Sharp LC-46XD1E RS232 power on command

[mr_smidge]

Hello all,

I already posted this in the LCD TV forum, but didn't get any responses, so I'm hoping the frequenters of this forum might know something that can help me..


I recently hooked up my Sharp LC-46XD1E LCD TV to the serial port of my HTPC to mess around with sending commands via RS232 for home automation purposes.

One thing I couldn't work out was whether there was a power on command. I can turn the TV off by sending the command "POWR0" (which puts it into standby), but I can't seem to switch it on again without the remote. I've tried obvious commands like "POWR1" etc. to no avail.

Has anyone managed to automate this TV?

I hope there actually is a power on command. It would be absolutely mind-bogglingly idiotic if Sharp designed this thing so that you could turn off a television but not turn it on again via RS232.

Thanks,

 

[richardbarman]

This is an old problem with Sharps. They seem to have a 'power saving' feature that shuts down the RS232 when you turn off. There are a few work-arounds which often involve a firmware upgrade. Some models also respond to a 'special' 232 code to turn off the 'power-saver' mode.

It's a minefield of a subject. Start here.
http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-touch/thread.cgi?keywords=1990&highlight=sharp

Good luck,

Richard

 

[mr_smidge]

I managed to get through to a techie at Sharp, and found an answer that thankfully didn't involve any upgrading of firmware.

I'd found some similar threads to the one that richardbarman posted before, and most advocated sending RSPW0001 to the TV to leave the RS232 port active in standby, but this didn't work with the XD1E.

Here's the solution, currently only tested on my LC-46XD1E:

1. Navigate to the service menu:
   • Switch the TV on.
   • Press and hold MENU on the TV itself (next to the power button).
   • Whilst still holding menu on the TV, press Up on the remote.
   • Some things will flash on the bottom of the screen. Let go of both buttons and very quickly press MENU on the remote (not the TV).
   • The service menu should appear.
2. Navigate to the menu labelled [ ETC ].
3. Find the menu item called "Option". It should be 0. Change this to 23.
4. Power cycle the TV using the remote.

I've tested this solution as working. Hope this helps anyone else looking to automate the XD1E series.

A quick side-note: my TV spontaneously forgot all its DTV stations after doing this, so I had to re-scan. Maybe that's unrelated, but worth mentioning.

 

[jsuppe]

I have a LC-52SE94U and I played around with these controls. You have to send the RSPW command with value 1 to tell the TV to respond to power on commands when it has been switched off. I am not sure if this is the same on other Sharp models but it did trip me up at first when I first started.