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