USB - CEC Adapter
Ultimate control
Control your TV, Amplifier and/or Blu-ray Player from Kodi!
Consolidate
Or control Kodi from your TV remote, condense all your remote controls into 1 device!
Works on HDMI® 2.0a and HDMI® 2.0b cables and devices
Our technology works on all versions of HDMI®, including HDMI® 2.0a we don't interfere with the video signal in any way
Compatible with Windows, Linux (including OpenELEC) and Mac OS X.
| Manufacturer: | Pulse-Eight |
| SKU: | P8-USBCECv1 |
Our USB - CEC Adapter works by connecting your home theatre PC to your home entertainment system's CEC bus. Everything you need is included with your order, to take full advantage of this product you will need to use one of the latest versions of Kodi from Kodi.tv.
Once connected enjoy seemless connectivity, Kodi will automatically turn on and off your TV and other home theatre equipment. Volume control from Kodi can be sent to your amplifier, manage your DVD or Blu-Ray player from inside Kodi, and redirect the active source on your TV to whichever equipment needs it, all from one remote control!
No line of sight is required and cables can be hidden neatly out of sight.
What is HDMI-CEC?
CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) is the control protocol found in HDMI®. If you've not heard of CEC, you may have heard of it in another form, Sony call it Bravialink, LG call it Simplink and Samsung call it Anynet+
These are all the same system essentially and our adapter allows your HTPC to join that communication channel.
Why don't I already have it?
Almost all graphics cards do not support CEC in any form, and others only in a limited form. This device allows Kodi and libCEC to access the CEC communications link and send and receive control messages.
What does it give me that I don't already have?
The USB - CEC Adapter allows Kodi to turn your TV and other attached equipment on and off (if they support HDMI® CEC) adjust the volume or eject the disk from a drive. Start playback etc.
Likewise these same devices can tell Kodi what to do, for example, your TV remote can also control Kodi, or vice versa. With this device you can move that step closer to a clutter free living space while maintaining simple remote control for friends and family who may not be familiar with all of the features of a professional remote control.
HDMI® Cable Distance
Please note that this device is a passive product, it does not have a HDMI® repeater or reclocking chip inside it. As such the total distance of your HDMI® cables (both ends) is important. We support a maximum total distance of approx 2m at UHD resolutions and 5m at 1080p (HD) resolutions. Longer distances may result in sparkles or an unstable picture. Does not support resolutions and colour spaces greater than 4k60 4:2:0 8-bit colour.
If you're using 4K resolution, then the current model may not work, but you can work around it by not connecting the CEC adapter in-line:
PC -> HDMI -> TV input 1
PC -> USB CEC adapter -> HDMI -> TV input 2
FAQs:
Please find more information and our CEC FAQs here: http://support.pulse-eight.com/support/solutions/folders/30000057158
See it in action:
This is working great to turn my Sony Bravia TV on and off, and the support for button presses is partially there. I did have some issues setting the software up, but this is being worked on and will become much easier once XBMC eden is out. The box is very small so you can hide it away somewhere.
Works perfectly with my Samsung for switching on/off. One thing to note is that you need to switch off software updates on the Samsung or it disables power off by CEC when it runs.
I have got it running on my Philips 42pfl9803h and it works. Some room for improvement: - usb connection seems intermittent, clearly some supplied cabling/connector/pcb issue, I need to wiggle it a bit until it is steady - my dvb-t reception is interfered when the adapter is on (actually when the mac mini is on) so maybe the packaging can limit the radiation (cage of faraday and such?) - there is no Mac OSX 'testtool' to sniff protocol stuff coming from the TV supplied remote control, please write one - xbmc stop or shutdown switches off the TV for both tasks, it would be nice to keep the TV on when it only concerns stopping the application. Extra option in preferences? Other than this, it is nice to see the TV switched on and off when XBMC starts and stops. Regards, Edwin de Vaan ------ Note from Pulse-Eight The customer's highlighted issue with DVB-T reception is not caused by our device as it does not emit any RF signal.
This is what we were waiting for!!! Great stuff from Pulse-Eight!! This is a must buy for everybody with a xmbc mediacenter!!! The delivery is fast and also the online help through e-mail was super!!!
Today I upgraded XBMC on my still-in-the-making HTPC (running Windows 8 preview) to the latest available nightly build of Eden. It's a stunning experience to see it working perfectly, remote controlled by my Loewe Individual Compose TV set with no efforts at all! Great job, guys! Now on to building my own flavour of XBMC to sqeeze even more out of the Loewe remote control ... Greetings from Nürnberg, Germany Daniela
Got my adapter today and after mapping some additional keys differently its a perfect setup I dont want to miss again. The only thing missing is the option to wake an HTPC via the adapters usb port if that feature also makes it into a future firmware it doesn't just make it an awesome device but the best hardware development for an XBMC HTPC ever made! Thanks and keep on the good work!
Works perfectly! It makes XBMC. So much easier for people to use. Once you can use a TV remote it makes the whole thing much less daunting.
Great little device, and great support from a wonderful company. Just buy one, you won't regret it.
I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about the device and its setup. First, I have to say I was really impressed with the speed that PulseEight shipped the adapter. I had it the next day after I ordered it. Then it came the moment of truth. I run Windows 7 on my media server, which is connected to my Panasonic P42-G20 (2010 model) via an Onkyo TX-NR509. I had not seen this combination mentioned anywhere in the forum and I was a bit worried. Then after loading libCEC and installing the driver, it was up to updating XBMC to Eden RC2, and check if it was working. To my surprise the ON/OFF capabilities worked straight out of the box, but for some strange reason, when I tried controlling XBMC with my Panasonic's remote, nothing was happening. I need to use the Panny's HDMI2 input as default as I use the Audio Return Channel with my Onkyo, but the default setup of the XBMC settings for the CEC adapter were set to HDMI channel 1. I changed this to channel 2 and it worked more or less, but my TV was switching automatically to HDMI-1 when I hit the Viera Link - Control - Recorder menu. I moved some configs on the Panny (changed the Link settings regarding Q-Link to say AV1, and the AV1out to AV2), and kept the HDMI port on the XBMC settings to 2, and then tried activating the Viera Link control and VOILA! I was controlling XBMC with my panasonic remote, which already was controlling my amp. Now everything is consolidated and my wife is more than happy not having to see 3 remotes, a keyboard and a mouse next to the TV couch! A nice tip: you can type and search using your Panasonic keyboard (probably works with others) if you enable the "Remote control sends keyboard presses" in the Input Devices settings of XBMC. This way you can type your searches using the remote as if it was an old mobile phone texting device! All in all incredible satisfied! I love the tech behind the adapter and its simplicity! Can't wait for the new firmware that will allow the telly to wake up my media server, and set the amplifier and telly to the right input!!! Thanks for building something so amazing! Can't also wait for it to work with other media centre software! Regards, AG, London
This made me use XBMC again after 2 years. I was using Serviio Media Server on my Sony Bravia TV because i can control via the TV remote. Now that i can control XBMC with the TV remote its just a joy to use £30 is a steal for what the little adaptor can do! It works as it should using the custom Pulse-Eight build of XBMC My only slight negative point is theres no manual. I would love if there was a wiki page but found the forum and Facebook pages helpful. My item arrived very quickly and felt xmas came 9 months early this year!! Theres no other product like it, its a no brainer must buy for anyone running XBMC through HDMI on your TV
Pros: - Using one remote is a great way to handle all your equipment - The adapter is very tiny, making it easy to conceal it Cons: - While the hardware is perfect, the software support is still in development. Don't get me wrong, the XBMC team is doing a lot of work and the libCEC gets updates very frequently, it's just that is a new technology and needs a little more effort to be perfect. Using latest pre built XBMC distro result is automatic configuration and perfect out of the box functionality, so they're really doing a good work, both XBMC and Pulse-Eight - (Samsung Consideration) My Samsung remote isn't the best, lacks some multimedia key and had to remap some key to give its best Overall, the review is very positive. For a fair price, you get the chance to taste a new way to interact with your media center. Maybe someone still prefer a keyboard, but that's a personal choice. If you feel curios about, it's time to give it a try As for the Pulse Eight service, it's a very remarkable one. It's the third product that i've bought, and all three times i've got a very fast expedition and a good care from the support for all my question and doubts.
This device is incredible! Software was easy installed (even on Ubuntu) and when i plugged it it, it was found immediately. Now my Smart TV finally turns off when XBMC shuts down, so the TV is not running the whole night when i'm asleep while watching tv ;-) And there can be done much more with cec! I would recommend it to every XBMC user!