So, if you are security conscious and want to give thieves the impression that your residence is not uninhabited at the moment, then FakeTV is the perfect device to use. In conjunction with a home security system and lights on timers you can have some additional peace of mind that your home is somewhat safe.
Tomas Ratas - Test Freaks Blog - 9/1/09
You guys have a winner. It works GREAT!
Al - Plantation, FL
How FakeTV WorksThis page is for the very curious and the true techies. You do not need know how FakeTV works, just that it works really well. |
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When you look at a real TV, you see images on the screen. But, when you look at the light it casts in a room, the light melds to a uniform glow that changes with the changing images on the television. Some of that light makes it through the window coverings. When people see that light, they generally assume it must mean someone must be watching television, because someone usually is. |
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FakeTV uses a built-in computer to control super-bright LEDs to produce light of varying intensity and color that light up a room just like a real television does. The light effects of real television programming --scene changes, camera pans, fades, flicks, swells, on-screen motion, and more, are all faithfully simulated by FakeTV. Just like a real TV, FakeTV fills a room with color changes, both subtle and dramatic, in thousands of possible shades. Like real television programming, FakeTV is constantly shifting among more and less dynamic periods, more vivid and more monochromatic, and brighter and darker scenes. FakeTV is completely unpredictable, and it never repeats. The effect is uncanny. From outside the home, FakeTV is essentially indistinguishable from a real television. Test subjects were not able to tell if it was FakeTV or the real thing, even when they knew it had to be one or the other. "I think that was a news program, but now a bunch of commercials just came on. It must be the real TV" No, that was FakeTV, the whole time! |
 The light from the FakeTV looks just like a real TV when viewed from outside the room |
 Burglars love houses that look unoccupied. A lamp on a timer helps, but burglars are on to this trick. |
The Psychology behind FakeTV
The real trick of FakeTV is psychology, not technology.
When you see the flickering glow from a television through
the neighbor's windows, you just assume somebody must be
watching it. When you see the light from a neighbor's
television, does it even occur to you that someone might
not be home?
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Partly about Light...How does something the size of a coffee cup produce as much light as a television set many times its size? Recent advancements in LED technology have brought about "Super Bright LED's", many that are more than ten times as bright as the "plain old LED's" we are all familiar with. FakeTV packs a dozen of these technological marvels into a package that includes the computer and some well-designed optics. The FakeTV diffuser lens is a bit of science (optics is what we do here!) that borders on art. Forgive our boasting, but the FakeTV unit is very pleasing to the eye. |
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 Gathering television light output data from dozens of different program sources and televisions was not just an excuse for engineers to watch TV during the day. Okay, maybe a little. |
Partly About RandomFakeTV is not just a flickering light or flasher! And neither is it just a "random light source." We get kind of annoyed when people call it that. Yes, there are random number generators in the computer in FakeTV, and FakeTV never, ever, repeats. Real TV is not random- any more than music is random sounds. The light from TV is highly characteristic. Discovering what makes the light from a TV look like, well, the light from a TV, was the key to making FakeTV so realistic. |
Play "Spot the Fake"One of these graphs shows the measured light output of a real LCD television, and the other shows the measured light output of a FakeTV. Which one is the real TV and which is the impostor? We are not saying*! There is no way to tell from these graphs, and that's the point. |
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But mostly about a really good counterfeit!To develop FakeTV, we took data using real televisions of different types and makes. We characterized TV programs, analyzing the light output for intensity and color variation. We generated a lot of computer files of television data. Then, we came up with mathematical formulas that behaved just the same way. We programmed these into FakeTV's computer, and ran the same tests. We tested these in the field, as well. We verified that our test subjects simply could not tell the difference between FakeTV and the real thing. We were the first to do such analysis, and our invention has yielded several US and international issued and pending patents. |
Okay, we got a bit compulsive with this. Surely, no burglar has ever studied the light intensity output of a television, or measured the degree of color variation! But we human beings are remarkably good at discerning patterns and even subtle differences. We did not want to take the chance that a prowler might see the light from our television simulator and think "something is not right, there", even if he could not identify it. We kept at it until we could see, and measure, no differences. This is because an obvious simulation runs the risk of announcing the prowlers that the home is, in fact, unoccupied. We did not want to take that chance.
We didn't stop with just a great imitation
of TV light, either. The FakeTV unit is extremely usable.
The light sensor works very well, so in most applications all you need
to do is plug it in, set the timer switch appropriately, and let it
mislead burglars for you.
* Okay, you dragged it out of us. The bottom graph is data we gathered from the Disney movie "The Incredibles", and the top from FakeTV. We wanted FakeTV to be on the bright, colorful, and dynamic side of what is realistic, but not more dynamic or colorful than real television programming. For these graphs we picked a couple periods where the light was very dynamic. Other times are relatively static, both for "The Incredible's" and for FakeTV. Overall, the program whose light output most closely resembles that of FakeTV is "The Incredibles."
Make Your Home Less Likely to be Broken Into
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FTV-10 FakeTV US / Color: Charcoal
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Charcoal color gives FakeTV a high-tech feel. Built-in light sensor and timer. Direct burglars elsewhere with FakeTV. 120VAC adapter for the U.S. Buy one FakeTV at $34.95 and get $5 off each additional FakeTV! |
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List Price:
$49.99
Price:
Shipping and handling for one FakeTV is $4.95 by USPS First Class Mail to US customers. |
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Neighborhood Watch Pack
Get Ten FakeTVs for one Great Price |
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Our customers suggested this one: buy ten FakeTV's at a great price, and save money on shipping, too. Perfect for neighborhood watch programs, or other groups of security minded individuals. This deal is available to anyone-- maybe you just have ten people in your life who might benefit from a a useful security device. 10 FakeTV's for $299.50, that's just $29.95 each! |
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Price if
purchased separately:
$349.50 |
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Price:
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*Shipping and handling for one FakeTV is $4.95 by USPS First Class Mail to US customers. Other shipping options are available and will be shown at checkout. Shipping on subsequent FakeTV's is calculated based on weight, destination, and delivery preference.