Editing Remote control (section)

===Television remote controls===
[[File:Circa 1950's Television Remote Control made by Motorola.jpg|thumb|1950s TV Remote by [[Motorola]]]]
[[File:SABA-corded-TV-remote-left.jpg|thumb|alt=A photo of a SABA TV remote with cord attached|[[SABA (electronics manufacturer)|SABA]] corded TV remote]]
One of the first remote intended to control a television was developed by [[Zenith Electronics Corporation|Zenith Radio Corporation]] in 1950. The remote, called Lazy Bones,<ref name="metv.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.metv.com/stories/a-history-of-the-television-remote-control-as-told-through-its-advertising|title=A history of the TV remote control as told through its advertising|website=Me-TV Network|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> was connected to the [[television]] by a wire. A wireless remote control, the [[Zenith Flash-matic|Flash-Matic]],<ref name="metv.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zenith.com/remote-background/|title=Remote Background - Zenith Electronics|website=zenith.com|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> was developed in 1955 by [[Eugene Polley]]. It worked by shining a beam of light onto one of four [[Solar cell|photoelectric cells]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/pictures/remembering-eugene-polley-and-his-flash-matic-remote-photos/|title=Remembering Eugene Polley and his Flash-Matic remote (photos)|date=23 May 2012|website=cnet.com|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> but the cell did not distinguish between light from the remote and light from other sources.<ref name="theregister.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/23/remote_control_inventor_eugene_polley/|title=Wireless remote control inventor zaps out at 96|website=theregister.co.uk|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> The Flashmatic also had to be pointed very precisely at one of the sensors in order to work.<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zenith.com/sub_about/about_remote.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116212531/http://www.zenith.com/sub_about/about_remote.html |archive-date=January 16, 2008 |title=Five Decades of Channel Surfing: History of the TV Remote Control |access-date=December 3, 2008}}</ref>

[[Image:Zenith Space Commander 600.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''Zenith Space Commander Six hundred'' remote control]]
In 1956, [[Robert Adler]] developed Zenith Space Command, a wireless remote.<ref name="metv.com"/><ref name=Farhi>Farhi, Paul. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817031653/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602102.html "The Inventor Who Deserves a Sitting Ovation."] ''Washington Post''. February 17, 2007.</ref><ref name="Verge">{{Cite news |last=Marino |first=Andrew |date=2023-07-29 |title=The buttons on Zenith's original "clicker" remote were a mechanical marvel |url=https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remote-control-button-of-the-month |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}}</ref> It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/magazine/30Adler-t.html|title=The Lives They Lived - Robert Adler - Remote Control - Television|first=Jon|last=Gertner|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 30, 2007|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="Verge"/> When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it struck a bar and clicked, hence they were commonly called "clickers", and the mechanics were similar to a [[plectrum|pluck]].<ref name="Verge"/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2007/10/vg-greatestgadget/|title=1956: Zenith Space Commander Remote Control|magazine=Wired|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> Each of the four bars emitted a different fundamental frequency with ultrasonic harmonics, and circuits in the television detected these sounds and interpreted them as channel-up, channel-down, sound-on/off, and power-on/off.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/robert-adler|title=Robert Adler -TV wireless remote|publisher=MIT |access-date=13 April 2021}}</ref>

Later, the rapid decrease in price of [[transistor]]s made possible cheaper [[electronics|electronic]] remotes that contained a [[Piezoelectricity|piezoelectric]] crystal that was fed by an [[Oscillation|oscillating]] electric current at a [[frequency]] near or above the upper threshold of [[Hearing (sense)|human hearing]], though still audible to [[dog]]s. The receiver contained a [[microphone]] attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises or deliberately by metal against glass, for example, and some people could hear the lower ultrasonic harmonics.

[[File:RCA RCU403.jpg|thumb|150px|An [[RCA]] universal remote]]
In 1970, [[RCA]] introduced an all-electronic remote control that uses [[digital signal]]s and [[metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor]] (MOSFET) [[semiconductor memory|memory]]. This was widely adopted for [[color television]], replacing motor-driven tuning controls.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Remote control for color tv goes the all-electronic route |journal=[[Electronics (magazine)|Electronics]] |date=April 1970 |volume=43 |page=102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFJJAQAAIAAJ |publisher=McGraw-Hill Publishing Company |quote=RCA's Wayne Evans, Carl Moeller and Edward Milbourn tell how digital signals and MOS FET memory modules are used to replace motor-driven tuning controls}}</ref>

The impetus for a more complex type of television remote control came in 1973, with the development of the [[Ceefax]] [[teletext]] service by the [[BBC]]. Most commercial remote controls at that time had a limited number of functions, sometimes as few as three: next channel, previous channel, and volume/off. This type of control did not meet the needs of Teletext sets, where pages were identified with three-digit numbers. A remote control that selects Teletext pages would need buttons for each numeral from zero to nine, as well as other control functions, such as switching from text to picture, and the normal television controls of volume, channel, brightness, color intensity, etc. Early Teletext sets used wired remote controls to select pages, but the continuous use of the remote control required for Teletext quickly indicated the need for a wireless device. So BBC engineers began talks with one or two television manufacturers, which led to early prototypes in around 1977–1978 that could control many more functions. [[ITT Corporation|ITT]] was one of the companies and later gave its name to the ITT protocol of infrared communication.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbprojects.com/knowledge/ir/itt.php |title=SB-Projects: IR remote control: ITT protocol}}</ref>

[[Image:Remote controls.JPG|thumb|center|680px|[[TV]], [[VHS]] and [[DVD]] Remote controls]]
In 1980, the most popular remote control was the ''Starcom Cable TV Converter'' (from [[Jerrold Electronics]], a division of [[General Instrument]])<ref name="metv.com"/>{{Failed verification|date=May 2025}} which used 40-kHz sound to change channels. Then, a Canadian company, Viewstar, Inc., was formed by engineer Paul Hrivnak and started producing a cable TV [[Cable converter box|converter]] with an infrared remote control. The product was sold through Philips for approximately $190 [[Canadian dollar|CAD]]. The Viewstar converter was an immediate success, the millionth converter being sold on March 21, 1985, with 1.6 million sold by 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tedium.co/2017/05/25/universal-remote-control-history/|title=Universal Remote Control History: Not Great, Just Good Enough|date=26 May 2017|website=tedium.co|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref><ref>"Philips tops in converters". ''The Toronto Star'': p. F03. November 29, 1980.</ref>