CEC

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The Pulse-Eight USB to CEC adapter, for devices that don't have CEC connected to their internal HDMI pins.
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Remote controls ▶ CEC

CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) allows for control of devices over the HDMI port. Since v11 (Eden) Kodi comes with libCEC (CEC abstraction and interface library from Pulse-Eight) which allows control of the Kodi input over the standard TV remote that comes with your TV. As buttons are pressed the remote command is sent via the HDMI cable to your Kodi device.

CEC allows you to do things such as:

  • Controlling Kodi from the TV's remote control
  • Automatically switch to the right TV input device
  • Letting the HTPC control what mode your audio receiver is on when the TV switches on
  • Turning all devices off with one remote
  • Set volume/mute of the receiver
  • And a lot more!

Overview

Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) is an HDMI feature designed to allow the user to command and control up-to 15 CEC-enabled devices, that are connected through HDMI,[63][64] by using only one of their remote controls (for example by controlling a television set, set-top box, and DVD player using only the remote control of the TV).[65] CEC also allows for individual CEC-enabled devices to command and control each other without user intervention.

It is a one-wire bidirectional serial bus that is based on the CENELEC standard AV.link protocol to perform remote control functions. CEC wiring is mandatory, although implementation of CEC in a product is optional. It was defined in HDMI Specification 1.0 and updated in HDMI 1.2, HDMI 1.2a and HDMI 1.3a (which added timer and audio commands to the bus). USB to CEC adapters exist that allow a computer to control CEC-enabled devices.

Kodi uses libCEC (CEC library) from Pulse-Eight for send and receive CEC commands over the HDMI bus, this is because libCEC acts an abstraction layer and translate the commands to match each vendor and devices compatibility issues.

libCEC is aimed at being a reference implementation of the HDMI 1.4b Specification, however what each adopter supports is not always what they should support. Equally some mandatory features of HDMI-CEC are not implemented by some vendors.

The following is a list of the most commonly used HDMI-CEC commands

  • One Touch Play allows devices to switch the TV to use it as the active source when playback starts
  • System Standby enables users to switch multiple devices to standby mode with the press of one button
  • Preset Transfer transfers the tuner channel setup to another TV set
  • One Touch Record allows users to record whatever is currently being shown on the HDTV screen on a selected recording device
  • Timer Programming allows users to use the EPG (Electronic Program Guides) that are built into many HDTVs and set-top-boxes to program the timer in recording devices like PVRs and DVRs
  • System Information checks all components for bus addresses and configuration
  • Deck Control allows a component to interrogate and control the operation (play, pause, rewind etc.), of a playback component (Blu-ray or HD DVD player or a Camcorder, etc.)
  • Tuner Control allows a component to control the tuner of another component
  • OSD Display uses the OSD of the TV set to display text
  • Device Menu Control allows a component to control the menu system of another component by passing through the user interface (UI) commands
  • Routing Control controls the switching of signal sources
  • Remote Control Pass Through allows remote control commands to be passed through to other devices within the system
  • Device OSD Name Transfer transfers the preferred device names to the TV set
  • System Audio Control allows the volume of an AV receiver, integrated amplifier or preamplifier to be controlled using any remote control from a suitably equipped device(s) in the system

Settings

Settings for your CEC devices can be found in:

System -> Settings -> System -> Input Devices -> Peripherals -> CEC adapter

CEC uses the remote.xml keymap, so using that XML file will allow you to customize most buttons.

You can also use the debug log to see what the buttons are named for that keymap file. See keymap for more information.

CEC-capable HTPCs

  • Some ARM/"Android boxes" have the ability to use CEC, but only expose some basic functions to Kodi. These functions are typically enough to use a TV remote to control that box. For example, the Amazon Fire TV has this kind of CEC functionality.
  • Other devices, such as the Raspberry Pi, have more complete CEC abilities, and are completely built-in.

Trade names

There are different trade names for HDMI CEC, depending on who is the manufacturer of your device, so it doesn't have to be stated as HDMI-CEC. Find your manufacturer on this list and see what it is called for your device:

  • AOC - E-link
  • Hitachi - HDMI-CEC
  • LG - SimpLink
  • Loewe - Digital Link or Digital Link Plus
  • Mitsubishi - NetCommand for HDMI
  • Onkyo - RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI)
  • Panasonic - VIERA Link or HDAVI Control or EZ-Sync
  • Philips - EasyLink
  • Pioneer - Kuro Link
  • Runco International - RuncoLink
  • Samsung - Anynet+
  • Sharp - Aquos Link
  • Sony - BRAVIA Link or BRAVIA Sync
  • Toshiba - Regza Link or CE-Link

Manufacturer Support

The matrix below indicates our what Pulse-Eight, the main developer of ibCEC, believe each vendor supports themselves, this matrix is by no means complete and if your device/brand is not listed then please ask us for more information. Note that cells marked "?" may work, but we have not independently verified. Cells marked Yes* are supported by libCEC but require a commercial license.

A " Yes " mark indicates that the vendor support this CEC feature. This information was originally copied from http://libcec.pulse-eight.com/vendor/support
Vendor One Touch Play Routing Control Standby One Touch Record Timer Programming System Information Deck Control Tuner Control OSD String Display Device OSD Name Transfer Device Menu Control Remote Control Passthrough Power Status System Audio Control
Akai ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
AOC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Benq ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Daewoo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Grundig ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hitachi ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
LG Yes Yes Yes[1] ? ? ? Yes ? No No ? Yes ? ?
Loewe ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Marantz ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Medion ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mitsubishi ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Onkyo Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? No ? ? Yes ? Yes
Panasonic Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? No ? Yes ? ?
Philips Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No Yes ? Yes Yes Yes
Pioneer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Runco ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Samsung Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes ? No Yes ? ? ? ?
Sharp Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Sony Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Toshiba Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Vizio Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Yamaha ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes

Notes

  1. ↑ Supported by all devices except TVs

Devices Known to work

With different TV's and devices comes different compatibility. An up to date vendor support matrix can be found here, which lists which features are supported for each vendor.

Below is a list of specific TV's which are known to be working with CEC and Kodi:

TVs

  • LG 47LS4600
  • LG 47CS570
  • LG LM620T
  • LG 37LG6000
  • LG 42LD420
  • LG 42LD550
  • LG 60PM6700 (Most of the expected buttons work, EXCEPT the number & channel buttons)
  • LG 32LN572B (2013 model tested on Raspberry Pi running OpenELEC 3.2.3. The regular TV remote control works except forward and rewind but the left and right skip keys works so it's quiet useable. The Magic Remote also seems to work but haven't been tested properly)
  • Panasonic TXL-47DT50
  • Panasonic Viera GT30
  • Panasonic Viera GT60
  • Panasonic Viera S60
  • Panasonic Viera ST50
  • Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80E
  • Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85E
  • Panasonic Viera TH-P42S10A
  • Panasonic Viera TH-P50G10A
  • Philips 37PFL6007K
  • Philips 47PFL5007K
  • Samsung ES6800
  • Samsung LE32B650
  • Samsung LE37D570
  • Samsung LE40C650
  • Samsung LN46D610/LN46D630
  • Samsung UE40C7700
  • Samsung UE46F8000
  • Samsung UE50EH5300
  • Samsung UE55F6510
  • Sharp LC-52D83X
  • Sony Bravia KDL-32W5500 (Guide button doesn't work as context menu - reassign a coloured button for this function)
  • Sony Bravia KDL-40M4000
  • Sony Bravia KDL-46EX520
  • Sony Bravia KDL-40HX705
  • Sony Bravia KDL-46HX800
  • Sony Bravia KDL-46NX715
  • Sony Bravia KDL-52NX800
  • Sony Bravia KD-55X9004A
  • Sony NSX-40GT1 (Google TV)
  • Vizio M-Series

Home Cinema Systems

  • Marantz SR7005
  • Onkyo HT-R390 Amplifier
  • Sony STR-DH820
  • Yamaha RX-V473 AV-Receiver
  • Yamaha RX-V1071 AV Receiver (only on HDMI Out 1)

Projectors

  • Epson EH-TW6100

Kodi Devices

HDMI ports on computers (onboard or via GPU) do not have the CEC feature, but can use a CEC adapter such as this one from Pulse-Eight: http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/products/104-usb-hdmi-cec-adapter.aspx

Some recent Intel motherboards come with a new HTPC header, to connect Pulse-Eight's internal HDMI CEC adapter: http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/products/117-internal-hdmi-cec-adapter.aspx

Intel NUC

Intel Graphics doesn't support CEC commands (http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-034397.htm under "What are the differences between different HDMI versions?") and a Pulse-Eight adapter is required. Both the external USB adapter and the internal adapter (http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-034631.htm) works.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi GPU has CEC support which is supported by libCEC, and is therefore fully supported by Kodi.

Common Issues with CEC

When "setting up" CEC make sure your configuration uses good HDMI cables. Especially cheap cables - still able to support 1080p without any problems - have been reported to cause problems with CEC (eg. devices like raspberry not showing up in the CEC menu at all, devices showing up but remote not working, etc).

Using better HDMI cables might resolve that problem.

There are also reports of devices with improper HDMI CEC implementation, such as ROKU streaming box, causing problems with CEC device recognition. Disconnecting non-CEC devices, or upgrading firmware on those devices, may resolve the problem.

Further reading

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