It’s the one piece of equipment that can really make or break
your home theater system; the remote control. It’s no good to
have the latest and greatest gear and world’s biggest DVD
collection if you can’t figure out how to use anything. True
home theater nirvana is a fantastic performing system anyone can
use with a single button press.

Many of today’s home theater receivers and surround processors
come with a “smart” remote control. Some of these are actually
pretty good too. B&K and Denon come to mind. If you know what
you are doing, you can get one of these babies programmed to
orchestrate your entire system pretty well. If you haven’t the
time or inclination for such a project yourself, hire a
professional installer to bring everything together for you. A
great place to start is CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and
Installation Association). They have member firms in every
state, and many foreign countries, that are experts in making
complex home theaters easy to use.

Remote controls come in several flavors. The one most people are
familiar with comes with almost any electronic component you buy
these days. For the most part it does a pretty good job at
making the particular component do what you want. Some of these
even let you control other components, especially if they are
from the same manufacturer. This way, for example, you can use
your TV remote to also control your VCR or DVD player.

The next rung up the remote control ladder is the so called
“smart remote”. This type of remote is able to control multiple
pieces of equipment from different manufacturers. Some can
control up to 8 or 10 different components. They are usually set
to control each piece of equipment by entering a 3 or 4 digit
code. Some of these units will learn control functions from
other remote controls. This is helpful if the unit you need to
control is not in your remote control’s internal database. You
usually accomplish the learning by entering a “learn” mode on
the smart remote, pointing the “teaching” remote at the smart
remote and pressing the desired button. Viola! Your smart remote
has learned the command from the original remote control.

If you want things even easier than using just one remote to
control everything, you need a remote that does macros. These
are command sequences initiated by pressing one button. For
example, you want to watch a DVD. Typically you would have to
turn on your TV, DVD player and surround receiver. Then you
would have to switch your TV to the component input and your
receiver to the DVD input. With a macro capable remote, this
sequence is programmed into the remote. The remote then plays
back all the commands in the appropriate order so you don’t have
to.

If you want a remote that controls everything, you need a remote
with a lot of different buttons. This can make the remote a
little intimidating. Sure it can do almost anything but make
toast, but where to start? If you have the budget, now is the
time to get a touch screen remote. With a touch screen, you
typically have only a few actual buttons. These are typically
the most used functions such as volume up / down, channel up /
down, mute and possibly cursor functions.

All other buttons are just icons on a screen that you touch to
initiate the desired command. The beauty of this approach is
that you only need to have just a few icons on the screen at any
one time. This really cuts down on button clutter and confusion.
The icons can be graphical representations of the command, which
makes everything very intuitive. For example, you can have an
“NBC” logo you touch to go to the local NBC station.

Touchscreen remotes come in four basic variations. First there
is the choice of color or grayscale. Color looks better and more
information can be conveyed more quickly. Grayscale units are
much less expensive. Next, the communication with the remote can
be one way or two way. Two way communication allows status to be
updated on the remote itself. For example you can display album
and artist information from a music server or check the status
of your security system or thermostats. Two way communication
has been provided via a two way radio link, similar to a digital
spread spectrum telephone.

The latest two way remote controls being introduced from
companies such as AMX and Crestron use WiFi. This allows a whole
host of other possibilities. The range is spectacular for one
thing. You can roam around your entire home. On some units you
can browse the internet too. Imagine, you are watching a game
but you want updates from around the league. Just go to ESPN.com
on your remote and take a look.

The remote can really make or break your system. You can have an
unusable system with 7 different remotes or a slick system that
even visitors can use with no instruction. It’s all up to you,
your budget and your programmer.