Neanderthal seeks TV advice from inhabitant of 21st Century.

[unclealec]

Hi Guys
My kitchen units are all but finished now and I will be fitting them soon.
I have an interior wall in the kitchen with a 13a socket; I was proposing to make a storage shelving unit - 2ft squareish but only 3" or so deep - for spice jars, maybe a blackboard and chalk, just so as not to waste a blank wall. It's about 3ft wide, 8ft tall.
It dawned on me that I could incorporate a TV so that I don't miss vital programmes like the 6 Nations or University Challenge while I am chained to the sink.
One problem with this would be feeding an aerial lead to it. So convoluted as to be practically impossible.

My question is - are there such things as TV screens that are thin enough to go against a wall but that work on wifi signal only?

I have BT Broadband, good reception all around the house, but no subscription services such as Netflix etc; I rely on the likes of ITVX and iPlayer.
I want it to be a standalone device; I don't want to cast from another device.

Whaddya think? Might seem elementary to you, but some of us older folks have an inbuilt resistance to being au fait with technology.

[number2]

Hi Guys
My kitchen units are all but finished now and I will be fitting them soon.
I have an interior wall in the kitchen with a 13a socket; I was proposing to make a storage shelving unit - 2ft squareish but only 3" or so deep - for spice jars, maybe a blackboard and chalk, just so as not to waste a blank wall. It's about 3ft wide, 8ft tall.
It dawned on me that I could incorporate a TV so that I don't miss vital programmes like the 6 Nations or University Challenge while I am chained to the sink.
One problem with this would be feeding an aerial lead to it. So convoluted as to be practically impossible.

My question is - are there such things as TV screens that are thin enough to go against a wall but that work on wifi signal only?

I have BT Broadband, good reception all around the house, but no subscription services such as Netflix etc; I rely on the likes of ITVX and iPlayer.
I want it to be a standalone device; I don't want to cast from another device.

Whaddya think? Might seem elementary to you, but some of us older folks have an inbuilt resistance to being au fait with technology.

Aren't you describing an iPad or similar tablet?

[ryanb741]

Most smart TVs these days are WiFi connected so to answer your question yes you will have a lot of choice.

[unclealec]

Aren't you describing an iPad or similar tablet?

I would be but I am hoping for a switch-on-and-view experience. My present wife would be struggling to access TV programmes on a tablet or similar device, but can cope with a TV remote control (eventually). To be fair she has eyesight problems but can still get the hang of what's on screen if it is familiar to her and accessible with a couple of dabs on a remote control.

[number2]

I would be but I am hoping for a switch-on-and-view experience. My present wife would be struggling to access TV programmes on a tablet or similar device, but can cope with a TV remote control (eventually). To be fair she has eyesight problems but can still get the hang of what's on screen if it is familiar to her and accessible with a couple of dabs on a remote control.

Ah okay that makes sense, good luck with the search.

[Chicken Pox]

Powerline ethernet adaptor into SMART TV also an option, went this route when the NOW TV hub I had was rubbish even for phone / ipad in the TV room. Without an aerial not all "live" channels are obtainable on my old (compared to the other thread discussion) SMART TV but iplayer, ITVX etc apps work fine.

ETA presume could squeeze in a 32" SMART TV? Review here:https://www.techradar.com/news/telev...d-today-655660

[Griswold]

This won't be much help, but....

I went through this some time back. In the end, drilled a hole through the kitchen wall, ran a cable from the Ariel though the loft and down the outside wall and mounted a flat screen TV on a swivel bracket on the the wall so it could be watched from anywhere in the kitchen. It worked absolutely fine, only we hardly ever used it after the first flush of success. So it's been taken down and I'm now left with a length of trunking, ( fixed to the wall to hide the mains lead as SWMBO wouldn't accept a wire hanging down), which I have to remove, and a load of holes in the wall which I have to fill; and then I've got to repaint repaint the whole 'B *****y' wall!

So be absolutely certain you will actually use it regularly. We thought we would, but when prepping, cooking, cleaning down etc it ended up sat there unused and being a white elephant!

[Mr Pointy]

If your wife can cope with using apps like iPlayer & iTVx then yes, you could connect over wi-fi. You won't have an overall EPG though & it probably requires use of more than a couple of buttons on the remote.

[Saint-Just]

This won't be much help, but....

I went through this some time back. In the end, drilled a hole through the kitchen wall, ran a cable from the Ariel though the loft and down the outside wall and mounted a flat screen TV on a swivel bracket on the the wall so it could be watched from anywhere in the kitchen. It worked absolutely fine, only we hardly ever used it after the first flush of success. So it's been taken down and I'm now left with a length of trunking, ( fixed to the wall to hide the mains lead as SWMBO wouldn't accept a wire hanging down), which I have to remove, and a load of holes in the wall which I have to fill; and then I've got to repaint repaint the whole 'B *****y' wall!

So be absolutely certain you will actually use it regularly. We thought we would, but when prepping, cooking, cleaning down etc it ended up sat there unused and being a white elephant!

I will second that, although I have no direct experience of fitting a TV in a kitchen. My installation was somewhat simpler, being a Sonos One in the kitchen. Yet even that does not get used, despite spending time in the kitchen daily as we cook all our meals.

I haven't even been bothered using it somewhere else.

[adrianw]

I use an LG oled TV with a box cut into the wall, it accommodates Ethernet, SkyQ box and the mains plug,

A clever and discreet way to do it would be a decent quality LVDS panel with the power supply and whichever tuner in a cupboard, but that would be a bit of a project

[bambam]

Would a Fire TV stick not get you most of way there?
Would be fine for iplayer, ITVX etc. Pretty simple remote too and you can speak into some of them (maybe all now) to get what you want.

[unclealec]

Would a Fire TV stick not get you most of way there?
Would be fine for iplayer, ITVX etc. Pretty simple remote too and you can speak into some of them (maybe all now) to get what you want.

Some good points being made; all very interesting.
I can see the pov that it wouldn't be watched much, so why bother.
If I do decide that the faff is worth it, I may go down the Firestick route; I am training my present wife to use the NowTV stick I have on the no. 1 telly. If she masters that it would work.
Voice activation is a no-no. She shouts at things and people to f**k off so frequently that I would have to buy a new device about every 15 minutes.

[Tooks]

I’ve got a small Smart TV in the bedroom, a Samsung, but the Apps have stopped being updated via the TV and it’s no longer supported apparently, they don’t seem to be supported for long but other manufacturers might be better.

It’s also quite clunky and slow to load, but would definitely be improved by a FireStick or Roku plugged into the HDMI port.

[wileeeeeey]

I am training my present wife…

I like your style. Keep her on her toes.

[vortex89]

I'm not aware of anything that provides a TV signal over Wifi so you'd be limited to streaming on demand like BBC iPlayer, ITVX etc.

Depending on the size you're after one of these might suffice then you get a digital photo frame, smarthome functionality etc as well as a screen to watch your shows/stream music etc

https://www.amazon.co.uk/made-for-am.../dp/B0BKRJC71J

[lewie]

Some of these small plug in aerials give v good results- could it be hidden behind the tv?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerial-Firm.../dp/B07P64MWFR

[unclealec]

Thanks vortex; very informative.
I read that it doesn't support ITVX or iPlayer, so doubt it would suit.
Also those who join our TZ Zoom GtG every month will have shared my involuntary adverse reaction to any mention of Fire; we have an ongoing horror show as a much-loved regular tries with great difficulty to join using a Fire Tablet. Entertaining for most of us, but very frustrating for the user.
And thanks too to lewie; you guessed it, the wall concerned is on the blind side of the house signal-wise.
I think the best advice so far has been that my TV-in-the-Kitchen idea is not worth the faff. I will use a bigger blackboard.

[Cynar]

Pretty much all new smart TVs will work off wi-fi for all the streaming apps. BBC iPlayer, ITVx, Channel 4 and My 5. They stream what’s being broadcast live as well as catch up so, no real need for an aerial socket if you have a decent wi-fi signal.
They can be attached to the wall using a vesa wall mount. They may be a bit more than 3” deep with the mount, but not much.

[lewie]

I picked this up super cheap locally and bought a mount that allows it to be pulled out - 5” from the wall in total but I bet if it didn’t pull out it woyld be about 3”
I did run in an aerial cable while I was studding the wall out
Any way you could get a cable to it(straight through the back)( the tv swings back the other way to hide the sockets)
I install a very small aerial in the loft - 10/10 signal and was about £13
Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr

[mrsammyp]

The likes behind Freeview (BBC, ITV, C4 etc) are bringing out an app later this year called Freely which will allow you to stream live tv using only a broadband connection. Should be available on TV’s, Tablets etc.


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[unclealec]

The likes behind Freeview (BBC, ITV, C4 etc) are bringing out an app later this year called Freely which will allow you to stream live tv using only a broadband connection. Should be available on TV’s, Tablets etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers, that might be worth waiting for.

[xxnick1975]

You can deffo do this. There are a few lower end TVs out there with native Roku or Fire platforms built in that are ideal for this.

I stuck a Hisense Roku one in our gym, so can stream any of the main terrestrial channels, TNT, etc when in there. The Roku also seems to allow casting with any apple or android device without any fuss which might be a consideration.

Also see Sky Glass.

https://www.roku.com/en-gb/products/finder/roku-tv

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