Will an IR remote work through tinted glass?

[Hoser59]

I recently moved my TV out of my setup and my next step is moving all my equipment out of my TV stand and putting it into my AV Tower which for the last two years has done nothing more then hold movies (long story).

I am going to replace the TV stand with a sideboard with drawers to not only hold my center speaker but also store all my movies, remotes and various other HT goodies. My hope is that moving my equipment away from the bottom of the screen will get rid of the annoying leds, power lights and what not blinking, shining and otherwise irratating me when watching a movie (I have a friend who is always putting pillows in front of my stuff). Now, since this AV stand has a glass door and faces directly at the couch those lights will still be somewhat of a problem. My plan was to buy some automotive window tint (nothing super dark like limo tint) and apply it to the inside of the glass to further reduce the light. You can see what I am talking about here:



The TV is gone already and the stand is soon to follow. You can see the top of the AV tower on the right.

My question is, does anyone know if tinting the glass will reduce my remotes effectiveness?

[NorCo_1806]

May reduce, but shouldn't block completely. You'll replace your batteries about one week before I do. Just remember to point the remote at the rack, not the screen

Standard auto tint should be fine. Just don't use any of the metallic/reflective types.

[ScuseMe]

I previously had my equipment enclosed in a smoked glass cabinet. While the IR from my remote did reach the equipment, it was very sensitive to line-of-sight and battery strength. Once I went "automated" and programmed macros into the remote, I found that, more than not, one or more of the macro commands would be missed, resulting in me having to turn on the equipment manually or redoing the entire macro sequence.

My eventual fix was to purchase a remote with an RF interface (I got the Harmony 890). Once I did that, and attached the IR repeaters to the units, my macro commands were always spot-on, and it didn't matter how I pointed the remote at my equipment. I hid the RF base unit behind the cabinet, out of sight.

I would suggest trying your remote after applying the tinting, then, if it doesn't work successfully or consistently, invest in an RF solution.

Michael

[Hoser59]

Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate it. I moved my equipment over to the AV tower last night and I will be wiring everything up tonight and applying the tint (I have purchased some semi dark automotive tint - blocks 60% of light). I have a Hamony 700 remote which seems to have a very strong IR signal, much better the the Harmony One that I had previously, and since it is rechargeable battery life shouldn't be an issue. If I do have problems I will look into an RF system since eventually when I get a house I am planning on having all my equipment behind the seating area.

[Hoser59]

Since I finished it I thought I would put the results here. It turned out great! I took the back off the stand to allow for better air flow and used a 20% automotive window tint. This picture was taken with the flash on:

I really liked the way that it turned out. During the day you can barely see through the tint, which means even if my cables are not all organized perfectly, everything looks neat and tidy from the outside. When the room is dark the lights are still bright enough to shine through but they are no longer obtrusive and they give off a soft, subtle glow. I can still read the displays and the remote works fine I am ordering a Belkin power conditioner this week which will allow me to have all the power cords hidden as well

[ScuseMe]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

Since I finished it I thought I would put the results here. It turned out great! I took the back off the stand to allow for better air flow and used a 20% automotive window tint. I really liked the way that it turned out. During the day you can barely see through the tint, which means even if my cables are not all organized perfectly, everything looks neat and tidy from the outside. When the room is dark the lights are still bright enough to shine through but they are no longer obtrusive and they give off a soft, subtle glow. I can still read the displays and the remote works fine I am ordering a Belkin power conditioner this week which will allow me to have all the power cords hidden as well

That's great! The tint turned out very nice. Glad the remote works too.

Michael