TV tomfoolery part 3 - real screensavers

In Part 1 I mentioned the damage caused to one of our TVs. The screen was cracked. With our new TVs on order, I have to ensure that such damage can't happen a second time.

Since screen protectors are fairly expensive, at least $160 each, and I can't any supplier in my country, I figured its probably easier to build one. Using the basic idea from another school's self built screen protectors, here's my sketch plan:

TV tomfoolery part2 - where's the remote?

We've all experienced the lost remote scenario. But what about the scenario when you have the remote, but you find the TV's channel or input source has changed, or the TV is turned on, but you didn't do it. Sounds a bit spooky right.

Well in a school, kids are resourceful, and seem to enjoy rising to the challenges placed before them.

On several occasions we found the students watching snow on the TV, or found our TV's menu language changed to Spanish, all of this without using the TV's remote.

Finally one day we caught a student red-handed, using his mobile phone to control the TV.  Many smartphones released in 2013 now include an IR Blaster, giving the phone the capability to be used as a universal remote. TVs unfortunately have no defense against this, much to my frustration.

But help is on the way. My next project will be an IR jammer.
You can buy a kit here http://alan-parekh.com/projects/ir-jammer-infrared-remote-control-jammer/ but I'm still looking for a European supplier.

I'll also want to make some modifications to the design as mine would be for a permanent installation. Therefore it could have a 9v mains adapter rather than a 9v battery. It should also be possible to install an IR receiver to act as a switch, so that the jammer would only be activated when someone tries to operate a remote in its vicinity.

I'll need some help with that as my electronics understanding is lacking. I can solder well though thanks to my brother's teaching.

TV tomfoolery part 1 - cracked LCD TV screen

At the school where I work, we have two 42" LG 42LC51 LCD TV's in the atrium area. One TV has an Asus Eeebox hooked up to it, and a USB mouse so the students can navigate the school timetable (and therefore have no excuse for not being in class).  The other TV also has an Asus Eeebox hooked up to it, which from time to time shows videos for various school events, or slideshows of students' artwork etc.

One day back in November we turned on the second TV and discovered it had a cracked screen, rendering the TV basically useless. We have security cameras, but their placement is so far from the TV as to also be of little help in finding the culprit. That and the fact that the TV hadn't been used at that point for 2 weeks meant that reviewing the recordings from the security cameras has not a task that anyone has really wanted to undertake wholeheartedly, and the culprit remains at large. We suspect that some over-enthusiastic football playing with a plastic bottle is the likely cause of damage, and bearing in mind our security camera's very low frame rate, you can barely see a fast moving object at all.

The TV itself is at least 5 years old, and replacing the screen was looking like it would be as expensive as buying a new TV.  So it was time to seek out a new TV.

Requirements:

1. Full HD
2. At least 2 HDMI
3. USB
4. Not SMART TV - read my other blog post
5. Must be possible to disable the buttons on the TV
6. Known brand
7. Good price

Since not many manufacturers have any feature for locking the TV's buttons, I finally opted for another pair of LG TVs, this time 42LN5400 with a price tag under 400eur.

Smart TVs not suitable for schools

Smart TVs are great right? You'd think they'd be a great thing for a school right? teaching materials all stored on the network, streamed to the TV etc.

Well, kinda they are great, except for one very small but significant oversight by the TV manufacturers.

In our desire for comfort, mobile phone manufactures have started fitting IR Blasters to mobile phones. This means that there are mobile apps which turn the phone into an universal remote. At home this can be very convenient, but at school that now means that students are able to take control of the school TVs with very little effort.

Installing a Smart TV without any reasonable method of locking down the remote control is just asking for trouble. 

So far I haven't found a TV with any kind of security feature to address this unauthorised IR usage problem.

Philips make some TVs which use bluetooth rather than infrared for remote control, but the price tag is not very "school friendly".

Dossier of failures

I figured its about time for me to give something to the community regarding my tech experiences and failures. Maybe it helps someone - who knows?  Hopefully it will be an enjoyable read at least, and its a place for me to air my frustrations. My motto for the IT world "Nothing is ever easy" is the foundation of this blog.

Enjoy.