We recently upgraded our TV, AV receiver and DVD player to Sony components that all support "Theater Sync", Sony's name for HDMI-CEC (Consumer Electronic Control). Not expecting much, I enabled "HDMI Control" in all these devices, and was pleasantly surprised to discover it actually works very well.
THE THEORY -
HDMI-CEC allows HDMI-connected components to send control signals to each other, for power on/off, input selection, and such. The HDMI standard defines specific capabilities, so this is supposed to work across different brands. The Sony components we have support:
1. "One Touch Play" - Selecting one component, like loading a DVD and pressing play, will turn on all the other components (AV receiver and TV) and configure the appropriate inputs on everything so the DVD appears on the TV, and the sound comes out the AV receiver.
2. "System Audio Control" - If you turn the TV on, the AV receiver is also turned on, the TV speakers are turned off, and the audio comes through the AV system. If you turn the receiver off, the TV speakers are turned back on.
3. "System Power" - turning the TV on or off turns the connected components on or off as well.
THE REALITY -
Our setup works exactly as described above, with no other work involved other than just enabling HDMI control! Most functions can be controlled using just the TV remote (which is much less complicated and has many fewer buttons than the receiver remote).
Note in the description below that the DVD player HDMI output is connected to the receiver "DVD" input, and the receiver HDMI output is connected to the TV HDMI input. There are both optical and RCA cables connecting the TV audio output to the receivers "TV" audio inputs. The receiver can auto select between the optical and RCA audio inputs.
To watch TV, just hit the power button on the TV remote. The TV turns on, the AV receiver turns on, the TV input on the receiver is selected, and the speakers on the TV are turned off. The volume and mute buttons on the TV remote control the volume on the AV receiver. When you turn the TV off, the receiver turns off too.
To watch a DVD, put a DVD in the player and hit the play button. The TV and receiver turn on (if not already on), the DVD input on the receiver is selected, and the DVD appears on the TV while the sound comes from the receiver. If, while the DVD is playing, you select a TV channel on the TV remote, everything switches back to TV. To go back to the DVD you can either use the "input" button on the TV remote to select DVD, or hit the play button on the DVD remote, and everything switches back to DVD. For either TV or DVD, the volume and mute buttons on the TV remote control the audio. Hit the off button on the TV remote and everything turns off.
The only analog component in the system is the (non-HD) Tivo box. It is connected to the TV via S-Video and RCA audio cables. The TV remote is used for input switching, so to watch Tivo merely requires using the input button on the TV remote to switch from TV to DVR. Unfortunately since the TIVO isn't HDMI connected the TV remote cannot change the Tivo channels. At the moment it is actually easier to just use 2 remotes (TV and Tivo) than to mess around with a universal.
That's it. Everything just worked right out of the box. After I set the system up my wife started using it without any explanations or training sessions, I wasn't even home at the time!
THE THEORY -
HDMI-CEC allows HDMI-connected components to send control signals to each other, for power on/off, input selection, and such. The HDMI standard defines specific capabilities, so this is supposed to work across different brands. The Sony components we have support:
1. "One Touch Play" - Selecting one component, like loading a DVD and pressing play, will turn on all the other components (AV receiver and TV) and configure the appropriate inputs on everything so the DVD appears on the TV, and the sound comes out the AV receiver.
2. "System Audio Control" - If you turn the TV on, the AV receiver is also turned on, the TV speakers are turned off, and the audio comes through the AV system. If you turn the receiver off, the TV speakers are turned back on.
3. "System Power" - turning the TV on or off turns the connected components on or off as well.
THE REALITY -
Our setup works exactly as described above, with no other work involved other than just enabling HDMI control! Most functions can be controlled using just the TV remote (which is much less complicated and has many fewer buttons than the receiver remote).
Note in the description below that the DVD player HDMI output is connected to the receiver "DVD" input, and the receiver HDMI output is connected to the TV HDMI input. There are both optical and RCA cables connecting the TV audio output to the receivers "TV" audio inputs. The receiver can auto select between the optical and RCA audio inputs.
To watch TV, just hit the power button on the TV remote. The TV turns on, the AV receiver turns on, the TV input on the receiver is selected, and the speakers on the TV are turned off. The volume and mute buttons on the TV remote control the volume on the AV receiver. When you turn the TV off, the receiver turns off too.
To watch a DVD, put a DVD in the player and hit the play button. The TV and receiver turn on (if not already on), the DVD input on the receiver is selected, and the DVD appears on the TV while the sound comes from the receiver. If, while the DVD is playing, you select a TV channel on the TV remote, everything switches back to TV. To go back to the DVD you can either use the "input" button on the TV remote to select DVD, or hit the play button on the DVD remote, and everything switches back to DVD. For either TV or DVD, the volume and mute buttons on the TV remote control the audio. Hit the off button on the TV remote and everything turns off.
The only analog component in the system is the (non-HD) Tivo box. It is connected to the TV via S-Video and RCA audio cables. The TV remote is used for input switching, so to watch Tivo merely requires using the input button on the TV remote to switch from TV to DVR. Unfortunately since the TIVO isn't HDMI connected the TV remote cannot change the Tivo channels. At the moment it is actually easier to just use 2 remotes (TV and Tivo) than to mess around with a universal.
That's it. Everything just worked right out of the box. After I set the system up my wife started using it without any explanations or training sessions, I wasn't even home at the time!
