Samsung QN55 - Input Selection

I'm new to Roomie Remote and love it. In the past, I've used a Pronto and iRule to control my Home Theater system. I recently purchased a Samsung QN55 Smart TV and am having difficulties getting it to switch to specific inputs.

I'm able to power on the TV via the "Wake on Lan" function. Under "Expert Settings" I'm able to control the volume with Roomie, so I know the app is talking with the TV.

The TV is connected to a TiVo, Roku, and Kodi Media PC (HDMI1,HDMI2, & HDMI3 respectively).

From Roomie, when I select INPUT HDMI1, INPUT HDMI1, or INPUT HDMI 3, nothing happens. When I select INPUT HDMI, or SOURCE, I move from one source to the next. So far, I'm unable to get to a desire input source with a single command.

When using the SmartThings app, I'm able to see and select the respective INPUT. As this uses Bluetooth to connect to my TV, it's not a solution imho.

I have a iTach IP2IR device in anther room and can augment this room with one if necessary, however I would prefer to use IP commands if possible.

For a "SmartTV", I would have thought that this functionality was available. I did notice some posts from 2012, but was hoping that the technology would support a more elegant solution over the past 8+ years.

Suggestions appreciated!

Thanks in Advance...

QN55 is not a complete model number so I can't be sure what you have. But at a high level, Samsung definitively differentiates control features across their lines and model years. Not providing explicit input selection certainly was one such thing observed in past years. For many model years, most models of Samsung do now support direct input selection via IP control.

As an aside, we do also support control of Samsung TVs via our Smartthings integration. You can therefore possibly use the same technique that worked for you from within Roomie. There are numerous ways to control Samsung TVs depending on the year/model/etc. Serial is a very good one if your model supports it.

Depending on the full model, one thing we often see is feature stripping at the low end of the market. Samsung commonly strips useful control features from units sold at CostCo for instance.

My Samsung TV model numbers is QN55Q6DTAFXZA. We purchased it last year at Costco. Until you message, I was not aware that TV purchased @ Costco were different...

I've tried working with "SmartThings", but found it was not complete. For Example:

Selecting the "Watch TiVo" activity for the room with the Samsung, I choose "SmartThings My home" as a device, and have the following command available. .DOOR LOCK, .DOOR UNLOCK, .LIGHT BRITNESS, .LIGHT OFF, .LIGHT ON, .SONOS SPEAK, +WAKE ON LAN...

Nothing TV related. Hmmm

I'll dig around for documentation.

After pulling out most of what remains of my hair, I've discovered the same thing with my new Samsung QN77S90CAFXZA, Input selection does nothing, and the generic HDMI command just moves to the next input. Really difficult to reliably restore states when starting/stopping and activity. This is one of the top-rated sets in '23 and I find it hard to believe it doesn't implement discrete input switching...?

The SmartThings support was re-implemented in the new 8.5 release. There is now a .INPUT SET command that can be used for Samsung TVs. Make sure your Samsung TV is already setup properly within the SmartThings app and then setup SmartThings in Roomie. You should then be able to use that .INPUT SET command to change inputs. The HDMI inputs are named "HDMI2", etc. It remains random to me why some Samsung TVs can change inputs using the normal control protocol and some cannot. I have a 2023 Frame model here that works just fine, but for a few years as per this thread, some random models get released that don't change inputs. Now our new SmartThings support should work well for such cases. You could also use that for power control. Send the .SWITCH OFF command to the TV to power it off for example.

Just saw your response. I’d never bought a ST puck, and didn’t know you could run it as an app/cloud service. I thrashed around a bit getting it set up, but it works brilliantly. I’ve been flogging this setup for 2 weeks, and today within an hour of getting ST all set up, I redid all activities that involve the Samsung in about half an hour and they all run fast and flawless. Thanks!

Will,

Hoping you can provide additional advice here. I was thrilled to find this thread and started following it.

Samsung UN65MU6500 2017 model. WoL works fine. Input selection is not working on typical RR device.

Setup SmartThings and added TV. I can see it in ST and control. ST does not provide explicit input selection but the other commands work. When I select an input it reflects the name in ST. However the names are always [NAME in TV] HMDI [number] e.g. "AlexaTV HMDI 3" on the TV is just called "AlexaTV" since that is the custom name I appled.

In roomie I added the ST integration, got the manifest and see the Samsung TV.

I have tried the Input Set with the following values:

HDMI1

HDMI 1

[Custom name] e.g. DirecTV

DirecTV HDMI 1 (as seen in SmartThings)

DirecTV HDMI1

[default name] e.g. PC

...repeat above

So far I cannot find an input name method in roomie that results in discrete input setting.

Any ideas on how to get this to work or do I have just another Samsung that does not want to support discrete inputs? This was from Best Buy so not a discount chain model AFAIK.

Thanks!

The 6 series models are the low end models – in the M series year, that is the number after "MU". If you can't change the input from the SmartThings app, it's very likely discrete input change commands will not work for us either. In that scenario, you best bet (other than getting a better TV) is to cycle input changes effectively hitting the input button a certain number of times. I haven't seen them do that on recent model years. Even a very cheap 32" Frame TV from 2023 has input changes working. But back in 2017, they had only just adopted generalized IP control in 2016 so the low end models often got feature stripped.

Thank you for the feedback. That all makes sense.

After further testing I discovered that I could not get *any* ST command to the TV to work via Roomie. Maybe inputs will work if I can figure out how to get commands there.

Currently I have just one thing in SmartThings, which is the Samsung TV. When I created the API key, I checked EVERY option. I put in the API key, and successfully get the manifest. Then I create an inline activity with the TV device. I have tried power, input, channel, mute and nothing from RR affects the TV, while same operations in ST works. Without anything working in RR then I still suspect my config.

Discrete input works on IR of course, so I can consider that path. Have you heard of any way to hit a Fire Cube to have it send out IR commands using the blaster function? i.e. treat a Fire Cube sort of like an iTach device, since it has that capability built in.

I setup the Samsun in the Fire Cube and I can set "alexa, set TV HDMI 1" and it bangs on perfectly.

Thank you!

ST does not provide explicit input selection

First, you said the ST app did not work, quote above.

same operations in ST works

Then you imply it might work in the ST app. Not sure what you are saying therefore. Regardless, I can't see anything about your config and this is now essentially a support question so can only be handled there (or by you looking at your diagnostic).

OK. Sorry to be confusing. I will try again and consider submitting to support.

1. It is possible or even probable that discrete input selection does not work via IP since I cannot find that option in SmartThings control for this particular TV.

2. I suspect my RR config in general because:

• Simple commands like Power off, Mute, Channel work in the iOS SmartThings app.
• Those same command like .SWITCH OFF or .MUTE ON SET do not work in RR using the SmartThings Cloud Commands set to the [TV] Samsung Study device in the manifest list.

I was making the assumption that (aside from discrete input) basic IP commands should work via both paths. I was trying to follow the same design pattern noted earlier in this thread.

Thank you,

Paul

• It is possible or even probable that discrete input selection does not work via IP since I cannot find that option in SmartThings control for this particular TV.

OK so now you are back to saying it doesn't work via ST app. To clarify, it is unlikely to work in RR via ST if it doesn't work in the ST app. Diagnosing anything else would need to go to diagnostics not the forum.