Universal Remote Controls

A universal remote is a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of consumer electronics devices. Low-end universal remotes can only control a set number of devices determined by their manufacturer, while mid- and high-end universal remotes allow the user to program in new control codes to the remote. Many remotes sold with various electronic devices include universal remote capabilities for other types of devices, which allow the remote to control other devices beyond the device it came with. For example, a VCR remote may be programmed to operate various brands of televisions. The first universal remote was introduced by Philips through Magnavox. In 1987, the first programmable universal remote control was released. Most universal remotes share a number of basic design elements, i.e. a power button, as well as a switch or series of buttons to select which device the remote is controlling at the moment. A higher-end remotes has numerous other features, e.g. macro programming, allowing the user to program command sequences to be sent with one button press, programmable soft keys, allowing user-defined functions and macros, aliases or punch-throughs, which allow multiple devices to be accessed without changing device modes (for example, using the TV's volume control while the remote is still in DVD-player mode, IR code learning, allowing the remote to be programmed to control new devices not already in its code list and PC configuration, allowing the remote to be connected to a computer for easy setup.  Some universal remotes have the ability to also make phone calls replacing your home phone in that room. Repeaters are also available that can extend the range of a remote control; some remotes are designed to communicate with a dedicated repeater over RF, removing the line-of-sight requirement of IR repeaters, while others accept infrared signals from any remote and transmit them to the device being controlled. Some universal remotes allow the code lists programmed into the remote to be updated to support new brands or models of devices not currently supported by the remote. Some lower end universal remotes accomplish this by allowing audible signals to be sent over a telephone to a receiver on the remote. If the remote user calls customer service, an operator can have the caller place the remote next to the phone's speaker and then send a signal over the telephone to upgrade the remote for any requested new brand of model of supported device type. The unique and fancier models allow codes to upgraded by connecting the remote to a personal computer. IR learning remotes can learn the code for any button on many other IR remote controls. This functionality allows the remote to learn functions not supported by default for a particular device, making it sometimes possible to control devices that the remote was not originally designed to control. A drawback of this approach is that the learning remote needs a functioning teaching remote. The touch screen remotes feature an LCD screen that can be either monochrome or full color. Some models have multiple screens that are accessed through buttons on the touch-screen and other models have a combination of the touch-screen and "hard" (traditional) buttons. Some models of the touch-screen remotes are programmed using a graphical interface program on a PC, which allows the user to customize the screens, backgrounds, buttons and even the 'actions' the buttons perform.