See if this sounds like a problem in your house. It’s time to walk away from the TV and so you push the OFF button on your Genie Remote. For whatever reason, the receiver doesn’t turn off. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you are in a bit of a pickle.
Pressing the OFF button again turns the TV on, and then you need to press the OFF button one more time and hope everything works as promised. If it doesn’t, you get more and more annoyed until you just walk away and hope the power saver mode on these devices kicks in.
There has to be a better way.
There is, and it just takes a little creativity. DIRECTV Genie clients connect to their remotes with RF technology. This technology lets them shoot through walls and doors and makes it easier for you to aim the remote. It’s a great option and it makes things so much more simple. Without RF technology you’d have to find that sweet spot pointing somewhere just between the TV and client box. This way, you point the remote at the TV as you would expect, and everything just works.
TVs, on the other hand, generally use infrared remotes. This is a tried-and-true technology but it has its limitations. You have to make sure there’s a clear line-of-sight between the remote and TV. In a case like this, you can use this to your advantage.
It’s simple. Hold the remote like this.
Make sure your hand completely covers up the top of the remote. This should block signals to your TV pretty darn effectively. Now, you can press the OFF button on the remote and it will only affect the Genie client. Simple enough, right?
What about…
Suppose you only want to turn off the client box and you want to keep the TV on? Sometimes you’ll do this so you can use the smart functions on your TV. This is incredibly easy. You’ve probably already figured it out, but here it is just in case.
It’s exactly the same move. Cover up the front of the remote and this will let you press the OFF button to turn off the client box, therefore leaving the TV on and ready for you to use.
OK Mr Smart Guy…
Now you’re thinking, what if I want to turn the TV off but keep the client box on? I can actually think of a case where someone might want to do this. If you use the Music Choice channels to keep some tunes on in the house, and if you have a home theater receiver, you might want to save a little money on energy by keeping the TV off.
I should point out, though, that in some setups turning off the TV will stop the signal from the receiver. This is due to the foolish and unnecessary copy protection that’s built into pretty much everything.
If you want to try this, you don’t even have to hold the remote in a particular way. Just press the ON button on the remote. That should keep the client box on. Because most TVs have one signal that means both on and off, it should turn the TV off. Simple as that, right?
Oh and by the way, if you need a spare remote or anything else to live your best digital life, shop the great selection at Solid Signal!
