Forget 3D: 13,000 UK homes still watch TV in black and white
13,000 households in the UK still watch TV in black and white, telly licence fee collectors have revealed. In an age when TV sets are often internet-enabled with high-def plasma screens and 3D capabilities, some people obviously like to keep it simple. And cheap too. At £49, a black-and-white TV licence is cheaper than the …
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Re: That many?!
It's not unusual with old sets, my dad bought a Hitachi TV in 1978, (unfortunately, paying for an extra year guarantee on the tube) and it's still, despite once being dropped from a height of about 1.5 feet, in perfect working order apart from the power cable needing replaced.
Re: That many?!
Like someone has already said, there's little correlation between the type of licence and the type of TV. In other words, there could very easily be a large chunk of black and white licence owners who actually have colour TVs.
Achromatopsia
Some people have no colour perception. Hence they would not need a colour TV; it is genetic so there could be local variations (in Pingelap it reaches 5% of the population)
I'd scrap the TV license completely - it's essentially just another tax - pay for it out of the other tax revenues received.
"pay for it out of the other tax revenues received."
At which point it would dissappear into some sort of governement accounting type blackhole, and the public would have little to no idea what they are actually paying.
This way it's up front and known about - and you can write letters to the newspapers starting "is this what I pay my licence fee for...."
Annoyed, in Kent
Great, a TV License grants the right to rant to your newspaper of choice... such a bargain!
But wait, since it's all "up front and known about" perhaps that means the BBC will answer to FIOA requests...?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/07/bbc_is_private_go_away/
That's a no as well then... up front my arse! If they want to be treated as a private organisation then let them do it without depending on a government granted monopoly handout.
@ Graeme
I think this is why they changed the "road tax" to "vehicle excise duty" because they sure as hell werent spending the "road" tax on th F'ing roads!
Re: @ Graeme
Back in 1937 - you remember that?
Churchill actually started that to "stop motor vehicle drivers claiming ownership of the public roads"
It helped for a few decades at least...
Blind People
If you were blind it would make sense just to have a B&W telly instead of a colour TV even if you do receive a discount. Just sayin'.
Re: Blind People
Blind people don't pay for a license as it is, so why would they purchase a b&w license?
'Old' B&W on 625 lines is still 576i and gigabits per pixel I've still got an old KB CVC VALVE tv set that works fine off my old VM Pace box. It's easy on the eye to watch.
LC
Ted Lowe
"and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green."
@Neil Morgan
Downvoted because you didn't know that Boddies moved out of Manchester years ago.
Plenty of other superior micro breweries in the NW though - and of course Hydes.
Re: @Neil Morgan
As you could probably tell from the John Cooper Clarke references, I haven't been to Manchester since the early 80's. Have they got it in colour now ?
I used to have a BW licence
I don't watch enough TV to justify a colour licence. I had a b/w portable, for the odd occasions.
I didn't bother to renew it when I realized the TV hadn't been switched on for over 3 months, and I wasn't going to be home for the next few months. And also it had become very difficult to purchase a b/w licence after the contract went from the post office.
I got so many letters accusing me of being a criminal, I simply got rid of my (b/w) TV, and then threw them in the bin.
I have a monitor on the DVD/media player.
I quite often legally use iPlayer for offline programs. Had I not been accused of being a criminal by letter, I would have made the effort to buy a b/w licence, because I consider that a fair price for my consumption, however since it is not a legal requirement, after that they can get stuffed.
Had they not made it so hard to purchase a b/w licence I wouldn't have even thought about doing without TV at home in the first place.
Re: I used to have a BW licence
@Jess. Their letters don't accuse people of being criminals. I've had plenty of them.
Re: I used to have a BW licence
Actually they do accuse you of being a criminal. The tone of the letter makes it quite clear that they don't believe it is possible for someone not to have a TV and then they further go on to let you know what your punishment will be once they have actually caught you.
I spent 10 years without a TV and only bought one when I had kids so that I could make sure they grew up to be thick scum like the rest of the UK's Eastender/Corrie lets go dancing x-factor watching population.
Their standard letter
once you've ignored them (I've not had a TV in over 20 years) a few times begins "What to expect in court" which amounts to demanding money with menaces - OIOW extortion. Which is illegal.
Go away and die horribly Capita, who have the contract for enforcement, renewed for another 8 years in 2011.
Haha they conned you too
This isn't a genuine news article, its PR by the BBC. The so called TV Licensing spokesman actually works for the BBC
http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=1886778826&targetid=profile
If you google "13,000 Britons still have a black and white TV licence" you'll see just how dirty the BBC are, their basically calling people liars
Tronsmart Prometheus Android TV box with Amlogic CPU
Tronsmart Prometheus is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual core Amlogic AML8726-M6 ARM Cortex-A9 processor with Mali-400 graphics, 1GB Of RAM, and 4GB of storage.
That’s the same chip used in the G-Box Dyno and Diamond Multimedia AMP1000 media players. In other words, it’s not the fastest chip around, but it’s reasonably zippy and works with most Android apps and games, including YouTube and Netflix. You should also be able to run XBMC media center for Android on the Prometheus box.
Unlike many of the smaller Android TV sticks we’ve seen, the Prometheus has plenty of room for ports and features 3 USB 2.0 ports as well as HDMI and Ethernet jacks. It also has built-in support for 802.11b/g/n WiFi. The device runs Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. - ebay.com - geekbuying.com - liliputing.com
Why are all you anoraks debating set top boxes connected to B&W TVs???
Anyone who believes that all or even many of those with B&W licences really have a B&W TV must also believe in tooth fairies and santa clause!
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