Bathroom TV Options - Help Needed

kudos2 · 10-11-2009, 8:38 AM

EDIT: See My First HC DIY Front Room Thread Here

I'm doing my bathroom at the moment and the room is gutted ready for some major alterations.

I've always wanted to have a TV in the wall in the bathroom and have been looking at the options.

I don't want to go for the TileVision tv's, too expensive and would require me to dig out the wall for the recess box.

I saw someone on the forums just used a computer monitor covered by glass ( I think it was 'Media Center House' or something). I quite like this idea for price reasons, although I'm concerned about condensation on the glass obscuring the screen.

Perhaps even a smaller LCD/LED panel would do the job? Though not sure where to source these from.

The ultimate would be a thin touchscreen panel I could hook up to WMC7 or similar.

Has anyone actually done this? Perhaps can give me some pointers / suggestions......

Cheers,
Kudos

kudos2 · 10-11-2009, 10:55 AM

Waterproof TV

Has anyone seen/used these waterproof TV's from proofvision ?

Kudos

MarkP80 · 11-11-2009, 6:21 AM

The bathroom has specific regulations relating to electrical equipment and zones etc. Any housings for electrical equipment would, IMHO, need to be sutiably rated for that environment and conditions. I don;t see how a DIY housing/wall panel would ever achive that. Just being waterproof doesn't meet that requirment, it would need certification.

I'd stick with a tv designed for the bathroom. there's also an advertiser on thsi very page - www.tech2o.co.uk - I've no knowledge of them though, nor the one you mention.

Cheers,
MarkP

kudos2 · 11-11-2009, 12:10 PM

Hi MarkP,

Thanks for your input, I agree I should go for a specially designed unit. It would be different if I were recessing the screen into a stud wall where there was at least some air and potential access, but I need to place it into concrete brick.

£400 get's you a 15" proofvision Waterproof TV

or Tech2o 15" TECH2O 15" Mirror Waterproof HD Ready Television with: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

or a 19" vanguard mirrored finish Vanguard 19" waterproof mirror bathroom TV with built: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

which looks the same as the tech20 19" Classic

Tech2o waterproof televisions. Waterproof LCD TV Online shop, mirror televisions, bathroom televisions, outdoor television and kitchen television all available at low prices.

I prefer the non-mirrored effect so I may go for the proofvision 17" seeing as it's on special offer at only 40 quid more than the 15"

Waterproof TV 17 INCH

Kudos

kudos2 · 11-11-2009, 2:22 PM

I've decided to plump for the 19" White seeing as Proofvision have them in stock, the 15" & 17" have a two week lead time.

I'll take plenty of pics when it arrives in case anyone is interested......

Kudos

MarkP80 · 12-11-2009, 5:28 AM

Quote:

I'll take plenty of pics when it arrives in case anyone is interested......

- We certainly will be!

MarkP

kudos2 · 16-11-2009, 3:23 PM

Well, well, look what came today.....

Took these at lunch, more to follow later when I get home....

kudos2 · 16-11-2009, 9:58 PM

The waterproof remote

Backside of remote has a coin slot which you twist to get to the pill-cell battery.

Screen fits into container with four little pins. It goes in then slides down to lock in place.

A whole evening lost to chasing in the back box. What a mess !

Room for the cables.

kudos2 · 17-11-2009, 12:06 PM

Just a quick note on Proofvision...

I found this company very nice to deal with. I emailed about VAT because I'm in Guernsey, and received a call from a pleasant chap William.

He gave me an honest description of inventory and lead times and the TV I ordered was sent out the next day by Euro48 Parcelforce.

Cheers,
Kudos

kudos2 · 17-11-2009, 12:25 PM

First Impressions:

I've barely had a chance to play with the TV yet because I spent all last night chasing out the hole in the bathroom.

The picture quality is fine, i put on the new Star Trek BluRay which is the best looking blu I've seen.

Although the shipping sticky plastic is still on the sreen, from bath length viewing distance 5ft-6ft the picture looks great, close up I think there's a bit of artefacting, but you don't view from 10inches anyway....

My slight concern was the input control, but I was glad to see when you turn the TV onto standby it returns to the same input when switched back on again.

I was happy to see the TV detected it was receiving a 1080p signal and displayed HDMI 1080P in the upper left hand corner.

The speakers are pretty weak, I think they're ony 2watt, I had to crank them up to 3/4 full to get any decent volume. Once again fine for bath-time viewing. There is an 3.5mm phono audio out lead though so you could amplify and add speakers to that should require more power.

Everyone's setup is going to be different, I'm running the cables up the wall into the ceiling and so I'm going to have to extend the cables coming from the TV.

I've ordered a 5m IEC kettle lead, 5m HDMI extender cable, 5m RF cable, 5m 3-phono cable, 5m 3.5mm to 2 phono lead and 5m VGA extender cable - that should cover it!

dazzler9000 · 17-11-2009, 2:10 PM

Nice TV, I'd quite like one myself. They're a little expensive though at the moment.

Show us some pics when your finish.

jt2k6 · 17-11-2009, 2:10 PM

YUMMY!!!

more pics please!

Watching with interest

Matt

kudos2 · 17-11-2009, 2:21 PM

The whole house is still dusty from yesterdays chasing out, but I couldn't resist sliding it in place.

I'll be tile boarding the rest of the walls and floor tonight so I can get the bath in.

Kudos

MarkP80 · 18-11-2009, 5:54 AM

Interesting to see, I haven't seen this type of install before. Thanks for sharing!

MarkP

deansocial · 18-11-2009, 9:21 AM

are you recessing it flush with the tiles or sat proud? The last 1 i fitted wa soupossed to be pround but we sat is flush with square section edging around it to create a chrome frame

kudos2 · 18-11-2009, 11:14 AM

Yeah I was in two minds about standing pround/flush.

I wanted to do it flush for that pro install clean finish, but SWMBO wanted it proud because and I quote "Grouting up to anything other than tiles doesn't look very good".

I also thought about access. With it proud I can remove the unit easily should I need to.

In the end it came down to one simple reason, I chased into the wall until I hit a rather hard stony concrete barrier which I couldn't cut with the tools I had, so I stopped there....

Cheers,
Kudos

deansocial · 18-11-2009, 12:26 PM

the 1 i did was backing onto the garage so we made a hole in he wall with access on the other side. We sealed around it with a colour matching silicone

kudos2 · 18-11-2009, 12:32 PM

Any pictures ?

Kudos

deansocial · 18-11-2009, 4:59 PM

Afraid not as it were a customers house but i may be working there again some time soon so will ask if i can have a picture of it

Da_Rude_Baboon · 19-11-2009, 1:37 PM

Which tile backing boards are you using?

kudos2 · 19-11-2009, 2:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da_Rude_Baboon

Which tile backing boards are you using?

Funny you should ask that.....

The big brand name everyone first mentioned was Weddi board, but after trying my local non-trade hardware suppliers nobody stocked it. I'm sure it's available but I couldn't be bothered to track it down.

Then I was told to use Dukka board, same story couldn't find any.

Finally managed to find somewhere doing Marmox board, with a good supply of the various thickness' 6mm 10mm 12mm 20mm.

Can't believe how expensive these boards are overall and I haven't finished yet, i'll probably be using it to build an internal stud wall.

Kudos

MarkP80 · 20-11-2009, 1:34 AM

Quote:

Which tile backing boards are you using?

I used this in my bathroom, mylocal builders merchant stocked it - Hardie

It was a lot more difficult to work with than platerboard! Did the job though....

MarkP

George74 · 20-11-2009, 10:59 AM

Hi all,

Does anyone know which manfuctarer makes the LCD panels for the proovision TVs?

Thanks

kudos2 · 20-11-2009, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George74

Hi all,

Does anyone know which manfuctarer makes the LCD panels for the proovision TVs?

Thanks

I wondered that myself actually. Pretty standard spec:

Technical Specifications
• Manual and Automatic channels searching
• Multi-lingual OSD controlling
• PIP supporting
• Support AV,S-Video,HDMI,VGA inputs
• Max Resolution: 1440*900
• Brightness: 500cd/m2
• Contrast Ratio: 600: 1
• Response Time: 6ms
• Aspect Ratio: 16: 9
• Viewing Angle: H 170o; V 170o
• Display Colors: 16.7M
• OSD Menu: Multilingual OSD (maximum up to 8 languages)
• Audio Output: Built-in speakers
• Input Signal: TV, AV,VGA, Component Video, HDMI
• Analog TV system: PAL/SECAM/NTSC
• Power Supply: 100-240V, 50-60Hz

You can always email them and ask: sales@proofvision.co.uk

Kudos

kudos2 · 21-11-2009, 5:57 PM

Beginning to wonder if I'll ever get this bathroom finished, a lot of work for one person in their spare time.

Reached a milestone today, got the hot&cold working and the bath in. This now means we can use the washing machine, oh and wash, which has been a novelty for the last few days.

I need to test the cables and fix them down. I'll be doing the electrics tomorrow so should be able to test at least.

I'm hoping to use a convoluted hdmi extension initially. The hdmi lead comes out the waterproof screen, which goes into a 5m extender. This will then go into a hdmi coupler. Out the other side of the coupler will be a 10m hdmi lead which I put in place when doing my lounge so I could use it for a projector at a later date. This hdmi lead will then have to go into a splitter by my main AV kit.

I have no idea if this will even work but I'll give it a try and see what happens!

Kudos

MarkP80 · 22-11-2009, 2:52 AM

Quote:

Beginning to wonder if I'll ever get this bathroom finished, a lot of work for one person in their spare time.

- Bathrooms are generally a heck of a lot more work than the wife realises, and you can work all day then stand back and not see a lot of visible progress. I speak from recent experience! I had other people do most of the work for me, and I reckon it still took the best part of 6 months from start to absolute finish.
It's worth it in the end though, so don't lose the enthusiasm!

Have you thought about any ambient lighting? It can be very effective in a bathroom.

Cheers,
MarkP

kudos2 · 22-11-2009, 5:07 PM

Thanks for the support I needed it!

Well, the electrics are done now, extractor fan, underfloor heating, whirlpool, TV & towel rail all working.

Start the tiling tomorrow night........

Kudos

deansocial · 22-11-2009, 5:37 PM

spend a lot of time setting out the tiles so they look right around window, tv and in the corners. it will make it easier and quiker

kudos2 · 25-11-2009, 9:55 PM

Finally got the floor done. Well, tiles stuck down, those door frames and waste pipes are bugg£r to cut round.....!

Starting to get the cables in place.

I've gone for RF lead, so when Guernsey finally gets digital terrestrial next year I can hook it up. 3 phono ( Vid & L&R ) for basic connection to anything, HDMI of course and 2 Phono TV audio-out lead.

Kudos

deansocial · 26-11-2009, 7:38 AM

a little tip for the door linings is to under cut the lining and slot the tile in, try it next time maybe on the kitchen?