Hi there,
We just bought Samsung UE55NU7100 TV with smartthings. We are able to switch on and off the TV with Google Home (mini) but how can we change the volume with voice commands through Google Voice assistant?
“Ok Google, set volume to XX”
“Ok Google, turn up the volume.”
“Ok Google, lower the volume.”
“Ok Google, mute the TV”
XX - is a number from 0-100.
This is the forum SmartThings. I know of no way for SmartThings to help you get a command from Google Assistant to a Samsung TV. You can control a Chromecast from Google Assistant, but that is independent of SmartThings or the Samsung TV. You might want to contact TV support.
It is possible, and this topic is relevant to this forum. You need to create a device driver that implements the “Switch Level” capability. Google+SmartThings integration is fairly limited; google only supports basic device capabilities exposed by “light bulbs, plugs, on/off switches, dimmers, and thermostats” (reference). So in other words you need to make your TV or receiver look like a dimmable light. You’ll likely need to convert the dim level (0-100%) to whatever range/units used by your device.
BTW, here’s a listing of current device types Google Assistant supports, so you’ll have to try and map AV functions to things within these.
How would that help you control a TV? How are you going to get the input from ST to the Samsung TV?
Depends on TV year; new Samsung TVs are native ST capable - based on the date of their post I’m betting they’re in this boat. Older TVs like mine that still have Samsung SmartTV (i.e., network capable) - that’s a bit more work. There’s an Android app you can put on your phone to remote control the older TVs over your local network (this approach works for other brands that have their own apps, like Yamaha). You can use Arc Welder to run the app on your PC and Wireshark to sniff out the traffic for the commands you wish to send. Then you can write a ST device handler that sends the commands you’ve sniffed over Ethernet to the device. If the device handler exposes it as as “Switch” and as a “Switch Level” it will automatically be added to your Google Home’s “Home Control” and you can also then control it through the Assistant / voice.
There’s also always the “easy” way out and get a Harmony which also integrates with both Google and ST.
Like most things, odds are someone has already done some of the work. Here’s source that demonstrates TCP control of the older Samsung TVs. You could use this instead of needing to Wireshark; just tie this into the 2 ST capabilities I mentioned above and you’d have a solution.
The issue with the “native ST” feature on newer TVs (see here) is that they’re not going to expose volume as a “Switch Level” capability implementation in the device handler, so Google won’t be able to control the volume. It probably does expose the power on/off as a switch, which is why their Google Home Mini can currently turn their TV on and off. So could try either getting hands on the ST handler created by Samsung and modifying it or taking the legacy approach mentioned above.
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