Sharp LCD RS-232 On Command

alexanbo

I know this was bugging me for a while so I thought I'd post this. On the larger Sharp LCD's, primarily the GD6U series the On command via RS-232 is disabled, aparently to meet energy star standards. I talked to tech support and they gave me the following method to turn off the engery star mode so that you can turn on the LCD via RS-232.

RS232C Power On Solution

1. Connect to PC with RS232.

2. Send command "RSPW0001" from PC. (Enables TV to use ON command)

3. Send command "POWR0000". => TV turn off.

4. Send command "POWR0001". => TV turn on.

And if send "RSPW0000". => Shift to "Default" can not turn on TV with RS232

The setting seems to stay set even if power is removed from the unit. I tested this on the GD6U series but I'm pretty sure it should work on the GD4U series as well. If anyone gets around to testing that I'd like to know.

Chip Moody

I've seen this discussed before, and that's the same answer I've seen mentioned. I haven't had a chance to try it myself yet, however. (Got a few of these coming up on a project soon though)

Funny thing is, you're the first person I've heard of that actually got someone at Sharp to fess up to admitting that command even existed. (That command, as well as the power on command, are missing from the manuals...)

- Chip

Dries Kaspers

Re: Sharp LCD RS-232 On Command

Originally posted by alexanbo
I know this was bugging me for a while so I thought I'd post this. On the larger Sharp LCD's, primarily the GD6U series the On command via RS-232 is disabled, aparently to meet energy star standards. I talked to tech support and they gave me the following method to turn off the engery star mode so that you can turn on the LCD via RS-232.

RS232C Power On Solution

1. Connect to PC with RS232.

2. Send command "RSPW0001" from PC. (Enables TV to use ON command)

3. Send command "POWR0000". => TV turn off.

4. Send command "POWR0001". => TV turn on.

And if send "RSPW0000". => Shift to "Default" can not turn on TV with RS232

The setting seems to stay set even if power is removed from the unit. I tested this on the GD6U series but I'm pretty sure it should work on the GD4U series as well. If anyone gets around to testing that I'd like to know.

I believe the commands are actually "'POWR 0',$0D" (three spaces between R and 0) and "'POWR 1',$0D". also most sharp rs232 products use "'POWR???',$0D" to check power status (device reply = 0 for Off and 1 for On), which is undocumented sometimes... all Projectors/LCD's i have seen use this, so it's strange that all AMX Standard modules for sharp products utilize non real-time feedback.

DHawthorne

Thanks! This one has been making me crazy as well - the last one I put in I used IR and RS-232, and it just didn't seem right...never occured to me to call Sharp on it...

alexanbo

The protocol seems to treat spaces and zeros the same. I tried using both 'POWR1 ' and 'POWR0001' and they both did the same thing.... oh yeah I think each command needs a $0D at the end of it... I just added that automatically without thinking about it too much.

Charles Law

That command works for GA4H which I used in a recent project.
Sharp in our market even don't know this command.

RS232 commands have mush less command, compare with IR Remote. I wonder if anyone have a full list of RS232 commands.

Regards
Charles

Chip Moody

Dries, the commands shown are for turning the energy saving mode on and off, not the display power. If the saving mode is left on, (the default) the RS232 port shuts down with the display, and no amount of "'POWR 1',$0D" messages will turn it back on.

The same thing applies to a lot of the Sharp projectors, but those have on-screen menu selections to turn off the energy saver. For whatever reason, the LCDs do not...

- Chip

Dries Kaspers wrote:

I believe the commands are actually "'POWR 0',$0D" (three spaces between R and 0) and "'POWR 1',$0D".

Chip Moody

I share your wonder at this... It's always suprised me that the NEC modules have real feedback, but Sharp modules do not.

- Chip

Dries Kaspers wrote:

it's strange that all AMX Standard modules for sharp products utilize non real-time feedback.

ldeblank@jnv.nl

Sharp Lc Rs232 Command's

In reply to the post in this forum i can inform you that the power command also works with the LC serie (lc-45,lc-32 and lc-37).
In the orginal protocol the command send to the sharp should be send with spaces behind the command exmp: "'POWR1 ',$0D" puts the lcd on.
The strange thing is that also the command "'POWR 1',0D" works. I have not seen it in any documentation but try'd some quiry's ending with ? and there is a feedback. examp:"'POWR? ',$0D" reply's the state of the lcd.
I hope it is usefull for you all.

kennyann

I was able to make the LCD turn on or off after applying the command:RSPW0001. But if I leave for a day or two - it does not turn on even though my code has sent the RSPW0001 command each time. I have to manually turn it on and then my on and off commands work. Have you all come across that problem.

alexanbo

I haven't noticed that as a problem but the job site I wrote that code for has been delayed so I haven't installed it yet.

When I was testing I did pull power to the unit to see if it kept the setting and it did.

Chip Moody

The RSPW0001 isn't a command that is supposed to be sent each time you try to turn the unit on. It's a command that tells the display to turn off the energy star settings. As such, YOU NEED TO HAVE THE DISPLAY ON in order for it to work. (Since under energy saving mode, it doesn't listen to ANYTHING on the RS232 port) Sending POWR0 and POWR1 afterwards isn't a necessary step - it's just a verification that the RSPW1 command "took".

Theoretically, the RSPW1 command is something that you should be able to do ONCE while you're setting all your hardware up during installation, and never have to do it again.

I suppose if you wanted to be a little anal, you could send RSPW1 just before a POWR0 command when the system/display is being turned off from the control system - but it shouldn't be necessary.

But unless this has changed in certain/newer models, the RSPW1 command CANNOT BE SENT WHILE THE DISPLAY IS OFF.

I.E., if you have a display that doesn't respond to POWR1, sending RSPW1 followed by POWR1 shouldn't work either. If it does for any display, please say as much...

Keynnyann, is there any chance that the display you're having difficulty with gets disconnected from AC for a really long period of time? I'm wondering if the memory that stores the non-volatile settings gets lost after a certain period of time after AC is cut. (So, would that make it not-so-non-volatile memory?)

- Chip

kennyann wrote:

I was able to make the LCD turn on or off after applying the command:RSPW0001. But if I leave for a day or two - it does not turn on even though my code has sent the RSPW0001 command each time. I have to manually turn it on and then my on and off commands work. Have you all come across that problem.

ldeblank@jnv.nl

Power

I agree with Chip Moody.
I left the display off two day's from the AC and it works very well with the power on command. Maybe it fail's if the time is longer but i haven't test that.
I can also inform you about some quiry commands:
POWR?...... RETURNS TEH STAUST OF THE POWER
VOLM?....... THE VALUE OF THE VOLUME
HPOS?........ HORIZONTAL POSITION
VPOS?.........VERTICAL POSTION
WIDE?......... THE ASCPECT MODE
MUTE?........ THE MUTE MODE
ACDV?.........THE DOBLY MODE
OFTM?.........TIMER MODE
TEXT?..........TEXT MODE
INP1?........... MODE OF INPUT1
.
.
INP5?............MODE OF INPUT5
REMEMBER THAT ALL COMMANDS MUST 8 BYTES LONG AND END WITH $0D

kennyann

That you for those commad codes. I will try them next time. I have three of the LCDs located in cutomer's home. All three does the same if not have used it for about 2 or 3 days. I do not have control. It seems to work if I send the RSPW1 command and then POWR1. But I will go back and test it when I get a chance.

Kenny A

mpullin

kennyann wrote:

I was able to make the LCD turn on or off after applying the command:RSPW0001. But if I leave for a day or two - it does not turn on even though my code has sent the RSPW0001 command each time. I have to manually turn it on and then my on and off commands work. Have you all come across that problem.

This sounds exactly like a problem I'm having with a LC-37D6U. RS232 on/off works, but leave the TV sitting off for 5 minutes and then RS232 on will not work, the manual power button must be pressed and then RS232 on/off will work.

What is even weirder is that if the TV is sitting on for 5 minutes, then it will respond to RS232 off, but it will not respond to RS232 on once it is off!!

Sharp hasn't gotten back to me yet.

What should I do?

mpullin

mpullin wrote:

This sounds exactly like a problem I'm having with a LC-37D6U. RS232 on/off works, but leave the TV sitting off for 5 minutes and then RS232 on will not work, the manual power button must be pressed and then RS232 on/off will work.

What is even weirder is that if the TV is sitting on for 5 minutes, then it will respond to RS232 off, but it will not respond to RS232 on once it is off!!

Okay, so I finally got a real person at Sharp, and they told me this is actually a known problem with this model!

After 5 minutes of inactivity on the RS232 port the device starts sending error messages in response to status queries. So because the RS232 processor doesn't know if the device is on or off, the POWR 1 command does nothing. It actually has nothing to do with the Energy Star settings.

The guy at Sharp (let's call him Greg) said that there would be a firmware update soon to correct this, and that he'd keep me posted.

ldeblank@jnv.nl

Sharp rs232

Hi there,
Things becomes more clear now. I think that's the reason why i haven't any problems anymore with the LC series. We did four of them in a installation and i created a module with a status requist every second(timeline event in the comm module) to see if power is on or off. That must be the reason why the display's are working correct because the rs232 port is activated every second.

Thanks