DS TV Tuner
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60)
Wed 2007/11/21 12:27
The new Nintendo DS 1Seg TV Tuner that was released today.
Been just under a month since it was announced that Nintendo was going to finally release the TV tuner for the DS.
This tuner was announced well over a year ago and most thought that Nintendo gave up on the development for this - maybe they did. Me thinks that Nintendo had pressure from Sony releasing their one for the PSP.
The tuner retails for 6,800 yen and is only available online through Nintendo's online store.
This tuner was announced well over a year ago and most thought that Nintendo gave up on the development for this - maybe they did. Me thinks that Nintendo had pressure from Sony releasing their one for the PSP.
The tuner retails for 6,800 yen and is only available online through Nintendo's online store.
The digital tuner in action - goodbye to analog wavy lines.
The channel select is on the touch screen. When you first turn it on, you go through a few screens by selecting which part of Japan you are in. It then goes and searches for all the channels.
Thought of an interesting topic - the NHK is Japans national TV service which they ask people to pay for. Unlike the BBC in the UK, paying this fee to the NHK is not obligatory.
An NHK person would come knocking when they don't see the NHK sticker on your door and try to convince you that you need to pay the NHK just for having a TV antenna.
I have chosen not to pay the NHK and use the same excuse as many other Japanese - "you NHK guys are money wasters."
A few years ago it was discovered that the NHK were caught using money paid by viewers in extremely extravagant ways. Since then, the amount of people who paid a yearly license fee to the NHK have dropped significantly.
The NHK are trying to pass a bill to make it illegal not to pay this fee.
But for people who buy this tuner for the DS who don't have a TV at home - would they have to pay the NHK fee?
Do you have to pay for national TV in your country? If so, do you pay?
Thought of an interesting topic - the NHK is Japans national TV service which they ask people to pay for. Unlike the BBC in the UK, paying this fee to the NHK is not obligatory.
An NHK person would come knocking when they don't see the NHK sticker on your door and try to convince you that you need to pay the NHK just for having a TV antenna.
I have chosen not to pay the NHK and use the same excuse as many other Japanese - "you NHK guys are money wasters."
A few years ago it was discovered that the NHK were caught using money paid by viewers in extremely extravagant ways. Since then, the amount of people who paid a yearly license fee to the NHK have dropped significantly.
The NHK are trying to pass a bill to make it illegal not to pay this fee.
But for people who buy this tuner for the DS who don't have a TV at home - would they have to pay the NHK fee?
Do you have to pay for national TV in your country? If so, do you pay?
Back to the review. This is the "extras" menu.
The extras include this retro LCD Nintendo game. Looks like theres space for more on the select screen and am guessing that more can be downloaded from an access point or something.
If one travels around the country, one can "collect" TV channel information.
A small guide on how to relieve the stress and diarrhea..
A note pad is included to take notes - notes are saved in the adapter.
The bottom screen can be set to "read" mode to view the subtitles of some TV programs - useful for when you are on the train without headphones.
Digital TV comes with some extra information about the TV program.
The screen settings.
Sound settings.
Theme settings - unfortunately all themes are crap. Need a moe theme.
Some programs support subtitles - I would have loved this when I was learning Japanese.
The tuner folded up.
Bottom of the tuner.
Annoying stickers will be removed later.
Antenna bits - need to be fully extended to pick up the digital signals.
Back of the DS looks like this.
All folded up.
R4 for Homebrew games.
Comes with this extended antenna for those who live 40 feet underground.
The DS's new home on the MacBook.
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Mon 11/12 23:32 comments (105)
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Mon 09/17 14:59 comments (41)
We don't have to pay for basic cable, but if you want anything other than news, you have to pay. We have satilite with somthing around 800+ channels, and i think it's like 50$/mo.
(ID #64348) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:27
Blackster in Germany
Yeah, we have to pay here in germany 18€ every month! Even if you use youre tv only for watchig dvds :( sucks big time!
(ID #64349) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:31
TK-8316 / 宅男 Otaku / 工程师 Engineer
yes we have to pay for all those crappy shows on national TV here.
(ID #64351) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:37
A tv license & Digi-box, they are going to shut down the analog broadcast to make everyone switch to digital.
(ID #64352) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:43
Owner, winterheim|hdd
Nope. TV is generally free in the Philippines but they do have crap shows like Zaido which is a crap spinoff of the Metal Hero series Shaider so if I was required to pay for the shows on that channel, I'd rather gouge my eyes out.
(ID #64353) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:43
post-hikikomori, now part-time network engineer
here in signapore, we only need to pay tv license anually. though most have cable
(ID #64354) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:48
Service desk support
Good old UK! To watch TV of any kind you have to pay for a TV license which funds our national channel, the BBC. Other channels get their revenue by advertising... Lots... Don't watch TV so I don't have a license, but i guess it's not too bad a deal. The BBC is a pretty decent channel (though they've been going downhill recently) but I wish that other channels cut down on their Ads. As for the DS tuner, I don't really see the point. The screen is too small to make use of TV watching...
(ID #64355) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:51
Japanese Student
I told an NHK guy I didn't have a TV, no one ever came again... :)
(ID #64356) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:52
Mandalorian in training + Otaku...
It does look kinda useful, I admit.
(ID #64357) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:52
TK-8316 / 宅男 Otaku / 工程师 Engineer
the cost of a TV licence for a household in Singapore is S$110 (about US$76).
(ID #64358) Posted on 2007/11/21 12:58
HMMaster (Registered on 2007/09/04 00:28)
Few years ago, yes. Now, no.
(ID #64359) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:00
Dropping computers, starting all over again at Journalism
Excuse me... stress AND DIARRHEA? LOL! I mean, I've seen my share of weird exercises on portables... like the facial one. But diarrhea relieving? LOL Looks great.. a pitty Brazil is still far away from having stuff like that. I mean, we've just began testing Digital TV now, and only on major cities. Anyways, we don't have to pay for public TV. But I must say that if I had to, I'd just hand the antenna off, because it's pure crap. Nowadays I pretty much use public TV for news only, and on select days... because it's unbelievable the ammount of crap they'll force on viewers everyday.
(ID #64361) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:05
Yeah, the BBC doesn't have any advert revenues, which is good some ways. For one obvious reason; there are no ads whatsoever. But even better, programs like Top Gear can afford to talk bad about all the cars they review without fear of losing sponsors. Does the NHK run adverts? If so then it doesn't seem worth paying the fee...
(ID #64362) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:07
That TV Tuner is pretty neat, though it's a bit...big. Makes the DS look a little clunky. As for paying for TV, NBC, Fox, ABC and CBS are freebies. PBS is a sorta-freebie. (We can't pick PBS up on antenna, but can with cable.) They also remove programing for about a week, every two months(It seems for KERA at least) and request donations. T
(ID #64363) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:14
Policy & Research Officer
yeah we do have to pay a TV license in Singapore, but I guess the shows are pretty good so I'm not really complaining.
(ID #64364) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:14
Architecture Student
Looks like something out of the Transformers movie :P Id love to get one when/if they become available in my area.
(ID #64367) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:37
marvin (Registered on 2006/12/25 00:30)
@frost, the channels you are talking about are analog ones, although digital television signal are already available in the Philippines and is at the moment free. I heard that some of the channels would start requiring an annual fee for viewing.
(ID #64368) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:48
Yeh we have to pay, but it's not really a waste of money imo. The shows are fairly good.
(ID #64369) Posted on 2007/11/21 13:55
Boss hunter, really!
i want one of this!!! watch soccer in ds yeaah!! i ahve a old electric blue ds but the right to have R4 card is nescesary thing, this one too, you have notice if this "tv tuner" came to southamerica??
(ID #64371) Posted on 2007/11/21 14:16
We pay once a year for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation here in Norway... don't think everyone does though... BTW, I can't see how this TV adapter "clicks" when inserted in the card slot. Does it?
(ID #64373) Posted on 2007/11/21 14:20
security/3d graphic artist
the"regular big four are free.. abc, cbs, nbc and fox... pbs is a sponsored one.. they ask you to pay a donation. other than that.. cable isn't free.. and thats where most of the good stuff is.. so most have it.. at...egh.$30-50 bucks for basic chanells.. depends what ya want..
(ID #64375) Posted on 2007/11/21 14:30
radical anime fan in Singapore; starting to freeze up. Mmm, end-of-year weather. (Registered on 2007/01/25 22:08)
Polytechnic Freshman. Mmm... fresh.
Hot damn, that is just too nifty. Words fail me.
(ID #64377) Posted on 2007/11/21 15:16
C.Smith in NY
can you use this if you're not in Japan? I'm in the USA could I get japanese channels or USA channels?
(ID #64378) Posted on 2007/11/21 15:24
kitsura (Registered on 2007/10/30 19:13)
Most of what I want to watch is free thanks to BT. For live soccer matches there is P2P TV like TVU.
(ID #64379) Posted on 2007/11/21 15:29
Part human, part student, 100% loser
Looks cool... Well, we don't have to pay for local channels here...
(ID #64381) Posted on 2007/11/21 16:10
Student
No offense, but I think thats useless IMO. Instead sitting on the couch and watching TV is better xD
(ID #64385) Posted on 2007/11/21 16:54
We do need to pay a license fee but I wonder if someone can get away without paying if they don't own a TV... I'll like to have the DS TV tuner if it works in my region
(ID #64386) Posted on 2007/11/21 17:11
Haha! I didn't know you had to pay in Japan for National TV... We don't, and it sounds strange to me that you pay for national television...
(ID #64387) Posted on 2007/11/21 17:52
Yes, we have to pay and I pay. You even have to pay for a PC because there is the possibility of using it for watching internet-tv.
(ID #64389) Posted on 2007/11/21 17:55
sugoi~~ ten thousand reasons more to buy a DS than PSP!! and NHK is brewing the next Hikikomoris..therefore, you dun have to pay them ^^
(ID #64391) Posted on 2007/11/21 18:14
that attachment looks ugly and is very bulky, thank you but i'll stick with my psp (although i do actually own a ds).
(ID #64393) Posted on 2007/11/21 18:27
だんご大家族の長男
DS TVチューナー及び、PSP TVチューナーでは、1SEG(Japan,Brazil)という移動デジタルTV規格を使います。ちなみに1SEGではNHKの受信料は不要です。海外では規格採用国が多いDVB-H(EU)は近い将来、DSとPSPのTVチューナーに対応する可能性はあります。しかし、固定デジタルTV規格にATSC(America,Canada,Korea,Taiwan...)を採用している国では、移動デジタルTV規格が無いので、対応する可能性は有りません。
(ID #64394) Posted on 2007/11/21 18:37
Custom Pc Builder, Muppet, Pyromaniac, Demolitions Expert
20 reasons more why to buy a DS??? the PSP has Wi-Fi, Voip, webcam, online co-op/head to head gaming, Tv tuner, better graphics, Tv out, & an external hard drive to store all your home brews & movies or music. Does the DS have even half these things? the only thing thats wrong with the psp is the lack of decent games for it.
(ID #64396) Posted on 2007/11/21 19:11
geez, psp had 1seg tv tuner months before this but the ds gets all the glory.
(ID #64397) Posted on 2007/11/21 19:23
Interactive Media Design and Graphic Design
nope no fee for that here. all channels in usa are private and most people pay for cable or satalite to have more channels. In Belarus (where i was born) there was no tax either. So the channels are private or government owned?? why do they ask you to pay?
(ID #64398) Posted on 2007/11/21 19:33
filmaker
does anyone know if this can b used in australia?
(ID #64402) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:00
McMaster Engineering Student Fall 08
This is probably one of Nintendo's best peripheral units. It's something I would definitely love to have stuck in my DS.
(ID #64404) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:04
Sysadmin
Now that's cool. :) Doesn't cost nearly as much as I anticipated; I wonder whether it's compatible with the digital signal here in Holland. Does anyone know which digital carrier band is used in Japan? I hope it's also compatible with PAL. We have to pay for non-commercial stations as well, but this is collected through our taxes. I've given up on cable a long time ago; nothing interesting to see. I would fancy some handheld FTA-TV though; since I carry my DS with me al the time, this would be great to have while commuting.
(ID #64405) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:05
Definitely way cheaper than i expected. But first i need a ds... -_-;
(ID #64407) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:45
I hope they bring this to the states, though I don't know when I would ever use it lol. No time to watch when I drive and everywhere else I bring my laptop with me. But I would still get it ^^.
(ID #64408) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:46
i want that fantastic tv tuner *ç*
(ID #64410) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:53
usonien in Paris, France
starting 2008, France will have the same digital broadcast system for mobil equipment, but we will use an other standard than 1-seg. So hope nintendo will release a compatible tuner for us. we also pay a fee for public television (5 channels) which is included in local taxes since last year. But there is some advantage in the publis channel system such as no real TV and the most important, there is no programs cutting by ADVERTISING, only in between show. When u have seen some american series cut four time in 45 minutes it's pretty noticeable.
(ID #64411) Posted on 2007/11/21 21:59
Student & Accountant
Australia is still doing trials on the DVB-H spec. So i guess if devices like the DS Tuner or the PSP Tuner are ever released here in the future it'll have to be for DVB-H. The one major problem i have with these tuner devices are the antennas. Why can't they make a smaller antenna that's just as effective?
(ID #64416) Posted on 2007/11/21 22:56
anime/cosplay events organizer
i don't know when the phils will migrate to digital tv broadcasting. it is either they can't afford to migrate as of now or they are just cheap and greedy >.> lol Danny, you use a R4 XDDD how do you like your R4? ^_____^ homebrew games = FTW! R4 = WINS THE INTERNETS!!!
(ID #64422) Posted on 2007/11/22 00:09
gabuchan in Tokyo
This looks good, just a little bulky. Your pics look good, thanks for posting!
(ID #64424) Posted on 2007/11/22 00:33
Ahhhh you have an R4, I'm quite new to the homebrew scene but I recently came across an amazing program for DS called wifi VoiceChatClient, you can download it here: http://mdxonline.dyndns.org/archives/2007/10/wifi_voicechatclient_ver_161.shtml It'd be v cool to speak to you on it sometime ^,^ Anyway on the topic of the TV Tuner yes I want one alot but first gotta get myself over to Japan so I could use it. I heard that orders have been outstripping demand so lucky you for getting one already.
(ID #64456) Posted on 2007/11/22 02:52
Passerby117
While it seems like a good counter measure against Sony's own 1Seg tuner for their PSP-2000 series, it's hardly well designed. The thing has been up in the air since the DS' release, but Nintendo had only materialized it now because of the pressure put on by Sony's release of the PSP-2000. Hardware wise, it looks like a rush job built with the Gameboy Color in mind, and its' antenna killed almost all portable aspects of the DS. I mean, can you imagine using that on a train? It pales in comparison to the PSP's 1Seg... Software wise, it looks rather refine, though features such as the notepad and Game&Watch looks more like something that was originally going to be release as stand-alones (Which I hope they'll do in the future), but was included to add value to the tuner. Although I wonder what resolution does the tuner outputs in? 256x192? It looks rather nice for something with that resolution if true.
(ID #64462) Posted on 2007/11/22 03:06
National TV is free here...but all the nice shows are on pay tv =D
(ID #64523) Posted on 2007/11/22 12:45
Finally! I waited for this since aeons!
(ID #64532) Posted on 2007/11/22 13:25
umm...whens that tuner coming to America?
(ID #64586) Posted on 2007/11/22 21:16
Graphic design student, photographer and illustrator.
Digital Tv tuner!! Man i envy you! !
(ID #64601) Posted on 2007/11/22 23:28
Lol Mr. Game and Watch
(ID #64649) Posted on 2007/11/23 03:26
Student Engineer
Rabbit Ears ^______^ Minus the adapter into the DS I could have made something similar for you! At first I couldn't see the practicality in this but then read your post... Wow talk about integration of ancient technology and new software. That totally kicks butt. I can't use it sadly; I cannot read katakana T___T.
(ID #64671) Posted on 2007/11/23 08:40
Student Engineer
double comment but necessary- @nivexus comment: They can reduce the atenna length but unfortunatly it will decrease the range of the antenna.I assume these things are not connecting to satellites and are picking up signals off of radio towers. Lengthening the wires would be great but making them smaller will reduce their effectiveness. Danny lets see you lose that thing when going thru a tunnel XD.
(ID #64673) Posted on 2007/11/23 08:43
That is quite impressive but I wonder if the signal is good in fast moving trains and in tunnels. I've sampled DMB back in Korea. Seemed like many cell phones, navis and UMPCs have DMB enabled (they all have the antenna though)
(ID #64769) Posted on 2007/11/24 06:06
Student
I see an awesome artbook in the background...
(ID #64786) Posted on 2007/11/24 08:26
Anyone remember the Sega Game Gear? I had the TV tuner for that, it had a looong 1m extendable antenna on it. It was sweet for those long car rides with the family, but some of the channels came in a little fuzzy. It also had an analog tuner, which seems so ancient compared to today...
(ID #65402) Posted on 2007/11/30 02:23
Student
i remember them, but i never owned one i wish i had now.
(ID #243820) Posted on 2008/07/21 22:48
elprawn (Registered on 2007/12/13 20:32)
You don't need a TV license for handheld televisions in the UK, so the DS TV tuner wouldn't need one.
(ID #66952) Posted on 2007/12/14 11:34