Infra-red has long been the industry standard for remote controls but new advances in radio frequency technology suggests change is in the air.

Defining industry development through binary opposites is a popular strategy. Prior to its industry domination VHS was pitted up against Beta Max and MMCD once stood in opposition to SD (later known as DVD). The latest format war has Blu-ray and HD DVD battling for consumer preference.

In the remote control industry, longstanding industry stalwart infra-red (IR) faces a challenge from radio frequency (RF) technology.

General manager of RTI Controls Australia Gregory Revell believes that remote controls are the glue that holds home automation systems together.

“It’s no good having high-end home automation technology installed in your home if you can’t operate it efficiently. The control system is what glues it all together – by pushing one button a whole lot of things can happen,” he says.

So how do the two technologies differ? Put simply and adding yet another dichotomy to the mix, IR utilises one-way communication whereas RF operates on a two-way mantra.

IR remote controls can only send information while those equipped with RF technology can operate as both sender and receiver.

GreenPeak is a leader in battery-free communication technology for wireless sense and control applications. CEO Cees Links says there is one very obvious benefit to this dual capability.

“If you’ve lost your remote control in the house you can push a button on the television that makes the remote control beep and you can then locate the remote control,” he says.

Secondly, IR operates via line of sight and doesn’t work very well outside or in bright locations with lots of sunlight because of signal interference.

While an IR user needs to point their remote control directly at their TV or DVD player, an RF-controlled remote need not be operated with the same degree of accuracy.

A user can change the channel on a TV located in another room or store a DVD player or set top box behind a cabinet door and the RF remote control can still ‘communicate’ with the base device.

Additionally, Gregory says RF technology allows the functionality of several remote controls to be integrated into a single remote.

“We’re trying to eliminate the seven remotes needed to watch Foxtel and a DVD on your television at home.

“Normally you have a remote for the TV and you have to make sure it’s on the right input. Next you get your Foxtel remote and select the channel and then you need to turn the stereo on to the right input – it’s quite an exhausting process that almost negates the benefits of home automaton.

“RF single remote technology allows the user to pick up the remote control, push the Foxtel button and everything turns on. It’s a very simple process because the RF remote control is sending a very small piece of data to the control box which then spits out all the information that the Foxtel box requires.”

Radio frequency technology has been available for some time, but it has only recently become accessible for small, portable devices on the mainstream market.

Bluetooth is one of the earliest examples of RF technology and is now used to operate the Nintendo Wii. In this instance, both one and two-way communication are utilised – hand controls ‘speak’ to the main device using IR and it communicates back via RF.

A single, universal RF remote control has the potential to control every aspect of a connected home, including lighting, heating and air-conditioning, blinds and security systems.

Advocates of RF believe the technology is the final piece of the home automation puzzle and allows it to function as a truly ‘connected’ system.

Cees believes RF will eventually replace IR and deliver richer communication, increased reliability and improved flexibility.

“Frankly speaking, it’s akin to cassettes being replaced with CDs. My expectation is that there is no reason to keep IR once RF is adopted.”

Gregory advocates a more integrated approach that doesn’t necessarily signal the death of IR.

“Infra-red will always be around. Every manufacturer sells product without knowing where it’s going to end up.

“Today they sell a plasma to Mary which she’s going to place at the end of her bed. IR will suffice in this instance. Next they have a family who buy 11 plasmas to put in their house and they don’t want 11 remote controls – so they need an RF-operated control system.”