How to Witness Mobile TV in Your Car
Whether you’re traveling in style in your tricked out motorhome, or crammed into the family minivan with the kids, nothing helps while away those endless miles of road like some multimedia entertainment. And while music and DVDs, or BluRays if you’re so inclined, are excellent, mobile TV can add some much needed diversity to the mix.
Taking your TV on the road isn’t fairly so elementary as just strapping an aerial to the roof and plugging any old set into an inverter, but it’s not far off.
In fact, there are a number of different options that you can explore, some of which are exceptionally effortless to implement.
The Path of Least Resistance
In order to observe mobile TV on the road, the basic components that you’re going to need include a:
If you have an existing mobile movie system in your vehicle, then you’re most likely set as far as the display is worried. You’ll just want to check if your existing screen has numerous inputs. If it doesn’t, you’ll need some type of outer splitter or input selector. A lot of movie head units have numerous inputs, however, as do roof- and headrest-mounted screens.
The tuner is the component that receives an over the air (OTA) signal and converts it into something that your screen can display. In the United States, you’ll need an ATSC tuner that’s capable of receiving digital, high definition broadcasts.
Some tuners have built-in antennas, which is the easiest way to receive wireless TV on the road.
However, an outward antenna will typically be able to pull in weaker signals. If you’re in an area that isn’t close to any broadcast antennas, a good, omnidirectional, outer antenna is a must. However, there are a lot of places where you won’t be able to receive any OTA signals at all.
Satellite Television in Your Car
The other main option for wireless TV in your car is a satellite receiver.
This option provides you all of the same channels you can get from a satellite subscription at home, and you don't have to worry about driving outside the range of a local broadcast television station.
The drawback of satellite television in your car is that you need a special satellite dish, and they aren't cheap. These special dishes were originally available in a large dome-shaped configuration that was indeed only suitable for RVs, but that is no longer the case.
In addition to the dome-shaped dishes that have been available for a long time, you can now get a mobile satellite dish in a vapid configuration that can be mounted to the roof of virtually any vehicle. These plane satellite dishes cost thousands of dollars however, which is a pretty hefty investment just to witness TV in your car.
If you want to see mobile TV on long road trips that will take you well outside major metropolitan areas, a satellite receiver may be what you're looking for, but price-conscious drivers may choose to look at other options.
Other Mobile Television Options
In addition to OTA and satellite broadcasts, there are a few other ways to observe television on the road. They all rely on an Internet connection, so you’ll need some type of Wi-Fi hotspot to take advantage of them.
This hotspot can take the form of a dedicated device, a phone that can share its Internet connection, or a laptop that is capable of doing the same.
Some of the most common Internet-based mobile TV options include:
There are a few standalone products that provide access to television broadcasts that are available via the Internet. The available channels differ from one product to another, and some of these devices have to be plugged into a computer. In that case, you can connect the device to your laptop and then use the laptop as a movie source. If you're using a laptop as a movie source, you may be able to access wireless cable TV through your provider's website.
Slingbox is another product that can provide you with access to wireless cable TV. When you set this device up in your house, you connect it to your cable or satellite television. It then provides you with the capability to see live television via the Internet.
Time-shifted Television and Other Movie Sources
In the same way that a Slingbox can permit you to see live television anywhere you have an Internet connection, some cable and satellite companies permit you to observe shows that you have stored on your DVR. This service isn’t available from every provider, and it typically won’t permit you to observe live television.
Other sources of non-live television include sites like Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube. If you set up an Internet-connected laptop as a movie source, sites like these can provide you with hours of mobile TV entertainment on the road.
Ongoing Mobile TV Developments
Tablets and cellular phones are both good sources for Internet TV and locally stored movie content, but there have also been numerous attempts to serve live television to mobile devices. MedaFLO was an early attempt by Qualcomm, which served up sixteen channels to mobile devices, until it folded in 2011.
Another service that required a dongle and an app, MyDTV, was launched in in two thousand thirteen across limited markets, and for limited stations, like KOMO TV in Seattle.
Dyle was another service designed to supply live television to decently tooled mobile devices, or to any mobile device via a receiver unit. It launched with varying support in about a dozen markets, but support for Dyle devices ended in 2015.
Want to Observe TV in Your Car? Read This
How to Witness Mobile TV in Your Car
Whether you’re traveling in style in your tricked out motorhome, or crammed into the family minivan with the kids, nothing helps while away those endless miles of road like some multimedia entertainment. And while music and DVDs, or BluRays if you’re so inclined, are good, mobile TV can add some much needed diversity to the mix.
Taking your TV on the road isn’t fairly so elementary as just strapping an aerial to the roof and plugging any old set into an inverter, but it’s not far off.
In fact, there are a number of different options that you can explore, some of which are amazingly effortless to implement.
The Path of Least Resistance
In order to witness mobile TV on the road, the basic components that you’re going to need include a:
If you have an existing mobile movie system in your vehicle, then you’re most likely set as far as the display is worried. You’ll just want to check if your existing screen has numerous inputs. If it doesn’t, you’ll need some type of outer splitter or input selector. A lot of movie head units have numerous inputs, tho’, as do roof- and headrest-mounted screens.
The tuner is the component that receives an over the air (OTA) signal and converts it into something that your screen can display. In the United States, you’ll need an ATSC tuner that’s capable of receiving digital, high definition broadcasts.
Some tuners have built-in antennas, which is the easiest way to receive wireless TV on the road.
However, an outer antenna will typically be able to pull in weaker signals. If you’re in an area that isn’t close to any broadcast antennas, a good, omnidirectional, outer antenna is a must. However, there are a lot of places where you won’t be able to receive any OTA signals at all.
Satellite Television in Your Car
The other main option for wireless TV in your car is a satellite receiver.
This option provides you all of the same channels you can get from a satellite subscription at home, and you don't have to worry about driving outside the range of a local broadcast television station.
The drawback of satellite television in your car is that you need a special satellite dish, and they aren't cheap. These special dishes were primarily available in a large dome-shaped configuration that was truly only suitable for RVs, but that is no longer the case.
In addition to the dome-shaped dishes that have been available for a long time, you can now get a mobile satellite dish in a vapid configuration that can be mounted to the roof of virtually any vehicle. These vapid satellite dishes cost thousands of dollars tho’, which is a pretty hefty investment just to witness TV in your car.
If you want to observe mobile TV on long road trips that will take you well outside major metropolitan areas, a satellite receiver may be what you're looking for, but price-conscious drivers may choose to look at other options.
Other Mobile Television Options
In addition to OTA and satellite broadcasts, there are a few other ways to observe television on the road. They all rely on an Internet connection, so you’ll need some type of Wi-Fi hotspot to take advantage of them.
This hotspot can take the form of a dedicated device, a phone that can share its Internet connection, or a laptop that is capable of doing the same.
Some of the most common Internet-based mobile TV options include:
There are a few standalone products that provide access to television broadcasts that are available via the Internet. The available channels differ from one product to another, and some of these devices have to be plugged into a computer. In that case, you can connect the device to your laptop and then use the laptop as a movie source. If you're using a laptop as a movie source, you may be able to access wireless cable TV through your provider's website.
Slingbox is another product that can provide you with access to wireless cable TV. When you set this device up in your house, you connect it to your cable or satellite television. It then provides you with the capability to witness live television via the Internet.
Time-shifted Television and Other Movie Sources
In the same way that a Slingbox can permit you to see live television anywhere you have an Internet connection, some cable and satellite companies permit you to see shows that you have stored on your DVR. This service isn’t available from every provider, and it typically won’t permit you to observe live television.
Other sources of non-live television include sites like Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube. If you set up an Internet-connected laptop as a movie source, sites like these can provide you with hours of mobile TV entertainment on the road.
Ongoing Mobile TV Developments
Tablets and cellular phones are both good sources for Internet TV and locally stored movie content, but there have also been numerous attempts to serve live television to mobile devices. MedaFLO was an early attempt by Qualcomm, which served up sixteen channels to mobile devices, until it folded in 2011.
Another service that required a dongle and an app, MyDTV, was launched in in two thousand thirteen across limited markets, and for limited stations, like KOMO TV in Seattle.
Dyle was another service designed to supply live television to decently tooled mobile devices, or to any mobile device via a receiver unit. It launched with varying support in about a dozen markets, but support for Dyle devices ended in 2015.
