http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/ Engadget Comments for HD 101: Discrete IR codes http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/
A discrete code is nothing more than a regular code that the device reacts differently to. The device does the same thing every time when a "discrete" code is sent. OFF = OFF, ON = ON, EJECT = EJECT, etc., etc., etc.]]>Feb 5th 2009 2:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/
Did you miss the "101" part of the article headline?

"A beginning-level or basic course number taught at colleges and universities in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States. An example would be English 101, which may be a remedial English."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_(number)]]>Feb 5th 2009 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 2:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 2:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 2:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 4:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 8:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 11th 2009 11:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/the beast: http://z.about.com/d/hometheater/1/0/r/W/705remote-900.jpg

Does anyone know of a PC program (preferably open source) that will allow me to control my devices that use RS232 and LAN control? I want to put a PC in my living room and hook up the devices to it. ]]>Feb 5th 2009 4:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 5th 2009 4:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums and http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload.php. Even if you have some other remote, the info here is transferable in many cases. Uses a downloadable Excel template called keymap-master to display codes.]]>Feb 5th 2009 5:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 3:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/
By the way, it's discrete, not discreet. Discrete means single. Discreet means it won't tell your wife about that hooker you had on your arm last night at the hotel.]]>Feb 7th 2009 1:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Dont get me wrong, I LOVE discreet codes, I just understand that there are always tradeoffs and reasons behind the decisions that companies like VIZIO make.
What I want is BT as the default means of remote control. Its 2 way, and its also UNLICENSED when it comes to control codes. Manufactures would be free to include ANY command they wanted to. Yes, the additional cost to add BT would be MUCH higher compared to IR, but economies of scale would quickly bring that down. ]]>Feb 6th 2009 8:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 1:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/
There are plenty of reasons not to buy Vizio other than the lack of discrete IR commands, the video processing is also garbage.]]>Feb 6th 2009 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 1:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 2:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 2:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 3:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 6:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 6:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 6th 2009 9:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/
I thought I would at my $0.02:

1. Some manufacturers share codes, so if you can not find discrete codes for a device, you may be able to do some research and find compatible devices. One example is Marantz and Yamaha most of their DVD players use interchangeable commands.

2. Sometimes you can use a trick to get around lack of discrete codes. Many DVD players for example may not have discrete power commands. But most of them reply to pressing PLAY by turning on even if they are in an off state. So instead of using Power command to turn the DVD player on, we use the PLAY command (followed by a STOP command if you want to stop the DVD from actually playing). And we can use a combo of PLAY + POWER (On then OFF) to form a faux discrete OFF command.

3. Some better (read more expensive) remote offer a pretty god way of getting around lack of discrete codes. They use "variables" or "flags". These keep track of what state a product is in by remembering if a certain command has been issues yet or not. So for example, if a TV does not have a discrete on/off command, the remote uses a variable to remember if a power command has been issued and will set the state of the TV as being ON. So when creating macros, you refer to this variable to see if a command should be issue or not based on the status of that variable. So for example if the power command has been issued inside a SYSTEM ON macro, if will then ignore any power commands for that TV if the TV state is ON. If you then want to create a macro that includes the TV being turned of, you would basically say if TV=ON, then issue Power command.

Of course this is by no means full proof. This assumes that at the starting point the system is in an OFF state. If the user turns devices on or off manually and then grabs the remote, the variables will be set out of phase and you have the same mess on your hands. We usually instruct clients to turn everything off and start over again if they get into a jam. It's not pretty, but it works.

And of course we do our best to not install devices w/o discrete codes...]]>Feb 11th 2009 5:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/
OH, and as ernie said above it's "discrete" not "discreet." Actually may be that's what Vizio has! Discreet codes. They are keeping them a secret. No one knows about them... ;-)]]>Feb 11th 2009 5:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Feb 26th 2009 1:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/hd-101-discrete-ir-codes/Mar 24th 2009 12:47PM