A Handheld television is a portable device that usually uses a TFT LCD or Organic light-emitting diode color display. Many of these devices resemble handheld transistor radios.
Contents |
These devices often have stereo 1⁄8 inches (3.2 mm) phono plugs for composite video~analog mono audio relay to serve them as composite monitors; also, some models have mono 1/8" jacks for the broadcast signal that is usually relayed via F connector on standard television models.
Some include HDMI, USB and SD ports.
Screen sizes vary from 1.3 to 5 inches (33 to 130 mm). Some handheld televisions also double as portable DVD players and USB PVR .
Portable These TVs cannot fit in your pocket, but often run on batteries and includes a car lighter plug.
Pocket These TVs fit in your pocket
Wearable These TVs sometimes are made in the form of a wristwatch.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Panasonic and Sinclair Research released the first TVs which were small enough to fit in a large pocket; called the Panasonic IC TV MODEL TR-001 and MTV-1. Since LCD technology was not yet mature at the time, the TV used a minuscule CRT which set the record for being the smallest CRT on a commercially marketed product.
Later in 1982, Sony released the first model of the Watchman; a pun on Walkman. It had grayscale video at first. Several years later, a color model with an active-matrix LCD was released. Nowadays, some cell phones have an integrated television receiver feature.
Some handheld televisions are wearable; a few models are in the form of a wristwatch.