Where our remote codes come from

What happened

This site launched with code tables that had not been checked against any manufacturer document. When they were finally checked, against One For All's own published list for the URC 1210, only eight of forty television codes matched. The codes the pages led with — the "try this one first" numbers — did not appear in the official list at all.

Those tables were removed and replaced with real ones. Between One For All's Contour TV list, Jasco's four GE code lists and RCA's code finder, the site now carries more than 40,000 verified codes, against the 141 unverified ones it started with.

The explanatory writing — how device keys work, what volume punch-through does, why a code can control power but not volume, how auto-search works — did not depend on those numbers and still stands.

Verified tables

What is not here

Remotes we cannot source a code list for are not on this site at all. They previously had pages saying so, which turned out to be worse than nothing: a page that cannot answer the question you arrived with is a dead end, however politely it explains itself. They were removed rather than left as apologies.

• Sky, Samsung and LG remotes — no published code list we can verify against.

• One For All models other than the URC 1210 Contour TV. The Essence range uses SimpleSet brand buttons rather than numeric codes, so there is no code table to publish for it.

• VCRs, CD players and disc combos. Jasco publishes these and we hold the data, but nobody is searching for them.

Any of these returns the moment there is a manufacturer document behind it — which is exactly how the GE lists arrived.

How a table gets published

1. 1

   The code list must come from the manufacturer — a published code list, a manual, or an official support document.

2. 2

   The document is archived and linked from the page, so any code can be checked against it.

3. 3

   The remote model name must match the manufacturer's name for that product, not a similar-sounding one.

4. 4

   Where a remote uses brand-button setup rather than numeric codes, we say so instead of inventing a code list for it.