MCE remote pass-through? (1 Viewer)

[Bjarredsbon]

Hey,

First I admit - I have not tried this out before asking. Please have patience the answer is known...

I have a MCE remote and it is working just fine in MP. My question is how the IR transmitter works (I have not plugged it in yet).

I understand that MP can control the transmitter, to control other devices (like receiver or tuner or whatever).

My question is if is possible to have the IR receiver/transmitter to work in a relay/bridge mode, where all incoming sequences not understood by MP is re-transmitted automatically? If so, it would enable me to only have one IR eye viewable and all other devices hidden in a cabinet or likewise.

And again, sorry if I should know the answer already...

/Peter

 

[and-81]

Using some of the plugins and applications that are about you could do this, but not in a strict pass-through mode.

You could have it recognise remote buttons to "pass through" and use that to trigger a re-transmit of the code.

But the pass-through idea is novel. I'll look into it.

In the meantime, maybe try MCE Replacement Plugin or IR Server Suite. Or more generally HIP or Girder.

Cheers,

 

[elvill]

So Aaron have you given the pass through function any more thought? It would really be great having such a function just blasting whatever it receives without any configuration.

 

[and-81]

I have looked into it. And I do like the idea.

So ...

The MCE Receiver box has two receivers built into it. One is for long distance (general remote button receiving), one is for short distance (learning ir commands).

The difference between the two, aside from the obvious, is that the long distance receiver doesn't detect the IR carrier frequency. The short distance receiver does. Also, the long distance receiver is not as accurate in it's detection of the timing of the ir signal.

Any pass-through function (if it was only passthrough, no interpreting of the signal) would not be able to duplicate the carrier frequency, which would make it unreliable... how unreliable? well that depends on the device it would be blasting to. Most devices don't seem to care too much about the carrier frequency, as long as it's in the ball park.

The other problem is that the margin of error in the signal detection would be repeated in the re-transmission and might be enough to make the signal unrecognisable to the final receiver. I don't know how much inaccuracy this would introduce...

So basically, yes, I could make a program to work as a repeater... with a little bit of mucking around I could even make it interpret a few different protocols and tune the output carrier frequency based on the known frequency for the protocol. This would improve the accuracy. If I was really keen I could make it correct the time coding in the signal by interpreting the protocol and adjusting the input signal to the correct pulse widths, which would take of the signal timing accuracy problem I described above...

Now, the real problem is that I can't make this work with my existing plugins and applications without a massive code re-write... All my code works on the principal of decoding the signal and dealing with the decoded signal data.

I will try to keep the pass-through idea in mind whenever I'm working on the code so that if I see opportunities to implement it I will try to make it happen, but I don't know when it will ever happen ... Sorry.

I could on the other hand write a standalone application that would do it ... but it would not be compatible with any of the other software I've written ... though it would probably co-exist with MediaPortal's built in MCE remote handling because it uses the HID method of reading the button presses...

Would that be worth doing, for you?

Cheers,

 

[elvill]

Hello aaron

I see there is a lot i don't know and had no idea this implementation was not possible in your current code.

The implementation with the built inn MCE would be good enough for me. I use a harmony remote which does all the macros and my only problem is the placement and reception of my AVR. A simple repeater function would solve my problem.

I would love for such a possibility but that might be a lot of work for you, for few users taking advantage of.

Either way thanks a lot for your rapid reply, you are surly doing a great job making media portal even better.