Okay, well I think I've found the culprit with these "Media Controllers". It would seem that when the set is turned off, the RS-232 port goes dead, it no longer responds to valid or invalid commands with the correct response codes, hence it could never accept an "On" command.

Talk about horrible design and engineering, I recommend everyone think long and hard about purchasing these 2 Pioneer Plasma displays, or the 30" Sharp LCD unit as it uses the same MC.

I ended up disassembling the Plasma display and embedding an IR emitter into it to get the asthetics and control I need.

We should reward those Manufacturers who do things right and not those who do this sorta stuff.

Brad