Infrared (IR) Blaster NEC / Pronto Hex Decoder & Waveform Visualizer (2026)

In Philips Pronto CCF Hex format, the first word `0000` indicates a raw learned modulated signal, and the second 16-bit hex word $N$ represents the carrier period in internal Pronto clock ticks of $0.241246\text{ µs}$ (derived from a $4.145146\text{ MHz}$ crystal). The carrier frequency in Hz is $f_c = 1,000,000 / (N_{\text{dec}} \times 0.241246)$. Thus `006D` ($109_{\text{dec}}$) equals $38,028.8\text{ Hz}$ (~38 kHz), and `0067` ($103_{\text{dec}}$) equals $40.24\text{ kHz}$ (Sony SIRC).

NEC uses Pulse Distance Encoding over a 38 kHz carrier. Every frame begins with a 9000 µs (9 ms) AGC leader mark and a 4500 µs (4.5 ms) space. Each of the 32 bits (transmitted Least Significant Bit first) starts with a 562.5 µs mark (21 carrier cycles): a logical `0` follows with a 562.5 µs space (total 1.125 ms), whereas a logical `1` follows with a 3x space of 1687.5 µs (total 2.25 ms), ending with a final 562.5 µs stop mark.

Standard NEC transmits an 8-bit Address followed by its bitwise complement (`~Address`), then an 8-bit Command followed by its bitwise complement (`~Command`) for error detection—guaranteeing every frame has exactly sixteen `0`s and sixteen `1`s (constant 67.5 ms length). Extended NEC sacrifices the inverted address check byte to support a full 16-bit Address (65,536 device IDs) while keeping the 8-bit Command + `~Command` check.

Added in Android 4.4 (API 19), `ConsumerIrManager.transmit(int carrierFrequency, int[] pattern)` expects the carrier frequency in Hertz (e.g., `38000`) and an alternating array of integer **microseconds** (Mark, Space, Mark, Space...), whereas Pronto Hex stores durations in **carrier cycles**. Our converter multiplies each Pronto Hex burst count by the carrier period in microseconds to produce exact Android timing arrays.

An IR blaster requires a physical 940nm infrared LED driver mounted on the top bezel edge of the phone. While Samsung and Google removed IR LEDs after 2016, Xiaomi, Redmi, Poco, OnePlus, Vivo, and Huawei continue to include top-edge IR hardware because infrared remains the universal standard for air conditioners, TVs, projectors, and set-top boxes.