science

TV-B-Gone

TV-B-Gone is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand TV-B-Gone rather than just read about it. In short: TV-B-Gone is a universal remote control device for turning off various brands of television sets. Released in 2004, its inventor referred to it as "an environmental management device".

Key takeaways

TV-B-Gone belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect TV-B-Gone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of TV-B-Gone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

TV-B-Gone is a universal remote control device for turning off various brands of television sets. Released in 2004, its inventor referred to it as "an environmental management device". Although it can require up to 69 seconds for the device to find the proper code for a particular television receiver, the most popular televisions turn off in the first few seconds.

History TV-B-Gone was invented by Mitch Altman and is sold by his company Cornfield Electronics. The standard model TV-B-Gone consists of an infra-red LED, two CR2032 cells and an Integrated circuit containing the television power code database, all in a plastic case. The original case aesthetics and design were created by Robert Ellis.

Models

TV-B-Gone Pro SHP The TV-B-Gone Pro SHP (Super High Power) is the latest TV-B-Gone to be announced. It is considerably more powerful than the standard model, using eight infra-red LEDs to allow TVs to be turned off from distances of up to 100 meters (300 feet). TV-B-Gone Pro SHP is switchable between its North American and European databases of POWER codes. Later, in 2009, Mitch Altman made a new kind of TV-B-Gone Pro SHP. Instead of disguising it as an iPhone, Mitch Altman has made the new and improved TV-B-Gone look like an iPod Nano and go ten more yards than the old one. The recent invention of >1W 850 and 970 nm IREDs makes a miniature long range version of the TV-B-Gone feasible.

TV-B-Gone Kit At several hacker conventions Mitch Altman has run workshops that allow participants to build their own TV-B-Gones using Adafruit Industries' micro controller–based mini-POV kit. Around January 2008, Adafruit Industries released a kit to build an open source TV-B-Gone.

Consumer Electronics Show controversy During the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, Richard Blakeley—associated with Gizmodo—brought a TV-B-Gone remote control and shut off many display monitors at booths and during demos affecting several companies. These actions caused the individual to be banned for life from future CES events.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with TV-B-Gone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what TV-B-Gone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to TV-B-Gone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about TV-B-Gone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of TV-B-Gone

In research: TV-B-Gone appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses TV-B-Gone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: TV-B-Gone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Consumer electronics, Open hardware electronic devices, Television criticism, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for TV-B-Gone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study TV-B-Gone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what TV-B-Gone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain TV-B-Gone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is TV-B-Gone in simple terms?

TV-B-Gone is a universal remote control device for turning off various brands of television sets. Released in 2004, its inventor referred to it as "an environmental management device".

Why does TV-B-Gone matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study TV-B-Gone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on TV-B-Gone.