7/23/2019 Inside a TV Remote Control

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/inside-a-tv-remote-control 1/2

by Marshall Brain

Home / Tech / Electronics / Home Audio & Video / Television / TV Technology

68 Tweet 2

 

131LikeLike Page 1 2

The Circui t Board

When you unscrew the circuit board and take it out, you can see

that the circuit board is a thin piece of fiber glass that has thin

copper "wires" etched onto its surface. Electronic parts are

assembled on printed circuit boards because they are easy to

mass produce and assemble. In the same way that it is relatively

inexpensive to print ink onto a sheet of paper, it is inexensive to

"print" copper wires onto a sheet of fiber glass. It is also easy to

have a machine drop the parts (the chips, transistors, etc.) onto

the sheet of fiberglass and then solder them on to connect them to

the copper wires.

When you look at the board, you can see a set of contact points

for the buttons. The buttons themselves are made of a thin rubbery

sheet. For each button there is a black conductive disk. When thedisk touches the contacts on the printed circuit board, it connects

them and the chip can sense that connection.

 At the end of the circuit board there is aninfrared LED, or Light

Emitting Diode. You can think of an LED as a small light bulb.

Many LEDs produce visible light, but a remote's LED produces infrared light that is invisible

to the human eye. It is not invisible to all eyes, however. For example, if you have a

camcorder it can see the infrared light. Point your remote at the camera and push a button.

You will be able to see the infrared light f lashing in the viewfinder. The receptor in the TV is

able to see infrared light as well.

So the basic operation of the remote goes like this: You press a button. When you do that

you complete a specific connection. The chip senses that connection and knows what

button you pressed. It produces a morse-code-line signal specific to that button. The

transistors amplify the signal and send them to the LED, which translates the signal into

infrared light. The sensor in the TV can see the infrared light and "seeing" the signal reacts

appropriately.

Links General:

How Television Works

Technical:

Decoding IR Remote Controls

 A Serial Infrared Remote Control

IR remote control computer interfacing

Remote Infrared Control

Innotech Systems, Inc. - manufacturer 

 Ads by Google

 Ari zona State Uni vers ity

Bachelor's and Master's Degree Programs Offered 100% Online!

asuonline.asu.edu

Pcb Assembly

OEMs Rely on Our PCB Assembly. ISO 9001, 14000 & 6 Sigma Certified

www.etratech.com

 AMS-Elect ronics Mfg.

 Advanced Electronics Contract Mfg. PCB Assembly and System Integration

www.austinmfg.com

e a TV Remote Control - HowStuffWorks http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/insid

1/25/2015 1

7/23/2019 Inside a TV Remote Control

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/inside-a-tv-remote-control 2/2

Print Citation & Date Feedback

 

Page 1 2

68 Tweet 2131LikeLike

Take FLIR® Infrared Cameras For 

 A Test Drive Before You Buy. Try

Now!flir.com/Thermal-Simulator 

FLIR® Infrared Cameras

Laritech offers rapid prototyping,

design and production of PCB'swww.laritech.com

PCB Design and Assembly

Full Service U.S.A. PCB

Manufacture >30 Yrs of PCB

Fabrication & Designavanticircuits.com

PCB Manufacturer 

 Ads by Google

MORE TO EXPLORE

[?]

Maharajas' Express: the

most expensive train in

India

Happy Trips

How Television Works How Remote Controls Work How DSL Works Sexuality

Ferrari World theme park in

 Abu Dhabi

Happy Trips

What if I never took a bath? Conception How can parts of Canada be

'missing' gravity?

What will the Earth look like

in 5,000 years?

Mac, ENIAC or 

UNIVAC: The

Computer History

Quiz

Top 5 Myths About

the Internet

How to Connect

Your Computer to

Your TV

How Capacitors

Work

Take a look at Compu ter Videos

POPULAR TECH TOPICS

How Cloud

Computing Works

11 Longest-running Daytime Soap Operas

For more than 50 years, soaps have entertained daytime audiences with captivating story lines.

Soap operas got their name from the sponsors, such as Proctor & Gamble, who produced theshows. See our list of the 11 longest-running daytime soap operas.

How 3-D TV Works

When you think of watching a movie in 3-D, you may think of those goofy glasses with multicolor 

lenses. But that's the old way to do 3-D. Now, you might not need glasses at all.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Popular Articles

10 TV Medical Condit ions That Are Rare in Real Life

How Television Works

How 'Fight Quest' Works

Related Ad Categories

Infrared Remote Control

IR Remote

IR Infrared Camera

e a TV Remote Control - HowStuffWorks http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/insid

1/25/2015 1