Method and system for remote control

#Field of the Disclosure

#The present disclosure relates to remote control and, more particularly, to functionality of remote control elements.

#Description of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of an MCDN;

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of an MCDN showing additional detail for the MCDN clients;

#FIG. 3 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of a multimedia handling device (MHD);

#In one aspect, a disclosed method for remote control at a client of an MCDN includes establishing, by a remote control device via a wireless network, a connection to an MHD at an MCDN client. The method may further include displaying, on a display of the remote control device, a remote control interface including control elements for controlling multimedia output from the MHD, receiving user input selecting at least one of the control elements, and sending, based on the user input, a remote control command corresponding to the selected remote control element to the MHD via the wireless link and via an MCDN server. The remote control device may include a touch interface, while the user input may be received as a touch input via the touch interface.

#In certain embodiments, the selected control element may be for channel selection at the MHD, while the method may further include displaying a channel bar configured for bidirectional incremental input from a zero position, and receiving the user input at the channel bar, including receiving an indication of a channel increment magnitude. Responsive to receiving the user input, the method may also include displaying, using the remote control interface, channel data that is incrementing according to the channel increment magnitude. The touch input at the channel bar may correspond to a touch and slide motion detected by the touch interface at the channel bar, while a magnitude of the slide motion may provide the indication of the channel increment magnitude. When the incrementing channel data is being displayed, the method may further include receiving a second user input for selecting currently displayed channel data, corresponding to a desired channel, and including, in the remote control command sent to the MHD, a command to display the desired channel. When an absence of the touch input is detected at the touch interface, the method may also include resetting the channel bar to the zero position.

#In particular embodiments, the selected control element may be for audio volume selection at the MHD, while the method further includes displaying a volume bar configured for bidirectional input, and receiving the user input at the volume bar, including receiving an indication of a volume magnitude. Responsive to receiving the user input, the method may further include including, in the remote control command sent to the MHD, a command to modify the audio volume according to the volume magnitude. When an absence of the touch input is detected at the touch interface, the method may still further include displaying the indication of the volume magnitude on the volume bar. The user input may be a double-tap at the volume bar while the volume magnitude may be muted audio volume or zero audio volume.