FakeTV

 “We have had a lot of break-ins in the neighborhood, but not our house.”

FakeTV is an effective burglar deterrent because it simulates the light output of an operating television. Viewed from outside after dusk, FakeTV makes it look like you are enjoying your favorite programs, rather than out for the evening. Most burglars would rather not break into a house they think is occupied. FakeTV uses 12 super-bright, computer-controlled LEDs to make constantly changing light effects, such as scene changes, motion, fades, color-shifts, and swells. Recommended by numerous police departments and neighborhood watch groups. A built-in light sensor turns the unit on at dusk, and it can be set for 4 hour, 7 hour, or constant on operation. Includes AC adapter.

FakeTV was conceived by author and inventor Blaine Readler. “My wife and I were going out for the evening, and I decided to leave the TV on so that it looked like somebody was still at home. I commented that it was a shame to waste all that electricity, when the burglars couldn’t even see the picture itself, just the reflection off the wall. That evening, my mind kept coming back to this. There had to be a cheap way to simulate a television as seen from outside.”  Mr. Readler got in touch with Hydreon Corporation, experts in optics and in high-volume manufacturing.

They studied that flickering glow in detail, gathering much data with sophisticated instruments about the exact nature of the intensity and color variations emanating from a real television. News programs, for example, are far more static than dramas, and commercials more dynamic. A sequence of outdoor water scenes may have a bluish cast, a game show set might be reddish, while an animated sequence might explode with color. Engineers wrote computer programs to simulate all of these effects. Test subjects were unable to tell the difference between the prototype television simulator and the real thing.

The effect of the resulting FakeTV product is uncanny. The gentle pulse, dance, and subtle chameleon-changing colors are uniquely identifiable as coming from a television, even though they are not. The modulated radiance announces “People home!” This makes FakeTV a remarkably effective burglar deterrent because, unlike a static light on a timer, it looks “alive.” Modern televisions turn on with buttons, so it is not possible to put most on a timer. The bad guys generally know this, and for thieves the light from an operating television is an unwelcome sight.

 

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