Slashdot Mirror
TV Set Doubles as a Mirror
Bill Kendrick writes "New Scientist reports there's a new wide-screen LCD from Philips which becomes a mirror when you turn it off. Now I just need that holographic fireplace..." Sorry - a dupe from June
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It's a mirror even when its on.
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
now I need to comb my hair before I watch tv ;(
Now i can check my hair between commercials. Thanks philips!
Hi there
I'd love on in my bathroom, I wonder if I can have alpha transparency and watch TV while I'm shaving. Or hook it up to the TV-Out on my PC and read slashdot while I'm in the bath!!
..um, why?
a TV that displays pictures of handsome people and claims it's a mirror to make me feel good inside?
I use my TV also as a message board. When I go somewhere and want people to know where I am, I just write a message on a paper, turn the TV on, put the paper on it, and turn the TV off. It sticks on for some reason, does anyone know why?
Cheers,
RoadkillBunny
After years searching, the slashdotter brings their first girlfriend home only to have her scream, "I'm leaving you PERVERT!"
"But it's my TV, honest..."
So now your SO will not only be able to talk a movie to death, she'll also be tempted to turn the TV off to check her hair/teeth/whatever.
Mirror posted here.
Great... Just great... TVs in more rooms of the house.
How many TVs do we actually need in the house? It isn't enough that we get 100+ channels of absolute garbage but we have to display it in every single room in the house. Just in case I miss 1 minute of re-runs of re-runs of MASH.
You have to wonder what effect all this TV watching has on the children's attention span.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are not the responsiblity of the user, as I probably stole them anyway
I suppose a large mirror on the wall is more attractive than the curent blank black surface that my TV is showing me right now. I just can't help but think that this tv would have nasty glare issues and at the same time wouldn't be that great of a mirror
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
well - because they can I suppose.
It isnt a bad idea to use the TV as *something* when its turned off, but I'd have thought a mirror would be at the wrong height (you dont want to sit down to look in the mirror).
I'd personally prefer a high res screen saver
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
An duplicate story (from last June).
6 20 1
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/12/222
Perhaps if the editors paused for reflection...
Raisinettes are my raison d'etre
When the screen is switched on, anyone standing in front of it sees only the picture. With the television switched off, the surface behaves like an ordinary mirror.
What about annoying background light reflecting off your screen while watching TV. Many enjoy watching TV in the dark because even the piece of glass on ordinary TVs is too reflective, and you can see a lightbulb on Darth Vader
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
Philips Introduces Mirror TV
Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:35PM
You watch the tv, look at all the hot chicks and muscle-guys, and you find a fat ugly guy lying on the couch, when you turn the tv off..
-------
FM Clan
i has been looking at the specs ... ... there is this USB webcam hidden, it is based on Slackware 9.1, uses xawtv ... mm ... they seem to stick with the old X version too ... :)
It has a PIV 512 mb DDR inside
WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
After years searching, the slashdotter brings their first girlfriend home only to have her look at the ceiling over the bed and scream, "I'm leaving you PERVERT!"
"But it's my TV, honest..."
www.dimplex.com
They claim to have a patent on the holographic fireplace. I don't see why something like this couldn't be made.
I also though of the recent "geek retro future" version of monster house where they made a a giant fireplace with stainless stell remote controlled opening doors and mounted a Plasma screen above it. Tres cool.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
most TV screens hold a decent amount of staic electricity (positive charge if I remeber right) and sicne you are grounded to the earth which holds a slight negitive charge the peice of paper also has this negitive charge. opposite charges attract, thus the paper sticks.
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
Is this done with a camera in the TV? I so seriously do NOT want a camera in anything I sit in front of all day long that can transmit.
to mirrors over your bed
He's just saving up for the big post of the night which will be when LOTR wins the Oscar for Best Picture ...
Thieves won't steal your "electronic mirror".
TV set which doubles up as a mirror
09:45 29 February 04
Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
A TV set that becomes a mirror at the flick of a switch will go on sale in the UK in March.
The 2500 MiraVision system from Philips of the Netherlands is made up of a 58-centimetre wide-screen LCD that is covered with a thin semi-reflective sheet, mounted in a picture frame.
When the screen is switched on, anyone standing in front of it sees only the picture. With the television switched off, the surface behaves like an ordinary mirror.
MiraVision can even be both things at once. Anyone wanting to watch TV while brushing their hair or fixing their make-up can switch to "picture in mirror" mode, which displays a small image in the corner of the frame.
The screen can also be wired to a PC and used as an outsize monitor. Philips hopes eventually to make a waterproof version for use in bathrooms.
~dank
I am? Since when?
I like this. Don't think of it as something to replace a mirror, but at something to replace the tv. During the vast majority of the time, when the tv is off, you have a (hopefully) shiny mirror instead of an ugly piece of electronics on the wall.
Jeff
I don't know if he is or not, but does it matter? The link he posted is genuine.
Philips just stole the very function of the sun to turn televisions into mirrors, and even when the TV is on. I wonder if she can bring a lawsuit against Philips if they have patented the invention. Though, how would the sun show prior art? Anyone have some documentation of the first time they saw themselves in the glare coming off the television?
JasonBlogs
... or a two-way mirror with a camera behind it, recording everything you do?
Nothing is so smiple that it can't be screwed up.
I guess your right. I'm not saying it's completely useless or anything, and I'm not saying that I don't think it's neat. I'm saying it probably wasn't worth the effort and resources to develop (and it certainly wouldn't be worth the price they'll ask for it...). But maybe I'm just close-minded (noo!).
Doesn't a regular TV do that if you wipe the dust off the screen regularly?
TVs/mirrors just like the ones in "The 6th Day"!
Anyone noticed how often people compare stuff to minority report?("jetpacks! like in minority report!","clear monitors:like in minority report!")
I'm surprised no-one thought of 6th Day when they read this..
"The most looniest, zaniest, spontaneous, sporadic Impulsive thinker, compulsive drinker, addict"
And if so, can I tune to the "mirror" channel so I can use the mirror and watch TV at the same time?
Now that would be cool...
Doesn't TV add ten pounds to your appearance?
I don't need an even stronger reason to never turn the TV off.
Romper Room had this in the 1960s!
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
Disheveled hair be gone! Green teeth be gone! Now introducing a new product: THE SINK TV(tm). Brush your teeth, comb your hair, and frag all at the same time! (idea is copyright 2004 JasonFncsu)
Jason Faulkner
Old Os Administrator
jason@oldos.org
oldos.
Slashdot posted news of this device last June. Philips said they were testing it in hotels and then wanted to get it into homes. Seems like we've got nothing but a press release echo story here.
Why not? I think this is a great idea . . . people are going want this because when you turn it off, it actually becomes a part of the room's decor. Instead of just taking up space on the wall, it looks good and enhances the room, such that you wouldn't even know a TV was there.
I'm sure it's not that important to an average Joe, but think about the people who can afford these screens. They're probably willing to spend some money on the appearance of their home. And when it does become affordable, I think people will like having a wall mirror more than they will a giant black rectangle. Personally, I'm kind of excited. It seems very sci-fi and futuristic: a giant mirror suddenly displays an image. Very cool.
Mod it up as funny if you like, but it sure is not informative. RTFA, mods...
Whoa, a TV an a mirror in one... that would really mess up your Feng Shui!
Dude, have you seen most TV's now? They definitely not ugly pieces of electronics. In fact they are some of the most beautiful things I have seen.
You have to wonder what effect all this TV watching has on the children's attention span.
...you were saying?
It's a sin to call a piece of electronics ugly on /.
You should know better then that.
Step one, get a normal TV. It is probably cheaper.
Step two, get a normal mirror.
Step three, put the mirror in the back of the room and the TV in the front of the room.
Or perhaps /.ers attempt to claim innovative future art patent.MiraVision can even be both things at once. Anyone wanting to watch TV while brushing their hair or fixing their make-up can switch to "picture in mirror" mode, which displays a small image in the corner of the frame.
>How is this any better for attention span than a TV?
Because you have to sit down and read for x amount of time to get any meaningful information. As opposed to watching a four minute block of video and sound that changes camera angles every 4-8 seconds then 5 minutes of commercials, etc.
When the internet becomes another television channel is when you can compare the two, but right now its still text-based and thus requires some patience and reading comprehension.
Arguably, the internet is shifting us back towards a literate society as compared to an "entertain me" visual society that television tends to produce. Its hard to see the forest for the trees, but considering this is my third-year as a Tivo owner and fourth year broadband subscriber its easy to see how nasty TV is and how much of a saving grace the internet can be.
Neil Postman wrote a great book on the downsides of television-based politics called Amusing Ourselves to Death. Its worth checking out for those interested in media criticism.
That's actually very odd. LCDs are used in many fields (namely medical and surveying) because they do not glare as much as CRT screens do. This seems kind of counter-intuitive. Hopefully there is a secondary off mode of some kind.
So if you mount it above your bed you and your life partner could either watch a porno, or be the porno.
I suppose that depends on who's looking at it... Litterally! :-D
any unforeseen affects on the eyes, I already burn them to death at my computer...
Are you secure enough in your masculinity to run 'man touch'?
They don't let you out of the ward much do they?
Seems like an idea that, like and internet refrigerator before it, exists purely because it can. Which is why this is pretty cool.
Here it is from the philips site - with a massive jpg too.
It used to be said that a broken mirror would take 7 years to replace due to cost. Looks like the good old days are back :)
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.
hahahahahah, slashdot you kill me ..
Anyone else is going to mod my post?
I have recevied: Offtopic, Funny, Informative, and now, Overrated!!!!!!
Ok, anyone willing to give me an Insightfull?
WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
Sorting by score first put your post at the top, and I was just starting to appreciate your cutting expression of the extent to which even the worst of today's television programming is a reflection of the sort of industry which creates it and the sort of society which demands it...
And then I realized you just meant the screen would have a lot of glare. Man, that's disappointing.
PC with a webcam (aka 'geek mirror')
There was a userfriendly cartoon on this but I can't find it
If an experiment works, something has gone wrong.
well I don't suppose anyone would use it like that, rather using the mirror likeness to add to the feeling of space in the room it's in.
in small hotel rooms & etc it might make all the difference..
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
YHBT.
Star Wars...girlfriend? what?
If you're going to make subscribers pay their hard-earned money for ad-ridden web pages, the LEAST you could do is not post every article twice.
M - O - R - O - N.
Moron...
- The Secret Society of Anonymous Cowards -
You, also are a girl.
Because it will enhance the decor of the room when off. Also, mirrors tend to make a room look bigger and brighter.
-CowboyNick
Catches the action on the couch....
My luck I would be enjoying a porno, then turn off the tv. And in the reflection see my girlfriend standing behind me.
Josh
Ah hah! The cable companies (and maybe some of the TV channels- I never did trust FOX...) must have sponsored Philips to develop this- think about it:
What are most couch potatoes? OBESE
What do people find disgusting? Fatness
What will the couch potato see when they turn off the TV? THEMSELVES! (they will see fatness)
Ergo, I have concluded that it's a scam so people can NEVER turn off the TV. It's a pretty good idea, actually...
You're clearly motivated to type a bullshit meaningless opinion
:)
I see a hypocrite in action
Dude! Have you seen my room? With a shiny mirror, my room will look twice as messy.
and jerking it at the same time, it would be gross to see yourself after if faded to another scene-if you haven't finished of course... all based on theory right? Uh... how about those Cubs?
....unless it runs Windows
Actually, when you read the article it sounds like a better idea than you make it out to be... People can watch TV in the morning while brushing their teeth or shaving! What a great idea! Now I can watch the news and slice half my face of at the same time! Just imagine how much longer it's going to take your SO to finish up in the bathroom now!
"Are you almost done dear?"
"Shh. It's Oprah. I never floss during Oprah!"
Joking aside, I can see these being heartily adopted by the hotel industry. Now they can offer you PPV pornos while you're on the toilet! Just imagine the potential for comdom adds in public washrooms...
If black is truly black and distinct from reflective that would be very cool. Not sure how they'd do it though - I suspect black would be reflective making Film Noir almost impossible to view on sunny days!
One of these days I'm moving to Theory - everything works there
How about a tilt and swivel mounting on the wall? Horizontal for TV, Vertical for mirror mode
'nuf said.
The only show on is about this fat bald guy who stares at the camera. All he does all day is masturbate and eat corn chips. Really weird show.
...a pocket mirror that's also a TV.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
This came out a year ago...and a two years before that I found my Palm could do the same thing.... You people are so behind the curve :)
Didn't stop you from posting, did it?
OTOH a mirror that doubles as TV, THAT would be something.
"I think this line is mostly filler"
why? because current TVs dont act very well as mirrors. They're reflective when they are off, especially the shiny ones. But when you want a mirror, and you're in a pinch for money, go for a large window at night, or a shiny metal pot or pan, those are far better than a tube TV thats turned off.
http://github.com/gbook/nidb
From previous story
Don't worry, USA has that feature too.
Please help publicise swpat.org - the software patents wiki
The movie felt so real it was like I was watching myself.
Just plug any TV into a camera placed directly above the screen, then flop the image left to right.
Instant mirror. No reflections.
Plus, you can switch it off when you're feeling extra ugly.
Now I don't even need to turn on the TV to watch the world's most boring reality series...
I'm holding out for the combo television/garbage-disposal, at which point I expect to come home and find the entire unit gone.
With an LCD or a flat screen and a piece of mylar. Shiny side out, voila! Might have to turn the brightness up a bit, but the effect is the same.
Really gives new meaning to the phrase "idiot box"...
" you have a (hopefully) shiny mirror instead of an ugly piece of electronics on the wall."
Replaced with an ugly geek. Brilliant. Damn I need to shave.
"Derp de derp."
To some of us, ALL TVs produce this. It's known as "CRT whine".
:) When TV shopping I've actually gone to the trouble to ask if I can check out a TV in a manager's office (or some other quiet room), because it's simply too loud for me to hear if a particular set is going to bug me or not.
:)
I've always been especially sensitive to it; it was always fun in elementary school when the teacher would spend 15 minutes trying to get the TV/VCR to work, everything seemed fine, yet no picture on the TV. I'd eventually pipe up "the TV isn't plugged in." Worked for TVs without power-on lights the best, of course, because other than the picture they have no indication of whether or not the TV is actually powered up. The teachers eventually learned to trust me on this one. I can hear CRT whine in other rooms, down the hall, you name it. I can tell blindfolded, and yes, friends and I have tested this, whether or not a TV or monitor is turned on. It freaks some people out, but a surprising number of people can hear it if it's pointed out to them.
And yes, I'm one of those people who uses LCD monitors exclusively, unless I have no choice. It's simply too irritating otherwise. Cube farms are a real treat - eventually you learn to tune it out, but it's always there in the background.
When a TV/monitor is on its last legs, it gets REALLY bad, although at that point everyone can hear it. It's fun to tell my friends when their monitor is on the fritz, I can usually pick it up months before the tube dies. I've also noticed, as have you, that newer tubes are even noisier. I notice this particularly on some models; RCA proscans are some of the worst. No idea why, other than to say welcome to my own personal hell
Oh, and walking past the wall-o-televisions at Best Buy is about as close to torture as I've experienced.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
That is almost as much of a breakthrough for the advancement of humanity as a sedgeway scooter.
Steve
mirrorS arE morE fuN thaN televisioN
We're one step closer now.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Why not go all the (geek) way and mount a webcam above the TV, flip the video with your PC and pipe it to the screen? They you can have a nice bright mirror. If you have one of those new TVs with tons of inputs (my new Toshiba has eight input sources), you should have one to spare.
At 2500 pounds, can you see these things spreading into every room in the house? If anyone could afford half a dozen of these things, I would think their kids are pretty much set up for life, no matter what their attention span
I am Monkey, the Great Sage, equal of heaven!
Another thing I can mount on the bedroom ceiling!
Helllllllooooo?!? You put it above your *bed*.
No SIG for you!
IngSoc's attempt at home decoration.. a telescreen that's a fully functional mirror.. one way to make smaller living areas for the party members.
Is it really a good idea to put a screen above a fireplace? Surely the heat rising would distort the image?
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
or photo.
/. of course.
Does anyone else find they don't bother reading an article if there's no picture / diagram / photo?
With the exception of
A blog I run for the wealth
Unclench your pasty, bony fist, put down your chai drink, and take a walk. Stretch a little, maybe say hi to someone. The slashbots here are already too uptight and humorless, we don't need any more of it.
Take care.
... will it tell me who's the fairest in the land?
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
Hehhehehe. I have never seen the device in question and was merely making the (somewhat obvious) metaphorical connection to Television's being a "reflection" of the society. I'm not sure what that other poster meant with the "metaphor" definition link, but if the discussion is about literal reflections and I'm talking about figurative reflections, that's a metaphor.
My later comment about annoying refections was my (probably weak) effort to continue the joke by saying that when we see our society reflected back at us via TV, it is not always pretty or complimentary. Note that I had posted that before the confusion arose.
In fact, it is amusing to note that I had posted my clarification only one minute before the guy above decided I was a shallow nitwit, so while he may have misjudged my meaning, he hadn't ignored my post.
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
Our kitten has a habit of attacking that stranger of a cat that lurkes behind mirros and reciprocates his display of aggressive intent... I have no need for that swanky screen...
There are very few pieces of electronics I find ugly.
In Soviet Russia, television watches you watching television watching you watching television watching you watching television watching...
Is John Kerry's TV good or is it whack?
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of John Kerrys on TV
1. John Kerry installs a TV
2. ???
3. Profit!!!
In Soviet Russia, the TV displays YOU!
John Kerry is dying!!!
ALL YOUR JOHN KERRYS ARE BELONG TO US!
There is enough crap on television these days , without having to look at myself!
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp