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Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Combadges
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- Опубліковано 14 сер 2024
- Starfleet's combadges are much more than stylish, wearable communicators.
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Correction, cell phones are shaped like communicators. The communicators were a direct inspiration for the inventors of the modern cell phone!
I think you mean that cell phones were inspired by Star Trek. The flip phones were communicators, and the Nokia phones were phasors. Don't forget about Ear Buds. They were also in Star Trek first.
@@davidsandy5917 said it backwards
@@davidsandy5917 so were tablets. Used extensively in TNG. In TOS, they were more like Etch-a-sketch.
@@davidsandy5917 I'm pretty sure earbuds were in spy movies first
Yep. Startac anyone? by Motorola? Ah, yes, I'm old.
Here's a little known fact about combadges: they're already being used in hospitals. I was in the ER about a month ago, and everyone had a little dongle on their shirt (on the left breast) they could tap and use to page other doctors *by voice*, opening a voice channel with them. *Exactly* the way they were used on TNG.
It's also used in retail. A similar system/concept that goes by "theatro".
@@metalbass5 though it isn't only a badge, the thing is wired to a small pack that you were on the belt or in a pocket, and usually also has an earpiece. Though it isn't a direct channel between two people, anything said is broadcast to anyone else who has these little radio devices on the same frequency.
One funny scene, regarding commbadges: on DS9's Trials and Tribble-ations, Sisko tries to communicate with Defiant by pressing the TOS era badge... then realizes he had to use the hand-communicator.
And Jadzia Dax (who's previous host, Curzon, was still alive at this point) gives him a heavy smirk for it, too.
@@MishraArtificer Imagine bringing your smart phone back in time, and realizing you'll either have to find a pay phone, or walk, or send a letter or something. Are kids still taught how to address an envelope, and what stamps are for?
Aaand they don’t use brainwaves for UT
@@LaikaLycanthrope Most I know are. But then again do I live in Germany and lots of things have to be sent physically signed in Burocracy Land.
When TNG was remastered in HD I noticed a neat little detail about Wesley's combadge that I'd not seen before. When he was first made an acting Ensign, the oval background of his combadge was silver, the same color as the arrowhead, rather than gold like those of the commissioned officers.
Well, another known fact for decades.
News to me.
I realized that fact after watching it, back in the 80s…
@@KatsuRyu Well, I had a very small, crappy TV in the 80's. So it's a recent revelation for me.
Yeah, it took HD for me to notice that too. That newer transfer they did for HD also did wonders for accurate colour rendering, like there’s no longer scenes where it looks like the command red uniforms are hot pink, which was one noticeable colour issue with the older broadcast/DVD version.
11. The Starfleet arrowhead design of the combadge is inspired by the arrowhead logo seen on the uniforms of The Original Series. That logo was actually exclusive to the Enterprise and her crew as a way to signify which ship you were from. When the Enterprise encountered other Starfleet ships, the logo on their uniform would be different than the arrowhead. Later, in the movies the chest insignia of the arrowhead was simply used for all Starfleet officers. Probably to cut down on the production costs of molding different insignia for different ships and the like. And it remained that way for the rest of the franchise.
It also could have been how ugly the other insignias were.
I think they're based on the "chevron".
This here, its what i was coming to say. Though i'd also add that the enterprise being the flagship of the federation, might have had some extra to do with why it became the standard federation symbol as well
I think the unanimity of the Enterprise's chevron design being adopted fleetwide, had more to do with the importance of not only the ship itself during the major formative years(not to be confused with the founding years, but formative as in when the already established system of The Federation/Starfleet began to grow into the model we would see as the definitive model in the future{TNG}, think turn of the 20th century USA for an equivalent time period) of The Federation, but to also honor the future legendary roster of officers assigned to said ship, and the grandeur and significance they would all gain and play in said years. Not only for the depths of the exploration they embarked upon, first contacts, universal mysteries solved, technologies that gained ubiquity from their usage, fields of science pioneered(think time travel), roles they played in galactic history and diplomacy and wars, etc etc, so on and so forth. TOS crew was very very monumental in the way The Federation would continue to grow and thrive during and after their respective time frames. No other ship or crew from that period up to TNG could boast of anything anywhere of similar importance. That's why the Enterprise's chevron was adopted fleetwide(out of universe and real life budget restraints not withstanding of course).
It was super adorable and touching in Prodigy when the characters are able to speak with one another for the first time after knowing each other for years when they find a com badge.
The insigna shape also comes from the TOS Enterprise. Back then each ship had its own insignia. The Enterprise exploits became so legendary that Starfleet as a whole adopted their symbol.
That was indeed the canon at one time. However I like the new canon, that the Delta/arrowhead shape insignia was used by Starfleet as a whole long before that; and their Flagship, Enterprise, simply was the only one using it (as a Flagship would) while mostly the Constitution-class fleet "experimented" for some years with the idea of personal ship emblems.
Combadges of the TNG era were also computers in their own right. They could perform basic functions such as calculations and could be used to interface with other computers to give the user an interface by which to operate a foreign device.
In a fanfic type story they even have an Artificial Intelligence program , much like the EMH Doctor and it states that it is a Starfleet combadge serial number,etc, how may I help you?
It’s my own personal headcannon that at some point after nemesis starfleet would also incorporate a self recharging emergency transporter into the design. We’ve never seen a Commbadge run out of power on screen, so it’s not unlikely that whatever power source they have could power a functional, if low range transporter. Though, I imagine if a ship or other structure were nearby it would first try tapping into their transporter if possible to save on recharging.
@@JulianTdama I often wondered why couldn't the com badges detect a harmful environment or medical distress and beam the person into sickbay and erect a level 5 force-field around them until the doctors determine it's safe.
@@warrensteel9954 because plot
I remembered from Startrek Enterprise that CMDR Hosi Soto invented the universal translator so I always figured that Uhura or some other great communications officer probably figured out how to shrink them and put them in the com badges.
Hoshi Sato.
So far... Every 18 months the capacity of electronics doubles. We are getting near the limit but you cell-phone has a billion transistors. Thinking of what it can do, what will it look like in two-hundred years.
@@davidsandy5917 Right now our tech is maybe a decade behind the stuff we see in trek. we have a basic universal translator now. it doesn't have the ability to self-learn new languages that I am aware of, but it is a speech-to-speech translation and it is smaller than the UT of Shatner trek. It likely could be included in a cell phone right now. all the Bluetooth devices are just a single network infrastructure away from working like comm badges. And we are closer to a Lore prototype than we really want to be. P.A.D.D.s have been here for decades, but we call them tablets. We have developed past the hand Communicator. We really haven't tried to make a tricorder likely because it would not be widely used by the masses only by certain fields and lets face it Society doesn't want to be Doctors or Engineers; they want to sit at the corner coffee shop drinking their Vuclan Mocha extra sweet. and write on how they should be the center of the universe. Everyone wants to be the Queen, but they lack the skillset and ability to be a drone let alone the Queen. at this rate our tech will look alot like what it does now but what our AI will develop after they realize we are their short coming will be Glorious
@@OldManYellsAtClouds Just what we needed: yet another reason why Sato was the best character in the series!
The highest rank she held over the entire series was lieutenant commander, and that shown in a biography screen in "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II".
Another point to mention is holographic Jack Crusher's uniform. In spite of being like the TOS movie era uniform, he wore a TNG era Com Badge. It's possible the Enterprise-C was given earlier access to the tech with the old design of the insignia to avoid raising eyebrows. After all, it did give a strategic advantage that's unknown to hostile forces.
I was just going to point this out but you beat me to it by 7 hours 😂 I too have always thought it was likely that Enterprise C could have been the first!
keep in mind that there is a potential three year window there to allow the transition there are also some references to the idea that the rectangular piece behind the delta shield was a short-range communication and tracking circuit that allowed them to get rid of the comm panels throughout the ship it wasn't a true comm badge as it only worked intership but it did use the delta shield's metalic form as an activation mechanism.
@@nickm9102 Essentially just a Bluetooth answer/end call button
@@LostSoulOfMars Well, until we found out Section 31 essentially called a 100 year long dibs on the technology.
@@LostSoulOfMars For a flagship of Starfleet, that means they'd (Enterprise C) also get first crack at top of the line tech - so it makes sense that they could have very well been the first public test-bed launch of combadges that will somehow become standard after their era. And as tech continues to evolve, so do the design as they get trickled down to the rest of the fleet.
Tom and B’Lanna interplexed their com units in their EV suits to create a carrier wave that Voyager could pick up
Gotta love when they make up or mix jargon to solve a problem in Trek.
@@Klektic1 that doesnt happen as much as you think. Most of the terminology is based in scientific fact. These shows actually have technical advisors to help make the terminology make sense with whatever it is. Like interplexing is a real thing. It has to do with radios and comm frequencies. Most commonly with headsets and speakers at fast food restaurants.
In TOS, the chest emblem was different for each ship and slightly different for each department aboard ship.
It's believed that the Enterprise insignia was adopted by Starfleet (after Kirk era) in respect of it surviving the five year missions (unlike the other eleven Constitution Class starships).
That was the fan theory, until Enterprise retconned the symbol. However, the Enterprise being the flagship, it makes as much sense for her crew to use the starfleet insignia, kind of like a privilege that the other ships weren't afforded.
In Star Trek: New Voyages - The final episode saw Kirk promoted to Admiral and Star Fleet honoring the Enterprise by adapting their ship symbol for the whole fleet.
@@ctjh423 unfortunately, that is a fan production and therefore not canon, even if based on unused Phase II scripts.
Spot on.
@@Caidoe_Esthov Exactly. And this memo destroyed many good ideas.
Umm, the UT doesn't scan brain waves. It literally listens to words being spoken and works out a translation, exactly the same as Hoshi Sato would do during a good portion of Enterprise.
And they weren't created "Shortly after the launch of the NX-01" either, there was actually a working prototype BEFORE the launch. Hoshi Sato used it and improved upon it.
Edit: Also, I think the Entreprise-C thing was just a mistake by the actor and they probably hoped no one would notice.
Excluding Janeway's description of the "universal translator" to the thawed "37s" she refers to the device "scanning brainwaves," there was no reference or mention of such a feature and is likely what they're using for this video
Yeah, it does. Kirk says so explicitly in Metamorphosis.
Cochrane: What's the theory behind this device?
Kirk: There are certain universal ideas and concepts common to all inteligent life. This device instantaneously compares the frequency of brainwave patterns, selects those ideas and concepts it recognizes, and then provides the necessary grammar.
Spock: Then it simply translates its findings into English.
- TOS Metamorphosis
I got a Bluetooth combadge about 15 years ago that connected to my Motorola RAZR.
I only got the RAZR because it looked like a communicator.
I've seen people adapting the communicator into a phone with the flip function to answer 🤭 gotta love Trek conventions
One of the original explanations behind the Starfleet Insignia's shape, is that it represents the power to speed ratio required for warp drive. The novel "Federation" explains it much better.
It's also part of why the Voyager episode Threshold was so bad: it violated a set-in-stone lore rule-you can't travel at Warp 10 because it would require infinite energy.
The imagery is also very reminiscent of the "Starship and sun" logo of the Empire in Asimov's Foundation series and the Terran Federation logo in Blake's 7
@@TR47 I remember the impossible warp 10 problem being that if you travelled at warp 10, you'd physically be in all space in the universe at the same time. Where did the infinite energy reason come from?
@@kanedaku It's the inverse of the same thing. By definition, warp 10 is 'infinite speed', (meaning that you would be in all places at once). Logically if speed is correlated with energy use (and it is) achieving infinite speed requires infinite energy.
@@basedeltazero714 So, you're saying that I can correctly quote Shakespeare saying "Yorrick, he was a friend of mine."
We are discussing a fictional plot point in a sci-fi series. I don't remember there being a plot point about unobtanium infinite energy, I remember there being a plot point saying it was impossible because physics; of it being impossible to be everywhere at once.
That is the difference.
The com badge for ST is left side, the com badge for bajorian is right side. You got them confused
she was sick at the time, but still she clearly did not look at it from the perspective of the one wearing it. The federation wears their over their heart like most insignia are worn.
The Bajoran's communication badges are on the right hand side not the left. Starfleet wears their badges on the left. If I'm wrong then I seriously messed up the placement of the tattoo on my chest 😂
In TOS, every ship had its own insignia displayed on the uniform shirt. The Federation simplified adopting the Enterprise insignia for everyone.
Also, in ST:TMP, communicators are embedded into a bracelet on the left wrist. These were an intended upgrade for the second TOS TV series that never happened but was salvaged for the movie.
In the TNG episode where Riker believes that he is the captain of the enterprise of the future the com badge is also used to indicate the rank of the officer. The badge had the iconic swoosh with 4 bars behind it (instead of the oval) the number of bars denoted what the rank was.
It also had markings on the bars to denote specific positions iirc.
Thank you for this! I've always wondered the history of combadges and when Starfleet finally introduced it to their people.
Excellent video, and very thorough. Only one tiny thing you forgot, and that is the belt buckle of the Starfleet uniform in Star Trek: The Motion Picture was meant to be a tracking device that also monitored the wearer's vital signs so that the ship could track the health and the movements of personnel away from the ship. This was clearly another precursor to the idea of the combadge.
The com badge was just an easy way to hide the communicator. Remember back in Kirk's time the first thing the enemy would take was the landing parties communicators.( also their phasers.)
But having a com badge, the crew members can also easily be found by the Captain if needed.
Also in _The Motion Picture_ the communicators were worn as a chunky band on their wrists instead of the handheld flip phones from TOS.
Was that "belt buckle " in ST:TMP ment also to be a personal atmospheric force field (similar to the "life belts " in the animated series, a force field that keeps in heat/oxygen and keeps out extreme cold, [seen in the first animated episode "Beyond the Farthest Star" (going from memory,,could be wrong about the episode title) and the "The Slaver Weapon "])?
I guess the idea of a atmospheric force field (with a "glow " around the characters) was thought of in the animated series to save time and money instead of animating new designs with the characters in space suits
@@danielreed3666 The black and silver belt buckle in TMP was a monitoring device so sick Bay could make occasional check ups on crew members. It's another mystery uniform item from that film. At least that's what I read in a Star Log magazine once.
I love this channel! I love how self-righteously I click every one of these thinking "I'll know these already" but I never know them all lol
Remember that in TOS each ship had its own logo, not everyone had the arrowhead one, which I personal like it more.
I always treat it as head-canon that every individual ship and command in Starfleet has not only their own badge design but also their own uniform design within general parameters set by Starfleet. That's why the uniforms change so much, why those stationed on the Enterprise wear a different uniform than those stationed on DS9. They're still starfleet, but you can tell at a glance where someone is stationed (and how cool their commanding officer is) by their uniform.
@@mitchhaelann9215 Well, this isn't just head-canon, but a thing in star trek lower decks.
The "Possible Future" commbadges mention, are actually used in Star Trek Prodigy, worn by Janeway on the Dauntless.
it just proves consistently inconsistent star trek is when it comes to uniforms.
Great video! I always enjoyed that scene in Yesterday’s Enterprise showing the TWOK insignia was used as the template for the first comm badge. I’d be remiss in my nitpicking duties if I didn’t mention the existence of the Future Imperfect/Parallels badge. It also doubled as rank insignia in Parallels.
That’s one combadge I’d like to see show up in STO.
One interesting note: If you read Star Trek the Motion Picture novel, Kirk had a communication device implanted in his brain. It was mentioned that this was not generally know because it was "creepy".
I imagine trans-humanism was a rare thing.
MaCoy did something similar in Spocks world but specifically for Vulcan and it didn't last.
Hey man, the bloody Mind Control Revolts of 2043-47 aren't to be joked about.
While I haven't seen those episodes yet, it makes sense that Section 31 would have combages well before everyone else, because it would give them a huge, tactical advantage. As for who came with with the design first, I think it's the simplest answer to a common problem, so pretty much every civilization invents it, once they reach a certain technology level.
Thanks for this informative video, Bree. Hope you feel better soon.
One correction: the “All Good Things” badges *have* been seen in the actual Primeverse. In Prodigy, the officers on board the Dauntless are wearing them (2383)
True, but there is a time travel element to Prodigy that may relegate everything to an alternate/erased timeline.
Only time will tell as the series starts back up.
that's not the primeverse, it has too much kurtzman-trek in it
@@NeoTechni - Paramount disagrees with you, and they are the arbiters of canon.
@@DJParticle don't care.
Regarding the badge time of use: like in many work places, and as was showen this week in ST Lower Decks (starbase 80)- newer tech trickle over time.
Loved this video because I honestly didn't know about half these and im watching Trek since the 90's.
Many thanks for the info. This vid should be used for "The Combadge Drinking Game" - one shot every time the word "combadge" is spoken.
*most (human) livers are incapable of processing that much recreational ethanol without exploding*
Your liver won't thank you 🤭 plus could you even finish the video 😂🤣
@@666styxxx666 true! 🤪
@@666styxxx666 *probably not*
Funny how you talk about Bajoran com badges being worn on the left, while showing Kira Nerys wearing it on the RIGHT
Your left as you look at them,kira was a rebel even among the bajorans 🤭
@@666styxxx666 that was not stated, what was stated was that the Bajoran's wear them on THEIR left, not our left
@@Nykona-Sharrowkyn 🤪I know I heard her I just interpreted it from the mirror universe mentality how else could despite visual evidence could the facts stated be so glaringly wrong
@@666styxxx666 because the writer's at Whatculture have a bad habit of these type of mistakes 🤣
@@Nykona-Sharrowkyn I know 🤣 they would be verbally ripped to shreds if they did that at S T conventions, heck we used to do that at pages bar ( long closed sci-fi/Star Trek themed bar) good natured of course 😁 sadly these days due to the fast paced turnaround of UA-cam videos facts walk while the narrator talks 🤭🖖
*always thought (and still do) that the combadges were seemingly incapable of detecting if they were being worn by an individual of simply discarded as a distraction for on board sensors or tracking...surely this would not be that difficult or complicated to do...i mean, this does take place in the future*
Having the badges detect if they're being worn by an individual wouldn't even be that difficult for us either. Put a heart rate sensor in them, they're really small now (about a cm), and problem solved. We can now program the badge to do a whole bunch of things if it doesn't detect a pulse.
@@refulgent_fanta *guess that would eliminate one layer of lazy script writing trope and the added distraction of individuals simply "vanishing" from the sensors...have they never heard of security cameras?...a starship should have thousands of them per deck and along the corridors...look how many there are in just ONE Los Vegas casino*
Just a note. Each ship pre next gen had their own logo and patch. Supposedly the logo for that Kirks enterprise used was chosen to represent all of starfleet as a mark of respect.
That was retroactively changed when Gene was working on TNG.
@@AndrewD8Red And seems to have been changed back to some extent with a lot of different types of commbadges that have popped up.
Part of it might be a technical thing with fitting everything into the badge itself, but we've seen situations more recently with different ships having different comm badges (and uniforms)
It wasn't changed during TNG, actually. Back during The Original Series in a memo from Bob Justman to William Theiss, Justman and Roddenberry pointed out a mistake Theiss had made during costume design by giving the U.S.S. Exeter its own unique insignia, apparently from misunderstanding the nature of the S.S. Antares from Charlie X. Officially, all officers from the *Starship Service* wear the "Flying Arrowhead" insignia, with each *Branch* of Starfleet having their own emblem instead of each ship. The Antares belonged to Starfleet's equivalent to the Merchant Marine, Starbase Officers wear the Evening Star Insignia, and Fleet Command Officers wear the Loop Insignia (such as Commodore Decker in "The Doomsday Machine"). Starfleet's own insignia was none of these: instead its that Boomerang Mark you see on the Secondary Body and Warp Nacelles of the Enterprise (which you will see in episodes like "Court Martial" and Episodes where a Starfleet Admiral is seen). In fact it's that Boomerang that Star Trek: Enterprise is referencing with its Starfleet Patch, not the Flying Arrowhead.
Watch the episode "The Doomsday Machine." This is a good example. Commodore Decker patch was not the Enterprise Delta Chevron. As far as the changes post TOS, it was probably just to maintain recognition of the symbol or laziness.
When they came out with flip phones I loved it since it made me feel like I had my very own Star Trek TOS communicator. Smart phones are great and all but don't exite me like when I got my first flip phone.
Haven’t watched this yet and already like it
Really good video! There were quite a few tidbits that I didn't know even though I've been watching Star Trek since TNG came on TV. 😁
The universal translator was run as a standalone program on the ship's computer and then transmits its translation to connected devices as far as I can remember, the combadges can do this on their own but they are much more limited.
Thank you very much for sharing those insights about Com Badge!
In TNG "Gold" (specifically earth gold) was the unique element in the badge that they used in an episode to find a member of the crew...don't remember which one or who but I remember the situation...
Data also used it as currency in Times Arrow (may be the wrong title)
Gold is worthless in the TNG/DS9 era because it can be replicated; It's still viewed as a symbol of wealth/prestige despite this.
I remember the Feringi, "Looks like gold. Tastes like gold." Riker "That is because it is gold."
Hope you get over that cold and feel better soon
5:38 - The Bajorans keep their combadges on the **right** side of their chests, while Starfleet personnel put it on the left side.
I’m going to get nit picky for a second, com badges were on the left side of a star fleet officer as we are not looking at a reflection.
Let's get this clear. 90% of humans are right-handed. That is why we wear watches on the left hand, wear guns on our right hip or our left shoulder. It is just common because it favors our more articulate hand. Even your computer mouse favors the left click (your index finger on the right hand). If there is an alien species that prefers their left hand, things would be reversed. On the other hand, maybe it wasn't that well thought out. Is the question really all that important?
@@davidsandy5917 haha not a question was just correcting her comment that said starfleet com badges were on the right side.
The Enterprise-C insignias I put down to being a very first generation of that communicator (even if it was just a goof on the prod. team's part), I think it would have worked better if they'd used a uniform style akin to the spine-crushing spandex types as per the early TNG uniforms but with that badge style to indicate they were from many years in the past, but still close enough to be "more modern" in comparison to the late TOS-era movies... :)
They went with the movie uniforms to make the C crew look old fashioned and more distinct from the D crew, so it was visually easier to recognise. There were still a lot of background actors wearing the original spandex uniforms in early tng so it didn't look "pre-series" enough. Same reasoning I think with Jack Crusher in the holo message.
The combadges are also made of gold. Data traded his combadge as money in a time travel scene to the early 1800s in a game of poker.
IF I recall correctly, it was stated that they are made out of gold to mimic that the federation had no longer use for real currency (at least for their memberworlds) and thus Gold has become obsolete , but still services as a great conductor.
Data only ackowledges there is gold in them, after being asked by the other players multiple times. It certainly would be true, but he didn't regard it as important. It might just be a gold plating for design purpose, and Data merly *accepts* that the gold is the important part for the badge to be accetpted as a valuable.
In one of the first ferengi episodes, where both ships get caught by an old outpost, they beam down and the Ferengi attack the away team and they mention that the combadge tastes like gold.
somebody dont know left from right lol 5:38
I remember one of the (non-canon) voyager novels had a point where Janeway actually started talking directly to a combadge to access the small computer inside it.
You forgot that Combadges are made of pure gold
Bluetooth before Bluetooth
How come Data and the rest of the Enterprise were not bluetooth-compatible. We gave up our 'isolinear chips', the humble usb dongle, long ago. :P
Bluetooth was nothing new in TOS. Remember Uhura's Ear Buds?
Bluetooth was actually invented during WWII by a woman.
I’m here for the Space Force shade.
Thank you Brie. Nice list. I hope you feel better soon.
It wouldn’t surprise me if combadges from Enterprise C were intra-ship communication only.
This was a great video, thank you.
very cool! love all aspects of trek and it's design. I designed a comm badge look like ring
I mean, modern devices with wireless antennas all have a unique device address, so it’s entirely possible for the ship’s “wifi” to read which combadges are on a certain deck/section.
I've watched Yesterday's Enterprise a hundred times and never really noticed the com badge on Lt. Castillo
It looks like on the Enterprise-C, only the Captain or Acting Captain wore one, since none of the other crew had one.
The Altered Future Combadge design reappeared in Star Trek: Prodigy where Admiral Janeway and the crew of the USS Dauntless are seen wearing them.
I never understood when someone uses their own badge and says "one to beam up", someone else in the room gets beamed up. How does the transporter know who to beam?
Inherited door sensor tech.
~Loved this episode... com badges were one of my favorite additions on TNG!
point of clarification.. the combadge Universal Translator does not tap into brainwaves. It translates in real-time. While not shown in the shows, the reaction time of the UT can be delayed and cause a small echo.
In one DS9 episode, it's shown that spoken word is actually needed to build the translation profile when they could not talk to the Skreea until the guests spoke more.
When they found the archival video of Jack Crusher and showed it to Wesley, Jack was wearing an old red uniform with a TNG combadge (perhaps a prop error but still...)
Great video.
About future com badges, did you forget the com badges from the TNG episode “Future Imperfect”?
Only the arrow head with stripes behind it, showing the officer’s rank?
Riker was captain of the Enterprise, suffering from altear disease, what resulted in memory loss, all the way to the day of the infection. Admiral Picard.
How did people hear sounds/incoming communications through the combadges? There didn't ever really seem to be a 'speaker' for the combadge to broadcast incoming communication, i.e. from the orbiting starship to away team people down below on a planet or elsewhere,.. ??
Ya'll totally forgot about the wrist communicator used during the "Motion Picture"!!
Com badges were used in TOS S3 Ep 13 by the Scalosians
mt favorite transport lock, was when they used a skeletal lock to detect the person and beam him up. And I belive it was on voyager, and janeway said, well thats a new one for the books.
Something I was wondering about just last night, do communicators keep a list of contacts like our modern phones based on ones rank and position?
When someone used their commbadge, they usually call by name and rank, ie "Picard to Commander Riker". Sometimes rank is dropped, "Picard to Riker". What if Thomas stayed onboard? Would computer get all touchy and "please specify Thomas or Will"? If Kim got the nerve to call one the Delaney sisters, computer might ask which sister he wants?
In those cases you would simply state the name of the person you wanted as for the contact information that is done by the computer, imagine your asking Google/Alexa/cortana to call a contact ( if connected to your phone)
It probably would ask to specify if there was any ambiguity about who's being addressed.
Not sure about being canon, but there are wall panels in STO detailing ship / station emergency procedures
One of them is to activate a distress beacon function by rapidly triple-tapping the combadge, which seems like a pretty sensible feature!
Did not mention that they also act as general locators within a ship or station, and whenever you ask the computer where person X is, it will automatically pull-up the location of the combadge registered to that person for a very quick return. Assuming the individual is still wearing their combadge.
Great list, and I learned several new things! Brie, I hope you're feeling all better by now. You sounded great to me! 👍🏼
I hate when they start talking before hitting their comm badges 😭😭 lol 🤣
I freakin Love that lower decks style avatar!
Combadges are magnetic. In an episode of DS9, when Lt. Cmdr. Eggington defected to the Maquis, he put his combadge on the station's bulkhead as he boarded a Vulcan freighter.
@10:08 "Captain " Grudge!!!!🐱🐈
Best thing about Star Trek:Discovery
Liked the fact that the Maine Coon Cat activated the screen!!🐈🐱
5:38 Left, the new Right "and the Bajorans kept them on the left side of their chests the side opposite of where Starfleet Comm-badges go"
I mean...they're literally designed around the concept of communication, so it seems fairly obvious the way they're used to assist in transporting. As already mentioned, ships systems can track the badges locally, it stands to reason that scanners can do so at range, and so all that culminates in the obvious conclusion that the transporter systems can easily scan for and lock on to the badges as a function of their intended design....
I thought you'd have brought up the precious-metal content. In the episode where Data got stuck in the past, he wagered the gold content in his badge to get into a poker game so he could win enough money to get by. In an emergency, the badges could easily by bartered with a less-advanced pre-replicator culture . Time travel, stranded in an uncharted system, etc.
bajorans wear their badges on the left where starfleet wears their on the right...
No... It is the other way around.
at least I'm not the only one who noticed that!
Why would they have her read wrong information then show a clip of the right one, strange
It depends on the certain point of view of the viewer
I have been carrying a communication device at work for the past 5 years, not as compact as a comms badge, but in addition to voice communications, it receives and transmits text messages, has live tracking information that can be monitored by the office, the tracking information is stored, so they can go back at any time to see where an officer was at any given time. There is an alarm system that if an officer gets into trouble and the alarm is triggered emergency help will be sent, and the office can listen in remotely on events occurring.
If only the universal translater function were available, I would be able to understand one of my colleagues and the transporter function would make getting to complaints so much easier, maybe the next iteration will have these functions included.
Ah yes, the APX series!
They can also be configured to generate a personal force-field.
So, if I missed this, sorry, but what is the power source?
I think the badge in Voyager End Game is the same variation that "Picard" uses for their Communicator. It may be slightly different similar to the Original Star Trek had different insignia's based on the ship.
Wow. That’s a lot of data on combadges-thanks and get well.
Get well Brie.
As always, thank you so very much for the video.
My favourite fact is that in early tng Wesley wears an all silver comm badge, maybethe intention was this was for civilian personel on startfleet ships/stations, and I wish they'd run with that more. Also I do love the black s31 badges and it fits they had experimental tech first, they're larger than tng ones and probably had fewer features like in built translators? But probably the designs were lost when s31 was decimated by control.
Is it possible that the enterprise C com badges were a first generation version, maybe it was more like a bluetooth and just linked into the closest communicator? While onboard it links to the internal com system, but you might still need to take a communicator with you on away missions. Just makes it hands free.
According to the TNG Technical Manual the habit of tapping the combadge is a redundant act as the badges actively listens. Kind of like a 24th century "Hey SIri"
Don't forget the wrist communicators used for a time in the 2270s, as seen in The Motion Picture.
In the defence of Ash Tyler's combadge, it's easy to believe they're no where near as robust or versatile as flip up communicators. This includes range, universal translator limitations, power supply limitations, fragility, you name it.
It's like the flip up communicator is smart phone, but Section 31's combadge is the old style flip up phone that's just a simple phone in terms of capabilities with the only real frill being speed dial.
The "possible future" com badges appeared in Prodigy
one thing i didn't know about combadges :D great video though haha
6:56 Former USAF officer here...sadly, the Space Force logo is definitely just the old Air Force Space Command Logo spruced up a bit. Space Force guardians probably won’t be getting their own Ghosts, either....
I wear the space command patch on my jacket have done since the late 80's
I am glad that someone else noticed that potential combadge miscue in Yesterday's Enterprise.
However, since the era between the TOS movies and the TNG series is still a bit of a mystery, it is uncertain if they did make combadges more widespread in that era of Starfleet.
I happen to have a Star Trek the Next Generation com-badge that I have ordered many years ago, it looks like the real thing too, 14 karat gold and sterling silver. Of course it doesn't do anything it just looks very decorative.
Enjoy every video you make
Great video, although I think Prodigy is using that “All Good Things” (etc) possible future combadge design for the crew of the Dauntless.
of course it's easier to lock onto a comm badge than it is to lock onto a person when there's interference... The comm badge actually broadcasts a signal with an established communications protocol. It's just like how it's easier to pick up a digital signal when there is interference.
Fascinating...
You did a great job properly trying to make sense of many of the problems with the comm badges that were oftentimes entirely made up along the way for plot contrivances since Berman & Braga worked on TNG. However, there is one point I would like to make about your speculation as to whether the Federation first created them, or whether they were created by some other civilization within the Star Trek Universe. Technology -- like maths and physics -- is universally the same regardless of what race tried to figure it out. While there might be some copying and thanks to espionage (Spock said it best in "The Enterprise Incident": " Military secrets are the most fleeting of all."), remember, a wheel will always be round...