Can T.V.s be used as cameras with no modification

I came across this question sitting around talking with a guy who was in the C.I.A for a brief amount of time. He claims the tubes and new LED T.V's or anything designed to accept transmition of picture signals was capable of transmission themselves. He claimed the C.I.A. has been using this technology for sometime.

Is this possible? Surely if T.V.s were transmitting a signal somebody would have discovered it? I'm not an expert I thought this would be a good place to investigate.

Hmmmmmm....... I have no idea but I have heard that it is possible!?! I am curious if anyone who has any engineering experience could shed light on that!

If so, it seems like a good excuse to rent more porn. Give the fellas down at the NSA something to be jealous of

The ex-agent I was speaking with also referred to radios. He siad the speakers inside the radio were similar in construction to a microphone, whatever you say can be interpreted by them and transmitted.
In the conversation about the T.V. he says the background is always black when you turn it off and this gives it more light absorbing characteristics. He says that like the radio the T.V. is equipped with the same basic technology the camera is developed from but on a larger scale, he claimed that with minimal electronic correction for this size difference whether through the t.v. or external monitoring, any t.v. is capable of transmitting video. He claims everyone is subject to this type of espionage. When he is at home, he has a blanket covering his t.v. at all times. He also says the t.v. doesn't really work for transmission as long as it is on. He acted like it only works if it was off. I know he was in the C.I.A. so when he told me these things I believed him. But this doesn't make him right. He also kept rambling about the patriot act and this all became common knowledge in the "agency" after the bill was signed.
This guy won't talk about any of this while he's in his house. He claims your house is where you are most venurable to any type of espionage, especially after the 911 policies.

this would mean cable and satellite services would have to be hijacked though. how else would a tv broadcast back a signal? you need a medium, a data flow, to be intact first. if tv's were designed that way, if it was just turned on, without any digital or analog feed, the broadcasted signal, intended for the gov't's eyes would go nowhere.

so are DISH, DirectTV, and Comcast aware of this, if this were the case?

reply to post by banyan
That was another detail I left out, the monitoring would only work through transmission lines because the t.v. didn't have enough power to transmit through airwaves. The assertion was the monitoring would be done through echelon, the monitoring station for all global communications.
For these reasons I don't believe the cable companies would be in on it.

Originally posted by TheWalkingFox
If so, it seems like a good excuse to rent more porn. Give the fellas down at the NSA something to be jealous of

lol...

Originally posted by azblack
The ex-agent I was speaking with also referred to radios.

Not sure about TV's.

But a radio can be absolutely true. It's not perfect but it does work.

To test:

Plug your headphone or speakers into the Microphone port on your computer, open up sound recorder, click record and start speaking/yelling into your speakers.

Stop, plug speakers back in and listen. If it didn't work, mainly it's because your microphone is not set up properly through control panel.

[edit on 13/2/2008 by SilentShadow]

I would say this assumption of TVs spying on people is an old urban legend. With a heavy RF background in my career, I would even call it a hoax -- unless someone gives a proof. Actually mental hospitals are full of people who think that they are being spied by the TV. I've met one such (a very close) person myself, and I felt very sad when I heard such claims. Either these people know more than us electronics professionals, or then they are just delusional and plain wrong. You can believe anything, if your imagination is strong enough. Sometimes the imagination is just too strong!

I will give you some points to consider.

One: TV picture tubes or TFT flat panel displays cannot be used as cameras. The very least you'd need is the optics (lens) to create a picture on the surface where there normally is something to look at when the TV is on. Theoretically the TFT display pixels of a flatscreen TV could perhaps be used as somewhat light-sensitive elements, but you'd still need at least the optics in front of the TV screen. And some very heavily modified electronics. And good luck. Any eye is basically blind without the lens in the middle of the iris -- and in this case we can highly doubt if the retina of the eye can sense even a single photon.

Two: A normal TV set can NOT send anything to the antenna on the roof or to the cable, depending on where you live. The antenna input amplifier of a TV is designed so that the signal only can go in one direction. If some of the internal parts of a TV malfunction and thus some RF power is accidentally sent to the antenna input, at least all the neighbors sharing the same cable within a house will see this as a bad picture due to RF interference. Also, no well-behaving TVs do anything like this, as they have to comply with the standards.

Three: A conventional analogue TV receiver can act as a kind of RF transmitter in the sense that its LO (or local oscillator) frequency can sometimes be found with a very good and sensitive RF receiver. This is commonly used for finding unlicensed TV receivers at least in UK, perhaps in some other countries as well. But this applies only for finding the building where the TV set is located, and most likely no one is even going to find out which channel you're watching, as the scannable LO frequency is fixed. The same applies to a common radio receiver.

Four. The TV loudspeakers can act as some kind of microphones, but they're not very good at it. Besides, all the audio amplifiers I've seen on TVs are one-way only, so that they cannot act as microphone amplifiers for spying and listening to the surroundings. Two way amplifiers do not exist on TV audio parts. The same applies to common radios.

Five. If TVs or radios can be and are commonly used as spying devices, how come the ham radio guys or other commonly available professional people with an understanding of radio waves have never noticed anything suspicious? No transmitted Spy Signal emitted from the TV, nor from the kitchen radio. Things like radio transmissions can be very easily found -- unless they are some sort of scalar waves that are highly disputed and even I (as an ATS member) still doubt the existence of such unknown radio waves of unknown RF technology.

Disclaimer: A whole another story is then the use of a cell phone for spying purposes, as a phone is completely software driven, and it has a microphone and often also a camera or two. However, we would still need a very modified phone or a phone that has some unwanted software running in it, in order to spy others with it. If you want to be sure, always remove the cell phone battery if you want to be 100% sure that nobody is listening to your private discussions via the phone that is in your pocket. If you want to be "only" 99.9% sure, just turn the phone off.


Hope this helps,

Doc Li

Sure it's well known: tv are cameras, indeed.

I also heard Europe is a country and Clinton never slept with Monica.

I'm no expert expert but the answer is no

For the speakers it's true but that would need a modification made y someone.

And for the part regarding the "echellon programme", this is, again, pure fantasy.

reply to post by azblack

Wouldn't surprise me. On a related subject; I think the government has been using my cell phone against me for a while now. Occasionally, when it is on the desk, it lights up without me touching it at all. It will do it twice sometimes. It doesn't flip open or anything, the "lid" window lights up. On and off, perhaps?

It probably records and sends what I say to the CIA. Along with my TV. More illegal wiretaps.

Originally posted by jtb2008 I think the government has been using my cell phone against me for a while now. Occasionally, when it is on the desk, it lights up without me touching it at all. It will do it twice sometimes. It doesn't flip open or anything, the "lid" window lights up. On and off, perhaps?

I am never one to say anything is impossible. Doc Lithum makes some valid claims on televisions however, most new tv's are loaded with software as well.

You are more right than you about cell phones jtb2008! Check the below video out.

reply to post by defcon365

I knew it!
Can't ever underestimate the Federal Government!!

I'll try not to keep my phone in the same room now.

Simple answer to your original question:
No. With no modifications.
I would suspect the newer computer monitors with webcams built in would be able to be easily compromised, but you would still notice outgoing traffic on your connection.
Radios too, without modification, would be difficult. Maybe some possibility of short range intercept, but would still need modification to accomplish transmission.

I believe it can and has been and is already being used like this. It has had modification done. Every new tv you buy today is these flat screen digital kind. So to me yeah they give our voices back to the government. If they want it. Its a microphone for them to hear us speak if they so choose. They already have the satellites which can look straight into your face and watch every move you make. google earth is nothing compared to what they actually have. Watching us in real time and very close to us. We have no privacy left at all.

reply to post by Shar


I was about to say something similar Shar.....

While it is pure specualtion on my part, here is they way I see it:

1. All new tv's are pre-loaded with software. Virtually All Software can be compromised remotely (hacked). How with televison?
2. "MOST" cable hookup shares internet access on the cable line.

While I will not rule out the possibility of a tv functioning as a camera, as a microphone however, absolutely possible.....

Some tv's will actually turn themselves on automatically when the EBS "Emergency Broadcast Signal" has an urgent message. In addition, many set-top boxes actually report back to the cable providers what you watch, they in turn provide that to the different stations for programming line ups and advertisements. Think of Nielsen Ratings...

Not to sure if this would work in regurads to TVs. But almost seems like it could be a more modified/researched Van Eck Effect.

Van Eck Effect

Cell phones can be hacked.. hell yeah.. right from the first GSM models from 90's and the listening features have been enhanced as in the news video posted here in this thread. YES cell phones can be "activated in listen mode" even when turned off.. Fact..
AND YES some TVs or DVD players and a whole range of other household devices also have hidden cameras usually embedded in or near the LED light on the front panel behind the darkened plastic covering and even embedded in the screen itself. And you will find microphones hidden in household electrical items too cos nobody takes the effort to unscrew all the electrical appliances... unless thay have something to hide..then its better to buy a frequency transmitter scanner anyway..!!
This has been going on for years.
The bugs are not in all devices but in ever increasing numbers, its really easy to exchange your appliances when you not home.. on holiday or take it in for repairs... Remember Will Smith... "Enemy of the state" where they exchanged all his goods... watch, shoes, even devices hidden in his clothing all exact "copies of his own originals" he never had an idea.....
The bugs are on loose and the excuse is "the war on terror"..organized crime...Human/drug dealing...bla bla bla...

The real reason is fear of dissent and the total control of how we "the sheeple" are behaving and reacting to their dirty deeds. With these tools, they have a stealth tracking system with the potential to discover and observe "political troublemakers who talk too much (influencing others) and blow the whistle giving away secrets (truths) that could harm "their monopoly and expose their methods of using and abusing us!!!!
They use sophisticated voice recognition software to trace certain words, expressions and linguistic codes" Echelon does the trick like "carnivore" does for the Internet!!....
In the UK they use this technology as evidence for tax defraud, in safe houses in the event of possible domestic abuse, organized crime and drugs, terrorists suspects and the like..even bugging their own political opponents....
FACT!!

If you have an older television, cut off all the lights in the room and let it sit in total darkness for a while. Then while it is still dark flick a lighter or a flashlight onto the screen and you'll see a luminescent area where the light was. The screen is a photosensitive surface and is perfectly capable of imaging, and it's similar in principle to the 'camera' on the voyager space crafts if I'm not mistaken.
As to the technology behind receving a picture of somebody from their television, that's a different story. With broadcast television probably not, but cable and satellite feeds are interractive and hard wired to god only knows what kind of third party technology down the line. It's possible IMO.
Cameras aren't the only creepiness of televsion either, aside from agenda laden propoganda disguised as entertainment, Television also puts out a hell of an EMF that harmonizes exactly with your brain waves. Considering the Soviet union successfully researched and championed crowd control and mood manipulation through broadcasting electromagnetic fields as early as the 1930's, that to me is far creepier that being watched.

I'm just about convinced that George Orwell was a prophet.

Its intresting to note, along with the insightful posts here, the requirement of government to switch all T.V. broadcast to digital. I believe this will facilitate the correction of any problems associated with the monitoring of you life through the confines of your home.

Several people have stated their disagreement with these theories that the T.v. could be used as a light sensor thereby facilitating transmission of images from it.

I know a t.v. is not the best way to make a camera. A speaker isn't a microphone, but it will work, just not to well but with very little, processing and manipulation these images or sounds can be scrubbed and clarified using a specific software. I am confident once I finish my research all will know the truth.

Please continue to interject arguments or give individual theories regarding possibilities of truth as this is the life line for my research.