I don't want to believe in magic, but...

[HoosierDaddy]

We have a six year old Visio TV we use with a Firestick.

I accidentally grabbed the TV remote when reaching for the Firestick remote. Whoa, the TV remote buttons work the Firestick. Okay, not really surprised if they both used the same "codes" for some buttons.

But wait, the Firestick on the back of the TV works on RF and the Visio TV is IR. I mean, the factory TV remote has an IR window on the end and doesn't control the TV unless it's pointing at the TV.

So, I am thinking maybe the factory TV remote might do BOTH IR and RF even if the TV doesn't have RF capability.

But wait (again)... I can control the Firestick with the TV remote BUT only if the TV remote is pointing at the TV. So that seems to rule out the TV remote sending RF.

I'm having a hard time figuring out how the factory IR TV remote signals are somehow being received by the Firestick. It seems inconceivable that the TV is somehow relaying the TV remote commands to the Firestick via the TV's HDMI or USB (for power) ports the Firestick is connected with. And yes, I did look behind the TV while testing this to make sure the TV wasn't using semi-fore or some other way to communicate with the Firestick.

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[Avispa]

The TV is sending control signals over the HDMI cable. Some of em do that.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

The TV is sending control signals over the HDMI cable. Some of em do that.

That's it. I searched and its called HDMI-CEC.

Amazing a 6 year old TV has it and that various manufacturers adhere to a standard well enough over such a time span that a 2019 Fire Stick works with it.

 

[Avispa]

If you have other HDMI things like a DVD player, it might auto switch the TV input channel when its switched on.

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