Difference between revisions of "TV Tuner"

Revision as of 13:38, 22 April 2024

TV Tuner

Manufacturer: Sega

Type: Miscellaneous

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	199x	¥12,80012,800^[1]	HGG-3001
JP (2)	199x	¥12,80012,800^[1]	HGG-3015
US	1991		2101
DE	1992		MK-2101-18
ES	199x		MK-2101-20
PT	199x		MK-2101-20
UK	1991	£74.9974.99^[2]^[3]	MK-2101-05
SE	199x
IT	199x		MK-2101-20
CZ	1993	3,699 Kč3,699^[4]
PL	1994	250zł250^[5]
AU	199x		MK-2101-20
BR	199x		011840
KR	199x		STP-150
AS	199x

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TV Tuner, known as the TV Auto Tuner (ＴＶオートチューナーパック) in Japan, is a Sega Game Gear accessory which allows users to watch analogue television on the system's built-in screen.

Hardware

The TV Tuner plugs into the Game Gear's cartridge slot, and has a mono A/V input. This means that if required, a VCR, camcorder, dvd player or another video game console can be connected and played off the system - it essentially turns the Game Gear into standard 1990s-spec television. Some models have an extra port for an extra antenna (the Game Gear Car Antenna was the only official product to use it) - this port was removed in some variants because it served no purpose in many regions.

TV Tuners also differ depending on the television standard. For example, the US model uses NTSC, whereas the European model uses PAL. On top of this there are several different types of PAL - the United Kingdom for example uses PAL-I and so had a different TV Tuner to Germany. France and other countries using the SECAM standard are not thought to have officially received the TV Tuner.

History

Sega were keen to advertise the TV Tuner shortly after the system's launch for two distinct reasons, firstly because handheld televisions were still a relatively new invention and a dedicated system was still quite pricy in the early 90s, and secondly because in order to cope with a colour television signal, you would require a colour screen - something Nintendo's Game Boy lacked, and which Sega were happy to point out at every given opportunity.

Unfortunately due to the short battery life of the Game Gear, the TV Tuner is a largely redundant accessory unless the system is connected to an AC adapter. The battery life will be drained much faster with the TV Tuner than playing Game Gear games. Also as the world switches from analogue television to digital, the system becomes ever more useless, and the TV Tuner is reportedly incompatible with the late 90s Game Gear produced by Majesco.

Following the release of this device, NEC responded by releasing the TurboVision, a similar add-on for their rival handheld, the TurboExpress. Unofficial TV tuners would also show up for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS in the years which followed.

Production credits

Masatoshi Mizunaga^[6]

Source:

Uncredited

Magazine articles

Main article: TV Tuner/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

DE TV advert (1991)

GR TV advert (1993)

SE advert

TW advert

FI advert (1992)

FI advert (1993)

UK print advert

UK Judge Dredd print advert

Print advert in Top Mega-Drive (TW) #3: "xxxx xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Top Mega-Drive (TW) #4: "xxxx xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Game Champ (KR) #1992-12: "92/12" ()
also published in:

Game Champ (KR) #1993-02: "xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)^[7]
Game Champ (KR) #1993-04: "xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)^[8]

Print advert in Game Champ (KR) #1993-03: "xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Freak (IL) #10 (1993-xx-xx)

Print advert in Riki (SK) #1: "September 1994" (1994-09-01)

Patents

US5161803

Photo gallery

US model
JP model
DE model back
KR model
KR model back

Physical scans

Game Gear, JP (older)
Cover

Game Gear, JP (newer)
Cover

Game Gear, US
Cover
Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover

Game Gear, UK
Cover
Manual

Game Gear, PT
Cover
Manual

Game Gear, BR
Cover

Game Gear, KR
Cover

Game Gear, AS^†

External links

Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): Game Gear

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/gg/tuner.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-02-08 08:04)
↑ Mean Machines, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-27), page 15
↑ Sega Power, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-06), page 15
↑ ABC, "Ročník 37, 16" (CZ; 1993-04-24), page 31
↑ Sega Game Gear - Gry Komputerowe 5/1995 page 11
↑ https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=201103066743544441
↑ Game Champ, "xxxx" (KR; 199x-xx-xx), page 154
↑ Game Champ, "xxxx" (KR; 199x-xx-xx), page 148

Sega Game Gear
Topics	Sega Game Gear \| History \| Magazine articles \| Promotional material \| Merchandise
Hardware	Japan \| North America \| Western Europe \| Eastern Europe \| Asia \| South America \| Australasia \| Africa Wide Gear \| Fun Play 20-in-1
Add-ons	Pro Action Replay \| Game Genie \| X-Terminator \| Master Gear Converter (Gear Master \| Nuby Converter) \| Stereo FM Tuner \| TV Tuner
Cases	Carry-All \| Deluxe Carry-All Case \| Gear Bag \| Holster Case \| Standard Carrying Case \| Soft Case \| Third Party (Play & Carry Case)
Accessories	A/V Cable \| Battery Pack \| Car Adaptor \| Car Antenna \| Cleaning Gear \| Gear-to-Gear Cable \| PowerBack (Third Party) \| Screen Magnifier (Wide Gear \| Super Wide Gear \| Third-Party) Handy Gear \| Master Link Cable
Development Tools	Sega Game Gear Development Board

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20130208080438.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Ffb.2Fsegahard.2Fgg.2Ftuner.html-1] 1.0 ^1.1 http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/gg/tuner.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-02-08 08:04)

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_16.pdf_p15-2] Mean Machines, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-27), page 15

[:File:SegaPower_UK_28.pdf_p15-3] Sega Power, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-06), page 15

[:File:ABC_CZ_37-16.pdf_p31-4] ABC, "Ročník 37, 16" (CZ; 1993-04-24), page 31

[5] Sega Game Gear - Gry Komputerowe 5/1995 page 11

[https:.2F.2Fjglobal.jst.go.jp.2Fdetail.3FJGLOBAL_ID.3D201103066743544441-6] ttps://jglobal.jst.go.jp/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=201103066743544441

[:File:GameChamp_KR_1993-02.pdf_p154-7] Game Champ, "xxxx" (KR; 199x-xx-xx), page 154

[:File:GameChamp_KR_1993-04.pdf_p148-8] Game Champ, "xxxx" (KR; 199x-xx-xx), page 148

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@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 ==Hardware==
-The TV Tuner plugs into the Game Gear's [[cartridge]] slot, and has a mono A/V input. This means that if required, a VCR, camcorder or another video game console can be connected and played off the system - it essentially turns the Game Gear into standard 1990s-spec television. Some models have an extra port for an extra antenna (the [[Game Gear Car Antenna]] was the only official product to use it) - this port was removed in some variants because it served no purpose in many regions.
+The TV Tuner plugs into the Game Gear's [[cartridge]] slot, and has a mono A/V input. This means that if required, a VCR, camcorder, dvd player or another video game console can be connected and played off the system - it essentially turns the Game Gear into standard 1990s-spec television. Some models have an extra port for an extra antenna (the [[Game Gear Car Antenna]] was the only official product to use it) - this port was removed in some variants because it served no purpose in many regions.
 TV Tuners also differ depending on the television standard. For example, the US model uses NTSC, whereas the European model uses PAL. On top of this there are several different types of PAL - the United Kingdom for example uses PAL-I and so had a different TV Tuner to Germany. France and other countries using the SECAM standard are not thought to have officially received the TV Tuner.