Television sets have improved with technology for quite long. In olden days, television sets were made of cathode ray tubes for display, numerous integrated circuits (ICs), transistors and resistors. This technology resulted into a heavy and bulky television sets. Images displayed on the screen were also not very clear. Due to advancements in technology, these television sets were replaced by liquid crystal display (LCD) television sets and light emitting diode (LED) display television sets. Giving birth to flat screen television sets that were less bulky and light. Their display was also very clear and could not be compared to cathode ray tube ones. This technology did not remain standstill. It led to the emergence of smart TVs that can be connected to internet. Emergence of artificial intelligence and further advancements in technology have brought in another idea of controlling smart TVs at the comfort of your phone by interfacing it with microcontrollers. This was driven by the urge to control programs watched by children in absentia of their parents. Since these television sets are connected to the internet, possibilities of children watching contents that needed parental guidance were very high. To curb this, microcontroller has to be integrated into the system. We are going to learn how smart television sets configured with microcontrollers work to help in monitoring contents watched by children.
Smart TV controlled by cellphone
Microcontrollers are programmed and linked to both the owners’ cellphone and the television in a way that when someone changes a channel, he or she is notified. The notification is sent to his or her cellphone. The cellphone has an installed app with features for controlling the television via the microcontroller. Microcontroller has central processing unit and memory that hosts the database. Database contains programs that are used to run the entire system. These programs are fetched and executed via the central processing unit (CPU). Microcontroller is programmed by a competent programmer to suit all needs of the television owner.
Imagine you are at work and your children are busy watching adult content on your smart television. This has greatly contributed to moral decay in the society. Children are engaging in activities that are not conversant with their age. Many parents fail to understand where their children learnt immoral behaviours they exhibit. Others think they could have learnt them from school. Investigating keenly, they realize that their children have been watching immoral contents right at their home. Figuring out how to curb this habit, they fail to come up with a realistic solution. Others ban their children completely from watching television in their absentia. However, not all these strategies work as intended. Some naughty children sneak when they are sleeping to watch those immoral contents. Simple solution to all of these is connecting a programmed microcontroller to that smart television set of yours.
Parents can control what their children watch on their smart TVs by setting password to programs that contain contents meant for adults. Only the person with this password can access those contents. This is done through the app installed in his or her cellphone. The app contains all the channels on the television it has been linked to. From the users interface, parents are able to change the set password at will. All those passwords are contained in the memory of microcontroller. When there are changes to the set passwords, the database gets updated via the microcontroller. They are also capable of viewing what their children are watching on their cellphone without necessarily staying at home. When they want their children to study, they can switch off the television. It can only be turned on by entering password. Password can also be set to USB ports to control contents watched from flash disks. Apps like You Tube can also be controlled by setting password.
Advantages of this system are as follows:
1. Content management. This system manages content displayed on smart TVs to ensure that they comply with parental guidance policies. This necessary to regulate contents watched by children
2. It is reliable. The system sends notification to the user every time a channel is changed. He or she can check if the program is suitable for children.
3. It is an automated system that can be run anyway. Parents can monitor what their children are watching on the television without necessarily being there.
4. It is flexible. The microcontroller can be reconfigured time and again to suit the needs of the owner. For instance, if the owner wants to include biometrics in the system, the system can be reconfigured to adopt those changes.
Disadvantages of the system are as follows:
1. It is expensive. The system includes a programmed microcontroller that is very costly. The technicalities involved in the system are also very expensive.
2. When the system crushes, there are possibilities of data loss that can make the television inaccessible.
Children at times watch contents that are meant for adults without consent of their parents. To regulate all these, parents need to make good use of this system.
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