RCA Launches New Battery-Powered TVs

RCA is launching new  portable, battery-operated TVs; several models can pick up mobile digital TV. All sets can carry simulcasts of local channels with shows, sports and news and emergency information. 

One model can also pick up radio station feeds. RCA said battery-powered portable sets have largely been off the market since the 2009 digital transition.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition is working to deliver mobile digital TV to various portable devices that can be accessible in a car or elsewhere on the way. As of mid-April, the coalition said 76 stations in 32 markets were carrying feeds. It projects that digital TV will have a reach of 77 million-plus U.S. homes by next April.

The new RCA product line comes as storms have ravaged parts of America.

A 3.5" model for a retail price of $119 has DTV reception and can run for three hours on four AA batteries. A 3.5" DTV-equipped set that also has FM radio reception retails for $159 and has litihium-ion batteries installed. A 7" screen that is DTV-equipped retails for $179.

Korea-based Digital Stream licenses the RCA brand from Technicolor. It also offered digital converter boxes during the 2009 transition.