Hi

Is there a universal remote control anywhere which is able to also receive and display information sent back from another device?
Let's say, I select a channel from my satellite receiver and it sends back some program information to my remote control.

Thanks
Tom

no

Tommi,
It's a great question. I'm sure we are not too far away from audio/video equipment that actually send info instead of only receiving. Having audio/video equipment that knows it's current state and then reacts to your intended setup is indeed the ulitmate. With the wireless technologies building steam like "bluetooth", I'm sure we are not too far away. It's fairly complex problem but can certainly be solved with todays technology. This takes a fair amount of software and hardware development. You can bet the audio/video companies are taking a hard look at this.

yeaman

Actually, such remotes do exist, but they come with the device in question, you can get general universal remotes that do this. Many high-end Sony receivers use remotes with LCD screens where the remote has a 2-way conversation with the receiver, so it knows how high the volume is, etc. Also, some CD jukeboxes have remotes that know what song is playing.

Rob

yeaman: I think discrete codes are better then two communication

Which discrete code could be used to display the title of a song currently playing on my remote control LCD?

discrete codes can not do that, but you don't need discrete codes for that. All you need is the info on the remote. look in the Pronto file section and you will see many configurations where you can pick a song on a multy disk player.

Gee, I never read that capability being in his question, or after. The way I saw it wasn't a remote that let you "pick" a function; but rather, a remote that received feedback from the device telling him what the device was doing. IE, a lot of cd players let you play tracks on a cd in random order. He wanted the cd player to display on the remote the titles of the tracks that the cd player was randomly playing. Anthony's post suggests that the user can pick tracks by titles, perhaps even the remote itself telling the cd player which tracks it's going to play (by title).

I think his satellite receiver mention in his first post was to display the "movie" or show description that DTV will display on the screen on his remote instead of on the TV's screen (Apparantly so tis info doesn't "clutter" the screen; but then to read the info off the remote would require taking your eys off the TV screen to read the stuff on the remote, which to me is worse than the temporary clutter on the screen.

Jim

James, there are a few remotes that kind of work that way.

The harmony and some other remote (can't remember what it is). The Harmony downloads the show listings, and by knowing on what channel you are on let's you know what show is playing. The other remote also had extra info (if I remember correctly).


But my comment was more along the lines that two way communications will always be limited, since all manufacturers will never agree, and that means you will never be able to get a two way universal remote. On the other hand if manufacturers do like Yamaha, that decided to add discrete codes for everything on their systems, you will be able to say I want audio to be at Xdb.....