RF Modulator For DVD on TV with only coax in - any that aren't pure crap?

[MisterF]

My mother has a little 19 inch CRT TV in her bedroom with only a RF coax input (analog tuner). She wants to occasionally watch a DVD on it. Are there any composite to RF converters/modulators out there that aren't pure junk? The converter she was given by a family member makes the picture way too dark to watch. (Even though the RF output of her cable converter box looks normal for brightness on the same TV.) This is a converter specifically designed for this purpose, so the darkness shouldn't be macrovision related. (Converter does NOT run through a recorder, TV does NOT have a built in player or recorder.)

When I search for RF converters on Amazon, all have a significant number of reviewers reporting crackly/distorted audio, bad interference lines in picture, device dying in a few months, etc. Has anyone used one of these converters? Is there any model/brand that worked OK for you? (Even if only avail used?) What model/brand was it? I understand it won't look as good as if the TV had video input jacks, but are there any converters that aren't pure crap? (Must have its own built in switching abilities, don't want to mess with external switchers or connecting/disconnecting every time.) This would be for the US.

Important to note that she does not want a new TV, as a widescreen won't even fit in the space she has the TV in and she does not want new furniture/stand or to try to rearrange a bunch of stuff.

Thanks in advance.

[jagabo]

Did you search for "rf modulator"? I saw a few that looked adequate.

https://www.amazon.com/CIMPLE-CO-Composite-Converter-Modulator/dp/B06XC9Y3VB/
https://www.amazon.com/Modulator-Switch-Audio-Output-Converter/dp/B00J41Y4YY/

Most of the bad reviews said things like DOA, no instructions, poor quality - like 90's TV!

[dellsam34]

In my opinion your mother will be happier with the same size LCD 4:3 screen, They still make them.
But since analog TV is no longer transmitting, all what you need is a 4:3 monitor with HDMI in and built in speakers, New egg sells three models:

https://www.newegg.com/viewera-v178hb-17/p/N82E16824138086?quicklink=true
https://www.newegg.com/viewera-v198hb-19/p/N82E16824138087?quicklink=true
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-smt-1935-19-sxga/p/N82E16824022449?quicklink=true

[usually_quiet]

In my opinion your mother will be happier with the same size LCD 4:3 screen, They still make them.
But since analog TV is no longer transmitting, all what you need is a 4:3 monitor with HDMI in and built in speakers, New egg sells three models:

https://www.newegg.com/viewera-v178hb-17/p/N82E16824138086?quicklink=true
https://www.newegg.com/viewera-v198hb-19/p/N82E16824138087?quicklink=true
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-smt-1935-19-sxga/p/N82E16824022449?quicklink=true

Monitors can be tricky to use as tunerless TVs. The DVD player's HDMI connection needs to be capable of supplying a resolution that the monitor supports for input. Also, MisterF's mother has digital cable TV service and a cable box. The HDMI connection on the monitors above will only work for cable TV if she has a cable box with HDMI that supplies video at a resolution that the monitor supports. These monitors have RCA stereo analog audio inputs and BNC video connections for security cameras. I'm not very familiar with security systems. Do their BNC connections supply composite video output?

I found a data sheet for the Samsung monitor: https://www.hanwhasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/attachments/s/m/smt-1935_specifications.pdf. It looks like 720 x 480i@60Hz and 720 x 480p@60Hz are supported for HDMI, so it should be OK. Speakers are only one watt each. If MisterF's mom is hard of hearing, that is probably insufficient. I wasn't able to find a datasheet for the ViewEra monitors that gives information about supported resolutions for HDMI, although they have a 3D comb filter and 3D de-interlacing.

[Skiller]

You can use any VCR that you can find, even if it doesn't play tapes anymore. Probably much better than the Chinese El Cheapo RF modulators. The VCR doesn't need to be operated once setup so you can hide it somewhere behind the TV or such.

[MisterF]

VCRs react to the Macrovision anti-copy on commercial DVDs. They tend to do this even if video is just passing through them. I did try this before posting the original question just to see how bad it would be. The picture shifts from normal to too dark and back throughout the video. A VCR does work fine for this if only connected to a source without Macrovision (or a DVD player only playing home made recordings which don't have the Macrovision flag enabled).

[dellsam34]

Monitors can be tricky to use as tunerless TVs. The DVD player's HDMI connection needs to be capable of supplying a resolution that the monitor supports for input. Also, MisterF's mother has digital cable TV service and a cable box. The HDMI connection on the monitors above will only work for cable TV if she has a cable box with HDMI that supplies video at a resolution that the monitor supports. These monitors have RCA stereo analog audio inputs and BNC video connections for security cameras. I'm not very familiar with security systems. Do their BNC connections supply composite video output?

At the time of posting those links I searched those models and they all seem to accept PAL/NTSC signal via HDMI, Not sure if they are really for CCTV monitoring, the BNC in CCTV systems adopted several resolutions throught the years from PAL/NTSC, 720, 960 ...etc but now seems to be heading to IP HD/4K or SDI (digital BNC) for commercial facilities.