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The Universal Off Button

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the does-not-work-on-people dept.

jcr13 writes "Wired news is running a story about TV-B-Gone, a new weapon in the fight against the pervasiveness of television in our society. With this device, which takes the form of a keychain fob with a single button, you can turn off virtually any TV set. How does it work? By rolling through all known IR power-off codes, one by one, trying codes from the most popular brands first. Personally, I am terribly annoyed by TVs in restaurants and airports: they grab my attention over and over, no matter how hard I try to ignore them, and they distract me from the conversations that I should be having with my human companions. Unfortunately, the TV-B-Gone website seems to have already been swamped by the Wired coverage, so we cannot order these just yet. In the mean time, those of you with DIY proclivities may want to think about wiring one of these up yourself using a PIC chip or other micro-controller." An anonymous reader adds links to mentions at CNET, TV station KESQ and Ananova.

7 of 1,169 comments (clear)

  1. toggle? by kyoorius · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wouldn't the remote also turn on all the televisions which were originally off?

    1. Re:toggle? by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Many devices have a toggle IR code that will do as you say. However, most also include descrete codes that will always turn the device off, or leave it off if it already is off. Home theater buffs who purchase advanced remote controls that have macro capabilities use the descrete codes to program an "All Off" button for instance.

  2. Re:Now by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I used to have one of those digital watches, that had a remote control built in that would control on/off/channel changing on tvs and functions on VCR's. You'd just point the watch at the unit..and cycle through the different codes manually. Once you locked on..the fun began.

    We had more fun one time in a bar...a bunch of us were in there drinking..barmaid came out and we asked that the channel on the main tv be turned to a game. She'd flip the remote...I'd flip the channel back with my watch...she go, I'd go...we'd go through this periodically...she couldn't figure out why the tv was acting so weird. At one point, we had her so confused, we actually got her to take the batteries out of the remote...and try it that way. "Magically" it worked properly..when she'd click a button, I'd do it from my watch.

    I don't think we'd all ever laughed so hard. In the end we tipped the poor girl so much money to make up for it...but, man, that was fun. I think we tipped her near $200 or so...it was worth it.

    But, always was useful...go into a bar...turn the volume how you like it...change the channel to what you want to watch. I need to find that damned thing, get some new batteries and see if it still works.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  3. Re:Now by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Hey, just simple clean fun in a bar. I forgot to mention at the time most all of us we either servers or bartenders ourselves. Whe showed her what we were doing at the end...and she got a good laugh out of it too.

    Sometimes simple fun is the best...lighten up and bit and let your sense of humor loose...

    :-)

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  4. Re:Now by The+Spoonman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've never seen anything with a button that turns a tv off but not on

    Most modern IR-controlled electronics have discrete On and Off signals, they're just generally not used. Some remotes, such as those from One-For-All support these discrete codes. They're very useful for setting up macros. For example, one of my macros is set to send "On to TV, Input 2 to TV, On to Amp, On to DVD" if I want to watch DVDs. If I used the generic "Power" button, I couldn't use this macro when I was already watching TV because it would turn off the TV and the amp, but turn on the DVD player. In a similar vein, I have a "System Off" macro that sends discrete off signals to every piece of equipment in my rack.

    --
    Which is more painful? Going to work or gouging your eye out with a spoon? Find out!
    http://www.workorspoon.com
  5. TV Remote Control Watch by santos_douglas · · Score: 3, Interesting
    This reminds me of a product I thought was cool in a geeky sort of way, a TV Remote Control Watch like this Quemex. It lets you control volume and channel. I don't know if it's as universal as the device listed in TFA, but someone could easily devise one. It's sold to the super lazy couch potato who's doens't even want to reach to the coffee table for the remote, but I always thought it would be pretty cool to have on those rare occassions when you're stuck in a waiting room or something with a TV stuck on QVC or something.

    I surprised at the posters getting all upset about this type of device. Yes it would be rude to mess with people in a crowded place like a bar or whatever if its obvious they're watching it. But how is an open IR receiver any different from say an open WAP? It's their fault if they didn't think about the possibility of someone using it in a way they didn't envision.

  6. Re:Now by menscher · · Score: 4, Interesting
    A real geek would have done it with an HP-48 calculator.

    Been there, done that. Was useful in the dorms at college. When my roommate was playing his radio too loud, I'd just work out a calculation on my HP-48. White walls reflect the IR signal well, so I didn't even have to turn around to lower his volume a bit.

    Oh, and it was also helpful for controlling the TV in the lobby. Especially when there was something better on a different channel.