NEW YORK — Here in the U.S., consumers have grown used to gadgets that do just about everything: surf the Web, check e-mail, play games, download music and even relay driving directions.
But in one respect, they lag behind what’s available in other countries, because they can’t pick up free digital broadcasts the way TVs can.
A portable DVD player by LG Electronics Inc. is the first gadget available in the U.S. that does just that, though if TV broadcasters get their wish it will be followed by many phones, tablets, PCs and in-car entertainment systems.
LG’s $249 mobile player doesn’t pick up the exact same signals that TVs do. Instead, they pick up a new “Mobile DTV” duplicate signal, which some broadcasters have added to their towers. Depending on where you are, you could get news, sports, weather and a prime-time lineup — not to mention the commercials that accompany them.
The breadth of programming varies from city to city.
The Mobile DTV device I tested looks like an anachronism at a time when gadgets are getting smaller and sleeker. Although it weighs less than a netbook at 2 pounds, LG’s Mobile DTV/DVD player has a stubby shape — 2 inches thick when closed — making it a less travel-friendly companion.
The player folds open like a laptop, but instead of a keyboard on the bottom half, there’s a pop-open DVD player with menu and playback controls next to it. The screen is smaller than a laptop’s, measuring 7 inches diagonally.
The picture was watchable but of a much lower resolution than you’d get on an actual TV. The frame rate is also lower, resulting in slight stutters when people move on-screen. I didn’t notice any hiccups in the audio while watching a nature documentary on DVD, but the sound frequently fell out of sync with the video when I watched live TV.
A co-worker in Washington had better luck: She reported smooth video with few audio drop-outs.
Watching a movie on such a small screen grew tiresome, in the same way that I’d rather watch a long movie on a tablet than on my smart phone. With a larger screen, LG could also make the resolution sharper, which would make DVDs look better.
Although the player is loaded with easily identifiable buttons for pausing or fast-forwarding a DVD, for example, it’s not immediately clear how to change TV stations. You have to press a button on the side of the player to make a list of channels appear and then use arrow buttons, located on a different part of the device, to select the one you want. Scanning the spectrum to update the list of available stations can be time-consuming — for me, just refreshing the list of channels available in my New York office took two and a half minutes. This might take less time if Mobile DTV technology were built into a smart phone, which could use the navigation system to automatically figure out where it is and then download the list of local channels.
The player promises up to four and a half hours of battery life. I found that even after watching TV three times for a few minutes at a time, the battery life dipped to four out of five bars. After a few minutes of watching a movie on DVD, it sank to three out of five bars. With the TV playing continuously, the player lasted less than two hours before it turned off.
After playing with the gadget for a few days, one question for me is, do consumers really want a device like this? I, for one, would worry that Mobile DTV won’t be around for long.
As for LG’s player, which carries the catchy name “DP570MH,” even the notion of a portable DVD player seems dated when you consider that Apple Inc.’s 1.5-pound iPad can store up to 80 hours of video, or dozens of movies, which can be rented or purchased outright online.
But the iPad is pricey — $499 to $829, depending on the configuration — and the LG player’s simplicity and lower price might make it a better choice for parents needing to distract restless children riding in the backseat.
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