Digital TV...

[Coligny]

Guys, since when do all TV sold in japan had to be digital ready ?

Just toyed with dad's Prius while he's not here and the TV greated me with statics... since I don't know how to set it up I couldn't be sure it was bad tuning or analog only...

(sept 2008 Prius G2 at least one of the last before the G3 launch)

[wagyl]

I saw TVs for sale right up to the end with stickers on them warning that they were not digital enabled, so there was never any requirement that TVs had to be digital ready, but...

You are I suppose talking about the TV tuner included in the car navigation of the Japanese market 2008 Toyota Prius. Looking at this old sales pamphlet shows analog TV (page 32).

Obviously Toyota didn't expect the car to still be on the road by the time the first shaken rolled around, that is in three years time.

[Greji]

Guys, since when do all TV sold in japan had to be digital ready ?

I assume you are talking about the TV in the CarNavi system. I'm not sure when they changed over, but places like TireKan offer conversion to digital for the car TV systems. I have the same problem on my Toyoda Land Cruser. It no speak digital....

[Yokohammer]

My guess is that you have an analog tuner.

The TV tuner in my Z4 is still analog ... but they extended analog broadcasting up here in Tohoku for an extra year so I can still watch it. Probably won't bother with a digital conversion when the time comes though (BMW prices ... ouch). The only time I really watched TV in the car was immediately after the 3.11 earthquake/tsunami anyway. The TV in the Honda is already digital, so in a pinch I can use that.

But TV in a car? When do you actually watch it? Other than the time I mentioned above, I think I've watched mine once or twice while waiting for the wife to finish shopping. That's all.

[Coligny]

But TV in a car? When do you actually watch it? Other than the time I mentioned above, I think I've watched mine once or twice while waiting for the wife to finish shopping. That's all.

Personnally, I NEVAR watch TV... But we always had a pocket analog one in the car in case of shit hitting the fan. (event big enough and you got picture to make an opinion for yourself). 3/11 was the best example, here, no way to really know if it was a strange local one or a gigantic remote one, or where and when were the tsunami alert.

Now with internet TV NHK/Beeb/News24 there is a little more choices for the media, but traditionnally, TV broadcast and am radio are the last one standing when everything else is burning...

I checked the Prius for these kind of contingencies. While setting up the bluetooth handfree of the car with his soon to be Iphone. Which was absolutely trouble free... now need to fight a bit more to find the addressbuk sync setup. The worst part was finding the cigaret lighter plug, at the bottom of the 4th armest storage box under some movable shelf... way to go kids... keep it simple...

Greji, you haz pichsure of your Cruiser ? With a general Lee paint scheme ? and some raodkill strapped to the hood for dinner ? (and Daisy Duke Tanaka in a bikini cleaning the windshield with her boobs...)

/Yes I are a bit of a closet survivalist... But it so totally clash with my anarchist side that i'm only saved from total madness by my ADD...
/Le sad, I'm th3 only one still with my hand crank prehistokeitai...

[omae mona]

My analog car TV got used occasionally while waiting in a parking lot (for my drug customers to show up). Talked to the car dealer, who wanted something in the 50,000 yen range to upgrade to digital. And the digital "upgrade" turns out to be a tacked on tuner, crammed into the armrest area, that plugs in through the accessory jack and can't even be controlled by the channel buttons on my dashboard. It's operated by a wireless remote control, which I'd have to store somewhere and hope I don't drop under the seat.

Needless to say, my current car TV viewing consists of:
1) Cheap docomo keitai with 1-seg TV built in (as do 90% of their models)
2) 400 yen cigarette-lighter-to-FOMA adapter, to power the phone.

[BigInJapan]

1) Cheap docomo keitai with 1-seg TV built in (as do 90% of their models)

Coligny - if you've got an iPhone or an Android, there are lots of OneSeg tuners available.
Some connect wirelessly, like this one (can charge phone when connected directly).
And some connect directly, like this one.