Personally I love the new Gemini remote. It’s easy to handle with one hand, has “just the right number” of buttons, and of course has advanced features like the voice button. But, we’ve had a lot of people call us about the backlighting. It seems that there are people who want to change it in some way.
Yes, the Gemini remote is backlit.
I go into details here, but yes the Gemini remote is backlit. There are some things on the internet you’ll read saying it isn’t, but it is most definitely backlit. Here’s a photo I took in near total darkness.
The issue is that the backlighting isn’t as bright as previous DIRECTV remotes. The light also doesn’t stay on very long. This has led some folks to believe that it isn’t backlit at all, but that’s not true.
Are there options for the backlighting?
Unfortunately there isn’t an option you can set for the brightness or backlight time. Newer Gemini remotes have the same backlighting as older ones, so it’s not like we could say that the first run had issues or anything. This is clearly the backlight situation that DIRECTV intended.
Personally, I’m very satisfied with the backlight but I understand that not everyone is. Looking at this remote compared with the previous generation backlit remote, I find it easier to use when the room isn’t dark, and for me that’s most of the time. The older backlit remote doesn’t have as much contrast in a room with medium lighting. That’s one of the reasons DIRECTV still offers the non-backlit version. I think the dimmer backlighting is a great compromise that makes the remote usable in more situations.
What can be done if you want a brighter backlight?
If you have a Gemini, you’re more or less tied to the Gemini remote. The Gemini for Satellite will use any standard DIRECTV remote in infrared mode, but some of the buttons act a bit differently. Gemini Air, on the other hand, can’t use any remote but the standard Gemini remote. Unlike older remotes, it uses Bluetooth instead of RF and that makes it incompatible with older RF remotes. Because it’s intended to be hidden behind a TV, it doesn’t have an infrared receiver which would allow it to be used with older IR remotes.
It occurs to me that if you were fairly good at electronics projects, you could add a capacitor and possibly different LEDs to the inside of a Gemini remote. Putting more voltage into the LED lights would let them shine brighter, and there probably wouldn’t be a heat issue. I would imagine that battery life would suffer, but maybe that’s a small price to pay. Personally that’s a bit beyond my skill level, but I know we have some amazing hobbyists who read this blog. Maybe one of you will take this on as a challenge.
Unlike other DIRECTV equipment, the remotes are considered “owned” so you can do what you want to them. There’s no conflict if you want to hot-rod the lights on yours.
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