I would like to develop a true universal IR remote control using a uController. The TSOP series of IR receivers appear to be frequency specific, so I'm guessing I need a receiver with a wider frequency response?
Does anyone have any experience with a suitable IR receiver and transmitter for a universal remote?
Is this for tv's and electronics? I recommend observing transmissions from remote controls on a scope. Usually the signals consist of mixed idle/ long/ short. Too many pulses to count. I imagine the receiver needs to decipher each and every pulse.
What this means is that the frequency is an 'average' value. We speak of 36-38 kHz as the 'general' frequency.
The "frequency" of those receivers act like a filter.
Imagine this filter acts like the focus of a camera.
With a misaligned focus at a camera you don't see the details you are interested in, because the signal (picture) is influenced by the signals nearby.
--> You loose informations of your desired signal
--> and you get a lot of garbage from other ambient signals
Vishay TSMP58000 will receive IR and give raw IR signal out.
Not as easy to use as a standard IR receiver though.
As for transmit - normal IR LED arrangements will work at 30kHz to 60 kHz. No special consideration is required.
If you limit "universal" to "most" then just use a standard 38kHz 3-pin receiver. It will happily receive 36kHz and 40kHz, but with the range approximately halved. This covers a large selection of Domestic IR remote controls, but of course not all.