TV control with a button?

SmartApps & Automations Automation Ideas
1

Hi all - completely new to SmartThings, so my apologies if this is a noddy question. I want to have a button for a Samsung TV that when pressed will:

  1. Turn the TV on
  2. Set the input to DTV (if it isn’t already)
  3. Set the channel to 80 (or whatever) (if it isn’t already)

This is for my elderly Dad who is finding the input selector confusing. A single button would sort a lot of his frustration.

I don’t want it to require a phone (although that could be used for the setup). Just a button connected to the TV (WiFi or Bluetooth I guess).

Is this something that can be done off the shelf, or do I need to look at putting a little ESP32 and the SDK with a switch together?

Many thanks,

Allan

2

A lot will depend on the model of the TV and what capabilities are exposed for Routines in the ST mobile app.

If the ability to turn on the TV, change inputs, and change channels is exposed in the mobile app, you should be able to create a Routine that performs the actions you want. Then using a Wi-Fi enabled push button that is compatible with ST, you trigger the Routine based on the button being pushed.

If the TV doesn’t expose capabilities to perform all the necessary actions in the mobile, you may still be able to use a 3rd party rules engine like sharptools.io which often allows actions for the device’s capabilities that the mobile app doesn’t expose. You would still have a ST supported button to trigger the actions, but the routine would be implemented in the 3rd party rules engine based on the button being pressed.

Here is a Wi-Fi enabled button that is compatible with ST:

Remember that without a ST hub, all interactions for Wi-Fi devices are between the ST cloud and the cloud of the vendor device(s). So all actions are dependent on the Internet being available and cloud→cloud communication working properly.

3

Ah! So the Routine that the app sets up would in fact be stored on the TV? And something external can trigger that Routine.

I’ll experiment with the TV and see how it goes. Many thanks for your kind reply and all the information - that’s cleared quite a few things up for me!

Allan

4

It may be possible to do this with a WiFi ir transmitter.
I have a WiFi ir transmitter which I bought on AliExpress.
It’s a very cheap tuya based one which uses the smartlife app.

The setup involves training the ir transmitter with the buttons of your remote, if this isn’t already in the database.

Then set up a scene on smartlife which has the following actions by transmitting the relevant buttons

  1. Turn on the tv
  2. Delay 10 seconds (on my older small tv in kitchen the tv won’t respond to commands after turn on for about 10 seconds)
  3. Send select source
  4. Delay if needed
  5. Send channel number

Since most TVs don’t have a discrete on and off button there’s a risk that if this is run when the tv is already on it will turn it off. I get round this by sending a number press instead of a power toggle. This turns the tv on if it’s off and just changes channel if it’s already on. This approach may not work on every tv, but I expect it works on most.

When you have tested the scene and saved in smartlife it it will be exposed via the integration to SmartThings as a device in smattthings which you can trigger via a button from SmartThings (which may need a SmartThings hub).

You’d need a separate routine to turn the tv off (using the power button)

Edit: I just checked my own setup, looks like the devices exposed via the integration in SmartThings are offline in SmartThings so I had created virtual switches in SmartThings and used Alexa to trigger the smartlife routine when the virtual switch is opened on SmartThings, so that’s a dependency on Alexa too.

It’s all quite clunky, but maybe worth considering if you can’t find a better solution.

5

See also

You’d need a matter controller for that too, and I have no idea of it would fit your needs.

And thinking further the source select could be an issue. Most tvs I’ve seen have a source button that cycles round sources, so knowing the current source and the number of key presses (ir blasts) to send could be a problem

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6

Are there multiple useful inputs on the TV? Some brands allow you to edit the inputs and disable anything that’s not connected.

7

Hi - thanks for the extra ideas! Yes, there are other useful inputs (Firestick and DVD player). If it was just on / off and channel number like in the good old days, I think he’d be okay. But if anyone leaves it on an input other than DTV, that’s when things go wrong.

I’d though of SmartThings rather than IR do there could be a read of state - is TV on, is input DTV, etc. If there is an IR code for ON which is distinct from OFF, and a DTV input selecting code, then that would certainly be an option.

I’ll get the exact model number of the TV and check both its SmartThings capabilities and also be able to look up what IR codes it can take.

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