So the TV turned on by itself.

[noahpictures]

The wife, my six month old son and I were in the living room, the Tv turned on for a few seconds then turned off. The only remote was on the coffee table. As we were talking about how weird that was, it happened again and this time the TV stayed on.

What could cause this...and do I need to make a tin foil hat?

 

[Teppanyaki]

It's haunted! Seriously, the only things that come to mind would be a partially depressed button on the remote that sends signals as though it were being pressed (maybe press all of the power buttons and make sure that they "unpress" fully), or some kind of wiring issue. I'd think the former.

If that doesn't work, I have no idea and would probably Google it.

 

[Hinano_Paul]

Call TAPS from the Ghost Hunters TV show?

 

[Cacique]

What kind of TV do you have?

I just did a quick Google search and apparently some smart TVs it seems somewhat common. Some have had it fix itself after a firmware update and others had issues with the TVs wifi adapter. You should try calling the manufacturer and describing what happened, maybe it's a known bug.

 

[zygalski]

 

[Slash McCoy]

Its watching you.

 

[dlasavio]

It's probably just the NSA watching you...

 

[MrLara]

It's the Illuminati yo.

 

[captaincaveman]

What kind of TV do you have?

I just did a quick Google search and apparently some smart TVs it seems somewhat common. Some have had it fix itself after a firmware update and others had issues with the TVs wifi adapter. You should try calling the manufacturer and describing what happened, maybe it's a known bug.

Since you mentioned firmware updates: That behavior is exactly the sort of thing an embedded system will do in the process of installing a firmware update.

Other possibilities:
- Flaky remote, as an earlier post suggested.
- Flaky circuitry or button on the TV itself.
- Power fluctuations too small to notice in anything else but the TV is more sensitive to them.
- Spurious signal from other source received by TV's IR receiver.
- Neighbor pranking you with powerful remote.

Or...

 

[musicman1951]

I had a Sharp Aquos that would occasionally turn itself on. It was a particular pleasure when it happened in the middle of the night.

We would unplug it if we went away on vacation. I finally gave it to my son.

 

[August West]

Costas.

 

[Smb4]

We have a Kohler jacuzzi tub in the master bath that has a remote control. The tub turned on by itself at 2am. I turned it off and called Kohler later that day. I also turned it off at the breaker for for a while. Kohler sent out a new circuit board that I installed and it never happened again. (They had never heard of this happening, of course.)
i've read that heavy solar activity can sometimes set off sensitive electronics.
+1 on the NSA

 

[Bebe]

They're Heeeere!

 

[captaincaveman]

Good point on the solar activity thing. It can do weird stuff to electronics. A month or two ago there was some severe solar weather that erased all configurations from electronic card door lock systems at work and messed up a few network switches, I fixed the switches and luckily the contractor was already there installing a new card lock so he reconfigured the others that had lost their configurations.

http://spaceweather.com/

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

 

[hillbilly pick]

Good point on the solar activity thing. It can do weird stuff to electronics. A month or two ago there was some severe solar weather that erased all configurations from electronic card door lock systems at work and messed up a few network switches, I fixed the switches and luckily the contractor was already there installing a new card lock so he reconfigured the others that had lost their configurations.

http://spaceweather.com/

I am going to back this assessment. Just last Sunday my credit card magically had some large amounts charged. Coincidently, packages started showing up in the mail with stuff I've been wanting.

It had to be that solar weather!

 

[captaincaveman]

I am going to back this assessment. Just last Sunday my credit card magically had some large amounts charged. Coincidently, packages started showing up in the mail with stuff I've been wanting.

It had to be that solar weather!

Oh man, that happened to me on Thursday! I fear that a package may arrive on Monday.

Yeah, I "fear" that.

 

[Toothpick]

Costas.

It's so blatantly obvious!

 

[p0werslav3]

It's your neighbor with the same TV using his remote to F with you lol

 

[mrb7]

I had a Sharp Aquos that would occasionally turn itself on. It was a particular pleasure when it happened in the middle of the night.

We would unplug it if we went away on vacation. I finally gave it to my son.

I had a Motorola StarTac that would also turn itself on. One day it rang with an incoming call somewhere over the Midwest. The flight attendant and I had a nice chat. After that I would take the battery out rather than turn it off.