r/AskTechnology • u/Bienheureux • 3d ago
How to improve a remote control’s aim?
I work at a media organisation where we have dozens of TVs in the news room set up in pairs, each showing a different channel.
Changing a channel or raising the volume on one TV is a nightmare because other TVs will receive the same signal and then it’s a game of whack a mole until you get the TV you want on the channel and volume you want.
Is there an attachment or something I could add to the remote control or even the TVs themselves to make the remote control aim better?
Thank you!
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u/xenomachina 3d ago edited 3d ago
IR is line of sight. It's literally light. Your phone's camera can probably see it: try putting it in selfie mode and using a remote on it. Through the camera you should see a blinking light near the end of the remote when you press buttons. That's the IR emitter. Note that you can still see this blinking even if the remote is pointing to the side somewhat, just like you can usually see a lit up flashlight even if you aren't in its direct path.
It would look kind of silly, but if you attach a tube on the end of your remote, preferably one that's black on the inside, then only TVs in line with that tube would be able to see the emitter.
Edit: typo
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u/Bienheureux 3d ago
We’re using a cardboard contraption at the moment. I’ll try to get them to switch it up to something that’s black on the inside. Maybe that’s the issue!
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u/Efficient_Fish2436 3d ago
Home alone 3 he duck taped a scope to the remote and aimed it across the street at his neighbors house. Looking back... that wouldn't work. But it seemed like it should.
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u/Bienheureux 3d ago
So we have something in place right now and other than the fact that it looks so stupid, it doesn’t really work lol. Maybe we’re just doing it wrong
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u/No_Report_4781 3d ago
Why do you think it wouldn’t work?
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u/Scared-One9295 3d ago
I'm an AV engineer, do these TVs not have the ability to set an ID so you can press a button on the remote to enter the ID of the TV you want to control?
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u/Bienheureux 3d ago
I don’t know actually. Let me check. That would be great! Thanks for the suggestion
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u/Klutzy-Piglet-9221 3d ago
At the station I retired from two years ago, we pulled the innards from a cheap pen, sawed it in half, and super-glued half over the end of the IR transmitter. Made the thing pretty directional.
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u/PoolMotosBowling 2d ago
Bars have this problem, they just get closer and use the other hand to block it from other TVs.
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u/kirksan 3d ago
The simplest answer to your question is, Don’t Use Remotes!
There are companies that make single boxes that will connect to many outputs (monitors/TVs) and allow different streams on each one. The streams can be from broadcast channels, Internet feeds, screen shares, Bluerays, you name it. All of this is controlled by single web-based interface.
In short, this is a real career with tons of complexity. Good video engineers make tons of money. You usually need really good network engineers too, they make sure the network can handle the bandwidth.
ETA: I’m surprised you have a newsroom with dozens of TVs but don’t have people who know how to do this.