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Articles
04 July 2006
Pushing The Right
Buttons
The invention of the
remote control half a century ago made life just that little
bit easier and allowed people to be a little bit lazier.
However, technological advances can give rise to new
problems, and while the remote controls of yesteryear were
pretty straight forward, todays' are covered with more
buttons than most of us know what to do with.
Add DVD and Freeview style
set top box remotes into the equation and the number of
ignored or misunderstood functions are bound to
multiply.
Yet, in an attempt to
avoid poking remote control buttons that you think are
unnecessary or that you do not understand may lead to you
missing out on some handy functionality.
Telly
Addicts
We should be clear from
the start that this is a near impossible task. There are
thousand of different remote controls for all types of
entertainment device, and even when the functions on one are
similar to those of another brand, the chances are high that
the button labels themselves will differ. Hopefully, by
limiting our focus to the least appreciated buttons on TV,
DVD and set top box remotes, we should unravel some of the
mysteries of these functions.
So, begin by picking up
your TV remote control. We will assume that you can adjust
the volume and change the channel, so let's look for
something a little more mysterious that you never have
before pressed in anger.
If you have a fairly
modern TV, the remote control will likely feature a button
called 'PiP', 'P<P' or 'PnP'. If this is the case you may
be able to enjoy picture - in - picture viewing. The most
common form of picture - in - picture involves watching one
channel in full screen mode with a thumbnail image of
another (or a DVD/Video for example) overlaid in one corner
of the screen.
Unfortunately, one
television picture - in - picture mode may work quite
differently to that of another, so you'll need to experiment
with it's use on your own set - up, or refer to the manual -
but lets face it, it's more fun to press the button and see
what happens.
Now look for the button
marked 'Ratio', '16:9/4:3' or adorned with an icon of a four
headed arrow. Pushing this button will see the shape of the
picture on screen change, between widescreen modes. Even the
remotes of some traditional 4:3 ratio TV sets have this
button, and it can prove a much more desirable way to watch
wide screen movies.
If your remote handset has
a 'Recall' or 'R' button, then a swipe of this will see the
TV flit between the last watched channel and the current
one. In other words, if you're trying to catch a particular
news headline while keeping up with the storyline in CSI,
the Recall button will save you valuable time flicking
through the channels (alternatively you could just put
Teletext on in Mix mode!)
Also, have a hunt for a
button labelled 'Aux'. We could never do this mysterious
moniker justice in one paragraph but it's sufficient to know
that it is short for 'auxiliary equipment' and if you have
multiple devices plugged into your TV's scart sockets, you
may find it useful for overriding one or other's mastery of
the inputs. But if you've never used this key, chances are
you probably don't need to now.
More useful - and more
common - may prove the 'Source' or 'AV' button. This
commands the TV to switch its attention between, say, a DVD
player, set top box and traditional aerial input. In other
words, when you play a DVD, you may need to press this
button to have the TV display the DVD player's output.
Source and AV controls generally work on a cyclical basis,
so the first source may be aerial input, followed by scart
socket one (to which the set top box may be attached), then
scart socket two Games console or DVD player etc) and so
forth before returning to the beginning.
Finally for TVs, if you
have the habit of falling asleep in front of the box, have a
look for the 'Sleep' button. Typically, a press or two on
this will set a timer counting down for perhaps 30 minutes
to half an hour, after which, without further input from the
viewer, the TV will turn itself off - genius!
Top
Stuff
Where to begin with the
set top box remote controls? There are so many possibilities
and permutations that the best we can offer here is to hit
the 'Guide' or 'Home' button. This will generally lead to
further information about use of this device.
Also, don't forget to hit
the red button. well, that's what every broadcaster seems to
implore every two minutes so it must be worth a try - the
interactive services it accesses can be fun and
informative.
Button
Up
Okay, just time for a
quick overview of some of the most often overlooked DVD
remote control buttons.
Understand that DVD discs
generally contain more than just video - a fact demonstrated
by DVD remote buttons with names like 'Subtitles' and
'Audio' or 'Language'. Try tapping said buttons, while
watching a disc, if only for the pure enjoyment of seeing
how stenographers deal with the Geordie utterances of Auf
Wiedersehen Pet for example, or to hear what Brad Pitt
sounds like in Uzbek. Similarly, a stab at a DVD remote's
'Zoom' button can also prove useful.
Most DVD remotes also
sport an 'Angle' button, allowing you to switch to another
camera view. Unfortunately, few DVDs support this feature
except for sports DVDs.
Try hitting the 'Angle' if
you'd like to see a different view on Gareth Southgate's
Euro 1996 penalty effort. He'll still miss but you may not
have to look at his face while he does.
As for other buttons -
push them and see. What's the worst that can happen? Sure
you could end up desperately reading the manual, frantically
trying to reset the TV settings before Corrie starts but
surely the possibility of amazing features are worth the
effort.
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