How to connect a dance mat to your TV

A TV-connected dance mat is a modern and popular gadget that is not only great entertainment for both children and adults, but an excellent way to improve physical fitness and overall well-being. Many consumers encounter difficulties when connecting it, however, if you follow the correct sequence of actions, it will not require much effort and will take very little time.

Connecting the dance mat

There are models of mats that can be connected:

• only to TV;
• only to the computer;
• to both devices.

The first of them is equipped with special connectors, the second with a USB cable, the third with both.

REFERENCE. In fact, any of these types can be connected to modern types of TVs. In order to connect the computer mat to the TV, VGA or HDMI cables are additionally used.

Power is supplied using a special nine-volt unit, which is connected to an outlet. If the connection is made through a computer, such a unit is not required, since the power comes from the device itself via a USB cable.

ATTENTION! It is not recommended to charge the mat from the USB input on the TV, this may lead to incorrect operation!

Which cable should I use?

As already mentioned, a three-color “tulip” cable is connected directly to the TV.Its other name is RCA or composite. The yellow connector is responsible for displaying video, the red connector is for audio from the right speaker, and the white connector is for the left speaker. They are connected to the sockets of the corresponding colors.

REFERENCE. On some devices, the video connector is half yellow and half green. Despite this, it also functions successfully in contact with the connector, just like the completely yellow one.

In addition, some models (for example, most Philips TVs) do not have such sockets; in this case, special adapters included in the kit are used.

Having inserted the connectors into the corresponding color sockets, all that remains is to connect the power supply. It is inserted into the socket on one side, and into the connector on the mat intended for it on the other. If the power supply is wireless, it connects to a special adapter and runs on batteries. Many wired units have red lights to indicate successful connection.

All that remains is to turn on the mat using the switch (usually there is also a special indicator on it) and switch the TV to AV mode.

Connection instructions

If you connect the mat to your TV via a computer, you will need to additionally install the Stepmania program. For this:

• insert the disc with the program into a CD-ROM or download it from the Internet;
• open the "autorun" or "setup" file;
• follow the installation instructions step by step;
• run the program;
• follow the path “Make a choice” - “Assigning keyboard/joystick keys”;
• on the left there are control buttons for player 1, on the right - for player 2. Using the arrows, move the cursor to the “Left” item;

• press ENTER key;
• step on the mat on the arrow pointing to the left;
• repeat the previous steps for all directions and both players.

ATTENTION! If you make a mistake, move the cursor to the appropriate cell and press the DEL button, then reassign the appropriate key.

In addition, you can assign two buttons for the same action, for example, movement to the left can be specified with both the arrow on the keyboard and the same arrow on the rug. In this case, if your mat is intended for one player, the second can act as a backup at the computer during the game to reduce the likelihood of error.