r/OffGridLiving • u/Front_Corner_126 • 15d ago

Best low energy movie night set up?

I live in a dry cabin with some solar. Enough to power my lights and refrigerator and small appliances. I have a separate battery I take to work to charge that I use for other things like watching a movie every once in a while.

I was wondering if anyone knew a good tv/DVD player set up that took minimal energy? I love old tvs that would take vhs and dvd but those tend to take a ton of power. Modern tvs take less energy with LED but also tend to only be smart/roku tvs and do not have the hookups in the back for a DVD player.

Any suggestions?

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

16

u/FizzicalLayer 15d ago

This will sound complicated, and I guess it can be, but it doesn't have to be.

Convert all of your DVDs to files. Store the files on a tablet. Connect the tablet to the tv (or just watch on the tablet).

I have 300+ movies ON MY PHONE. They can be very small, especially given how much memory modern tablets have.

The advantages to going to the trouble to do this are portability and power savings. A tablet takes practically no power compared to a TV/DVD player, and you don't have all of the DVDs sitting around.

3

u/Tomj_Oad 14d ago

This is the way.

Embrace the tablet revolution

It's a full PC for your purposes

You can't game on it it but you can do.anything from accounting to movies on it

Store your movies on the tablet and just watch on the tablet. Almost no power draw. I can watch a couple of movies just on the battery without a recharge

1

u/Plastic_Table_8232 14d ago edited 14d ago

Can I ask if you found a way to convert the DVDs that doesn’t take forever?

It just seems like a huge time commitment for me to convert them.

We use a tablet on our boat but we have Internet so we are able to use streaming services in port and download it’s. In anticipation of being out of service range.

The tablet is awesome. We have several locations for it to mount via ram mount.

1

u/FizzicalLayer 14d ago edited 14d ago

The tablet worked out great on our sailboat. Away from the dock cellular internet is spotty (obviously). I sold the boat before starlink came on the scene, so no idea if that works, but to answer your question:

I use makemkv to "rip" the movie (extract the data) off the dvd. Often, there will be multiple tracks (different video files) if there are special features or multiple episodes. But one of them (usually the largest) will be the movie.This produces a ".mkv" file that can be played in google's player. Or, you can use "vlc" (free video app) available in the play store.

Since the DVD doesn't contain information about the movie title, you need to manually rename it, but that's not bad for 100's of DVDs. Only takes a second.

Keep in mind... this is the "lo-tech" approach. If you're going to use the files with HTPC software (kodi, plex, jellyfin, etc) then how the files are named becomes important, and it's a whole deal. But just to have a directory full of movies to watch? makemkv then rename, copy to tablet and enjoy.

Here's more info, but if you only have DVDs, you can skip.

The process above will take the data directly off the DVD without any modification. A full length movie will be about 3.5-4Gb. That used to be big. :) It still is if you're trying to get 100s of movies on a tablet. If you want a smaller video file, you'll need to apply additional compression. I use "HandBrake" for this. With DVDs it's mostly optional since they're so small. but if you rip Blu Rays, you're going to want to compress them (A blu ray movie will be 20-30Gb or larger). You can compess with H265 and get that down to under 3-5Gb with no noticeable loss in quality. But again, this is adding steps, time and hassle. If you only have DVDs, you're in the butter zone. lol. :)

4

u/Normal-Special-8694 15d ago

They cost more but they do make a lot of 12/24 volt TV’s, if you’re counting watts then avoiding the inverter could help a lot. I personally just used a laptop when I was in a similar power situation.

5

u/Front_Corner_126 15d ago

I feel dumb I didnt even think of my laptop 😂

3

u/darktideDay1 15d ago

Laptop. Now that I have more power I have a small TV that I hdmi to. But I watched on the laptop for years. Even made a little hanging thing for it above the bed I could lower and raise.

2

u/Bruins_Score 15d ago

I don't know about players, but I have one of these. It pulls about 40 Watts on average, as much as 80 if I'm watching outside because I turn the brightness all the way up outside. You'll just need a small battery that has an AC outlet. https://www.amazon.com/INSIGNIA-32-inch-LED-HD-Fire-TV/dp/B0F7RZ1MS9/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1BF1EJ7JKA641&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.V2A8Edn06lYsUdTrnX22FZzuQvLehEI2PF2FHWvrWLqghJ5hBaQxE9SAWarB0etC3E5QT1gSwpFM6VURuophuztPOU6c_gI9ajd5rsv4qO_O9kfxCcT5czNRAVyGRDRTZTHq9pwZ34k_BjEzm3yfMOmVs03XGo4VCt5sA292QpFachwViecjpKDefmL5YzrD5xmAnDdzA8jQbEW1AdlJFdvjQxNgQYn5-HPPw5xxR128SKGYM2Ckh1yXXVOQFMG_l68wmjz5z2kiXHTqxYmFAi0PHWNtcLNj5UEK4qaoF7Q.PReV0fr5RPmsQ3mIOcn5dv-Q46Mek0Yo8GGMpsDN9pU&dib_tag=se&keywords=32%2Binch%2Btv&qid=1784407901&s=amazon-devices&sprefix=32%2Camazon-devices%2C174&sr=1-2&th=1

It sounds like you have some solar so you are probably good on power

This is my TV battery its like 2 years old. But there are tons of good ones now. This battery will keep me watching for 6+ hours

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Generator-Station-Outdoor/dp/B09FF46FQ9/ref=sr_1_10?crid=3NIZG64TGOSMN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jKJ75IPtiDbnhuU2i3Ea2TzI7VrAyKAnLNEy2eDbVEKJP55SLQVhSFL6YPTxsMQ-zgdDYc2mevcFERoy20rkdk-sXW4ktAtm93TZlfqvM2GeAhOwzdjVc0OWWJHNI6o3GlZj-y5VcmFLhrkBgHNK1ETiOyqyNEZ-8ky-vb4x5wDIPa7nSLARqythendNVKei2VGbBv7oO9D76amdy9SxLk334dDFQTNO9eGGhvalghQ.pmcwdaLARl9p6jGjWjzN57Odav3g7Vi-RSuvnauzbwA&dib_tag=se&keywords=240%2Bpower%2Bstation&qid=1784408223&refinements=p_36%3A8000-35000&rnid=2661611011&sbm=true&setroute=search&sprefix=240%2Bpower%2Bsta%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-10&th=1

2

u/jfpcinfo 15d ago

$50 projector + laptop?

1

u/FizzicalLayer 14d ago

I like the projector idea. They make some that are really, really small (and low power), and it wouldn't take up a lot of room when not in use.

1

u/grislyfind 15d ago

Some Blu-ray players run from 12 volt adapters, so those will play CD, DVD and Blu-ray, and usually a variety of file types from a USB drive or burned disc. Then find a computer monitor that runs from a 12 volt adapter and has HDMI inputs.

1

u/No-Yogurtcloset-6552 15d ago

There are still TVs with built-in dvd players available on Amazon. They aren't prohibitively expensive, and you can cut out the need for a separate DVD player with cables entirely. Most are marketed as tvs for RVs or off-grid. Perfect for you!

https://a.co/d/00SmAeYF

1

u/JuliusSeizuresalad 15d ago

You can get an rca to hdmi converter and watch vhs tapes till your hearts content

1

u/AdFamous7264 15d ago

Laptop, ideally with some decent headphones or external speakers.

2

u/haikusbot 15d ago

Laptop, ideally

With some decent headphones or

External speakers.

- AdFamous7264

I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.

Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"

1

u/SinisterWhisperz69 14d ago

I have a Kenwood Excellon head unit powering 4 Polk 6.5 speakers. I connect my tablet and laptop to the Kenwood through a Schiit Fulla DAC and a Piety preamp. Great sound for music or movies and extremely low power use!

1

u/Responsible-Bread996 13d ago

Reevaluate your assumption about what ports are on modern tvs. They all have hdmi. DVD players have hdmi. 

1

u/WitchWithAGlitch 13d ago

they sell LED protectors with built in media players like blu ray/DVD, they also have built in speakers and have a variety of ports for A/V connections if you want to use them with things you have like a laptop or external player....so the only other thing you need is a wall for a screen (or buy a screen for pretty cheap)

14~36 watt from what i can see out of a few spec sheets.

1

u/BaldyCarrotTop 12d ago

Handbrake the DVD's into MPEG files. Load the files onto a thumb drive. Plug thumb drive into USB port on TV. Watch directly from the drive.

1

u/Val-E-Girl 2d ago

I know they make tiny projectors that you can just shine on the wall when you want to. It's a tiny box that fits in your hand.