connected the TV to the antenna in the attic. And when I had the cable turned on, I went with the internet-only package.
-DIY 1: I have begun buying car parts for both girls. For example, I already have a full set of brake pads and rotors for Nozomi at the ready. There will be more soon, and from various sources. It'll be nice to be able to do the work in an environment independent of the weather.
-DIY 2: As my current collection of tools are scattered about in various boxes, plastic tubs, and small hand-held toolboxes, a proper tool chest is on the horizon. The one I'd like to get requires a truck for delivery. I also need to get an engine crane. I can get one for a bit over $200 which sounds like a lot, until I point out I spent twice that on my TV. And there's no comparison between that and what I've spent on computer parts/photography equipment.
-DIY 3: Furniture from Ikea works well for me. What's great about it is it's sturdy enough to do the job, but cheap enough that if it gets a little roughed up over time, it's nothing to worry about. When instructions for their furniture say the item can be recycled or "reclaimed for energy" (burned), it's ok to not be serious about it. Yes, Ikea furniture also requires assembly, and there are some people who have trouble with that. I, on the other hand, have had no problems with that because I have extensive experience with another famous four-letter-name Scandinavian product where assembly by the end-user is considered a selling point. Maybe that's cheating.
-One quest ends, another begins: Unpacking is turning out to be a bigger task than I thought. Despite having 3x as much space, everything is scattered about, as if it's on a mission to fill the vacuum. Things that should be upstairs are currently in the basement, things that are in the dining room need to be in the living room, and other variations and permutations. In cleaning up one mess, I've made another for myself. And then there's what I've lobbed into storage.
-Continue quest?: The good news about the things in storage is that it's taken fewer trips to get everything out than it took to put it all in there. That's because over the past few years, I'd take one or two things at a time. But now, when I took stuff out, I was loading up with as much as I can. I could have just slayed the dragon with a sword and rented a van and had most of it out in one go, but I would have just overwhelmed myself when I got all that home. The incremental approach was the best for this. Besides, I'm about done with it anyway. All that's left now is to do the final cleanout and drop the keys off.
-Silver lining: Since I'm moving boxes and tubs and other furniture around, and taking things up and down multiple flights of stairs, it's giving me a bit of a workout. I'm finding boxes feel lighter than when I initially packed them, despite the contents being the same. Plus my stamina is up. It took me over an hour to mow my lawn but I felt fine (if a bit sweaty) afterwards. Plus I'm losing weight. My pants are getting loose.
-Facts and figures: Much of my DVD/BD collection is still in boxes, and all in one place. I have calculated that I have approximately 14.5 cubic feet, mostly anime. This does not include what I have on VHS or Laserdisc.
-Magical ingredients: I now have 65% molybdenum disulfide paste and it's very thick and goopy. It is thick and goopy so it stays where it should, wherever that may be. Some procedures in my repair manuals call for high-moly paste. An 8 ounce can of the stuff is a salty $35 but this is for repairs I don't want to do more than once, so I might as well go balls deep. You know how in fantasy lore, it's a common trope for witches and wizards and other magic-using folk to use rare and exotic ingredients for some of their potions and spells? This is a lot like that.
-More magical ingredients: Other things I got from the latest shipment from McMaster are a can of Kroil, some Tap Magic, and some Hysol industrial 2-part epoxy. When fully cured, Hysol 1C has a color and feel similar to ceramic, and being industrial epoxy, whatever it bonds to is not going anywhere. For repairing chipped and broken dishes, it is the shiznit.
-"Think outside the box." I do that all the time out of necessity because I don't know where the damn box is. I haven't seen it in years so it probably got tossed at some point anyway. And if I did find it, I know I wouldn't fit in it.
-That's some bad juju there: While cleaning up at the old place, I started vacuuming. I got about 2 or 3 minutes in when my vacuum cleaner started to give off a burning plastic smell and lots of smoke. Shut it off and unplugged and ejected outside before any flames appeared. That one's done. So I got a new vacuum cleaner. That one was able to finish the job. Had that one had died from the same task, I'd have to call in the pros.
-More bad juju: Right after the first attempt at vacuuming, I think I came down with the flu. Not sure if I picked it up while I was out and about earlier in the week or if I stirred up some ancient preternatural evil while vacuuming. I ended up power-sleeping through all of Saturday and a lot of Sunday, somewhere around 36 hours. That seems to have worked and I was able to go to work on Monday. Between the flu and the combustible vacuum cleaner, a perfectly good weekend was mostly wasted and generally put me behind schedule. So much for being completely out by the end of September. End of October, then?
-To be continued!
no subject
Date: 2017-10-05 12:01 am (UTC)Channel 47
Date: 2017-10-05 08:24 am (UTC)My old 24" CRT was rated with a maximum consumption of 145W (but I haven't measured it directly), while the new 43" TV uses about 60-70W. For a closer size comparison, my 23" flat panel 1080p monitor from 2009 tops out around 40W and averaged around 25W. This was measured with the load meter that's built into my UPS.
To add another leg of comparison: Display types being equal, the new TV uses more energy overall than the 23" monitor, however in terms of area and resolution, uses less per square inch of display and per pixel.
Flat panels inherently use much less power, as they're not spraying the front of a big glass tube with electrons out of a high-voltage fire hose.