How to Program and Use Universal Remote of Tata Play, Airtel, Dish TV and Videocon D2H with your TV Set

UPDATE: Following articles contain new working methods to program and pair new models of Tata Play (formerly known as Tata Sky) universal remotes with any TV set:

Easiest Way to Program or Pair New Tata Sky Universal Remote

New and easy way to program Tata Sky universal remote

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NOTE: The method given in this tutorial also works for Dish TV and Videocon D2H universal remotes.

Ever since we posted our exclusive review and comparison topic of Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV (ADTV) DTH services, many readers have asked us about programming, pairing and configuring these DTH universal remotes.

[Review] Comparison Between Airtel Digital TV (ADTV) and Tata Sky DTH Services in India

[Tata Sky and Dish TV Review] Comparison Between Two Major DTH Services in India

Actually both Airtel Digital TV and Tata Sky DTH come with universal remotes which allow you to operate the set top box as well as your television set. So you don’t need to hold two remotes in your hands. You can operate both DTH set top box and your TV set using a single universal remote.

Airtel Digital TV has been providing universal remotes since long time. On the other hand, Tata Sky has started providing it recently. So new Tata Sky customers are getting universal remote free but old customers need to purchase the universal remote separately from Tata Sky which costs around 300 INR.

But many times people who get the new universal remote in their Airtel or Tata Sky DTH connection, face problems in setting up the remote. They don’t know how to program this universal remote with their TV set? They have no idea how to sync/pair universal remote buttons with their TV remote?

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So today in this topic we are going to tell you how to program, pair and use the universal remote of Airtel Digital TV and Tata Sky DTH in very easy steps.

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First of All Some Important Things to Note!

1. Both Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV universal remotes allow you to program following 5 buttons only:

  • Power (TV On/Off)
  • Volume Up
  • Volume Down
  • Mute
  • TV Source (AV, HDMI, etc)

So you can use your DTH universal remote to operate only above mentioned functionality of your TV set.

2. Tata Sky universal remote contains an extra button “Univ” which is needed to press whenever you want to operate your TV set with universal remote. If you don’t press “Univ” button, the universal remote will operate for set top box only. Once you press “Univ” button, the universal remote will enter into TV mode and will allow you to operate your TV set only. The red LED light on the remote will remain lit showing that the remote is in TV mode. You can again press “Univ” button to switch to STB mode so that you can operate your DTH set top box. Once the universal remote is in TV mode and you don’t press any button on the remote for 15 seconds, it’ll automatically switch back to STB mode.

On the other hand, Airtel Digital TV universal remote doesn’t contain such button. You can directly operate both set top box as well as your TV set using universal remote.

3. Steps to program Airtel Digital TV and Tata Sky universal remotes are same.

Guide to Program Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV (ADTV) DTH Universal Remote

STEP 1:

First of all you’ll need to switch your DTH universal remote into learning mode. Press OK button (in Airtel Digital TV) or Select button (in Tata Sky) and number 2 button simultaneously on your universal remote for a few seconds. The LED on your remote will blink twice which means the remote is in learning mode now.

NOTE: In newer Tata Sky HD+ Transfer set top box, you’ll need to press and hold Back button instead of Select button in above mentioned method.

STEP 2:

Now press the button on your universal remote which you want to program with your TV set. For example press Volume+ button.

Now place the universal remote and your TV remote in front of each other i.e. their LEDs should face each other. Make sure the distance between both remote LEDs must be between 3-6 cms.

Now press the same button on your TV remote. Since we pressed Volume+ button on DTH universal remote, press the same button i.e. Volume+ on your TV remote. The LED on your universal remote will again blink twice which means the button has been programmed successfully. If the light blinks 4 times, it means the button programming was not completed and you’ll need to follow the above steps again.

STEP 3:

At last press OK button (in Airtel Digital TV) or Select button (in Tata Sky) to save the changes. The LED on universal remote will blink twice.

NOTE: In newer Tata Sky HD+ Transfer set top box, you’ll need to press Back button instead of Select button to save changes.

STEP 4:

Now you can follow the same steps to program other buttons on your universal remote with your TV set.

NOTE for Tata Sky users:

Tata Sky universal remote doesn’t have separate buttons for your TV set, so you’ll need to program and use following buttons to operate your TV set:

  • Power button to on/off TV
  • Volume+ to increase volume level of your TV
  • Volume- to decrease volume level of your TV
  • Mute
  • Help button to change source of your TV set

NOTE for Airtel Digital TV users:

Airtel Digital TV universal remote contains 2 separate buttons to operate your TV set:

  • tv button to on/off your TV set
  • a/v button to change source of your TV set

Other remaining buttons such as Volume+, Volume- and Mute are common.

NOTE for both DTH users:

Its not necessary that you program the same functionality of your TV set in your universal remote. In other words, you can set any desired TV function on your DTH universal remote button. For example, you can set the Mute button on your DTH universal remote to open Menu screen of your TV set. It doesn’t matter which button of your TV remote are you going to sync with your DTH universal remote. The important thing is that you can program only above mentioned 5 buttons of your universal remote with your TV set.

BONUS TIP for Tata Sky Users

Since Tata Sky universal remote contains “Univ” button to switch between STB mode and TV mode, the volume control functionality depends upon the current mode. For example, if you are in STB mode, the volume control buttons will change STB volume and if you are in TV mode, the volume control buttons will change TV volume.

Here is a secret trick which can be used to set any desired volume control functionality irrespective of which mode you are in. For example, you can program your universal remote to always control STB volume whether you are in TV mode or STB mode. Similarly you can set your universal remote to always control TV volume whether you are in TV mode or STB mode.

To do this, you just need to follow these simple steps:

1. First of all program the volume control buttons (Volume+, Volume- and Mute) of your universal remote using 1st and 2nd steps given above.

2. After programming the volume buttons, if you want the universal buttons to always control STB volume, press and hold Select and Home buttons for 3 seconds. The LED will blink twice to save changes.

If you want the universal buttons to always control TV volume, press and hold Select and Univ buttons for 3 seconds. The LED will blink twice to save changes.

NOTE: In newer HD+ Transfer set top boxes, you may need to press and hold Back button instead of Select button with the other mentioned button in above mentioned methods.

More info: [Tip] Set Your Tata Sky Remote to Always Control TV Volume

PS: To disable this volume control customization setting, press and hold the same above mentioned buttons again for a few seconds and it’ll restore the functionality.

That’s it. Above mentioned steps will help you in programming Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV universal remote easily and quickly. If you face any problem, feel free to ask it in your comment…

Also Check:

How to Reset Airtel Digital TV, Tata Sky and Videocon D2H Universal Remote to Factory Settings?

Revealing Hidden Secret Service Menu in Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV DTH Set Top Box

Revealing Hidden Secret Service Menu in Dish TV DTH Set Top Box

[Review] Which DTH Service Provides Maximum HD Channels in India?

Published in: Mobiles and Internet

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. thanks very much for this post, got free from the hassel of operating two remotes.

  2. thanks for this post really helpful……most of the user don’t know this feature thanks again for update us

  3. A million thanks to you for solving my problem to pair tatasky remote (new, 2017) with my sony tv remote. Any method mentioned on net/youtube was not working. My suspicion was right. There is a little change. Instead of SELECT we have to press BACK button. Thats it! Only you mentioned this. Even tatasky customer care do not know about this.

  4. Hello VG, have Airtel connection. Could configure only volume buttons following above steps, but same not working for power and av buttons, any tip?

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