What is missing..

Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen, right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!

It is possible for someone with poor vision to see people and objects on
screen and understand what is going on even if they cannot read onscreen
text. A TV show or film is mainly pictures and sound rather than text.
Often, even very low resolution pictures can be understood.

On Sun, 25 Sep 2016 09:48:21 +0100, "Brian Gaff"
wrote:

Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen, right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian


--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

I suspect the number of potential customers for such a box is too small
to make it economically viable. Bear in mind the proportion of
potential users who live with people who do want a screen.

What might make more sense is a RNIB sponsored re-use scheme. People
with a TV with a screen fault could offer it for re-use by those who
don't care so long as the rest works. RNIB could facilitate with a
website etc

You could also the RNIB to see if manufacturers with warranty returns of
such sets would make them available. But I suspect their lawyers might
well shake their heads and mutter health and safety; and their marketing
people scream brand image damage.


On 25/09/2016 09:48, Brian Gaff wrote:
Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen, right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On 25/09/16 16:22, Robin wrote:

I suspect the number of potential customers for such a box is too small
to make it economically viable. Bear in mind the proportion of
potential users who live with people who do want a screen.

What might make more sense is a RNIB sponsored re-use scheme. People
with a TV with a screen fault could offer it for re-use by those who
don't care so long as the rest works. RNIB could facilitate with a
website etc


Years upon years of school kids go to electronics and computing lessons,
and even first degree courses, and spend very little effort to choose
anything but 'yet another function generator[1]' as their course
assessment project.

Charities should actively engage with these kids and something
worthwhile should come out of it.

And while I'm at it...

How accessible are software development environments for the visually
impaired? Could an operating system be written for a computer that as
well as running say voice operation applications, can also be used to
create new applications?

Ok, some answers here,

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1...if-youre-blind

Brian is asking for a set-top box. Well, the hardware is easy - a DVB-T
USB stick and a raspberry-PI. It's only the software required, build it!

[1] Or something equally dumb

--
Adrian C

On 25/09/2016 09:48, Brian Gaff wrote:
Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen, right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian




well maybe you are.
you can have a television with a separate tuner box - such as a sky box
or a freesat pvr connected to an av amp or soundbar.
if that's not using separate components i don't know what is.

--
Gareth.
That fly.... Is your magic wand.

On 25/09/2016 22:13, the dog from that film you saw wrote:
On 25/09/2016 09:48, Brian Gaff wrote:
Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen, right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian




well maybe you are.
you can have a television with a separate tuner box - such as a sky box
or a freesat pvr connected to an av amp or soundbar.
if that's not using separate components i don't know what is.

Brian needs the menus and programme guide to be spoken rather than seen.
I don't thing the Sky box or PVR do that.

Jim

On 25/09/2016 22:13, the dog from that film you saw wrote:
On 25/09/2016 09:48, Brian Gaff wrote:
Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and
program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of
this in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen,
right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian




well maybe you are.
you can have a television with a separate tuner box - such as a sky box
or a freesat pvr connected to an av amp or soundbar.
if that's not using separate components i don't know what is.


Indeed. Not sure that they would have spoken menus or voice control, though.

i think it would be very difficult to control a PVR if it wasn't
connected to a screen to tell you what it's doing.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On Sun, 25 Sep 2016 22:47:05 +0100, Roger Mills
wrote:

Or am I missing something here....
Brian




well maybe you are.
you can have a television with a separate tuner box - such as a sky box
or a freesat pvr connected to an av amp or soundbar.
if that's not using separate components i don't know what is.


Indeed. Not sure that they would have spoken menus or voice control, though.

i think it would be very difficult to control a PVR if it wasn't
connected to a screen to tell you what it's doing.

You'd think it would be very difficult to control a computer running
Windows if you couldn't see what it was doing, yet somehow some people
manage to do this, so it ought to be possible with a PVR too. During
my stint on a tech support desk I'd occasionally get to speak to
someone who was clearly relying on something that appeared to be
reading out everything on the screen every time they performed any
operation. Presumably they were making a lot of use of the tab key and
listening till they heard that the focus had shifted to the button
they wanted. I could hear this software rabbiting away in the
background all the time, and I don't know how anyone could use it
without going mad, never mind use it at the same time as holding a
telephone conversation, but I guess if you really want to do something
you can find a way. Maybe the PVR manufacturers could be persuaded to
adopt the same attitude.

Rod.

Hmm, well in some eye conditions I suppose, but also this could be a new
market, you could have a screen on your wall and multiple receivers or
whatever feeding it as well.
OK I suppose this brings us to the realms of home cinema etc but still we
like this sort of thing too, and looking through av amps recently was sturck
by the fact that i could not use any of them as they rely on menus a lot.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Peter Duncanson" wrote in message
...
It is possible for someone with poor vision to see people and objects on
screen and understand what is going on even if they cannot read onscreen
text. A TV show or film is mainly pictures and sound rather than text.
Often, even very low resolution pictures can be understood.

On Sun, 25 Sep 2016 09:48:21 +0100, "Brian Gaff"
wrote:

Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and
program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this
in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen,
right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian


--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

You must be joking. Any faulty gear is deemed possibly dangerous if
uneconomic to repair and it would take up a lot of room. it has been
suggested to me that in fact the cost of most screens these days is minimal
in any case, so why bother.
This probably means that tvs have a high mark up value and hence profit.
What has happened to Panasonic, they used to build in voice as well, but
rumour has it they are mostly now buying in product and sticking Panasonic
on the front, which is disappointing if true.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Robin" wrote in message
...

I suspect the number of potential customers for such a box is too small to
make it economically viable. Bear in mind the proportion of potential
users who live with people who do want a screen.

What might make more sense is a RNIB sponsored re-use scheme. People with
a TV with a screen fault could offer it for re-use by those who don't care
so long as the rest works. RNIB could facilitate with a website etc

You could also the RNIB to see if manufacturers with warranty returns of
such sets would make them available. But I suspect their lawyers might
well shake their heads and mutter health and safety; and their marketing
people scream brand image damage.


On 25/09/2016 09:48, Brian Gaff wrote:
Is component tv/audio like we used to get for hi fi.
I was reminded of this when I heard an advert by Samsung for their new
range of TVs, all, apparently, having a nice voice on the menus and
program
guide to help the older person and those with poor sight use them. Ah the
old grey pound wheeze again you see.
I can only applauded them for it of course, but I got to thinking when I
poked about on line, would it not be nice to have a box with all of this
in,
like a set top box, and then you could save money by not having a visual
display at all. ideal for me of course, but it seems there is not such a
thing.
To me this defies logic, as if you follow this thread, the whole point of
having a voice assist is because its hard to read stuff on screen,
right?So
if you cannot see the screen properly, why have it at all?

Or am I missing something here....
Brian



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid