Remote Control

This topic describes how your application can receive input from a remote control.

Related Info

The remote control is the most common way for users to interact with the TV.

Figure 1: Basic remote control and Samsung Smart Remote

Samsung TVs can have 2 types of remote controls:

  • Basic remote control
    The basic remote control is a traditional remote control that has, for example, number keys and colored function keys.

  • Samsung Smart Remote
    The Samsung Smart Remote is only supported on Samsung UHD TVs.
    It has only the essential keys and some special function keys. The user can access additional virtual keys on the TV screen by clicking the "123" key.


Figure 2: Samsung Smart Remote virtual keys on the TV screen

Some remote control keys have different functions based on whether they are clicked or long-pressed:

  • On the basic remote control:

    Key

    		 Click Key Name

    		 Long Press Key Name
    "Rewind"

    		 MediaRewind

    		 MediaTrackPrevious
    "Fast Forward"

    		 MediaFastForward

    		 MediaTrackNext

    Table 1: Basic remote control key functions

  • On the Samsung Smart Remote:

    Key

    		 Click Key Name

    		 Long Press Key Name
    "Back/Exit"

    		 Back

    		 Exit

    Table 2: Samsung Smart Remote key functions

Prerequisites

To use the TVInputDevice API, the application has to request permission by adding the following privilege to the "config.xml" file:

<tizen:privilege name='http://tizen.org/privilege/tv.inputdevice'>
</tizen:privilege>

Handling Key Events

To detect and handle remote control key clicks:

  1. To retrieve information about the remote control keys that the TV supports, use the getSupportedKeys() method:

    var value = tizen.tvinputdevice.getSupportedKeys();
console.log(value);

    The method returns the key name and keyCode value for each supported key.

  2. To register the key, add the registerKey() method to the onload event, with the key name as the parameter:

    tizen.tvinputdevice.registerKey('MediaPlayPause'); 
tizen.tvinputdevice.registerKey('ColorF0Red');

    Since 2016 models, you can batch register keys using the registerKeyBatch() method, which can improve application launch time:

    tizen.tvinputdevice.registerKeyBatch(['VolumeUp', 'VolumeDown']);

  3. To receive notifications when a remote control key is clicked, add a listener for the keydown event:

    <body ... onkeydown='handleKeydown(event);'> ... </body>

    or

    document.body.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);

    For more information on the keydown event, see the W3C Keyboard Event Types.

  4. Define the listener.
    The parameter of the handleKeyDown() method is the keyCode value for the clicked key.

    function handleKeydown(event) {
  switch (event.keyCode) {
    case tizen.tvinputdevice.getKey('MediaPlayPause').code: //10252
      // Something you want to do
    break;

    case tizen.tvinputdevice.getKey('ColorF0Red').code: //403
      // Something you want to do
    break;
  ...

Remote Control Key Codes

The following table lists the remote control key names and their corresponding keyCode values.

Key Name

 keyCode
ArrowLeft

 37
ArrowUp

 38
ArrowRight

 39
ArrowDown

 40
Enter

 13
Back

 10009

Key Name

 keyCode
0

 48
1

 49
2

 50
3

 51
4

 52
5

 53
6

 54
7

 55
8

 56
9

 57
Minus

 189
Key Name

 keyCode
VolumeUp

 447
VolumeDown

 448
VolumeMute

 449
ChannelUp

 427
ChannelDown

 428
ChannelList

 10073
PreviousChannel

 10190

Key Name

 keyCode
MediaPlayPause

 10252
MediaRewind

 412
MediaFastForward

 417
MediaPlay

 415
MediaPause

 19
MediaStop

 413
MediaRecord

 416
MediaTrackPrevious

 10232
MediaTrackNext

 10233
Key Name

 keyCode
ColorF0Red

 403
ColorF1Green

 404
ColorF2Yellow

 405
ColorF3Blue

 406

Key Name

 keyCode
Menu

 18
Tools

 10135
Info

 457
Source

 10072
Exit

 10182
Caption

 10221
E-Manual

 10146
3D

 10199
Extra

 10253
PictureSize

 10140
Soccer

 10228
Teletext

 10200
MTS

 10195
Search

 10225
Guide

 458

Table 3: Remote control key codes