Simplified Remote Control

[Black Hole]

Discussion in this thread: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/urc-1280-with-2-x-hdr-fox-t2.9661/ got me wondering what are the minimum buttons for a handset to still provide the essentials of HDR-FOX use. I have a vested interest: my supported user is now not using the PVR capability because (I believe) poor sight makes the Harmony 300 I provided intractable, and declining mental capacity means she can't even remember what button she is looking for.

The selection of buttons needs to be targeted at convenience without clutter, in other words is guaranteed to be a compromise between the two (with nobody agreeing on where that compromise is). However, I propose that no button is needed for a secondary function which can be accessed via a Menu button, and no set-and-forget function is needed unless it can't be enforced at boot by the CF.

I also think complications like bookmarks are dispensable for the target audience.

So, what's left:

• On/Off
• Numbers 0-9
• Menu
• Play/Pause/Stop/Record
• FF/RW/Skip-/Skip+
• Red/Green/Yellow/Blue
• Media
• Guide
• Left/Right/Up/Down
• OK/Back/Exit
• Info
• Vol-/Vol+/Mute*
• Ch-/Ch+
• Opt+
• TV/Radio
• Sub (or AD, according to the user's particular impairment)
• Vformat**

* For controlling the TV, not the HDR-FOX.

** Vformat is only included because there is no other way to get at it. If CF could enforce it, we wouldn't need a button.

That's 43 buttons.

But the handset also needs to control the TV, ideally with macros for turning both on or off in such a way they can't get out of sync, and a means to select the source on the TV:

• On/Off/TV/PVR

Separate on and off buttons instead of the original on/off toggle, making 46 in total.

So now I have to find (or build*) a programmable RC with 45 easy-read high-tactile buttons and JP1 programming. Maybe, with a "shift" button, secondary functions could be assigned to the number buttons (so still be available for tech support), so SHIFT takes the place of VFORMAT.

* "Build" could mean using an existing JP1 handset as the basis, and giving it a new set of buttons.

Anyone find a flaw in this analysis?

 

[EEPhil]

I can't fault the analysis. But don't underestimate the "declining mental capacity" problem. You may find that the design is still too complicated for the intended user. It may not be possible to make the design simple enough for your supported user to use the PVR capability. It is taking me all my (lack of) patience to cope with someone who can't manage a TV remote. Can't find the Vol+/- button (pressing text or P+/- instead), presses 6 or 9 instead of 3 (for ITV when already on ITV), and asks where the 10 button is are some of the simpler problems.

 

[MymsMan]

if you were to base on the existing Humax remote I would remap Portal to be Opt+ to bring the only commonly used button of the bottom 12 into a prominent position and allow you to "tape off" those buttons. I never use the vformat button - the format seems to stay unchanged for me
You didn't mention 'list' in your list - so if that is not a requirement you could use that for vformat or Sub/AD,
You probably also have unused DVD and Audio buttons, I haven't checked whether they can be remapped
If the TV could be set up to power on/off based on the Humax power via HDMI you might not need separate TV controls.
detectads with autocrop would reduce the need for the bookmark and skip buttons

My LG TV came with a magic remote which is a reduced button remote which can control both TV and an STB but in practice I don;t use it much other than turning TV on/off.
I prefer using the Humax remote directly and find the LG remote fiddly, I am too likely to accidentally turn on the screen magnifier and then cant work out how to turn it off again so it might not work for your supported user!

Whilst looking for a picture of the magic remote I came across an even more pared back version which bring into question do you really need number buttons, with a suitably reduced favourites list would they be happy just going up and down through the channels?

 

[Black Hole]

Can't find the Vol+/- button (pressing text or P+/- instead)

I get that one.

 

[Black Hole]

You didn't mention 'list' in your list

Do you find the List button useful? I don't think it does anything you can't do another way.

do you really need number buttons

Maybe not, but they are at least obvious what they do - and when there's doubt where you are in the sequence of services, they provide a short-cut.

I omitted TV/Radio from my list - some people might not use it, but I reckon it's useful.

 

[EEPhil]

I omitted TV/Radio from my list - some people might not use it, but I reckon it's useful.

FWIW. I use a One for All remote. Neither the 2000T nor the 5000T have a TV/Radio button. But with the use of a lot of trial and error I've found that both Humaxes will respond to a single key and provide that function. I find it useful.

 

[/df]

...
[*]Media
...

== Menu>My Whatever?

...
** Vformat is only included because there is no other way to get at it. If CF could enforce it, we wouldn't need a button.[/I]

Doesn't boot-settings handle "Screen Resolution", which is set to to 1080p on the machine I just checked?

...
Anyone find a flaw in this analysis?

Have you considered getting SU to phone you and say what she wants to do and you using WebIf IR to accomplish it?

More seriously, like EEPhil, my experience doesn't give me a lot of confidence that yet another device, however well designed, will find favour, though I hope to be proved wrong.

 

[EEPhil]

More seriously, like EEPhil, my experience doesn't give me a lot of confidence that yet another device, however well designed, will find favour, though I hope to be proved wrong.

Yes unfortunately these days even the simplest things are becoming more difficult.

 

[Luke]

FWIW. I use a One for All remote. Neither the 2000T nor the 5000T have a TV/Radio button. But with the use of a lot of trial and error I've found that both Humaxes will respond to a single key and provide that function. I find it useful.

I don't think that was there from the start of the HDR-2000T, unlike the WIDE button which worked from the start in 2013. The TV/RADIO function appeared to be introduced to the HDR-2000T with the first software update in 2014 after the HDR-1800T was released, the HDR-1800T forgoing the TV buttons enabling its remote to have WIDE and TV/RADIO without any major changes.

 

[RobH1]

I omitted TV/Radio from my list - some people might not use it, but I reckon it's useful.

I use this button quite a bit, not quite in the way you might envisage your supported using it, i.e. sound from TV. I use it to select radio quickly when playing radio through the amp with TV off. I can then scroll through the stations or input the number.

 

[Black Hole]

Have you considered getting SU to phone you and say what she wants to do and you using WebIf IR to accomplish it?

Yes, I have considered it... no Internet.

Doesn't boot-settings handle "Screen Resolution", which is set to to 1080p on the machine I just checked?

It might, I had assumed not (because of it not being a menu setting)... so it does. Excellent.

== Menu>My Whatever?

Add a barrier to playing recordings, to save a button?

 

[MymsMan]

Do you find the List button useful? I don't think it does anything you can't do another way.

Not particularly, I use it mainly for resetting my favourites when needed,
so it would be a good candidate for remapping if you were trying to make the standard Humax remote more friendly

Yes, I have considered it... no Internet.

Even if the SU user has no need for internet it may be worth considering paying for a cheap basic (non fibre) internet package or even an old mobile acting as a hotspot so that you can remotely monitor the machine and schedule recordings.
Use flatten to avoid series folders and then the SU only has to press Media to find all recordings and no longer has to remember how to schedule them.

 

[Black Hole]

or even an old mobile acting as a hotspot so that you can remotely monitor the machine and schedule recordings.

I might be able to negotiate piggy-backing on a neighbour's WiFi, I have thought about it.

There was mention a while back of somebody working out how to read the on-screen menus and currently highlighted option, from the CF. That would be ideal.

 

[xyz321]

The List function can also be performed using the OK button. It is sometimes useful in that it shows the unavailable channels when recording two channels from different muxes.