Sony Sound Bar HT-ST7 obstructing TV remote operation

[murtazaamin]

I had a 2010 Sony Bravia 48" LCD TV and the HT-ST7 sound bar, which was placed in front of the TV.  The sound bar came with an IR blaster which helped with the operation of the TV remote, even though the sound bar obstructed the in-built IR reciever on the TV.  Everything was working fine.

I just bought a new KD-55XD9305 UHD TV, but with exactly the same set up, the new TV remote doesn't operate unless I walk right up to the TV and point the remote between the sound bar and the TV.  For some reason it does not communicate with the IR blaster on the sound bar, like the old TV remote did.

The new TV came with its own IR blaster, but the instructions for these are more for using other devices with the TV remote - it does not tell you whether and how these can be used to increase the range of the TV remote

[joeldeluxe]

How are you connecting the Soundbar to the TV? You should be using HDMI ARC for best preformence with CEC enabled  

[murtazaamin]

Yes, the sound bar is connected to TV via HDMI ARC.  It always has been even with the old TV.  What is CEC and how can I enable that?  Would that help with the TV remote operation?

Would appreciate some insight in this as I'm really frustrated and regret my decision of buying the new TV!

[joeldeluxe]

Try to use "Action Meny" when using the TV and go to the Bravia Sync meny, there you should choose to control you prefered way  

[royabrown]

Check that the IR repeater blaster connected to the soundbar is still working by looking at its output via your smartphone camera, while firing the TV remote at the sensor on the soundbar.

Do you see the flickering that indicates the pass-through is still working?

if not, check the repeater is still enabled on the soundbar, wiggle the TV remote about until it is aligned correctly, etc.

Then, ensure that the blaster is pointed at the sensor on the TV; it may have a very narrow beam, so slide it back and forth, up and down a little perhaps, while pressing (say) the volume control on the TV remote, pointed closely at the sensor on the soundbar, and see if there is a position in which it catches.

[murtazaamin]

No joy!  Ultimately had to buy an IR repeater to get the TV remote to work.  Major design fault by Sony when using TV in conjunction with sound bar. 

Support extremely poor as well.  Support personnel are not technically qualified and responses are inadequate.  Telephone support only works on weekdays during working hours only, which is useless as Sony mainly makes entertainment products, which one would expect to use during weekends, so it is counter-intuitive

The Sony brand seems to have deteriorated significantly in comparison with the competition!

[royabrown]

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@murtazaamin wrote:

No joy!  Ultimately had to buy an IR repeater to get the TV remote to work.  Major design fault by Sony when using TV in conjunction with sound bar. 

Support extremely poor as well.  Support personnel are not technically qualified and responses are inadequate.  Telephone support only works on weekdays during working hours only, which is useless as Sony mainly makes entertainment products, which one would expect to use during weekends, so it is counter-intuitive

The Sony brand seems to have deteriorated significantly in comparison with the competition!

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I don't quite understand? According to the manual I read, the IR blaster isn't integral to the soundbar, but is a plug in unit.

So are you saying you had that, but you had to buy another one, or a different one?

[murtazaamin]

Yes, you're right.  The sound bar came with an external IR blaster, which I'd plugged into the sound bar.  Worked fine with my old TV, but refused to work with the new one, for reasons unknown to me.  Had to buy another IR blaster with a reciever-transmitter to get the new TV remote to work.  The transition to the new TV was not seamlessa nd quite painful