Digital IR vs. Analog IR: Which is Better?

With RF and combination IR/RF seemingly the rage, does it mean that IR technology itself has been sent to pasture?

Not necessarily. Digital IR is still a possible solution for integrators.

Digital IR technology:

• Expands the range of analog IR by up to 300 percent
• Is less susceptible to disturbances from CFLs, plasmas, etc.
• Has the ability to continue to work even with weaker batteries
• Is "greener" because it lasts longer than analog
• Works outdoors in direct sunlight

Knoll Systems has been making digital IR systems since 2005 and, according to founder Kevin Knoll, digital IR uses digital signal processing to "fix" the IR data before sending it out for processing by the components that receive the signal. That enhancement enables it to work in direct sunlight.

"Digital IR has to detect an infrared signal pattern before it will process and enhance an infrared signal," he says. "Conventional infrared repeaters just take whatever signal comes in, boosts it and sends it out. If it is in sunlight, it bogs down the components trying to decode the 'undecodable' sunlight and the equipment appears to not work."

Also, the remote does not have to be directly aimed at the receiver. The technology costs more than its analog progenitor, but the installation technique is identical.

Manufacturers can use a microprocessor to detect, process and enhance IR signals, or use an optical lens to remove unwanted light or strip off the carrier frequency and add it back later.

What technology is better: analog IR or digital IR ... or is it RF?