My friend who’s in graduate school in England was terribly bored. All she had to entertain herself was her American laptop, which can’t evem play the local (Region 2) DVDs. I send her as many DVDs as I can, but it wasn’t enough.
Then she bought an amazing device that ended her sorrow. One end plugs into a port in the back of her laptop; another end plugs into the coaxial cable outlet in the wall of her dorm room. In between is a box about the size of an AC adapter like the ones used with many electronic devices.
And now, thanks to this device, she can watch television on her laptop! She claims it works with any computer and that it would work in any country in the world.
Now, in the United Kingdom they use the PAL standard for television broadcasts. Here in the States we use NTSC. Computer monitors have a scan-line depth different from either. So…
What is this device called, and how is it that it works all over the world? And how much does it cost? Can it be used for screen captures & such?
Ones for UK computers are around £50-80 depending what you want them to do (i.e. sound quality and teletext). I’d guess that this little box is an external one for laptops.
I think they work with US cable as they have that option in the tuning software (I have a Haupage [spelling?] one)
Did your friend say if the coaxial was attached to an aerial or to a decoder box (although I think this shouldn’t make any difference)
I know you can pick them up here in the US (cost about a hundred bucks I think), and since computers which project out to TVs can choose pal or ntsc, I assume that any TV-IN adapters would have that same functionality built in. And if your friend looks in the right place there are ways to get around the region restriction. note to mods: I am sorry if the final part is viewed as questionable, please delete if you don’t like it. I realize it is not the best way to do things, but may be viewed as acceptable and is only used to help the friend overseas.
Neither, I don’t think. She only gets the basic five channels (BBC, Channel 4, ITV etc.) so I assume her University just as a net of coax gathered together to one big honkin’ aerial.
Aerial-to-coaxial cable adapters are nothing new, so I assume if one connected this device to an aerial one could receive TV signals over the air.
So, “TV card” is what I need to search for? My friend’s taken care of; I want one of these dealies for myself.
Yes, here in the UK we still have the TV licence. In theory, this was introduced in the 1930s as a way of funding the BBC. Now it’s just another tax. If you own a TV or a video or a TV card for your PC, anything capable of tuning into a TV signal, you have to buy the licence (even if you hate all the BBCs crappy output and never want any of it). The licence is £109 (approx $150) per year. This is compulsory by law, and failure to comply carries a fine of up to £1000 ($1400) or a short prison sentence. If all this strikes you as absurd and unfair, then you are right. A lot of us feel the same way, but there’s nothing we can do about it.
The Detector Vans… ho hum… a much discussed point surrounded by the confetti of many urban myths. In theory, the Home Office have these vans full of sophisticated electronics which can trundle round near your house, prove that your household is receiving TV transmissions, and then bust you if you haven’t got a licence. It seems that such vans did once actually exist, but I seriously doubt they still do, or that they were ever seriously used as anything other than visible deterrents and PR for the licencing authorities.
The actual system of enforcement is far simpler. Every time you buy a TV, the vendor is required by law to submit your name and address to the licensing authorities. Also, the licensing people assume you have a TV (or something requiring a telly licence) unless they have your statement to the contrary. So essentially they simply look for any household address for which they have no record of a licence having being bought, and assume someone is cheating.
If you don’t have a TV (or anything else needing the licence) you can say so on a special form and submit that, and in theory they should leave you alone. However, there are stories of innocent non-TV-owning people being pestered relentlessly by the authorities.
The BBC justifies the licence fee by saying it doesn’t carry advertisements or commercials, and therefore needs alternative funding. This is rubbish. It certainly DOES carry adverts - masses of them. ALL for the BBC and its output.
This brings more clarification to the “Cat Detector Van” in the Fish license skit of Monty Python. I always wondered why I didn’t find that part very funny… but now:
I have one of these devices. It cost $85. It plugs into my USB ports. This is a very good invention. Since I do not have much space in my dorm room. Now my comp is a radio, TV, DVD, and Internet appliance. Get any better?