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Port Illumination Button

Add switchable LED illumination to the input/output port area
  (+3, -1)
(+3, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

Plugging things in around the back of a large flat screen TV or monitor etc. is a right pain. The sockets are usually oriented in an inconvenient way, it's dark and inconveniently close to a wall.

Getting in there with a light from your phone for example, often doesn't work either because you need one hand to tilt the TV, one hand to brace yourself against the wall, one hand for the cable - there isn't a spare hand available for the light.

So, the solution. Have an illuminated input output section. This can be very sophisticated, with illuminated text and outlines of each socket, or simply a reasonably bright white LED. Or, possibly, a UV LED and then fluorescent ports picked out in paint. This can be activated for a minute or so by a dedicated button, or, to reduce extra parts, simply every time the device is switched on.

There, now I wont have to tip a 60" TV on it's side simply to plug my laptop into the HDMI port.

bs0u0155, Sep 01 2020

Fngerless glove flashlight https://www.ebay.co...:g:cJ4AAOSwH4NZgkcZ
Useful [8th of 7, Sep 01 2020]

USB endoscope https://www.ebay.co...:g:zOkAAOSws95fBYuc
Typical entry-level device [8th of 7, Sep 01 2020]

[link]






       Why not simply position the device with the ports towards you ? Problem solved...
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       I sympathise, [bs]; my eyesight isn't what it was, either. [+]
pertinax, Sep 01 2020
  

       Then, with only a large mirror at 45 degrees, I can watch the TV just fine!
bs0u0155, Sep 01 2020
  

       Of course you can. "What could possibly go wrong ... ?"
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       Disappointed it's not an aftermarket addition to the drinks cabinet.
pocmloc, Sep 01 2020
  

       With flat screens getting increasingly larger I've wondered why the sockets aren't all positioned facing down such that one could easily see them without removing the thing from the wall. It's not like there's a shortage of available real estate on the case.
whatrock, Sep 01 2020
  

       I thought this might be an idea for turning a place like the Port of Rotterdam into a light show.
xenzag, Sep 01 2020
  

       // turning a place like the Port of Rotterdam into a light show. //   

       Prior Art - Luftwaffe, 1940.   

       The RAF later managed an even bigger light show at Hamburg.
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       //why the sockets aren't all positioned facing down//   

       They are, which would be great if I were facing up at them, this is difficult however what with the TV stand being in that position.   

       //leave the cable it plugged in to the back.//   

       I know, I know, buy a few more cables, it's on the list. In my defense there's been a surge in bs0 household demand for cables since the recent proliferation of working at home monitors and emergency workstation construction projects. Then there's the change in standards for the newer hi-res screens rendering some of the more established cables somewhat redundant.
bs0u0155, Sep 01 2020
  

       Surely each port on the back of your 60" TV should have a tiny embedded camera in it which can display on the TV screen a massive image of your hand holding the cable slowly approaching the port? The high-end model will display so that it looks like a spaceship docking procedure, accompanied by "2001: A Space Odyssey" music.
hippo, Sep 01 2020
  

       Baked. A thin glove with a USB endoscope glued to the knuckle of the index finger. Plug USB into phone, use image to guide item to target.
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       //A thin glove with a USB endoscope glued to the knuckle of the index finger// - I bet you've already got one of these...
hippo, Sep 01 2020
  

       Of course.
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       [8th of 7]; I thought you were just joking, but it turns out that USB endoscopes are actually a Thing. Cool!
neutrinos_shadow, Sep 01 2020
  

       // I thought you were just joking //   

       <Sound of Borg Collective not laughing, even a little bit/>
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       This isn't on a fingertip; it's further back, on the knuckle.   

       It uses a modified "glove flashlight" <link> as the basis, with the camera of the endoscope attached just alongside the LED mount on the index finger.   

       It works surprisingly well, but it's more a proof-of-concept than a marketable product. Extra elastic straps are useful around the forearm and upper arm to restrain the cable, otherwise it has a tendency to get tangled in confined spaces.   

       It took about five minutes to make, which includes half a minute mixing the epoxy and four minutes waiting for the epoxy to set.
8th of 7, Sep 01 2020
  

       //Prior Art - Luftwaffe, 1940// That was port elimination not illumination.
xenzag, Sep 02 2020
  

       "port illumination" is traditionally done with a lighthouse, so this device should really be in the form of a mini USB-powered lighthouse.
hippo, Sep 02 2020
  

       // elimination not illumination //   

       Something must have got lost in the translation.
8th of 7, Sep 02 2020
  

       Why not have the ports on the end of flexible or pivotable dongles?
RayfordSteele, Sep 02 2020
  
      
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