Place a learning remote in accessory A/V equipment. Program the accessory to walk through a script of actions when the device is turned on. Imbedded in a VCR, DVD or game console, the device could turn on the television, change the channel to 3 (or 4, or flip the television to an auxiliary input) and turn on the surround sound processor - all with the flip of one switch.

Since there's a good chance the accessory device in question won't be pointing at the television, a high-power IR transmitter will probably be necessary.
-- phoenix, Oct 07 2003

PocketPC based universal remote http://www.automate...614147f5b4e54c4f600
Cheezy looking UI and I don't know if it can execute scripts but it looks like it's feasible. [bristolz]

Philips Pronto http://www.pronto.philips.com/
Fully customisable LCD touch screen universal remote. Nice gadget. [bristolz, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Philips Pronto http://www.pronto.philips.com/
Fully customisable LCD touch screen universal remote. Nice gadget. [hazel, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

A Related (But Different) Thought http://www.halfbake.../idea/IR_20RC_20API
Would certainly help with scripting. [DrCurry, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Kinda baked. If you buy all your accessories from one vendor like Sony or Mitsubishi, they have proprietary connectors on the back that let the devices "talk" to one another. Some are smart enough to, for instance, automatically turn the TV on when you put in a DVD.

Some vendors build this into the remote for the accessory device. The remote for my Pioneer receiver can operate all the other equipment, and can be programmed with macros to (for instance) turn things on together.
-- krelnik, Oct 07 2003


Yes. [krelnik] but they don't allow *script* execution. This'd be really good for things like a video camera where you could store prefs in the remote, as a script, that set the camera up, setting manual/auto exposure, interlaced/progressive, shutter speed, image stabilization, ND on/off, etc.

An IR blaster attachment to a PocketPC might be interesting. Probably exists.
-- bristolz, Oct 07 2003


//IR blaster attachment...//
There was a company selling one that went in those expansion slots the early Handsprings had.
-- krelnik, Oct 07 2003


If you get a Philips Pronto [link] you can not only customise the LCD touch screen to have whatever layout of keys you want for each of your AV units, but you can also program in macros to execute a set of commands eg to turn TV on, switch to the VCR channel, play VCR and turn on surround sound all under "play video".

Interestingly you can buy IR activated motors for curtains and for dimmer switches so boys could set up a "laydeez" macro in which the curtains close, the lights dim and the Barry White CD starts playing. I'm not convinced this is A Good Thing myself.
-- hazel, Oct 07 2003


[hazel] Thanks for the link. Sorry it's taken me so long to revisit this idea. That's exactly what I was thinking of, built into the accessory device(s). That sounds silly in retrospect, but I was thinking about launching the process from the accessory itself.
-- phoenix, Jun 25 2004



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