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...Continued from Page 2.
It should be noted that there is very little that can be configured right on the remote. The setup menu (which can be accessed by pressing and holding the backlight button) has three screens with options to adjust the LCD’s contrast, enable or disable the beeper, adjust the backlight time out period from 1 to 60 seconds and enable or disable the tilt sensor. You may also lockout any program modifications, change the lockout password, enable "computer" or "learning" modes and, finally, clear the entire remote. To transfer files from a computer you must first enter the setup menu and enable the computer link, or if you wish to learn infrared codes through a PC, you must enable learning mode.
Included with the remote is the powerful yet intuitive PC editing software "TheaterTouch Designer" on CD-ROM, with which all changes to the remote are made. The package is divided into four separate sections. First, there’s the main application where you assign commands, bitmaps, macros and transfer files to or from the remote. Then there’s the "IR Library Manager" where you learn IR codes, the "Button Bitmap Editor" where you create libraries of small button icons, and the "Custom Button Editor" with which you create and define nearly-full-screen custom interfaces. So, the process seems simple: learn IR codes, create pages, arrange buttons, assign IR codes, edit macros, add custom bitmaps, download to remote. We’ll step through all of these in the order they would most likely be used.
IR Library Manager
Serial cable connector.
Click to enlarge. (24kb)
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The initial step any owner will want to take is entering their remote controls into the IR Library Manager. This package lets you create libraries of remote controls, sorted by brand, device and model number. Though the software comes with a sample library with several dozen components – and a lot of hidden "discrete" codes for those components – it’s unlikely that anyone’s system would be adequately covered. So, the first thing to do is connect the remote to the PC using the supplied six-foot serial cable. The remote’s end of the cable features an unusual three-pin connector that looks like it would be more at home on the inside of a PC than the outside. Though it provides a firm connection to the rear underside of the remote, with almost no chance of accidentally falling out, I feel the pins could be easily bent out of shape over time.
The T2 can learn a wide range of infrared frequencies from 15kHz to 460kHz, which covers high-frequency components from Bang & Olufsen and Vidikron. In addition, the TheaterTouch is the first remote I’ve seen to claim support of Sony VisionTouch receivers – though the T2 would likely not learn from that original remote, it includes codes for the STR-DA90ESG in the sample library. The T2 also supports pulsed IR codes as used by some cable boxes, which do not employ a carrier frequency.
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