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How TV-B-Gone Works

Universal remote control turns off any TV

By Gabriel Gache, Science News Editor

7th of April 2008, 10:32 GMT

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Image of a TV-B-Gone key-chain remote control

TV-B-Gone (television be gone) is a simple universal remote control that, as its name states, has the capability of turning off all types of televisions controlled through infrared remotes. The device was created by Mitch Altman and was presumably invented for turning off televisions located in public areas that distract people from common activities.

Although Altman sells his device through his company in the form of a key-chain, most electronics enthusiasts prefer to build it themselves at home with the help of programmable micro-controllers.

Basically, TV-B-Gone is much like a traditional infrared remote control, but it has a single purpose: to turn off any television set that is interfering in the activity of a person. Similarly to other remote control devices, TV-B-Gone is powered by batteries that provide electric current to the electronic circuits.

The original TV-B-Gone device, sold by Altman, consisted of two CR2032 battery cells, an integrated circuit containing the TV power code data base and one or more infrared low-power laser diodes. When operational, the TV-B-Gone universal remote control may require up to 69 seconds before a specific TV-set is powered off, because not all televisions have identical power off codes, thus the remote control needs to scan through its database before acting according to its task.

Image of a Super TV-B-Gone device based on the original model, built by an electronics enthusiast by adding extra infrared LEDs

Most of you probably do not know this: there are two distinct types of television-sets throughout the world, the North American and Asian model, or the NTSC, and the European model, PAL. Therefore, there are two types of TV-B-Gone remote controls. Once new types of TV models are produced, the TV-B-Gone database is updated accordingly to their specifications.

The kit for the TV-B-Gone remote has been made public since January 2008, thus anybody can build one at home, with a bit of knowledge of electronics of course! Some models, amongst which the TV-B-Gone Pro SHP, have the capability of switching between NTSC and PAL databases and may contain between 6 and 20 infrared LEDs, thus giving them the ability to turn off any television within the visual range on a radius of 100 meters or so.

TAGS:

television | remote control | infrared | LED | micro-controllers

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