Consensus on Current Serial Controlled TVs

[zpollock]

What's the general consensus on the best serial controlled TV/display these days?

I used to use only the LG sets as their driver works quite well and it was a standard feature across the line, but they started dropping that ability a couple of years ago. I've purchased a few of their commercial displays since then, but they go for twice the cost of a comparable consumer model, which seems like such a waste. All of my AV gear is in a central rack and distributed via a matrix switcher, so I don't really care about internal features, apps, number of jacks, or the audio. For me, it's just a dumb monitor that needs serial on/off control. Yes, I know I could just use an IR emitter, but I so prefer serial control...

A few of the current LG models make mention of serial control, but most of the jacks are labeled as service only (vs service and control as usually found on past sets), so I'm a bit nervous to gamble on one. USB to serial has been reported with limited success in the past, but that seems very hit and miss from what I've read and is model specific too.

What is the rest of the hive purchasing these days???

[potts.mike]

Funny, I was just logging in to say I bought one of the 2016 LEDs from LG. Hoping that the current driver would work or that there is an IP API.

[zpollock]

Which model did you purchase?

The manual on some of the 2016 models includes the serial protocol, but it's a universal manual that covers many different sizes and series. I looked at pictures of the 49" model and the serial port (a 3.5mm stereo jack) says "svc only" on the case. In the past some serial ports have been service only and others have been control and service.

[potts.mike]

It's the 65" 8500 series. The 3.5 mm serial port is labeled svc only.

[zpollock]

I'd love to know your experience. I'm really hoping that despite the label it will in fact respond to serial commands.

[DaveB]

Depending on the exact model year, we find with LG that sometimes it works and most times it does not. That is why commercially anyhow, we stuck with either sharp or Panasonic. Older LG's had very good control.

[kblagron]

My 2 year old LG has serial control through the USB port, but the problem with that is that you can't control "Power On" with it as the USB port is not hot when the power is off. I ended up getting a GC-100 with a light sensor to determine whether it was off or not, then use the LG driver / serial commands to control, and it is still not that reliable. The CQC universal LG driver will throw an error at times.

It's such a shame because the old LG's were very reliable, and that feature was what got me buying LG equipment in the first place.

[zpollock]

Yep, same here. I bought strictly LG for years due to the serial control, and it was awesome that everything in the line even down to a sub $200 19" model had a serial port. I'm sure someone in accounting decided that they could save .50 cents per set by removing it though and most users wouldn't care...

Dave - which series of Panasonic and Sharp sets are you using? Is serial still present? I started looking at Sharp sets recently too based on past serial port presence, but most of them don't explicitly list serial support now either.

[potts.mike]

I'd love to know your experience. I'm really hoping that despite the label it will in fact respond to serial commands.

I've got a harmony remote setup so it could be a while before I explore this more.

[znelbok]

Sharp, from what I can tell, have implemented the serial commands through IP. So the port may be missing, but the control should still be there via the Ethernet interface.

That would mean the driver would need to be updated, but that would not be a big issue as there are no real changes in the protocol for control.