Mind Controlled TV

April 11, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 31 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mVxY2IJXBg]

Finally, a good use for those EEG headsets. [Andrew] has set up a system that will turn his TV on and off if he focuses hard enough. He’s got the software set to trigger an IR LED when the “strength” gets high enough. When the action starts, around 4:30 in the video, you can see that when he raises his arm the meter on the screen begins to raise and the TV turns on. Though not immediately useful, we can’t help but get a little excited seeing him literally turn his TV on with a thought.

Update: Samsung TV Firmware Hacking

March 24, 2010 by Mike Szczys 31 Comments

[Erdem] sent us an update on his work with the SamyGO project. You may remember this Samsung TV firmware hacking initiative from our post back in October. Since then many more TV models have been added to the compatible list. They have also worked out a way to defeat the AES encryption and RSA signature checking on the CI+ devices. Want to lend a hand? Take a look at the compatibility table on the main page and see if you have one of the TV models they need testers for. Otherwise, read the wiki, hit the downloads page, and unlock the hidden abilities of your boob tube.

Repairing Your TV EDID

February 17, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 31 Comments

[Andreas] found that his home theater PC would not boot one day. Oddly, if he disconnected his HDMI cable from his TV, it would boot fine. While most of us would have dug into the PC, he realized that it was a signal from the TV that was incorrect. Luckily, LG had included a full schematic with the TV. What he was able to figure out, using a home made snooper was that the EDID eeproms had somehow become corrupted. Not to worry, [Andreas] slapped together a full blown I2C interface and prepared to reprogram them with the correct data. He noticed, however, that the eeproms were write protected. On a whim, he decided to write to them any way and found that it was successful. He has some theories as to why they were writable, but says that he doesn’t want to pull the TV back apart to confirm.

[thanks evlapix]

LCD Backlight Repair

January 22, 2010 by Mike Szczys 13 Comments

Another broken LCD TV came [Steve DiRaddo’s] way. This one had a broken backlight that he wanted to fix. He scrapped his LCD light table in order use the inverter. The two televisions were not the same size, nor made by the main manufacturer, but backlights all operate under the same principles. Using an inverter from a bit larger model meant it would have enough power to illuminate the lamps but he knew there’d be a problem with connectors and pinouts. After a bit of testing and creative wiring he got the system back up and running.

He’s got some extra parts left over from each TV including a bunch of CCFL lamps. Sound like it’s time to add some ground effects to his bike.

CES: Haier Wireless TV

January 9, 2010 by James Munns 12 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qijuE7r2CBk]

We received a couple requests via email to get a look at Haier’s wireless TV. They used both wireless power and WHDI to show off a zero wire concept. Sure, the giant 2001: A Space Odyssey looking monolith behind it is a bit imposing, but for something that could be embedded into a wall, we’re pretty impressed. Wireless power is a big thing here, and we cant wait for hackers to take up the reins and integrate this into some consumer products.

[Nick]- There are a few companies here that are pushing wireless power products, but this definitely one of the cooler implementations that we’ve seen.

CES: 3d Tv, Without Glasses

January 9, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 22 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7eNMCPJe_Q]

We were hoping to get to test drive some of the 3d televisions that don’t need glasses. We had speculated about how they worked, and we were mostly right. It appears to be some type of lens that works similar to those little printed holograms. The strange thing is that we haven’t seen any of these TVs in the big name booths. The few that we have seen are in little booths at the edges. The big names are usually doing the polarized glasses or shutter glasses.

“it was nice not wearing glasses”… yeah, I know, I’m wearing glasses.

Broken TV Brought To Life In LEGO Body

October 31, 2009 by Mike Szczys 21 Comments

LEGO-monitor-frontbanner

After letting it sit around for about 3 years, [Blake] decided it was time to fix his broken 15″ television. A little trouble shooting showed the problem was with the inverter. The backlight would come on for a few seconds, off for a few seconds, then repeat. By freeing the Magnavox 15MF400T from its metal case he got it working again, but couldn’t find the source of the short. His solution: build a new case out of non-conductive material. Voilà! We have the 15″ LEGO monitor.

It’s not a very complicated LEGO build, but it’s the first case mod we’ve seen in a long time that isn’t strictly gratuitous. Join us after the break for more pictures. Continue reading “Broken TV Brought To Life In LEGO Body” →