samsungctl

samsungctl is a library and a command line tool for remote controlling Samsung televisions via a TCP/IP connection. It currently supports both pre-2016 TVs as well most of the modern Tizen-OS TVs with Ethernet or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Dependencies

• Python 3
• websocket-client (optional, for 2016+ TVs)
• curses (optional, for the interactive mode)

Installation

samsungctl can be installed using pip:

# pip install samsungctl

Alternatively you can clone the Git repository and run:

# python setup.py install

It's possible to use the command line tool without installation:

$ python -m samsungctl

Command line usage

You can use samsungctl command to send keys to a TV:

$ samsungctl --host <host> [options] <key> [key ...]

host is the hostname or IP address of the TV. key is a key code, e.g. KEY_VOLDOWN. See Key codes.

There is also an interactive mode (ncurses) for sending the key presses:

$ samsungctl --host <host> [options] --interactive

Use samsungctl --help for more information about the command line arguments:

usage: samsungctl [-h] [--version] [-v] [-q] [-i] [--host HOST] [--port PORT]
                  [--method METHOD] [--name NAME] [--description DESC]
                  [--id ID] [--timeout TIMEOUT]
                  [key [key ...]]

Remote control Samsung televisions via TCP/IP connection

positional arguments:
  key                 keys to be sent (e.g. KEY_VOLDOWN)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help          show this help message and exit
  --version           show program's version number and exit
  -v, --verbose       increase output verbosity
  -q, --quiet         suppress non-fatal output
  -i, --interactive   interactive control
  --host HOST         TV hostname or IP address
  --port PORT         TV port number (TCP)
  --method METHOD     Connection method (legacy or websocket)
  --name NAME         remote control name
  --description DESC  remote control description
  --id ID             remote control id
  --timeout TIMEOUT   socket timeout in seconds (0 = no timeout)

E.g. samsungctl --host 192.168.0.10 --name myremote KEY_VOLDOWN

The settings can be loaded from a configuration file. The file is searched from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/samsungctl.conf, ~/.config/samsungctl.conf, and /etc/samsungctl.conf in this order. A simple default configuration is bundled with the source as samsungctl.conf.

Library usage

samsungctl can be imported as a Python 3 library:

import samsungctl

A context managed remote controller object of class Remote can be constructed using the with statement:

with samsungctl.Remote(config) as remote:
    # Use the remote object

The constructor takes a configuration dictionary as a parameter. All configuration items must be specified.

Key	Type	Description
host	string	Hostname or IP address of the TV.
port	int	TCP port number. (Default: 55000)
method	string	Connection method (legacy or websocket)
name	string	Name of the remote controller.
description	string	Remote controller description.
id	string	Additional remote controller ID.
timeout	int	Timeout in seconds. 0 means no timeout.

The Remote object is very simple and you only need the control(key) method. The only parameter is a string naming the key to be sent (e.g. KEY_VOLDOWN). See Key codes. You can call control multiple times using the same Remote object. The connection is automatically closed when exiting the with statement.

When something goes wrong you will receive an exception:

Exception	Description
AccessDenied	The TV does not allow you to send keys.
ConnectionClosed	The connection was closed.
UnhandledResponse	An unexpected response was received.
socket.timeout	The connection timed out.

Example program

This simple program opens and closes the menu a few times.

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import samsungctl
import time

config = {
    "name": "samsungctl",
    "description": "PC",
    "id": "",
    "host": "192.168.0.10",
    "port": 55000,
    "method": "legacy",
    "timeout": 0,
}

with samsungctl.Remote(config) as remote:
    for i in range(10):
        remote.control("KEY_MENU")
        time.sleep(0.5)

Key codes

The list of accepted keys may vary depending on the TV model, but the following list has some common key codes and their descriptions.

Key code	Description
KEY_POWEROFF	Power off
KEY_UP	Up
KEY_DOWN	Down
KEY_LEFT	Left
KEY_RIGHT	Right
KEY_CHUP	P Up
KEY_CHDOWN	P Down
KEY_ENTER	Enter
KEY_RETURN	Return
KEY_CH_LIST	Channel List
KEY_MENU	Menu
KEY_SOURCE	Source
KEY_GUIDE	Guide
KEY_TOOLS	Tools
KEY_INFO	Info
KEY_RED	A / Red
KEY_GREEN	B / Green
KEY_YELLOW	C / Yellow
KEY_BLUE	D / Blue
KEY_PANNEL_CHDOWN	3D
KEY_VOLUP	Volume Up
KEY_VOLDOWN	Volume Down
KEY_MUTE	Mute
KEY_0	0
KEY_1	1
KEY_2	2
KEY_3	3
KEY_4	4
KEY_5	5
KEY_6	6
KEY_7	7
KEY_8	8
KEY_9	9
KEY_DTV	TV Source
KEY_HDMI	HDMI Source

Please note that some codes are different on the 2016+ TVs. For example, KEY_POWEROFF is KEY_POWER on the newer TVs.

References

I did not reverse engineer the control protocol myself and samsungctl is not the only implementation. Here is the list of things that inspired samsungctl.

• http://sc0ty.pl/2012/02/samsung-tv-network-remote-control-protocol/
• https://gist.github.com/danielfaust/998441
• https://github.com/Bntdumas/SamsungIPRemote
• https://github.com/kyleaa/homebridge-samsungtv2016