How to Turn your TV On and Off

You can turn the TV on and off by using the special “Turned Off” option. If your TV supports the CEC Option (*check info below) and it is enabled in your TV’s settings, you can directly assign the “Turned Off” option to your device as Default Content.

  • 8.4.1 How to schedule the Turned Off option
    • 8.4.1a Option 1
    • 8.4.1b Option 2
  • 8.4.2 Tests to check if your TV supports CEC
    • 8.4.2a Running the 1st test
    • 8.4.2b Running the 2nd test
  • 8.4.3 CEC Option

How to schedule the Turned Off option

You can create a new schedule and add an entry for the “Turned Off”. Whenever this option is scheduled, the TV will be turned off.

Tests to check if your TV supports CEC

8.4.2a Running the 1st test

  • Connect your TV via HDMI cable with the player. 
  • Try to have visual contact with your TV screen and follow the below actions.
  • Assuming that your TV is on, try to turn it off using the Actions button in the monitor details screen:
  • Try to turn on your monitor again.
    • If your TV is not responding to the two aforementioned commands, your TV is probably not supporting a CEC client, and therefore your TV cannot be turned off and on by the player.
    • On the other hand, if the TV has successfully obeyed the two aforementioned commands, you can proceed with the 2nd test below.

8.4.2b Running the 2nd test

  • As long as the 1st test was successful, try to create a test schedule on your account with the “Turned Off” option.
  • Assign a simple media file to your monitor and create a schedule with a 5-minute “Turned Off” option.
  • While you are in front of the TV, try to check if the TV responds to the schedule that you created (remember to plan ahead of the current local time).
  • If this test completes successfully, your TV supports the CEC client, and your player can interact directly with your TV via the HDMI cable.

CEC Option

  • The Playbox (or Raspberry Pi in general) includes a CEC adapter on its HDMI monitor port. CEC is a standard communication protocol supported by most major TV manufacturers. It allows a playback device to power on, power off, and switch video inputs on a CEC-enabled TV. Check out the CEC compatibility chart.
    • If your monitor does not support CEC (e.g., you have a computer monitor), the Playbox turns off the HDMI port to allow the monitor to turn off by itself. This function is supported by all current computer monitors, even some TVs.
  • If you are using a PC as the player, CEC is not supported at all.
    • The software will attempt to turn off the HDMI/VGA port, but your hardware might not support this. The same goes if you use an HDMI-to-VGA adapter on your Playbox.
  • In the future, we will provide support for using infrared LEDs to signal the monitor on or off through IR, just like normal TV remotes do.