How to use the IR port on the back of my netbook to change the channel

Question

I am always sitting on my couch watching tv and surfing the net and I got this hairbrained idea to program the IR port on my laptop to switch the channel. I program C# but wanted to know if anyone else has tried this. How do I access the port? How do I capture what my Universal remote is sending to replay to the TV when I press a button? I could also use this method to program some of my kids IR toy robots. Maybe that will get them interested in programming! Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I believe you will see the IR as a serial port. You can use it from C# using the System.IO.Ports.SerialPort class (msdn).

This can be your starting point.

Regarding the strength, it IS powerful enough to control your TV (unless your living room is 10 meters wide :)). There are programs on PocketPC (universal programmable remotes that capture IR remote signal from your TV remote to be configured) that do the same.