# Why must I press power twice on remote to control TV or Receiver?



## William_K_F (Apr 20, 2002)

After programming my HR20-700 remote control to operate my TV and receiver, I find that to turn them on or off, I must press the power button twice after switching to AV2 or TV on the remote.

Is this normal, or does it mean I picked the wrong code number to control my box?


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

That sounds odd... I know that if you leave the remote in the mode for the directv unit, and you use the ON button instead of the power button, it will turn your directv unit and your tv on at the same time. Same thing if you use the Off button.... I don;t know if that works with the receiver too...


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

My H21-200 does that for the TV or AV receiver. The first time it pops up a box on the screen telling me Im not in DIRECTV mode, the second time, it powers on/off the device I have it selected to. Probably normal behavior.


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## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

My remote seems to work the same way. When I switch it to AV1, I have to press [Power] twice to turn off my home theater.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Yup, it is normal behavior. When using the Power button in a mode other than DirecTV, it will first notify you that you are not in DirecTV mode and then the next press will issue the Power command to the TV. It does this for any button that can be used in DirecTV mode that is also used with the other modes.

- Merg


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

This is one place where DISH's remote design makes WAY more sense - putting a dedicated, separate power button for the TV. Since many, if not most people do NOT turn off D* DVR's (because there is no need to) this makes more sense.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dishrich said:


> This is one place where DISH's remote design makes WAY more sense - putting a dedicated, separate power button for the TV. Since many, if not most people do NOT turn off D* DVR's (because there is no need to) this makes more sense.


But DirecTV's design requires one less keypress required for those that _want _to put their units in standby, which I suspect are the majority.

Doesn't Dish have a separate TV power button to accomodate those that may be using the box for TV2 in another room?


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## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

dishrich said:


> This is one place where DISH's remote design makes WAY more sense - putting a dedicated, separate power button for the TV. Since many, if not most people do NOT turn off D* DVR's (because there is no need to) this makes more sense.


I don't want an on/off button exclusive to the tv. I like the one button for both. Why would I leave my DVR on when the tv is off? Makes more sense to me to have 1 button handle both.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

bigwad said:


> I don't want an on/off button exclusive to the tv. I like the one button for both. Why would I leave my DVR on when the tv is off? Makes more sense to me to have 1 button handle both.


Except the Power On/Off buttons will not turn my TV on and off. I need to use the Pwr button. Some TV's cannot handle the macro commands that the Power On/Off buttons use, such as mine.

- Merg


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

William_K_F said:


> After programming my HR20-700 remote control to operate my TV and receiver, I find that to turn them on or off, I must press the power button twice after switching to AV2 or TV on the remote.
> 
> Is this normal, or does it mean I picked the wrong code number to control my box?


Receiver should go into standby with one button press. My Samsung projection set required two keypresses to turn off. My newer Sony Bravia requires only one. DirecTV remote has dedicated buttons that "should" turn both receiver and TV on and off with one button press.

You can try other codes if available.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Steve said:


> Doesn't Dish have a separate TV power button to accomodate those that may be using the box for TV2 in another room?


No, has nothing to do with that - BOTH TV1 & 2 remotes do this.
And actually, DISH receivers should be turned off, since they will automatically go into standbye anyway - so really, THEY should be the ones with a combined power button, instead of DirecTV.



bigwad said:


> I don't want an on/off button exclusive to the tv. I like the one button for both. Why would I leave my DVR on when the tv is off? Makes more sense to me to have 1 button handle both.


Not to everyone I hate to tell you...& it's because not only is there NO need to turn off a D* DVR, some want it on ALL the time, so that it is always buffering at least 1 channel so it can rewind &/or save that show. (the Tivo's did 2, but I digress) Never have turned off a DVR in years & mine ALL run very smoothly, so I'm NOT messing with success.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dishrich said:


> Steve said:
> 
> 
> > Doesn't Dish have a separate TV power button to accomodate those that may be using the box for TV2 in another room?
> ...


But if you want to watch TV2 and the receiver is in the room with TV1, seems like there would be times you'd need to be able to just turn off TV1, but not the receiver. That's why Dish needs to keep the power buttons separate. Not the case with DirecTV, because there's no TV2 capability.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Steve said:


> But if you want to watch TV2 and the receiver is in the room with TV1, seems like there would be times you'd need to be able to just turn off TV1, but not the receiver. That's why Dish needs to keep the power buttons separate.


No, the receiver power on the TV1 & 2 remotes operate independently - one does NOT turn the other on or off, so that's not the reason...


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## Shawnn (Sep 23, 2007)

My remote seems to work the same way when turning off my AV receiver.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

dishrich said:


> No, has nothing to do with that - BOTH TV1 & 2 remotes do this.
> 
> Not to everyone I hate to tell you...& it's because not only is there NO need to turn off a D* DVR, some want it on ALL the time, *so that it is always buffering at least 1 channel so it can rewind &/or save that show.* (the Tivo's did 2, but I digress) Never have turned off a DVR in years & mine ALL run very smoothly, so I'm NOT messing with success.


I turn off my DirecTV DVR (ok, put it in standby for the purists) along with the TV. When I turn it back on I still have a buffer in the channel that was last tuned. Certainly there's no NEED to turn it off; on the other hand, there's no NEED to leave it on either.


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## erosroadie (Jan 9, 2007)

billsharpe said:


> Receiver should go into standby with one button press. My Samsung projection set required two keypresses to turn off. My newer Sony Bravia requires only one. DirecTV remote has dedicated buttons that "should" turn both receiver and TV on and off with one button press.
> 
> You can try other codes if available.


One thing about the old D*TiVo units (HR10) is that with ONE BUTTON, I can turn the DVR, TV and AV Receiver ON or OFF. AFAIK, one cannot do that with the HR2X remotes. You can turn ON/OFF the DVR & TV with one button, but not the AV Receiver, too...:nono2:

If I am incorrect, and there is a ONE BUTTON SOLUTION to the HR2X remotes, please enlighten!!!


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## Edmund (Apr 17, 2003)

erosroadie said:


> One thing about the old D*TiVo units (HR10) is that with ONE BUTTON, I can turn the DVR, TV and AV Receiver ON or OFF. AFAIK, one cannot do that with the HR2X remotes. You can turn ON/OFF the DVR & TV with one button, but not the AV Receiver, too...:nono2:


Wrong!!! You were never ever able to turn on/off the Tivo with remote, since it didn't have power key. Tivo remotes turned on/off two things, TV & AV receiver. The directv remote can only turn on/off two things, DVR & TV. The tivo remote wasn't device driven remote, the Directv remotes are.


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## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

billsharpe said:


> I turn off my DirecTV DVR (ok, put it in standby for the purists) along with the TV. When I turn it back on I still have a buffer in the channel that was last tuned. Certainly there's no NEED to turn it off; on the other hand, there's no NEED to leave it on either.


It depends on how long you had your DVR turned off. From what has been discussed, once you turn it off it will only hold the buffer for 5 minutes.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

RACJ2 said:


> It depends on how long you had your DVR turned off. From what has been discussed, once you turn it off it will only hold the buffer for 5 minutes.


I've seen small buffers as well, but I just turned on an HR2x that's been off since last night, and there's a full 90 minutes buffered. The amount of buffer you find on an HR2x probably depends on what kind of housekeeping it was doing prior to turning it on.


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## erosroadie (Jan 9, 2007)

Edmund said:


> Wrong!!! You were never ever able to turn on/off the Tivo with remote, since it didn't have power key. Tivo remotes turned on/off two things, TV & AV receiver. The directv remote can only turn on/off two things, DVR & TV. The tivo remote wasn't device driven remote, the Directv remotes are.


Well, unless I was hallucinating for ~2 years, my TiVo remote DID turn all three ON and OFF with ONE BUTTON. I do recall that there were setup instructions to have the TV Power button handle this function as a macro. Worked well with the HR10, SONY AV Receiver and Samsung DLP...:blackeye:


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## finaldiet (Jun 13, 2006)

mine works the same way. I have to slide button to TV to change channels. Its attached to a Vizio.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Edmund said:


> Wrong!!! You were never ever able to turn on/off the Tivo with remote, since it didn't have power key. Tivo remotes turned on/off two things, TV & AV receiver. *The directv remote can only turn on/off two things, DVR & TV. *The tivo remote wasn't device driven remote, the Directv remotes are.


No, no, no. I've got my DirecTV remote programmed to turn my TV, DVR, Stereo, and DVD Player on and off. I count that as four "things." 

Ok, it only puts the DVR in and out of standby...


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## KenW (Nov 16, 2005)

We watch the same DVR in multiple rooms with two TV's. We need to leave the DVR on and turn off the TV when we switch rooms. The current design is not the best for this configuration.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

billsharpe said:


> No, no, no. I've got my DirecTV remote programmed to turn my TV, DVR, Stereo, and DVD Player on and off. I count that as four "things."
> 
> Ok, it only puts the DVR in and out of standby...


I think they are referring to using the On/Off button on the remote. Those buttons only turn on/off the DVR and the device programmed under the TV slider. Using the PWR button allows you to program devices under each of the slider positions.

- Merg


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

KenW said:


> We watch the same DVR in multiple rooms with two TV's. We need to leave the DVR on and turn off the TV when we switch rooms. The current design is not the best for this configuration.


Thank you! - glad somebody else understands this as well...and again, this IS why DISH designed their remotes like they did.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

dishrich said:


> Thank you! - glad somebody else understands this as well...and again, this IS why DISH designed their remotes like they did.


Not sure I'm following you. If you want to turn off just the TV and leave the DVR on, you slide the switch over to the TV setting and hit the PWR button. I know some remotes have a specific TV only Pwr button. Is that what Dish has?

- Merg


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## Hutchinshouse (Sep 28, 2006)

Same issue for me too. I have to press power twice to get the TV on or off. Been that way from day one. Glad I'm not alone.

TV = Toshiba 23HLV85


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

The Merg said:


> Not sure I'm following you. If you want to turn off just the TV and leave the DVR on, you slide the switch over to the TV setting and hit the PWR button. I know some remotes have a specific TV only Pwr button. Is that what Dish has?


Yes they do, & it's a lot easier than having to keep sliding the switch over...


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dishrich said:


> Steve said:
> 
> 
> > But if you want to watch TV2 and the receiver is in the room with TV1, seems like there would be times you'd need to be able to just turn off TV1, but not the receiver. That's why Dish needs to keep the power buttons separate.
> ...


I thought I understood what you were saying here. A Dish DVR can be simultaneously "on" in one room, and "off" in the other. Each room's remote controls that independently.

But then came this exchange:


dishrich said:


> KenW said:
> 
> 
> > We watch the same DVR in multiple rooms with two TV's. We need to leave the DVR on and turn off the TV when we switch rooms.
> ...


Now I'm confused again. :scratchin


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

dishrich said:


> Yes they do, & it's a lot easier than having to keep sliding the switch over...


That's why DirecTV made the Power On/Off buttons to handle turning off the TV and DVR at the same time. They assumed, whether correctly or not, that if you are turning off the TV you don't need the DVR and can put it into stand-by. Unfortunately, since the button is a macro, not all TV's can handle the TV discrete command after the DirecTV receiver command.

- Merg


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

dishrich said:


> Yes they do, & it's a lot easier than having to keep sliding the switch over...


DirecTV has one of those too and it's better than Dish's it's got a backlight!.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/equipment/remotes?footernavtype=-1


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jhon69 said:


> DirecTV has one of those too and it's better than Dish's it's got a backlight!.
> 
> http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/equipment/remotes?footernavtype=-1


This a new remote, or an old one? Seems odd they'd design a new one with no REPLAY or SKIP buttons.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

If you're referring to the Big Button Remote, it's been around for a while. I remember seeing it a few years ago.

- Merg


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Jhon69 said:


> DirecTV has one of those too and it's better than Dish's it's got a backlight!.


Uh OK, I'm sure lost...   
The backlit RC64RB has the SAME problem - I have only these kind all over my house.
As far as the big button remote - why WOULD I want that, when it doesn't even do all the functions of the others?



The Merg said:


> That's why DirecTV made the Power On/Off buttons to handle turning off the TV and DVR at the same time. They assumed, whether correctly or not, that if you are turning off the TV you don't need the DVR and can put it into stand-by.


Yea, I get it already - & I'm saying it does NOT work well for everyone.
Again, others would prefer DISH's - different strokes...


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Steve said:


> I thought I understood what you were saying here. A Dish DVR can be simultaneously "on" in one room, and "off" in the other. Each room's remote controls that independently...
> Now I'm confused again. :scratchin


Look it's very simple - you CAN have multiple DVR's on in multiple rooms at once. THAT'S why I & others do NOT turn them off, & we simply turn the TV(s) off instead. With DISH remotes, it's VERY easy to accomplish this, as Ken pointed out. With DirecTV remotes, you have to slide the switch.
NOT the end of the world, but I would just prefer DISH's way - I have BOTH, so I know which is easier for me & my clients, sorry...


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dishrich said:


> Look it's very simple - you CAN have multiple DVR's on in multiple rooms at once. THAT'S why I & others do NOT turn them off, & we simply turn the TV(s) off instead. With DISH remotes, it's VERY easy to accomplish this, as Ken pointed out. With DirecTV remotes, you have to slide the switch.
> NOT the end of the world, but I would just prefer DISH's way - I have BOTH, so I know which is easier for me & my clients, sorry...


Guess we'll never see eye to eye on this. 

Unlike Dish TV1/TV2 receivers, current DirecTV receivers are designed to manage a single display in the same room. Since that's how the majority of DirecTV customers are configured, DirecTV opted to offer a single-click solution, which is ideal for the greatest amount of users. Makes perfect sense to me.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

William_K_F said:


> After programming my HR20-700 remote control to operate my TV and receiver, I find that to turn them on or off, I must press the power button twice after switching to AV2 or TV on the remote.
> 
> Is this normal, or does it mean I picked the wrong code number to control my box?


The TV should turn off at the same time you press the small "off" button to turn off the DirecTV box. My guess is you either selected the wrong code for your TV, or your TV is not supported by that model remote. If you do find the right code, you should just have to slide the remote switch to POWER off your AV receiver, and yes, the "double press" is normal.

Additional remote codes for your TV may be found here, but I don't believe that all DirecTV remote models support all codes.

If a particular code is not supported by your model remote, meaning you don't get the proper "confirmation blinks" after entering it, I would contact DirecTV support to see if you can exchange your remote for a newer one that might offer some add'l TV codes.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Steve said:


> My guess is you either selected the wrong code for your TV, or your TV is not supported by that model remote. If you do find the right code, you should just have to slide the remote switch to power off your AV receiver, as others have stated.
> 
> Additional remote codes for your TV may be found here, but I don't believe that all DirecTV remote models support all codes.
> 
> If a particular code is not supported by your model remote, meaning you don't get the proper "confirmation blinks" after entering it, I would contact DirecTV support to see if you can exchange your remote for a newer one that might offer some add'l TV codes.


The double press of the Power (PWR) button for turning on/off the TV is expected behavior with these remotes. It first needs to remind you that you are not in DirecTV mode and then the second press will actually work. Sometimes it does work on the first press, but I haven't found a common thread as to when it does and when it doesn't.

- Merg


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

The Merg said:


> The double press of the Power (PWR) button for turning on/off the TV is expected behavior with these remotes. It first needs to remind you that you are not in DirecTV mode and then the second press will actually work. Sometimes it does work on the first press, but I haven't found a common thread as to when it does and when it doesn't.


POWER (and the double-press) to power off the A/V receiver I understand. But why should the OP have to press POWER to power off the TV? The small "off" button should power off the STB and the TV simultaneously, and he will only have to press that button once.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

dishrich said:


> Uh OK, I'm sure lost...
> The backlit RC64RB has the SAME problem - I have only these kind all over my house.
> As far as the big button remote - why WOULD I want that, when it doesn't even do all the functions of the others?
> 
> ...


No slide switch, buttons like Dish no two presses to turn off and on,only one press.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Jhon69 said:


> No slide switch, buttons like Dish no two presses to turn off and on,only one press.


Better look again, the ONLY difference is, you have to press 1 of the 4 function buttons, THEN you still have to press the power button to actually turn on or off. So, instead of sliding a switch, you still have to change which device you want to address each time by pussing a button instead.

Again, this is NOT like the DISH remotes at all - the DISH remotes have a TOTALLY, SEPARATE ,TV POWER BUTTON, that ONLY turns the TV on or off. You do NOT have to change the device setting on them just to turn the TV on or off.

And besides this, this remote is NOT suited for a DVR box, as Steve already has pointed out...


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Steve said:


> POWER (and the double-press) to power off the A/V receiver I understand. But why should the OP have to press POWER to power off the TV? The small "off" button should power off the STB and the TV simultaneously, and he will only have to press that button once.


That's the problem with some TV's, including mine. For whatever reason it cannot handle the macro being sent by the remote since it sends the On/Off command to the receiver first and the TV second. Hence, I can't use those buttons to turn the TV on and off. It only works the receiver. It's almost as if the commands are sent so close together that the TV doesn't see the command sent to it.

- Merg


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## toadleyb (Feb 5, 2008)

erosroadie said:


> One thing about the old D*TiVo units (HR10) is that with ONE BUTTON, I can turn the DVR, TV and AV Receiver ON or OFF. AFAIK, one cannot do that with the HR2X remotes. You can turn ON/OFF the DVR & TV with one button, but not the AV Receiver, too...:nono2:
> 
> If I am incorrect, and there is a ONE BUTTON SOLUTION to the HR2X remotes, please enlighten!!!


I have a Samsung TV and Denon receiver. I hit the off button on the remote and it turns off the TV, DVR, and receiver (HDMI-CEC turns off the receiver). Unfortunately when turning on the receiver I have to do the 2 button press as the OP stated.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

dishrich said:


> Better look again, the ONLY difference is, you have to press 1 of the 4 function buttons, THEN you still have to press the power button to actually turn on or off. So, instead of sliding a switch, you still have to change which device you want to address each time by pushing a button instead.
> 
> Again, this is NOT like the DISH remotes at all - the DISH remotes have a TOTALLY, SEPARATE ,TV POWER BUTTON, that ONLY turns the TV on or off. You do NOT have to change the device setting on them just to turn the TV on or off.
> 
> And besides this, this remote is NOT suited for a DVR box, as Steve already has pointed out...


OK your talking about Dish's separate TV power button? why is that? if you put the Dish DVR's in standby does the live buffer stop?.My inlaw's have a standard Dish receiver and they hate the separate TV power button.They also hate that you have to press INFO all the time to see the program information on the Dish standard receiver but since my sister-in-law pays for their satellite programming they will put up with it.

As for the RC32BB not being suited for a DVR box it works good on mine.I have both the RC64RB and the RC32BB and use both it just depends how I feel which one I use.


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## Newshawk (Sep 3, 2004)

KenW said:


> We watch the same DVR in multiple rooms with two TV's. We need to leave the DVR on and turn off the TV when we switch rooms. The current design is not the best for this configuration.


The reason the DirecTV remote doesn't have a simple one-button control to turn only the TV off is that no DirecTV DVR, SD or HD, is _designed _to support two TVs. It can be done, with either an RF splitter on a R15 or R16 or a composite, component or HDMI distribution amp for a R22 or HR2x, but all TVs will see the same programming output.

That being said, I have found a way to turn _most_ TVs off without turning off the DVR. Actually, my son discovered it by accident, but I use it deliberately for instances where I need to just turn the TV on or off. Oh, and it's so simple, you'll probably smack your forehead when I tell it to you. The secret? Just press the "ON" button again. (You may commence smacking...)

Why does this work for most TVs? The DirecTV DVRs-in fact, all DirecTV-branded receivers-use one code for taking the receiver out of standby (turning it "ON") and a different code for putting the receiver back into standby (turning it "OFF"). Most TVs use the same code for ON and OFF, so pressing the "ON" button acts like a toggle for TV power while the receiver will just ignore its "ON" signal since it is already on. Try it, it should work in most cases. I know it works on my Sanyo, Sharp and Panasonic TVs. The Curtis Mathes TV in the master bedroom is one that has no code that allows it to respond to "ON" or "OFF". Oh, and it, too, needs a double push of the "PWR" button to turn it on or off.


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

Newshawk said:


> The secret? Just press the "ON" button again.


Exactly what I was going to say. With all the knowledgeable people on these boards, I can't believe that it took so long for someone to suggest this. Of course, this will not work on a tv that requires you to slide the switch to turn it on and off.


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

finaldiet said:


> mine works the same way. I have to slide button to TV to change channels. Its attached to a Vizio.


What code are you using? 11758 works the best if you have the RC64 remote. Try 10056 on earlier Directv remotes, but this code will not work the input on the tv.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Newshawk said:


> [...] That being said, I have found a way to turn most TVs off without turning off the DVR. Actually, my son discovered it by accident, but I use it deliberately for instances where I need to just turn the TV on or off. Oh, and it's so simple, you'll probably smack your forehead when I tell it to you. The secret? Just press the "ON" button again. (You may commence smacking...)





TigersFanJJ said:


> Exactly what I was going to say. With all the knowledgeable people on these boards, I can't believe that it took so long for someone to suggest this. *Of course, this will not work on a tv that requires you to slide the switch to turn it on and off.*


Nor will it work for displays that use discrete "on" and "off" IR codes. 

E.g., except for one of my displays, the other 6 use different IR codes for "on" and "off", so hitting "on" again will not turn the display off, or vice-versa.


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

Steve said:


> Nor will it work for displays that use discrete "on" and "off" IR codes.
> 
> E.g., except for one of my displays, the other 6 use different IR codes for "on" and "off", so hitting "on" again will not turn the display off, or vice-versa.


Very true. I didn't mention it because it was already somewhat covered in Newshawk's post.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Newshawk said:


> The secret? Just press the "ON" button again. (You may commence smacking...)


It doesn't work for my Sony Bravia TV.

...so I will not commence smacking.


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## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

Newshawk said:


> That being said, I have found a way to turn _most_ TVs off without turning off the DVR. Actually, my son discovered it by accident, but I use it deliberately for instances where I need to just turn the TV on or off. Oh, and it's so simple, you'll probably smack your forehead when I tell it to you. The secret? Just press the "ON" button again. (You may commence smacking...)


Don't have to commence smacking, been using that for a long time. It is a good tip for anyone that didn't know.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Jhon69 said:


> OK your talking about Dish's separate TV power button? why is that? if you put the Dish DVR's in standby does the live buffer stop?.


Yes, & again, if other TV's in the SAME house are using that tuner, you DON'T want to turn off that said tuner - ONLY the particular TV in one room.



> As for the RC32BB not being suited for a DVR box it works good on mine.I have both the RC64RB and the RC32BB and use both it just depends how I feel which one I use.


So I take you don't use skip forward/back much then - makes NO sense to me to use the BB remote, but whatever...


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