Author Topic: can I remove the tuner from a TV?  (Read 22140 times)

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Offline stj

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2017, 12:14:59 am »
it depends on the country.
in the u.k. it's about £150 a year i think and covers a property - regardless of how many devices you have.
they keep changing the law to keep up with technology btw.
it used to be that you could use a sat dish or remove the tuner from the tv & vcr.

if things get any worse, they will just tax people for having eyeballs - the blind will get a discount but still be accused of being able to hear the audio!!!
 

Offline grumpydoc

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2017, 07:10:24 am »
What if you don't pay the money and give your gov't a big "F you"?
If you buy a TV in the UK from one of the main online vendors or in a bricks and mortar store then they have to inform the licensing authority of your name & address. If they can't find a TV licence registered to you they will send you a nice little letter and if you ignore that send a couple of people round.

We used to get it a lot when the licence was in my other half's name but I paid for the new TVs (of which we got through one about every two years for a while in the 90's/early 2000's)

Even if you buy the TV in a way that flies under the radar then they will simply send households without a TV a letter and/or visit to check. Most people have licences so residential addresses without will tend to be pretty obvious.

Very soon you will have to have a BBC account to watch iPlayer - I suspect before too long simply ticking the box to say "I have a TV licence" will not be enough and the licence number will have to be entered.

Face it, we live in an Orwellian world whether you realise it or not.
 

Offline grumpydoc

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2017, 08:18:17 am »
If that's the case, why don't TV manufacturers just market their devices as HDMI large flat monitors, and offer only HDMI input?
Presumably because they perceive no demand for TVs which have no RF input, yet.

 

Offline RGB255_0_0

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2017, 08:27:27 am »
If that's the case, why don't TV manufacturers just market their devices as HDMI large flat monitors, and offer only HDMI input?
Presumably because they perceive no demand for TVs which have no RF input, yet.
It's called a monitor. Most even remove the speakers too!
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Offline grumpydoc

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2017, 08:48:11 am »
If that's the case, why don't TV manufacturers just market their devices as HDMI large flat monitors, and offer only HDMI input?
Presumably because they perceive no demand for TVs which have no RF input, yet.
It's called a monitor. Most even remove the speakers too!
Sure but there isn't that big a market in 40-50" 4k monitors - compared with similar spec TVs
 

Offline janoc

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #30 on: May 22, 2017, 08:52:41 am »
what is actually needed is a europe-wide lawsuit over being forced to fund a service you dont want or use.
let the state propaganda bullhorn's like RTE,BBC,TFx,ORF etc fund themselves through advertising.
the shakeup may actually make them broadcast some decent material!!  >:D


You are naive - then the funding will be changed to a generalized tax (as it is in many countries already). What did you gain? The role of someone like BBC is very different than a commercial (advertisement supported) TV, it includes serving the communities and needs that may not get served otherwise (because they are not commercially sustainable by themselves).

If by "decent material" you mean pandering to the lowest hanging (commercial) fruit by broadcasting the various talent shows, reality shows, tabloid-style news reporting and all movie re-runs that have all guaranteed viewership so that they can be interspersed with commercials every 10-15 minutes, yes, that would be the result.  In Slovakia where I am from it is exactly this - the commercial, ad-supported TVs are universally unwatchable crap thanks to this approach. I can literally feel my IQ decreasing whenever I go back home to visit my parents and have to deal with the local TV.

"the state propaganda bullhorn's" - lol, really, come to Slovakia. If you want a "state propaganda bullhorn", you the politician (or your business friends) buy a TV (or newspaper) and push your views like that. It is far easier than trying to pervert a statute protected medium with an obligation of neutrality. Not that that prevents the politicians from trying but it is not as easy as it used to be.

What would most give for the quality of  BBC or ORF back home ...
« Last Edit: May 22, 2017, 08:54:13 am by janoc »
 

Offline dadsarmy1

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2017, 06:10:32 pm »
Thanks for your interest.

Legally in this country if you untune a tv so no live or catchup broadcasts can be received one is reasonably safe from the possibility of a summons for no licence. We do not have to report it to anyone. We just stop paying the licence fee which we did some 14 years ago. I removed the tuners from two crt tv's on that occasion as an added precaution. Hoping to do the same with a modern led tv so we can update a bit with HDMI cables from a new dvd player.
 

Offline Kilrah

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2017, 08:27:46 pm »
What if you don't pay the money and give your gov't a big "F you"?
Then you get bill collectors sent at you, credit default etc as for any unpaid bill.

If that's the case, why don't TV manufacturers just market their devices as HDMI large flat monitors, and offer only HDMI input?
Because they'd only sell a handful to a couple of weird guys, most people actually DO want to receive TV and are OK to pay for it.

 

Offline free_electron

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2017, 08:45:13 pm »
so anyone with a metal coathanger has to pay 25 $ ? ( coathangers can receive tv signals ... )
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Offline james_s

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #34 on: May 22, 2017, 09:56:06 pm »
The whole concept of needing a license to own a TV receiver is totally foreign to me. Seems like there would be a large market for monitors with no tuner in them. I haven't watched broadcast TV in probably 20 years, 25 euros a month seems exorbitant. That's 2.5 times what I pay for my Netflix subscription and that provides all the TV I need.
 
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Offline P90

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #35 on: May 22, 2017, 11:04:49 pm »
The whole concept of needing a license to own a TV receiver is totally foreign to me. Seems like there would be a large market for monitors with no tuner in them. I haven't watched broadcast TV in probably 20 years, 25 euros a month seems exorbitant. That's 2.5 times what I pay for my Netflix subscription and that provides all the TV I need.

but you still have to pay a presumably exorbitant sum for internet to use Netflix... can't win either way...
 

Offline james_s

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #36 on: May 22, 2017, 11:10:41 pm »
My internet service is only $39/month and I use it for way more than just Netflix. I don't mind paying for internet service, it costs money to provide it and it's something I rely heavily on. I don't want to pay a license for having a TV because I don't watch broadcast TV, it's a non-essential service that I see no value in so I shouldn't have to pay for it and I'm glad I don't.
 
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Offline Rasz

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #37 on: May 23, 2017, 04:04:06 am »
tunerless TVs
http://business.panasonic.com/products-avtechnology-professionaldisplays-led?sc_sp=business-category_featuresAd_products-avtechnology-professionaldisplays_%20LED
https://www.vizio.com/tuner-free
etc
Hotel TVs, commercial displays, there are many uses for tuner free TVs, of course they are more expensive due to artificial market segmentation, size of the market, lesser competition and implied business use.

My internet service is only $39/month and I use it for way more than just Netflix. I don't mind paying for internet service, it costs money to provide it and it's something I rely heavily on. I don't want to pay a license for having a TV because I don't watch broadcast TV, it's a non-essential service that I see no value in so I shouldn't have to pay for it and I'm glad I don't.

You dont want to play that game, because:

Explains US medical system fiasco in a nutshell. This is why you have people going homeless/dying just because they needed some medical procedure.
$40 a month? hope you get at least FCC mandated 25Mbit/s "broadband", even 300-600Mbit/s plans in Europe cost less than that, and those usually additionally bundle unlimited mobile calling + >100 TV channels.
As for wondering how weird a TV without tuner vs License is, do I really have to mention 80% lower? ;)

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Offline james_s

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #38 on: May 23, 2017, 04:27:14 am »
Oh come on, you can't seriously be comparing TV, a mostly pointless luxury item to life saving health care? I'll be the first to admit that the US health care system is a complete nightmare, but TV? It could go away entirely for all I care, most of us would probably be better off and might not need as much health care, IMO watching TV is a waste of time and most Americans anyway watch far too much of it. If I had cable TV for free I still wouldn't bother to hook it up.

I don't even know how fast my internet is, that's how much I care. It has enough bandwidth to stream HD video, it's reliable and always on, what else matters? I think it's 25/25Mb, used to be 10Mb and that was fast enough that I wouldn't have paid extra to get more but they bumped it up at some point. Infrastructure like internet is relatively expensive in the US because it is a massive country with many of our 50 states being larger than entire nations in Europe. There are vast swaths of sparsely populated land where the cost per customer would be prohibitive if those of us in the heavily populated coastal areas didn't pay a bit more to subsidize those who otherwise would never be profitable to service.
 
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Offline CJay

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #39 on: May 23, 2017, 06:31:39 am »

if things get any worse, they will just tax people for having eyeballs - the blind will get a discount but still be accused of being able to hear the audio!!!
ha, you joke but the blind still have to pay, albeit with a 50% discount.

It's not quite as bad as it sounds though, the licence fee pays for the transmitter network mostly which covers the cost of broadcasting radio as well as TV and also funds the BBC, the amount we pay per month is a ittle over the cost of a netflix or Amazon Prime multi-user account so, personally, I reckon it's pretty good value.

 

Offline CJay

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #40 on: May 23, 2017, 06:41:48 am »
If that's the case, why don't TV manufacturers just market their devices as HDMI large flat monitors, and offer only HDMI input?
Then if you want to watch free TV, just use an Android TV box and hide it when you don't.

There was a time when you could buy Video Players and monitors for just that reason, Tatung, Salora/Finlux and a few others used to manufacture  monitors which were TV chassis with the tuner and associated circuitry not fitted.

Some, i think Salora/Finlux and Grundig, used to offer tuner kits so you could retrofit VHF/UHF options.
 

Offline P90

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #41 on: May 23, 2017, 09:46:41 am »
My internet service is only $39/month and I use it for way more than just Netflix. I don't mind paying for internet service, it costs money to provide it and it's something I rely heavily on. I don't want to pay a license for having a TV because I don't watch broadcast TV, it's a non-essential service that I see no value in so I shouldn't have to pay for it and I'm glad I don't.

We get ripped off in California
$60/  month for just basic 15mbps internet and no cable tv and nothing else. :(
my uncle in France pays around 30€ for internet, tv, phone bundle, and it's infinitely faster internet. we're getting screwed.
 
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Offline fcb

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #42 on: May 23, 2017, 10:11:44 am »
My understanding of the UK law is that they have to catch you in the act. So it's perfectly legal to own a TV/media device that is capable of receiving, just not legal to use it if you don't have a valid TV license.

They only very recently updated the law to cover devices other than TV's (such a recorders, laptops, mobile devices, etc..), and there was some talk that they have methods of sniffing your WiFi and looking at the packet structure and pattern to work out if it is coming from monitored servers (such as BBC's iPlayer) - no idea if it's true though.
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Online wraper

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #43 on: May 23, 2017, 10:25:21 am »
My understanding of the UK law is that they have to catch you in the act.
In UK you just show that TV is not connected to any antenna and it's enough (my sister done this).
Quote
and there was some talk that they have methods of sniffing your WiFi and looking at the packet structure and pattern to work out if it is coming from monitored servers (such as BBC's iPlayer) - no idea if it's true though.
BS, unless someone is an idiot, WiFi is encrypted. And if it's not, virtually anyone can use your internet. In theory, if your internet provider discloses address/ip address relation, then they could track it on iPlayer server side. But even then, it becomes a very muddy area. With modern portable devices you can pay for a licence, then go somewhere else, say restaurant or friend's home, connect your laptop to WiFi and watch iPlayer.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 10:37:29 am by wraper »
 

Offline CJay

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #44 on: May 23, 2017, 10:28:56 am »
My understanding of the UK law is that they have to catch you in the act. So it's perfectly legal to own a TV/media device that is capable of receiving, just not legal to use it if you don't have a valid TV license.

Kind of, it has to be 'installed' which means plugged in to power and an antenna.

For Students covered by the home licence the equipment has to be self contained, I.E. battery powered and have its own antenna built in, plugging it into mains or an external antenna means it's unlicensed.

Those requirements may have changed recently though.
 

Offline RGB255_0_0

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #45 on: May 23, 2017, 11:08:32 am »
It's only a matter of time before iPlayer requires your TV Licence number before allowing you to watch. They've recently began coercing you to log in, and soon it will be mandatory. So far it's to "better personalise content", which is clearly bullshit.
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Offline CJay

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #46 on: May 23, 2017, 11:57:55 am »
I dislike DRM or region locking on things I'd happily pay for but it seems fair to me that those who consume the content should pay for it and it's no more restrictive than ITV, C4 or the others who stream or allow 'catchup' on their programs.
 

Offline cdev

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #47 on: May 25, 2017, 04:42:52 am »
You guys think you have it bad, look at the very end of this video at around 38:30 and you'll find that some people are asked to pay a very high price, the ultimate price,  for watching TV reruns.


« Last Edit: May 25, 2017, 04:50:20 am by cdev »
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline cdev

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #48 on: May 26, 2017, 03:36:59 am »
Interesting!

Really, how could they be so stupid!

Have you ever seen the hilarious Chinese spoof video about "North Korea's 007" ?  Example..




"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline dominicM

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Re: can I remove the tuner from a TV?
« Reply #49 on: May 27, 2017, 04:26:33 pm »
Similar story in Ireland, if you have a device capable of receiving a TV signal you must pay the licence fee every year. I never paid it and in practice you won't end up in court unless you really push it. I do remember reading about one guy whole was taken to court even though the tuner was removed but not sure how that worked out in the end. The inspector came buy just last week though I didn't open the door thinking he was a salesmen. Doesn't matter anyways since I now only have a 40" monitor :)
 


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