Samsung Smart TV Remote

Please see following:

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2424/~/configure-sonos-playbar-with-samsung-smart-remotes

My 2016 Samsung remote is IR. I have the same problem. I can get all the buttons on the remote to work with Playbar except the volume button...

Hang on a moment. Are we talking about a standard button-press IR remote for a Samsung Smart TV, or the Samsung "Smart Remote", which is RF?

@Siggen - what exactly have you got to work on the Playbar from your remote besides the volume? What else is there?

This not a touch remote. It is the new Samsung TM1680A remote with press buttons. Works fine with Apple TV. I can control the volume on the Playbar with the channel button and the other buttons on the remote. The only button that will not work is the volume button.

OK thanks for clarification. We are used to queries about why Samsung RF remotes don't work with Playbar, so maybe jump to that. So you are saying the Playbar will recognise and learn signals from the remote for any buttons... except the volume buttons themselves?

@John B: That's correct. Playbar will not recognize signals from the volume buttons. I borrowed another similar remote, same issue.

That's weird - does begin to look like an outright incompatibility issue. I have no suggestions to get round that (other than the unsatisfactory one of using a couple of the other buttons). Maybe this is one for a Sonos staff member to pick up.....

Although.... could the instructions in the Playbar setup guide for programming an unused device key and locking in the new volume controls help here?

Thanks for all the input. Could it be that the Amazon Samsung UN55KU6600 be too new for Sonos to provide codes for?

When I called Samsung support, the woman said she did NOT recognize that model #!!!!

Perhaps because it's sold exclusively by Amazon, I am out of luck - and add in the fact that the Samsung remote uses RF instead of IR...

BTW - is there a device that converts RF to IR available?

Found this info by Samsung and now I'm really confused.

"All the buttons on the remote send Bluetooth commands except the POWER button. The power button sends an IR command. If your remote does not have line-of-sight with your TV the power command will not be received. This also means that the POWER button will power on the TV even if the remote is not paired with the TV.

I still can control Playbar volume with the other buttons on the remote. I tried to set up the playbar with the "configure remote"- on the TV. Could this have something to do with it? How can some buttons control the Playbar if the remote is sending Bluetooth commands?

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00048822/

This is the remote I use.

The only answer I can think of is that it is doing it through the TV. Perhaps this is an alternative to the IR blaster and explains why the newer Samsung TVs don't have one of those. I am speculating, but seems to be backed up by this article.

http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-touts-smart-tv-remote-that-can-control-all-your-devices/

Hi Boomieliscious and Siggen, I just wanted to check in and see if you were able to get that remote working?

It looks like the remote may be Bluetooth for volume commands, but the TV might have an IR output you can hook up a blaster to. Let us know as we'd love to have the details here for the community to see.

I'm an AV installer who has gone around and around on this. I can get the Samsung remote (no IR blaster on the KU or KS series) to control a set top box (Time Warner and Comcast), but not a Sonos Playbar. Would love to come up with a solution. It's tough telling my customers that they have to use the cable remote for volume and TV remote for streaming services.

Ok, so lets be very clear here.

I have a similar TV with the same remote (UA55KS7500)

This remote will use RF/Bluetooth? to control the TV and IR to power the TV AND it can control other devices like cable box via IR from the remote. There is definitely a IR blaster in the remote. I dont know if there is also a blaster in the TV. It will also control a Amazon FireTV (I did not need to do any pairing)

So it looks like Sonos is not recognizing the IR blast and need to add the codes for the Samsung TM1680A remote.

Please

Please!! My wife wants me to return the playbar asap because she's not willing to deal with this problem.

I'm also running into the same issue with the Samsung 65" UHD KS8000 TV 😕

Hey guys, we've done some testing and found something that should work for those TVs. The PLAYBAR, as you know can receive any IR commands and learn those to control volume up and down. The real trick here is that those smart remotes are rarely sending IR commands. They only activate when the remote is set to control something without control via HDMI or BlueTooth

In the TVs setup window, go to Universal Remote and add a new Home Theater System. Choose JVC. Finally, select Optical for the connection type. This will turn on the IR blaster for that remote.

Then go to your Sonos app and under Settings > Room Settings > (Name of your PLAYBAR) > TV setup you can add a remote and configure that smart remote to work with Sonos.

Let us know how it goes.

Ryan,

How about making that it's own thread, and a sticky one? 🙂

Ryan,

How about making that it's own thread, and a sticky one? :)

Wanted to make sure we had a bit of confirmation that it's working on other systems outside just our lab. We'll likely be updating the FAQ posted above with the details soon.

This isn't working for me. I've got nothing. When I add the JVC system it attempts a power/control test to let the tv recognize the audio device. It does not. If I choose to bypass that function test and go to the Sonos app to learn the remote, it does not register anything when pressing volume. My tv is a UN55KU630D from Costco.

Hi Ryan,
2016 UA65KS8000S with smart remote. Followed your instructions to the letter.
Sonos app remote setup won't recognise volume button press (displays optical symbol on screen)
If I press the channel button instead of volume it is recognised immediately. This unfortunately causes satellite tv box to change channels, so not usable. Standard remote of course works flawlessly. Would love to get the smart remote working. Happy to try any workaround suggestions.
Cheers Paul

Thanks for the update guys. We'll take another look at it. The PLAYBAR should be able to learn just about any IR commands for volume, so what we need to find is a setting for that remote that is sending those commands via IR. The JVC seemed to do that but we'll see if there's another option. A good way to check if your remote is outputting IR commands is to turn the camera on for your phone and look at the front of the remote through the lens while you press the buttons. The IR is usually a pinkish color as opposed to the other red light.

Also, another thing to check is if your TV has an output for an IR blaster. If it does, Samsung should be able to send you one to connect to that TV. Then, you just put that blaster in front of the receiver for Sonos and the remote settings should work for any home theater option.

If you haven't reached out to them, it'd be good to ask Samsung Support as well here. Let them know that you setup the remote and the power test didn't work.

Just to also confirm, this didn't work for me either. I checked the remote and there is definitely a IR light flashing away when pressing the volume up button.

Just to also confirm, this didn't work for me either. I checked the remote and there is definitely a IR light flashing away when pressing the volume up button.

If you get the IR when sliding the volume button up, down, and pressing it for mute, than you should be able to have the PLAYBAR learn it. Try turning the TV off and see if the PLAYBAR can learn the commands like that. I just checked again and for the model of the smart remote we have in the lab it worked just fine on the PLAYBAR.

One more step to take if you've set the JVC as the home theater type and still aren't getting IR from the remote on volume is to select that JVC configured device in the universal remote setup and then select to add a Bluray player to it. Choose JVC again and you should get IR now.

Again, the way to check is by looking at the remote through your phone's camera.