HDMI CEC 2.0 magic
HDMI CEC is great, when it works. Some of this comes down to HDMI 1.x’s lack of clear definition around how it should work, and most of the rest belongs to OEM’s just making it work for their kit. It looks like the version of CEC for HDMI 2.x devices should address this – certainly goes a long way, when the MD of Pulse-Eight chaired the HDMI CEC 2.0 group. Check out the writeup and video of everything working. Magic!
Imagine installing an HDMI switcher, connecting up your sources and displays, and using a TV manufacturer’s original remote to operate the entire ecosystem. Just like that. No programming. No IR dongles. No additional hardware. Just a bunch of HDMI cables and connectors.
UK-based Pulse Eight offers that very thing, thanks to a mastery of HDMI CEC, the often-derided control protocol that is supposed to allow interconnected HDMI components to auto-discover and control each other through a common command set.