I own an NEC Plasmasync 42MP1 monitor and have a Sony RM-AV3000 on order - I was getting a little concerned about discrete IR codes for the plasma (or lack-there-of) so I called NEC's tech support and was told discrete codes are not supported.

Anyone have experience with NEC? (I thought they were a pioneer in IR?). Also puzzled by the fact that a computer can address every little function of the monitor via RS232 - all hex codes are listed in the manual - stands to reason that IR should be able to address the same functions.

Any thoughts?

BTW - the pronto file section has a few CCF files that claim to work with current NEC plasmas & I don't believe NEC is a 'toad'. Should I have bucked-up for a Pronto?

I think NEC is correct - there is no support for discreet IR codes.
My solution (I had to control an NEC 61") was to build an IR to RS232 converter. Xantech makes one but it will only convert IR to ASCII code. A friend of mine is an EE and thought it would be easy enough to convert the ASCII to the Hex code which the NEC understands. We built it and it works great! We can control on, off, inputs, PIP functions, setup funtions, etc. I am thinking of marketing the device, only it will take IR and spit out Hex directly. Any interest out there?

Craig,

The cheapest solution to getting discrete codes into you remote is to buy one of the many One-For-All remotes that have a JP-1 connector an buy or make the PC to JP-1 cable.

I decoded the few files here at remote central and did find a discrete off command and therefore I suspect there is a Discrete On command. You might also closely look at the commands below under the OBC column. These are the true command codes in decimal. You might translate the command portion of the RS-232 commands from hex to decimal and see if there is any correlation. The EFC code is what OFA remotes understand. For now ignore the EFC's untill you start programming your OFA remote.


There are two device codes that your display responds to. NEC1 protocol device 24 and device 24.24

There are 27 commands below so that leaves another 485 possibiliies but since the groupings look pretty logical to me, I would seach the 24.24 device code for OBC's very near the Off command. I suspect that it may be the command below off. It's label was a Pronto symbol maybe someone else knows what that is.

If you want to pursue this route, start at Rob Crowe's excellent unofficial OFA website www.hifi-remote.com and it has links to everything you need to get started.

Also my German is a little rusty so I'll let you do the translation.

This may sound like alot of work but I will assure you that if you take the time you will be able to find any discrete codes that exist for just about any equipment.

The fact that NEC says they don't exist means nothing. Keep in mind that you can get into a service mode (I suspect that is what SVC is) and I If you change parameters that you don't understand people can turn purple. There is also the possibility that you hit some master reset that wipes out the EEPROM but since it has a serial connection I doubt that it is that fragile.



OBC EFC

NEC1:24

008 053 On / Off
009 057 SVC
010 055 Video
015 058 Display
030 246 sleep
070 166 Contr. +
071 170 Contr. -
072 037 Farbe +
073 041 Farbe -
074 039 Hell. +
075 043 Hell. -
076 036 Tint +
077 040 Tint +
078 038 Schärfe+
079 042 Schärfe-
088 229 RGB/PC

NEC1:24.24

028 244 DVD/HD
173 096 Wide / Format / Zoom
176 157 Up Arrow
177 161 Down Arrow
178 159 Left Arrow
179 163 Right Arrow
180 156 Menu
181 160 OK
192 173 Off
196 172 í
197 176 Exit

HTH & GL,

Jon


This message was edited by jarmstrong on 07/19/02 09:30.18.

Have you tried the discrete codes in my CCF (look under my name in the file section). The codes are for 42MP2, but they may work for your plasma too.