Early RCA IR remote control development story
Back around 1980, friend of mine was developing an IR remote control using the then new low power microprocessor chips, "COPS" chips IIRC. This was at the Smirnoff Labs. At Indy, our product development place and near the manufacturing plant in Bloomington, they were designing an analog audio tone (that would modulate an IR light beam) based remote. Lots of circuitry, and would be expensive. The Labs design was much cheaper and simplier. But as you would expect, the "Not Invented Here" syndrome happens in Indy, and they eventually come down to a "bake-off" test run, with two TVs (one equipped with one remote system, the other the other) out in the parking lot, in the sunlight. My friend says neigher would work in the Sun. Well, theirs kept changing channels and whatnot, out of control, but his microprocessor based remote worked perfectly. And it was cheaper. So they be-grudingly had to go with the microprocessor based remote in production. The remote's plastic case was designed to house the bulky circuitry of the analog scheme, but as they already had a few million cases made, they just had a very bare circuit board with a microprocessor chip on it put inside.
