Have you ever counted how many remote controls you have in your living room? For DVD player, an amplifier, a hi-fi system, television and once in a while for the dear old video-cassette recorder, too. Some of the Remote controls are so sophisticated you sometimes forget why those buttons are there for!

At last, the cries have been heard! An universal remote control. Priced between $20 to a few hundred dollars, this clever gizmo can combine duties of different remotes, from switching on TV, DVD player to turn on music player by a push of a button on one piece!

There are two types of Universal Remote Controls: The wand and the tablet. The wand-style models have become common and it is similar to traditional remote controls. They are longer but lighter and have either a small screen or no screen at all.

Tablet Remote controls are wider and has a touch screen facility. They are usually held in both hands and provide menu of different virtual controls. One of the drawback for this type is the battery life.

Universal Remote Control needs to understand the language it is sharing with, that is TV or DVD players. Sony, OneForAll, etc., require you to enter the codes that recognises the items to be controlled.

Harman Kardon, a most sophisticated model, can be connected to a computer to download the necessary data from the web.

The real power of Universal Remote Control lies in the fact that it can control different devices at the same time by pressing a single button. For example, you can tell it to switch on the TV, change input on your amp and start DVD playback at single press of a button. This combined function on Universal Remote Control is called a micro.

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Posted on June 27th, 2007 by Joshua
Filed under: Gadgets